I hate pretty much all food, what do I do?
ryouryou
Posts: 1
About me: I am a female, age 22. I am overweight, but not obese with a BMI of 28 and I am stable at the weight I've been at for about 2 years. I have a mostly sedentary job as a tutor at the local college, but I don't own a car so I do get exercise walking to and from bus stops and "adventuring" on the weekends, when my favorite destinations include parks, zoos, shopping, or museums. My parents and sister are all overweight despite having way better diets than mine, full of lean protein and lots of veggies, so it might be partially genetic. I don't have any chronic health problems besides for some annoyingly persistent dental ones. Cholesterol and triglycerides etc are fine.
Yes, I know you've heard it all before. "I hate vegetables/fruits/lima beans/whatever, but I've only ever had them the way my parents made them, and they're TERRIBLE cooks!" but that's not really the story here. I cook all the time and have tried basically everything. I never even tried to eat horrible lumpy overcooked mush of spinach or anything, that's gross and everyone knows it's gross.
However, I find that I have a serious aversion to all complex tastes and most textures.
I feel that I get way too many carbs and not enough meats, vegetables, or fruits, because of this. I'll give a sample of an average day and then I'll describe all the things I've tried that I don't like.
Here is a sample of what I might eat in a day when I'm being good:
1/ Breakfast
+Multivitamin and cereal. Usually frosted mini wheats, skim milk.
2/ Lunch might consist of something like...
+Pasta (either high fiber or "with vegetables"). I hate pasta sauce. I occasionally add a very tiny amount of butter, spread, or olive oil for taste. If it's butter, about 1/2tbsp for a large bowl.
OR
+Two breast meat chicken patties, with no bread (because I don't like it with them and they're already breaded) and plain. Microwaved or baked, not fried.
OR
+If I go out to eat I might get subway but the only meats I really enjoy from there are the bad, processed ones such as salami. I do manage to sneak a small amount of spinach onto the sandwich since the bread is so bulky and the spinach has no real taste, but it's probably less than a serving.
3/ Dinner
This is my favorite dinner actually.
+"Fried" rice. I say "fried" because there is no oil or fat source added and really the only thing that makes it "fried" is using a pan and whatever fat runs off of the meat used. Generally very little.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 "serving" (whatever package says) of a meat, usually turkey kielbasa, sometimes turkey breakfast sausage
1 good bowlful of brown rice
1 dash of low-sodium soy sauce
Throw into pan and swish around until cookedness is achieved. It is a good comfort food. Warm, earthy, lightly savoury.
4/ Snacks
Nuts, Cheese, Popcorn(Air-popped), controlled-portions snack food
There are no vegetables or fruits here, excepting perhaps 1/2cup of vegetables pureed into the pasta at the factory.
Here are things I don't like:
+Artificial sweeteners. I can taste them no matter what you put them in.
+Soups, stews, curries, or anything all wet and mixed together.
+Tomato sauce. Not even on pizza, if I was to *gasp* order one, I'd ask for light sauce or no sauce.
+All salad dressings, ketchup, mayonnaise, pretty much all condiments, except, for some reason, mustard.
+Anything that is both "wet" and "crunchy."
+Anything drinkable that is "lumpy" in any way. Generally smoothies made in home blenders are too full of bits for me to drink but I've had some from shops that were good. They're very expensive though!
+Anything fibrous or "stringy" which includes things like non-pureed chicken.
+Anything very sweet
+Anything spicy (at all)
+Anything very bitter, or even a little bit bitter
+Anything difficult to chew. This is exacerbated by the fact that I have inherited very poor teeth (from my father's side) and commonly have to have various operations that make it difficult to chew.
+Teas, coffees
Now we all have foods we don't like, right? What I have here covers pretty much all food.
But I'm not talking about "I'd rather not eat that but I could," I'm talking about huge amounts of disgust and potentially vomiting multiple times trying to get through a dish. When I was a kid and I had to eat something I didn't like, say, taco meat (I can't handle the seasoning), I had to carefully position the small piece between my lips and front teeth and carefully shred it using the incisors only. If it touched my tongue, I'd wretch, and if it touched my back teeth, I'd panic for fear that it will get stuck in my back teeth and I'll have to taste it until I can brush.
After shredding the small piece into somewhat smaller pieces, I would drink milk to propel it down my throat. It could take me over an hour to eat a small serving (3-4oz) even when trying as hard as I could. Having it touch my tongue or other teeth causes an immediate and visceral gagging reaction as if my body is screaming at the top of it's voice "THIS ISN'T FOOD, STOP TRYING TO EAT IT!" Often I would become physically ill afterwards even if I made it through the process of eating it alright.
Let's get into things I do like.
1. Processed or finely ground meat. This includes anything in nugget or patty form and anything that's been ground. I like ground turkey best of all but it is very expensive in my area.
2. Grains. I like whole grains the best for their mild earthy, sweet, and sometimes even nutty tones. Brown rice is one of my favorite foods. I like multigrain bread, big and fluffy with tons of seeds and nice stuff in it. Again, it's very expensive, so I don't usually even keep bread in the house, especially since I can't eat a whole loaf before it goes bad. I stick to pasta and rice because they don't spoil easily. I love quinoa but it is not sold locally and is expensive to order so it unfortunately can't be part of my staple diet right now. Air-popped popcorn is my favorite low-calorie, high-bulk snack.
3. Dairy: Yogurt(sans-fruit), cheese, skim milk.
4. Nuts. Nature's candy. I rarely buy them though because they are huge diet-ruiners for me. I can eat a pound of almonds in one day, no joke, they are too good. Sometimes my store has 100-calories portioned packs of them and I buy those since I can resist eating them all in one day. I like peanuts (not a real nut!), almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts (oh so fattening), pecans, cashews... Very sweet and earthy. Nuts are great, but they're high calorie and don't really help me lose weight. Serving sizes are tiny.
5. Water. All animal life on Earth can't be wrong!
6. Seasonings, I don't like spicy or overly salty but I do like garlic and onion, however the textures of the plants themselves are very offensive so I usually use powdered.
7. Tolerable vegetables, mostly ones I find tasteless like raw spinach, lettuce. I like water chestnuts. These don't have any real flavor to me. Spinach is a touch bitter but if it's hidden somewhere I won't notice. But I can only sneak in so much, and I know green vegetables are only part of the equation. Lettuce is mostly nutrition-less anyways. Water chestnuts are usually found mixed into Chinese food which I usually find intimidatingly over-seasoned for my taste.
8. Cherries. I love cherries. Well that isn't entirely true, I love the TASTE of cherries. I don't like the gooey, fibrous outer husk of them. I typically disembowel my cherries. That is, I make a small hole, remove the pit, turn it inside out and chew against the inside flesh until all that's left is the pale fibrous part. I then discard the husk. Yes, I'm missing all the fiber. I like chocolate-covered cherries but come on, that's candy.
I've tried raw veggies, fried veggies, grilled veggies, "hidden" veggies, and cheese-covered veggies. I've tried growing them myself, heck, I was an agriculture major at some point. I cook vegetables for other people and for my family all the time and they absolutely LOVE the things that I cook. I love them. I don't like to eat them, but I love the colors, smells, and all the different types. I don't really abhor vegetables, I just don't regard them as something to eat, for whatever reason.
I've tried just forcing myself to do it, with mixed success. I know in my heart that I can just "suck it up," spend most of my day slowly lumbering through eating things I don't want to eat, each meal taking hours. I can just suck it up for my health. But do I really want to live like that? I question how many years I'd really be adding to my life and whether I'd really even enjoy them or not since I'd be spending them this way. Besides, with all that time spent eating, I might not have time to exercise anymore! Or work for that matter.
Does anyone have any advice? Can anyone recommend a way for me to branch out into something I haven't thought of? Is there a vegetable out there with no taste, a grain-like, or meat-like taste and none of the offensive crunchy, pasty, gooey, or fibrous textures that they all seem to have? I have tried tofu but I am not convinced of its meat-like qualities.. it is sort of rubbery and silly. Not a food. I've also tried veggie burgers and.. well, they're not fooling anyone.
So... some questions.
I like water chestnuts, which are a vegetable and not a nut, but I am not sure how I could work them into more of my cooking?
I am concerned about sodium, fat, and cholesterol which leads me to neglect meats sometimes but I do want to get enough protein. Is turkey a good meat for this? Would ground chicken or some other meat I haven't thought of be better? Is there a bland-ish vegetable that I could blend into meat without being noticeable? Keep in mind that I am very, very good at noticing things.
If anyone has any recipes they'd like to share or advice about how they overcame a similar situation please by all means share it here. Any advice is appreciated. Please try and steer clear of "just do it" and "eat more salads" because those are both options I've already weighed and I'm looking for new ones.
Yes, I know you've heard it all before. "I hate vegetables/fruits/lima beans/whatever, but I've only ever had them the way my parents made them, and they're TERRIBLE cooks!" but that's not really the story here. I cook all the time and have tried basically everything. I never even tried to eat horrible lumpy overcooked mush of spinach or anything, that's gross and everyone knows it's gross.
However, I find that I have a serious aversion to all complex tastes and most textures.
I feel that I get way too many carbs and not enough meats, vegetables, or fruits, because of this. I'll give a sample of an average day and then I'll describe all the things I've tried that I don't like.
Here is a sample of what I might eat in a day when I'm being good:
1/ Breakfast
+Multivitamin and cereal. Usually frosted mini wheats, skim milk.
2/ Lunch might consist of something like...
+Pasta (either high fiber or "with vegetables"). I hate pasta sauce. I occasionally add a very tiny amount of butter, spread, or olive oil for taste. If it's butter, about 1/2tbsp for a large bowl.
OR
+Two breast meat chicken patties, with no bread (because I don't like it with them and they're already breaded) and plain. Microwaved or baked, not fried.
OR
+If I go out to eat I might get subway but the only meats I really enjoy from there are the bad, processed ones such as salami. I do manage to sneak a small amount of spinach onto the sandwich since the bread is so bulky and the spinach has no real taste, but it's probably less than a serving.
3/ Dinner
This is my favorite dinner actually.
+"Fried" rice. I say "fried" because there is no oil or fat source added and really the only thing that makes it "fried" is using a pan and whatever fat runs off of the meat used. Generally very little.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 "serving" (whatever package says) of a meat, usually turkey kielbasa, sometimes turkey breakfast sausage
1 good bowlful of brown rice
1 dash of low-sodium soy sauce
Throw into pan and swish around until cookedness is achieved. It is a good comfort food. Warm, earthy, lightly savoury.
4/ Snacks
Nuts, Cheese, Popcorn(Air-popped), controlled-portions snack food
There are no vegetables or fruits here, excepting perhaps 1/2cup of vegetables pureed into the pasta at the factory.
Here are things I don't like:
+Artificial sweeteners. I can taste them no matter what you put them in.
+Soups, stews, curries, or anything all wet and mixed together.
+Tomato sauce. Not even on pizza, if I was to *gasp* order one, I'd ask for light sauce or no sauce.
+All salad dressings, ketchup, mayonnaise, pretty much all condiments, except, for some reason, mustard.
+Anything that is both "wet" and "crunchy."
+Anything drinkable that is "lumpy" in any way. Generally smoothies made in home blenders are too full of bits for me to drink but I've had some from shops that were good. They're very expensive though!
+Anything fibrous or "stringy" which includes things like non-pureed chicken.
+Anything very sweet
+Anything spicy (at all)
+Anything very bitter, or even a little bit bitter
+Anything difficult to chew. This is exacerbated by the fact that I have inherited very poor teeth (from my father's side) and commonly have to have various operations that make it difficult to chew.
+Teas, coffees
Now we all have foods we don't like, right? What I have here covers pretty much all food.
But I'm not talking about "I'd rather not eat that but I could," I'm talking about huge amounts of disgust and potentially vomiting multiple times trying to get through a dish. When I was a kid and I had to eat something I didn't like, say, taco meat (I can't handle the seasoning), I had to carefully position the small piece between my lips and front teeth and carefully shred it using the incisors only. If it touched my tongue, I'd wretch, and if it touched my back teeth, I'd panic for fear that it will get stuck in my back teeth and I'll have to taste it until I can brush.
After shredding the small piece into somewhat smaller pieces, I would drink milk to propel it down my throat. It could take me over an hour to eat a small serving (3-4oz) even when trying as hard as I could. Having it touch my tongue or other teeth causes an immediate and visceral gagging reaction as if my body is screaming at the top of it's voice "THIS ISN'T FOOD, STOP TRYING TO EAT IT!" Often I would become physically ill afterwards even if I made it through the process of eating it alright.
Let's get into things I do like.
1. Processed or finely ground meat. This includes anything in nugget or patty form and anything that's been ground. I like ground turkey best of all but it is very expensive in my area.
2. Grains. I like whole grains the best for their mild earthy, sweet, and sometimes even nutty tones. Brown rice is one of my favorite foods. I like multigrain bread, big and fluffy with tons of seeds and nice stuff in it. Again, it's very expensive, so I don't usually even keep bread in the house, especially since I can't eat a whole loaf before it goes bad. I stick to pasta and rice because they don't spoil easily. I love quinoa but it is not sold locally and is expensive to order so it unfortunately can't be part of my staple diet right now. Air-popped popcorn is my favorite low-calorie, high-bulk snack.
3. Dairy: Yogurt(sans-fruit), cheese, skim milk.
4. Nuts. Nature's candy. I rarely buy them though because they are huge diet-ruiners for me. I can eat a pound of almonds in one day, no joke, they are too good. Sometimes my store has 100-calories portioned packs of them and I buy those since I can resist eating them all in one day. I like peanuts (not a real nut!), almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts (oh so fattening), pecans, cashews... Very sweet and earthy. Nuts are great, but they're high calorie and don't really help me lose weight. Serving sizes are tiny.
5. Water. All animal life on Earth can't be wrong!
6. Seasonings, I don't like spicy or overly salty but I do like garlic and onion, however the textures of the plants themselves are very offensive so I usually use powdered.
7. Tolerable vegetables, mostly ones I find tasteless like raw spinach, lettuce. I like water chestnuts. These don't have any real flavor to me. Spinach is a touch bitter but if it's hidden somewhere I won't notice. But I can only sneak in so much, and I know green vegetables are only part of the equation. Lettuce is mostly nutrition-less anyways. Water chestnuts are usually found mixed into Chinese food which I usually find intimidatingly over-seasoned for my taste.
8. Cherries. I love cherries. Well that isn't entirely true, I love the TASTE of cherries. I don't like the gooey, fibrous outer husk of them. I typically disembowel my cherries. That is, I make a small hole, remove the pit, turn it inside out and chew against the inside flesh until all that's left is the pale fibrous part. I then discard the husk. Yes, I'm missing all the fiber. I like chocolate-covered cherries but come on, that's candy.
I've tried raw veggies, fried veggies, grilled veggies, "hidden" veggies, and cheese-covered veggies. I've tried growing them myself, heck, I was an agriculture major at some point. I cook vegetables for other people and for my family all the time and they absolutely LOVE the things that I cook. I love them. I don't like to eat them, but I love the colors, smells, and all the different types. I don't really abhor vegetables, I just don't regard them as something to eat, for whatever reason.
I've tried just forcing myself to do it, with mixed success. I know in my heart that I can just "suck it up," spend most of my day slowly lumbering through eating things I don't want to eat, each meal taking hours. I can just suck it up for my health. But do I really want to live like that? I question how many years I'd really be adding to my life and whether I'd really even enjoy them or not since I'd be spending them this way. Besides, with all that time spent eating, I might not have time to exercise anymore! Or work for that matter.
Does anyone have any advice? Can anyone recommend a way for me to branch out into something I haven't thought of? Is there a vegetable out there with no taste, a grain-like, or meat-like taste and none of the offensive crunchy, pasty, gooey, or fibrous textures that they all seem to have? I have tried tofu but I am not convinced of its meat-like qualities.. it is sort of rubbery and silly. Not a food. I've also tried veggie burgers and.. well, they're not fooling anyone.
So... some questions.
I like water chestnuts, which are a vegetable and not a nut, but I am not sure how I could work them into more of my cooking?
I am concerned about sodium, fat, and cholesterol which leads me to neglect meats sometimes but I do want to get enough protein. Is turkey a good meat for this? Would ground chicken or some other meat I haven't thought of be better? Is there a bland-ish vegetable that I could blend into meat without being noticeable? Keep in mind that I am very, very good at noticing things.
If anyone has any recipes they'd like to share or advice about how they overcame a similar situation please by all means share it here. Any advice is appreciated. Please try and steer clear of "just do it" and "eat more salads" because those are both options I've already weighed and I'm looking for new ones.
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Replies
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Fats are not the enemy. It looks like you're trying to cut out fats in favor of carbs, which is a surefire way to hang onto weight. Your menu is almost all carbs, some protein, almost no fat, and doesn't look like it's getting in the nutrients you need by way of fruits and veggies.
Try adding healthy oils (olive oil, grapeseed oil) to veggies and roasting them for a sweet flavor, or on your popcorn, or in your stir fry, or to oatmeal in the morning along with frozen berries and some walnuts. Flaxseed oil is a good one to add to oatmeal because it's got those healthy Omega 3s in it, but cooking it destroys the Omega 3s. Nuts are quite healthy with the good fats, so I wouldn't cut those out.
I would suggest baby food veggies. They're pureed super smooth, so no lumps, and could be easily incorporated into smoothies at home without having to worry about lumps. I easily get 3-4 fruit and veggie servings in a very smooth smoothie with a high-powered blender (mine's a Blendtec; Vitamix is simliar.) You could also make homemade nuggets with finely shredded vegetables in it.
How about baking muffins with purees mixed in?
Add small, cut up veggies, lightly steamed or sauteed, to your pasta and stir fry. Something like carrots or green beans would be easy to add, not stringy, bitter, or difficult to chew. Mushrooms have a somewhat meaty texture. I would *highly* doubt that you're getting 1/2 c veggies from your pasta. Maybe a tablespoon at best for a 1 cup serving of pasta.
I'd also suggest looking into cognitive behavioral therapy to help overcome the fear of textures. That seems far more mental than physical and you might find that you can work through it and enjoy a variety of things that fear is holding you back from.0 -
I used to hate most vegetables, but i have been doing my best to learn to like them, mostly by hiding them in things that i like. For example, you say you like ground turkey, why not make some home made meatballs/turkey burgers with some grated carrots in them. I might not be a huge amount of vegetable but its a start. Another veg that i have recently found to be very non offensive is zucchini, in fact today i chopped some up very small and added it to the garlic and ginger i was sautéing, and i hardly even noticed it was there.
Also you mentioned to cost of the meats that you do like is a problem. I have noticed that ground meats are more expensive then the whole form, have toy though of investing in a meat grinder? Im not sure how much they cost but i may be a good investment for you in the long run.
Thats all i can come up with at the moment, good luck!0 -
I used to hate most veg, infact I used to hate anything healthy, then I realised I want to be fit and at my goal weight so badly and I just started eating the things that I hated. Once the junk food and fried crap was out of my system I couldn't imagine eating anything other than veg and nutritious food.0
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But I'm not talking about "I'd rather not eat that but I could," I'm talking about huge amounts of disgust and potentially vomiting multiple times trying to get through a dish.Is there a vegetable out there with no taste, a grain-like, or meat-like taste and none of the offensive crunchy, pasty, gooey, or fibrous textures that they all seem to have?
Honestly, no. Finding some magic vegetable that will meet your requirements is not going to be the solution to your issues as they seem to be psychological. Vomiting multiple times to get through a dish extends beyond being a 'picky eater' as I'm sure you're well aware of.
Have you ever spoken with a specialist who could help you get to the root of your food neurosis? I think it's great that you are reaching out here and asking for recipes and suggestions, but I think you should also maybe get some professional input outside of MFP.
Best of luck to you.0 -
I normally don't advocate this, but have you looked into a diet like Paleo or something similar? Their lists of foods avoid some of the major problems you've described. A more structured, rigid food plan might help you if you can find the right one.0
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Judging by your "Foods I Like" list, I would think stir-fry would work for you: a little meat, some cashews or peanuts, a veggie from your list, and some sauce you like. Serve over quinoa or rice (<--not sure if that was on your tolerable list for not). Or would this be too complex of a taste for you?
Since you are "stable at the weight you are at" and not seeking to lose weight but to maintain and/or build muscle for working out, try to eat protein at every meal.0 -
I'm not a medial professional, but would recommend that perhaps a doctor or therapist can help you get past the icky, gagging part of eating certain foods. One thing that they may have you try (or could try on your own) is building up to it slowly. So you say that you can handle a bit of spinach, so make a goal to eat spinach every day, and each day add a tiny bit more, even if it is only one or two pieces more a day.
Also, I like water chestnuts in about anything - i'd imagine that they'd be good with your fried rice recipe.
Good luck with your life changes, and I hope you are able to be successful! It is inspiring that you are motivated to make it past the 'vegetable hurdle', which is probably the most important part!0 -
I am NOT a health professional, and I can't speak with any certainty, but have you ever considered talking to a psychologist about this? The length and specificity of your lists of likes and dislikes, and the extreme sense of disgust you describe... it doesn't sound like normal "picky eating" to me. Counselors can be good at helping people to get over phobias and aversions, too. Maybe there is one who can help get to the root of why you have such a difficult relationship with food?0
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I'm no doctor either but from what your saying it seems like its a mainly psychological aversion rather than a physical one dislike.. Experiment with different foods one at a time - try different ways of preperation, different seasonings ect.. Take baby steps on adjusting your menu.. and stay away from bad cooks! lol0
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Honestly you need to eat it because you need it. I didn't like quite a few things that I have now become accustomed to but I chose to make myself eat them for my health and I have never regretted it. And with time I am sure you won't regret it either.
That being said it sounds like you are eating not enough foods that are filled with high nutrition and low carb. Pasta is a step to altering into something less carb and more vegetable where you might not notice it. Adding to your pasta some puree'd veggies like kale, carrots and beets to a sauce that has a little more taste (like cheese sauces might hide the vegetable flavors but certainly won't hide the color. Or having blended soups will make it easy to add more of the healthy vegetables that you would regularly not want to eat.
Eating beef is good but bad, having bison (which is slightly better) is also another good option at least for red meat. For white meat chicken is good as well as turkey but maybe try adding a fish like tilapia (which usually tastes like what you cook it with) would be great.
Get more natural fats (natural crude fats are those that are found in butter and marbled meat and the similar, they are simply better for you than processed fats) into your diet, they will definitely be used up so you don't have to worry about having more than you are now.
Google will be your best friend, search for recipes for kids who don't like veggies and see what you can find that fits into your current way of eating. Also invest in a juicer, you don't like texture of smoothies made at home but you might find juicing to be easier for you to want to consume and you can pack a lot into one cup. It gets rid of the 'bulk' that smoothies would have (but you also sacrifice some of the health benefits of that bulk by doing this but at least you are still getting it in right?)
I hope you find something that works for you but I still stand by my first statement. Get out of your comfort zone and learn to enjoy those uncomfortable foods more, it will be so beneficial.0 -
OP, are you my step-daughter?0
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www.Greensfirst.com
Check it out!0 -
OP, are you my step-daughter?
Or my son?0 -
I agree. Can you eat tofu? If so, include it with the stir-fry. For a pasta sauce, I use basil leaves with chopped up tomato, and a single slice of low-fat cheese. I use very little oil.Judging by your "Foods I Like" list, I would think stir-fry would work for you: a little meat, some cashews or peanuts, a veggie from your list, and some sauce you like. Serve over quinoa or rice (<--not sure if that was on your tolerable list for not). Or would this be too complex of a taste for you?
Since you are "stable at the weight you are at" and not seeking to lose weight but to maintain and/or build muscle for working out, try to eat protein at every meal.
p.s. JanaCanada, I love the photo and ticker!0 -
Eat what you ate to become overweight, but less of it. Exercise more than you did before. I also agree that you should see a therapist because this seems more of a psychological aversion than physical and it isn't healthy to eat almost all carbs.0
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I am NOT a health professional, and I can't speak with any certainty, but have you ever considered talking to a psychologist about this? The length and specificity of your lists of likes and dislikes, and the extreme sense of disgust you describe... it doesn't sound like normal "picky eating" to me. Counselors can be good at helping people to get over phobias and aversions, too. Maybe there is one who can help get to the root of why you have such a difficult relationship with food?
^^ This! You sound like you have some textural issues you would need to overcome before moving on. I can eat stuff I don't like. I just don't like it. It doesn't make me gag and potentially vomit. These issues are not normal.0 -
i agree that baby food stage 1 or 2 veggies and fruits could be added into foods or smoothies... also, i agree that seeing a therapist about food aversions/food issues would be crucial to your healing.0
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I saw a TV Series on Netflix about people like you "Freaky Eaters" - they used Cognitive Behavior Therapy to teach people how to eat. Some of them lived on (for instance) only french fries (for twenty years) or only cheeseburgers.
You really need to talk to someone who specializes in CBT for eating disorders.....that's what you are describing.. For whatever reason, you are psychologically unable to eat certain foods. It is very rare that someone biologically cannot eat the foods you are describing.0 -
Considering the different foods you described it does not sound like a texture issue at all. Most people with texture aversions could not go near a subway sandwich or a breaded chicken patty.
Could you have preconceived ideas of what you have convinced yourself you like?0 -
Hi there,
Reading your post, to me it says 'Uh oh' loud and clear. It sounds like you might be beyond normal likes and dislikes into other issues that need professional help to unpack and help you deal with. Try Googling and seeing what resonates with you.
I'm not diagnosing at all, but for example, this came up when I did a quick search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_eating_disorder
Best of luck with it all!0 -
Honestly, if you took the foods you liked and weighed /measured them, you could probably could come up with a solid macro /fiber eating plan. Which would lead you to cooking ideas. Your stir fry sounds pretty good. I developed an absolute adversion to bread, pasta, rice and potatoes since I started on my lifestyle change 12/31/11. I have added back in nuts, avocados, bananas and apples to maintain. Nuts are tricky because I really can't eat more than 100-150 calories a day of them ,and have learned to limit myself to half an avocado a day.
Keep a food diary of what you eat on MFP (sorry if you already do, I don't read other people's food diaries). If people can learn to live on a vegetarian diet or a paleo diet or a low carb diet, I am sure there is a way to be healthy on your food preferences. Maybe try a few new foods you haven't yet. Lots of people love "Miracle Noodles" (me,not so much).
If you like your nutty bread, see if you can learn to make it homemade and add in pureed veggies. Worth a shot, eh? Oh, and when I was single, I froze my bread and broke off enough for a week. It freezes pretty well, especially if you like toast.0 -
This may sound harsh, but I don't mean it that way. I think you need to see a counselor. It really sounds like you have some emotional issues that are preventing you from eating a healthy diet. Perhaps you could find someone who specializes in disordered eating to help you with your aversions.
Good luck.0 -
I don't eat veggies or fruits either. Try Dynamic fruits and greens... Its a good supplement0
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Keep trying things as tastes change over time. Experiment with how you cook things.
You have to keep trying things. Don't keep thinking it's gross or you won't eat it. You have to learn to eat things.
Puree veggies and put into pasta sauces. Have chunky soups. Cut veggies into very small pieces and add to Rices, etc. Cut meat into very small pieces. Put in a soup and if they are small enough you won't have to chew them. Drink protein shakes.
Speak with your doctor and dentist. Find a nutritionist and speak with them for ideas.
I don't mean to sound rude or mean but I agree with the poster who mentioned speaking to a counselor. You need to get over your issues.0 -
I am NOT a health professional, and I can't speak with any certainty, but have you ever considered talking to a psychologist about this? The length and specificity of your lists of likes and dislikes, and the extreme sense of disgust you describe... it doesn't sound like normal "picky eating" to me. Counselors can be good at helping people to get over phobias and aversions, too. Maybe there is one who can help get to the root of why you have such a difficult relationship with food?
I have to agree with this and the other similar posts. Your list of "dislikes" goes far beyond normal food dislikes. It's seems to me that there is some deep down issue that is making you have such aversions to food. My opinion would be to see some type of professional that can help figure out why you have such reactions to food and work on a balanced meal plan that starts to slowing incorporate some essential foods that are on your "dislike" list. Good luck!0 -
This is something I would discuss with your doctor, I wouldn't be surprised if he/she recommends therapy.0
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I think you have had enough chime ins about considering the psychological effects and how to treat this.
So I will say, that I have quite a bit of overlap with you and most people would call me a freaky eater.
Somethings that have worked for me.
I've made my own pureed meat patties. Take some sodium free broth (if you can make your own with bones and what not that is super) and put it in a bowl with your cooked meat (turkey, chicken, beef, fish-I've don them all) then puree the hell out of it. I like to use a stick blender or immersion blender. Then strain or drain the liquid back out with cheese cloth or the like and put in some binder material like cheese, potato flakes, coconut flout, whatever you might like and puree again until it is essentially meat paste. The press into patties and bake or fry or whatever. You can also puree veggies in there too.
And while I like the TASTE of celery, I despise the stringy texture of it, so I cut the celery into short pieces and slice them super, super fine with the garlic slicer so they cook down to nothing and are easily hidden into things. I do the same thing with carrots.
I'll be honest, about the only veggie I LIKE is raw cauliflower and fresh sauteed green beans that my hubby has cooked.
I have also been known to cut veggies up into small pieces that I can swallow without chewing.
I'm not saying at all that this shouldn't be addressed on multiple levels, but for things to try.0 -
I am not a medical professional. So, please take this for what it's worth. Textural issues or food aversions are becoming more and more common in children (I'm a child care owner/operator). I would suggest seeking some help with first your primary medical dr. I would give a brief overview about your struggles with textures (your PROFOUND disgust and vehemence with them.) ASK for a referral to someone who can help. There are lots of specialists who concentrate on this very thing! There are LOTS of feeding clinics out there that can help you get over this. It could be all in your head, but you need to get over the gag reflex associated with eating foods that you feel are too (insert problem here).
And, I have to tell you, the majority of what you are eating is not "food". Brown rice would be the only real "unprocessed" food you eat. You need to have fruits and veggies and other unprocessed foods as part of your diet. Our bodies are not designed to eat chopped up, pureed, blended chicken bits that is "bound" together by some chemical we can't pronounce every day of the week. Your body will suffer. Your health will suffer.
Please make it a priority to get the help you need, please.0 -
First off , I do think that you need some professional help with this . On this restricted a diet you will struggle to get enough nutrients. This can lead to over eating- your body has had enough calories but not nutrients, so pushes you to eat more in a desperate attempt to get more vitamins. And if eating is such a struggle at times, it can't be much fun for you.
In the meantime though, you could try zucchini. Slice into rounds about 1/8 of an inch thick, place on a baking sheet that has been greased with a tsp or two of olive oil. Turn slices so both sides are coated in the oil. Roast in a moderately hot oven until soft and golden brown.
Another thing that worried me was that you kept dismissing foods you like as too expensive. Unless you have real financial problems like a lot of debt, you might like to re-prioritise where food comes in your expenditure. Your nutirition and health are one of the most important areas of your life. Also, you could try Amazon. In the UK they do a thing called subscribe and save- you sign up for regular shipments of foods like quinoa, in bulk quantities, and you get a 10% discount. You can pick how often you want it to come, from every one to every six months. Do they do a similar thing where you are?
If you google chocolate covered Katie, you will also find a healthy desserts blog, where she often sneaks in beans or vegetables.
You might also think about taking a cookery class- if you become a more skilled cook you could be better able to make vegetables etc palatable to yourself.
I would worry a bit less about nuts. Yes, they are calorific, but they are high in nutrients and good fats.
Do you think some of your patterns could be childhood habits you are stuck in? The avoiding eating cherry skins and not liking anything bitter etc could stem from this. I read a study once that said a lot of young children avoid eating fruit and vegetable skins because there are compounds close to the skin that have evolved in plants to put off some insects from eating them. Some young children cannot tolerate these well- they are mildly toxic to them. They have much less of an effect on adults. The people behind the study think this is a big factor in mammalian development- breast feeding is an effective way of circumventing this. Anyway, with help, as an adult you should be able to get round these old habits.
And if you find some processed things like taco meat difficult to eat, then that's a good thing!
Good luck!0 -
I'm going to echo everyone who said you should seek help. I had a kid like this, but he got the help he needed when he was little to overcome it.0
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