I HATE VEGETABLES!!!

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Replies

  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    Hide them in smoothies. Here are some great recipes for them and you can not taste the veggies.

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.414986518575929.97466.282449018496347&type=3
  • Lifting_Knitter
    Lifting_Knitter Posts: 1,025 Member
    Grate and add to the foods you all ready like?
    Works for my kids when they are being difficult

    exactly my thoughts.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
    How are you preparing them? People tend to corral vegetables into the realm of side dishes when they really shine as a main course. For example I just made a moussaka last night with eggplant and tomatoes that was excellent, and asparagus risotto the night before. I would do things like that.
  • jr1985
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
    I hear ya! while I have finally gotten to the point where I can at least tolerate most vegetables... I would much rather be eating a bacon cheeseburger.

    You don't have to just jump in cold turkey you know... If you want pizza... make a tortilla pizza in the over with a whole wheat flour tortilla, and throw some sauteed veggies on top too.

    Sauteed Onions and peppers have always been the easiest for me to incorporate into my food... They add an awesome flavor to things.

    Try mixing in some zucchini into your pasta... Or go ahead and put some cheese sauce on your broccoli... Or eat an awesome healthy salad with a kick but salad dressing and cheese to help round it out... you don't have to just eat a pile of plain veggies... food network website is great for recipe ideas too...
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Try the Pampered Chef hot broccoli dip- it got me eating loads of veggies. Most veg taste better with cheese - but of course that adds calories and defeats the object! So try hiding them in pasta bakes etc.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
    This sounds more reasonable than anything else. I have tried veggies other ways and they still taste so bad to me. The working out thing is a slow start for me, but I think that's how it's suppose to happen. Slow and steady wins the race...right?

    My doctor says you have to try new food 17 times before you learn to like it. Don't know how true this is but it works with my kids, they eat a much greater variety of vegetables now. But there are always going to be some they don't like.

    I don't know if you need as many as 17 tries, but you can definitely train yourself to like something. Fish used to make me gag, but I got myself to love it (I started with sushi, which is less fishy, and worked my way up to anchovies :wink: ).
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    The first thing you need to do is stop seeing this as a diet. If you want to get healthy, then be healthy.

    If you are having issues with veggies why not try getting them by juicing them? I am not saying to go to a juicing diet, but if you don't like veggies why not make a veggie/fruit drink to go alongside?
  • Marie_25
    Marie_25 Posts: 67 Member
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    LMAO!!!! Great!! :0))
  • FitGuyWillDoIt
    FitGuyWillDoIt Posts: 111 Member
    Great ideas! As some people have noted, sauces are good. I do that and I feel like a brilliant chef. I've been vegan for three years and find it a lot easier than dealing with meat.

    One tip I would like to add is check out Vegetarian Times magazine. This month they are highlighting 5 ingredient chili recipes. They take 30 min. to make! I've uploaded, "Black Bean Chili with Fire-Roasted Corn - Vegetarian Times Mag" and made it public.

    Also, try sauteing garlic, onions, or scallions then tossing in your veggies and seasonings. I've found they stay crisp and get some nice flavor. It's also easy to do.
  • Try: Shredded carrots in your omlet, veggies in chicken soup, on pizza, roasted veggies with provolone inside a melty and delicious pita pocket, mashed cauliflour, mashed sweet potatoes, add mashed carrots to your mashed potatoes, cucumbers on your sandwich, broccoli slaw, tiny chopped celery in your tuna or turkey salad, thinly sliced butternut squashed steamed with light butter or salt substitute.... there is so much more to veggies than a garden salad. Can you tell that I like veggies? I am the only person in my household that actually enjoys them so I must get creative or else I have to cook seperate meals, which is time-consuming and ridiculous.
  • zilea
    zilea Posts: 31 Member
    I'm going to speak from my own experience here. Your body is born knowing what foods are right for it. If you had grown up eating the foods your body needed, your brain would be listening to the messages your body sends it when it needs certain nutrients that come from particular foods. But, in our society, we are tending to train our brains to not listen to our body's needs. The trend has been, instead of feeding our bodies with fuel to function well, we simply fill our stomachs with whatever salty, greasy processed swill the big companies are promoting our way.
    After years of eating this way, ignoring what our body tells us it needs, our brain just becomes disconnected from these communications.

    I never hated all vegetables. I always loved some, like spinach, asparagus, broccoli... However, there were many that I did not like much or not at all. Back in 2006, I had a raw, vegan friend who was very encouraging to me on making a food lifestyle change. I had begun a new early childhood education job in Jan., which had me in and out of classrooms every day, exposed to whatever bugs were going around, and I'd been sick with one flu or cold bug after another for most of the year. I was so freakin' sick of being sick and tired and was beginning to despair that I'd never get my usual vitality and high energy back.

    By Oct. of that year, I was ready to do whatever it took to get better, so I started listening to my friend a bit more. On Jan. 1, 2007, I began an experiment on my body and went to a mostly raw food and mostly vegan lifestyle. I kept a small bit of raw cheese in my intake and sometimes had sushi or other raw or nearly raw fish on a salad. I really wasn't too hard on myself if I wanted something not quite raw or not quite vegan, but I stayed pretty close to about 95% raw.

    I started experimenting with green smoothies as a means for getting larger amounts of green leafy vegetables into my body. When I'm working, I'm often on the road, away from my kitchen, so I came up with a way to be able to make a bit ahead and transport them, while keeping them fresh.

    I started out with raw spinach smoothies, mixing it with raspberries, raw organic coconut, lemon, orange, some banana (Gives them a nice creamy, sweet texture/taste), and raw, organic cacao, and I would sweeten them somewhat with raw honey and/or agave nectar. This became my favorite smoothie, and really the only one I loved. However, you cannot eat the same greens every day, so I had to do smoothies with other types of green leavies.

    I used celery (Great with strawberries and bananas!), lettuce, kale, bok choy, beet greens, dandelion greens, parsley, etc... I experimented with what combinations I liked best. Some didn't turn out so great, like dandelion greens or arugula with anything sweet, like fruits. Ugh! Those peppery tasting leafs are better in zesty (V8 like) smoothies. Anyway, if I didn't like a flavor combination, I just didn't make that one again. The main thing is to get as many fresh, raw, organic, green leafy vegetables into you as you can.

    At first, I would sweeten the smoothies (Except dandelion greens or arugula, as stated above.), but after a while, this became unnecessary, as my tastes changed. I used less and less honey or agave nectar, 'til I was no longer using anything but fruit to sweeten my smoothies.

    The remarkable thing for me though, is how much my cravings changed. When I began the raw lifestyle and eating green smoothies, I did not care much for celery, parsley, kale, raw bok choy, etc. After a couple of months, I started getting cravings for those things I used to not like at all. I would be driving home from a job and not be able to get celery out of my mind. I'd have to go to the store and buy some celery, get it home, and make a smoothie with it for dinner. Crazy!

    I was the healthiest I've ever been in my life, for two years. My old energy came back and I trimmed right down to a size 6 and stayed there without even trying to diet. I ate lots of calories and much of that was fat calories, in the form of avocados, nuts, and seeds, but had no issues with gaining weight. I used an Excalibur food dehydrator and made extremely healthy cookies, chips, etc... for my road treats. I loved it!

    Then my work load became too much and my schedule got so out of whack. I lost all balance in my life and no longer had time to create the great raw snacks I'd been making to keep a large variety in my diet. I was still making and drinking my green smoothies, but I reintroduced cooked starches into my life, in the form of organic, whole grain chips and whole grain breads and the like. I gradually gained weight and over an almost 4 year period, put on some 50 pounds, even though I kept drinking about a quart of green smoothie each day.

    Though weight gain sucked, I never got back to the sicky, no-energy state I'd been in through 2006, which I credit to the consistent intake of green smoothies in my diet. I know that raw foodism is right for me and that I must limit my intake of grain based carbs. They just go right to my butt.

    I finally got back to eating more raw foods in Jan. of this year and I began working out as well. I've lost nearly 20 pounds since Jan. 5 and I'm feeling so strong.

    Anyway, the point I wanted to drive home with this long story was, you CAN change your food preferences. You just have to make yourself eat those things you KNOW are good for you. After you've done that for a while, your brain will begin listening to your body's signals again, the way it is right and natural for it to do. Cravings are meant to let us know what our body really needs. Getting cravings for junk (Not going to even add the word "food" to the term, because it isn't food, really.) is about the lost communication between your body and your brain. You can retrain them to communicate again and then you will begin to get cravings for the foods you once thought you hated. Really! I know it's hard to imagine this, but it is so true.

    I wish you great strength and conviction as you are going through this transition. That period is the hardest, in our society. Do whatever it takes, with being your healthiest, your goal...and the slimming will just come naturally.

    Truth!
  • smh1067
    smh1067 Posts: 45 Member
    I don't like them either. I just work with the few I do like and then hide the rest from myself. You can add low flavor veggies to smoothies (a few cooked carrots or sweet potoato, a little cooked squash, even a handful of spinach!) or even the same ones to spaghetti or pizza sauce shredded or pureed up or even added to soup. I've found shredding carrots or dicing veggies up really small and adding them to foods I already like helps because then you don't get a big chunk of a flavor you don't like. I add shredded carrots to things like pasta salad and fajitas or quesidillas. It kind of introduces you to the flavor slowly (even if you only put one tiny chunk of that veggie in your meal the first time, you only have to eat it once). It sounds rediculous, but it really does work. I've taught myself to eat the veggies I do eat doing these things and gradually increasing the size of the chunks to get myself use to the flavor over time.

    I've gone from eating only corn to eating corn, potatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, onion, celery, spinach, carrots, squash, zucchini, kale, cucumber, sweet potato, avocado, leeks, and tomatos. Not saying I sit down and eat all of these with a fork with gusto, but they make it into my diet (and by diet I mean the types of food I eat, not that I'm on a diet). Some veggies remain small, some only get eaten in smoothies, some veggies don't make the cut at all (beans and peas still make me gag). Do the best you can do. I know fruit has a lot of sugar, but I can't get on board with the argument that sugar is sugar is sugar because a banana and a cookie will never be on the same nutritional plane for me.

    Like other posters have said, it's not a "diet," it's a lifestyle change. Find ways to eat healthier that you can stick with long term. And you know what, you can have a burger and fries if you want it that bad, just plan it into your day. If you set something off limits, you'll want it even more and it's not realistic to say you'll never eat a burger again. When you know you can have it, you might realize it's not worth the extra calories and not want it as much. If you feel like you're hungry all day, try losing at a little slower of a rate and then you won't feel so deprived. It'll take longer to get there, but at least you'll get there instead of getting frustrated and giving up. It's just figuring out what works for you personally. If vegetables never work, then they never work. Find other things that do.
  • mili5726
    mili5726 Posts: 116 Member
    Learn how to make green smoothies. They are delicious and you can put all sorts of greens in them without the taste
  • I know exactly how you feel.. I can't stand vegetables and quite a few times I've found them to come straight back up after I've eaten them..
    I bought a nicer dicer!!
    It is fantastic, it cuts food so small and I've been putting mushrooms, carrots and onion in dishes I love like spag bol, lasagne and cottage pie.
    I've been doing it in stuff like this to try and have red meat too. I am also a fussy eater and am trying to condition myself into eating vegetables..
    I also study psychology and I've found that conditioning works, and apparently so does heroin, but I wouldn't recommend that one lol..

    Just put the vegetables on your plate anyhow and tell yourself everyday that vegetables are good and that your going to beat that horrible green and your no longer gonna be afraid.. Sounds stupid but it really does work if you try
  • anjsdav
    anjsdav Posts: 34 Member
    Cut out sugar or drastically reduce the amount of sugar you consume then vegetables will taste a heck of a lot better. This is the same advice I received a few years ago from one of the owners of a Jamaican restaurant that lost over 50 lbs. It did it and now I crave what I once thought was bitter and yucky. It just took several months of reduced sugar intake for my taste buds to adjust. Hope this helps.
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
    In all honesty you sometimes have to eat what you don't like to start liking it.

    I didn't always like seafood/fish or all veggies, even some meats I wasn't very happy to eat but over time I got used to having them and learned to enjoy them and now I found that I more than enjoy a few of them... I love them!

    I grew up a steak, potatoes and carrots girl (my dad made it quite often) and breakfast was toast with PB, Jam or Cheese Whiz to give you an idea of how expansive my likes were back then.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    Sometimes, the difference between what you will and will not eat is 36 hours. (No, I am not suggesting you starve yourself. It's just that the word "hate" seems awfully strong for one's feelings towards foods.)
  • stratcat45
    stratcat45 Posts: 48 Member
    I suggest you visit these sites and get some ideas on new recipes or how to sneak veggies into other foods you eat:

    www.skinnytaste.com
    www.greenlitebites.com
    www.danicasdaily.com
    www.emilybites.com
    www.hungrygirl.com

    There are many more out there!!

    Also find a diet plan that works for YOU! Though I use this site, I follow the Weight Watchers plan mostly because it denies me absolutely no food.
  • Moneyinthejar
    Moneyinthejar Posts: 11 Member
    I am somewhat in the same boat, so I bought a Nutribullet (part of the Magic Bullet family of products). Every morning I add 1.5 cups of spinich, which has no taste (you can use whatever vegetables you want btw) and 1.5 cups of mixed fruit (whatever mixture you like), add cold water, blend and I have a delicious smoothie that tastes great and I have managed to get in a ton of fruits and veggies. I will eat other veggies throughout the day, but this at least get's in a good chunk for me right off the hop.
  • Try juicing and/ or smoothies as well. I'm not a big veggie either either but but making smoothies with Kale, broccoli, spinach etc and adding fruits to sweeten. Lots of recipes out there to get you started. Good luck
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    acjLK.gif

    EXACTLY. Don't give yourself excuses to not eat them. Learn to like them. Learn to love them. You need them. It's not negotiable!

    If someone doesn't like them, they don't like them. You don't suddenly "Learn" to love them. There's no way that telling myself "You LOVE broccoli" will convince me that I love it. I do not. Never have and nothing anyone says or does will make me eat it.

    Forcing yourself to eat things you don't like is why people FAIL at losing weight. You cut out every single thing you DO like and force yourself into a "I don't like these foods" exile. Not healthy and definitely not conducive to losing weight in a healthy way and keeping it off.

    I eat what I like (which is very few veggies - asparagus, carrots (NEVER cooked), corn, sweet potatoes and.. well, that's about it) and don't worry about the rest. I'm not going to force myself to consume things I don't like. Sorry. But. No.
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
    Okay I didn't read the rest of this thread so some of this advice was already posted BUT
    A lot of people have bad associations with vegetables from being forced to eat them when they were younger, and all around you there's this culture that says vegetables are a necessary evil and cake and cheeseburgers are treats that people enjoy. Challenge that idea and go in with a clear head. It may also help to try vegetables you've never had before!

    Start with the ways to hide them - drink veggie juice (I like Naked), try carrot cake muffins or something, tricolor pasta.

    People always try to encourage you to eat your veggies raw and without fatty dressing - screw that. Eat them how you like them.

    Personally I love to chop up broccoli, cover it in butter and steam it until it's soft. You can even try mixing that into something else you're eating, like mashed potatoes or pasta or something. Fatty dressing and butter helps you absorb the nutrients in veggies, and the veggies themselves have so few calories so go all out!

    Try your celery and carrots with peanut butter instead of ranch or something.
    Use veggie versions of other things - think spinach wraps instead of wheat or veggie cream cheese on your bagel. It really is the little servings that add up (:
  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
    the wheelchair always takes the longest to digest
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    Food is medicine. When you start thinking about it that way, vegetables become so much more appealing. I eat mostly vegan, so the idea of hating vegetables is foreign to me these days, but it wasn't always. I was raised eating junk food and if I ever even had vegetables, they were out of a can. I transitioned slowly. I thought I'd never like mushrooms, and then I started grilling and frying them. Kale sauteed is one of my favorite things. Sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus, grilled corn, roasted root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, etc.) – this stuff was all weird to me at once but these are now my comfort foods. Use the internet to your advantage! If you don't know how to prepare something, look it up. Preparing something the wrong way, especially a vegetable, can definitely leave a bad taste in your mouth. ;)

    ^^^THIS^^^ 1) Many people think they don't like vegetables because they don't know how to cook them. 2) As long as you are eating junk food, your body won't tell you what it really wants. (And believe me, IT wants vegetables, even if your mind tells you that you don't.) 3) Eating vegetables is vital to the health-building process. We often think that skinny is attractive when, in reality, it is healthy that is attractive. Good skin, erect posture, graceful movement, lustrous hair, clear eyes, good teeth and a well-developed musculo-skeletal system is attractive and eating right and exercising will lead to this---eating junk food and sitting on the couch will not. It all depends on how committed you are to building your health. When you are young, you have lots of reserves, but abuse your body long enough and you will lose what you have now. Please don't wait to get on the health train. Health is something you don't think about till it is gone (and trust me, I have learned this sad lesson--but I am working on building my health now.)
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
    Well you nailed your problem without realizing it. You are looking at food as pleasure so you don't want to eat what does not give you pleasure. This is the first thing you have to break in order to have any long term weight loss. If you don't discipline yourself you cannot be successful in the long run. Good news is your taste buds will adjust. Little by little you will begin to associate these veggies you hate with the pride you will feel when you get over your own obstacles and that will make them pleasant for you too.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    acjLK.gif

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: The funniest gif I have ever seen! Hahahahaha The only thing is that I think it should say, "Arghhh! I don't CARE that you don't like them! EAT...YOUR...VEGETABLES!"
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    acjLK.gif

    EXACTLY. Don't give yourself excuses to not eat them. Learn to like them. Learn to love them. You need them. It's not negotiable!

    If someone doesn't like them, they don't like them. You don't suddenly "Learn" to love them. There's no way that telling myself "You LOVE broccoli" will convince me that I love it. I do not. Never have and nothing anyone says or does will make me eat it.

    Forcing yourself to eat things you don't like is why people FAIL at losing weight. You cut out every single thing you DO like and force yourself into a "I don't like these foods" exile. Not healthy and definitely not conducive to losing weight in a healthy way and keeping it off.

    I eat what I like (which is very few veggies - asparagus, carrots (NEVER cooked), corn, sweet potatoes and.. well, that's about it) and don't worry about the rest. I'm not going to force myself to consume things I don't like. Sorry. But. No.

    I would respectfully disagree. I used to HATE vegetables--now I love them. I have learned to eat a whole new way (and I have lost 52 pounds). It necessitated going "cold turkey" on the junk food that I was addicted to. White flour and sugar were my drugs of choice but once I got them out of my diet, a whole new world of taste and nutrition opened up. I would NEVER go back to the dietary habits that I had in the past (and which contributed to my ill-health).
  • nekoface
    nekoface Posts: 149 Member
    Try hiding vegetables like carrots in mashed potatoes and in pasta sauce. Peas are also really easy to put in everything and eat without noticing.

    This is a good recipe for hidden vegetables pasta sauce: http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/children-age-4-10/hidden-vegetable-sauce
  • jsd_135
    jsd_135 Posts: 291 Member
    I can't just can't deal with texture either. They are either slimey or rubbery. BLAH! I just can't deal with it lol. I do HIGHLY APPRECIATE all of your suggestions. They all sound better than most things I could have thought of. I like the idea of eating what i want within reason and working out, which was my plan to begin with. I just wish I liked vegetables. Think a hypnotist would work?? lol :wink:

    You sound just like my son. He has major problems with texture. Anything wet or slippery--no go. He eats no fruit, but he does tolerate some vegetables. He generally likes raw or very lightly cooked vegetables (kohlrabi, sweet potatoes (raw only), broccoli, green beans, jicama. Crunchy is good. Could this be a start for you: baby carrots, raw broccoli, celery, etc.?

    Also, as others have noted, garlic (to me) makes almost anything taste great. Spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic is sublime, though you'd probably find it slimy. My son at a bit or two and survived. Said the taste was good but not the texture. If you're interested: de-stem and wash a bunch of spinach. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and a few cloves of crushed garlic in a skillet on medium heat, until the garlic is sizzling (30 seconds to a minute). Don't let the garlic brown. Add spinach leaves and toss until wilted, 2 or 3 minutes. Season with salt. Enjoy!
  • jsd_135
    jsd_135 Posts: 291 Member
    I used to hate peppers of any kind. Didn't matter what color they were, if they were bell, Cubanelle, or tiny little sweet ones. But I decided that I don't like being "picky". I don't like being the only adult pulling pieces of food from her dish in public. I don't like having the palette of a child and not being able to relate to what my friends and colleagues are discussing when we talk about food. I don't like offending my friends and potential friends, by telling them what I won't eat when they make a meal and invite me over.

    So I sat down with a cut up green pepper and ate it in tiny bites, tasting every single flavor for what it is, not what I wished it would taste like or what it tastes similar to. I ate bigger bites, and I started adding that to other food, like eggs and stir-fry. I started eating them along side other things. I didn't hate them anymore. I tried different ones, I grilled them. I stuffed them with awesome stuff. And guess what? I actually love peppers. I would gladly grow and eat them.

    If you really want to change your habits, you have to actually do something about it. You can't expect it to change on its own. There's a big world out there full of other cultures and foods. Good luck.

    Great story. You nailed one of the problems of picky eating--wishing the despised thing tasted like something else. Good for you figuring this out. It gives me hope that my son might get to this point when he's older.