I don't eat Veggies

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I'm 33 and I don't eat veggies and never have besides a salad here and there. I wish I would like veggies cause it would probably help me have energy and help to eat healthier but I just cant do it. Is there anything I can take that will somewhat substitute not eating veggies? I was thinking about trying the IdealShape Shakes to get some nutrients in my body. Any suggestions on what can help.

Thank You
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Replies

  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    Remove processed crap from your diet & over time you'll start enjoying veggies again. They should make up a main source of your food (top two at least). I hated beans, but now I love them!

    There was. Coffee study done - if you switched your brand of coffee for seven days- you end up liking that brand more! Maybe that's why McDonald's did all those free 2 week long free coffee days! The same might work for veggies, who knows?
  • RhiannonLeighh
    RhiannonLeighh Posts: 46 Member
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    You can take all the vitamins and supplements in the world, but nothing beats veggies! Most meal replacement shakes just create a jelly hunk in you that tricks your body into thinking it's full because your stomach can't digest it. and even the onces with nutrients can't give you everything.
    It's just a matter of finding recipes you like.

    - Mashed potato: Use sweet potato and normal potato, and add a little crushed garlic. Yum!
    - Roasted veggies are easy and tasty : Try roasting carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, eggplant, corn, onion, garlic, and capsicum. Use rosemary, parsley, garlic flakes, cracked pepper, any herb you like to flavour and drizzle sparingly with olive oil. Whack 'em in the oven and BAM! A delicious, easy and healthy dinner.
    - My favourite salad: baby spinach, red onion, cherry tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, avocado. It's simple and is good for you. Try replacing lettuce with spinach goodness (and taste IMO), and sprinkle with sunflower seeds and pepitas for crunch and nutrients. Make your own dressing, or use balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar for taste without the fat and preservatives that come with store bought dressings.
    - Bolognese: 600g lean mince, 1 diced onion, 1 diced capsicum, 1 grated carrot, 3/4 cup peas, 1-2 tsp crushed garlic, 1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms, 1 tub of tomato paste, 1 bottle of your favorite pasta sauce (I like dolmio's garlic and red wine), 1 tin of crushed tomatoes (If needed). Cook mince, onion, and garlic. Add other veges. When slightly softened, add pasta sauce and tomato paste. If needed add crushed tomatoes. Stir and simmer with lid on until veges are soft and it smells delicious. Serve with wholemeal pasta and a little parmesan. You won't even know your eating that many veges!
    - Vege bake: Use the same recipe you would for potato bake, just add sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini etc.
  • ClairBears84
    ClairBears84 Posts: 531 Member
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    I would try different ways of making veg , I LOVE THEM

    I do also drink a shake though so that i get enough vit and min in :smile:
    I drink herbalife as part of a healthy diet and not as a substitute
  • BubblesxDear
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    Smoothies, fruit bowl products or add some to your salads now and then
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    There are so many types of veggies out there...are you sure you hate ALL of them? Try different ones, cooked and seasoned in different ways, until you find what you like... you're bound to like SOME of them.
  • annams76
    annams76 Posts: 161 Member
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    I was the same way for the longest time but just like the one person said. Just eat them for a week and you start to like them or at least get used to them. Def find different ways to make them. For me, I cannot eat spinach cooked but love it raw and cannot eat tomatoes raw but can eat them cooked. LOL Just experiment and season them.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
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    I agree with the people suggesting you just try all sorts of veggies and prepare them in different ways. You can always throw tons of veggies into soups, sauces, stir frys, etc. Big salads are great, too. It seems a lot of people find "green smoothies" made with fresh leafy greens to be the way forward as well. Raw veggies with or without dipping sauces can be nice, too.
  • KatjaO
    KatjaO Posts: 71
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    I would also try to learn to like veggies. How's marinara sauce, tomato sauce on pizza? If those taste ok, tomato soup should be pretty tasty too.

    Leek & potato soup? Potato & broccoli work too (similar to cream of broccoli, but lighter).

    How about carrot or zucchini in muffins, breads etc? You can even make a beet chocolate cake. Not that those are healthy (healthier than without the veggie!) but that would help with the absolute no to veggies. Look up a winter roll recipe online, one that has squash in it. I recently fed those to an inlaw that does not eat ANY veggies - he had 3 rolls!

    Look at sneaky chef recipes - sneak in a bit of mashed butternut squash into mashed potatoes, any pureed (non green) cooked vegetable into that pizza sauce (start with small amounts), do you like pesto? Try adding just a bit of cooked broccoli into that, or spinach. How about hacking spinach into as small as parsley and then adding a bit to your eggs? Increasing the amount very slowly. In general match the color of the sneaky vegetable to what you are sneaking it into to avoid making nasty colored things - think painting and mixing colors :)

    In general, I find that the vegetables that I did not like growing up, were nasty since my mom did not know how to cook them! Overcooked asparagus and brusselsprouts are just nasty!
  • THExNEKOxCHAN
    THExNEKOxCHAN Posts: 134 Member
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    Learn to like them, I say. If you want to start off easy, there are (time consuming) ways of preparing purees that you can add to other foods to "hide" the veggies. Personally, pick something simple, like carrots, and steam them up, see if you like them. I put butter on mine, they're nice that way. Make it a game. What new veg can you add to your dinner each night? Will it be spinach or silverbeet? Kale? Beets? Cabbage? Green beans?

    You can add them to sauces too: I have a friend who puts mushrooms, sweet potato, carrot, etc in her spaghetti sauce. I like making a chicken and rice casserole that has a creamy gravy and broccoli added. Try serving dark leafy greens with butter and lemon juice (the butter and lemon juice help you to utilize the nutrients).

    Veggies are pretty versatile. Have fun with it.
  • tanyad31
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    Thanks everyone for all the advice. I'm one of those picky eaters, my family hates eating with me. With pizza I pick everything off besides pepperoni and sausage. I don't like onion and tomatoes on my burgers. When we go to restaurants I ask to substitute my veggies for more mashed potatoes. For some reason I just can't seem to eat them. I do cook them for my family, I don't want my kids to be like me. Im going to try some different recipes and hopefully I can find something I like. I think since I never eat veggies and never have I've got very bad memory loss at 32 years old. Im realizing now that my body is telling me that I need it but my mind is telling me ick. Thanks again everyone I'll try a little harder to find someway I can like it.
  • Goldenbast
    Goldenbast Posts: 227 Member
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    I am in your boat. I HATE vegetables. Well, most vegetables..there are a few I like. It is really annoying to have people tell you, "learn to like vegetables". I have tried that..forced myself to eat them for weeks, gagging the whole way and it still made no difference. I still hate them. With that in mind:

    Try various ways of cooking them as was suggested earlier. I was surprised to find that certain methods of preparation made me like some. For example I can eat them in vegetable beef soup. Dunno why, but nearly all veggies I hate I can eat in a beefy broth soup.

    TRICK YOURSELF! If you have anything with a sauce like pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce...grate up some carrot, celery, anything...dice it up into itty bitty bits and you won't even taste it. :)

    I did this with omelets as well, I diced up onions, peppers and mushrooms into tiny bits and cooked it in the eggs with crumbled turkey bacon..was great. Curiously enough..I hate mushrooms but love them on pizza...go figure. *shrug* You can manage to add veggies if you make them small enough to eat without tasting them too much.

    Just remember that if you can manage to sneak them into your meals GREAT! Some is better than none, and eventually you will find ways to eat them without gagging. :)
  • cmdragonia
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    I'm exactly like you too. I hate vegetables, and certain ones when they are cooking make me gag horribly. What I do as a substitution is Greek yogurt (can't have too much calcium), and a ton of fruit. It's very hard to try to "get used to" certain things that have disgusted you for so long (I tell my family that eating a salad is like eating fresh cut grass clippings). Try drinking the juices with vegetables, but peel the label off so you can't tell the difference (for me personally, I tried this on a dare from my friends and did a blind taste test and could taste the carrot in it immediately, but hopefully your palate isn't as sensitive), and I agree with added shredded carrot and celery in soup/sauce. An emmulson (immersion) blender/food processor really helps with this so that you can't even see the vegetables. Hope you succeed on your veggie journey!
  • jenniferwren
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    Your body really really needs vegetables for digestive health!!! No supplement in the world can be substituted for bowel and colon health!! Think of veges as sweeping out your insides to reduce your cancer risks!!!
  • scott1111111
    scott1111111 Posts: 53 Member
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    It has already been said but I will repeat.

    Try different veggies different ways, roasting in my opinion is the king of veggie prep. My wife was always a picky eater but she has been learning different ways to cook and eat them as I have shown her how.

    Here is a recent favorite of hers that we tried and it turned out really good.

    Preheat oven to 425°. Cut 1 head cauliflower into florets; toss on a large rimmed baking sheet with 1 sliced medium onion, 4 thyme sprigs, 4 unpeeled garlic cloves, and 3 tablespoons olive oil; season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast, tossing occasionally, until almost tender, 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, toss to combine, and roast until cauliflower is tender, 10-12 minutes longer.


    Nutritional Information
    4 servings, 1 serving contains:
    Calories (kcal) 220
    Fat (g) 15
    Saturated Fat (g) 4.5
    Cholesterol (mg) 15
    Carbohydrates (g) 11
    Dietary Fiber (g) 3
    Total Sugars (g) 4
    Protein (g) 9
    Sodium (mg) 410
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    I would also try to learn to like veggies. How's marinara sauce, tomato sauce on pizza? If those taste ok, tomato soup should be pretty tasty too.

    LIES! I love veggies and I think tomato soup is gross!

    In general, I find that the vegetables that I did not like growing up, were nasty since my mom did not know how to cook them! Overcooked asparagus and brusselsprouts are just nasty!

    TRUTH. Turns out I hate *canned* peas, not peas themselves,

    Try them roasted - easy to do, easy to clean up, easy to enjoy! We eat roasted green beans with put fingers.
  • nashai01
    nashai01 Posts: 536 Member
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    Hi, I hate veggies and fruits but I drink a supplement everyday called Dynamic fruits and greens. Plus I started eating some green beans and grapes and apples lately, but the supplement really helps for people who hate veggies and fruits like myself.
  • 10kaday
    10kaday Posts: 177
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    Try eating frozen broccoli right out of the bag frozen. Like popcorn. I know it sounds weird, but it doesn't even taste like cooked broccoli. It's more like ice. Even my daughter (almost 5) --it's the only way she eats her veggies. I get myself a cup of frozen veg and she requests one too. It's awesome! :D
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    You can make smoothies and stuff green veggies in there, you can never taste them that way, all you taste is fruit.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I grew up eating some veggies because my mom planned meals and every meal had to include one. Often it was just frozen mixed veggies, reheated. Or frozen broccoli or cauliflower, steamed.

    When I was 26 I found out I had a condition that raised my risks of future bad health, and I read up on things that reduced the chances of getting that disease. One thing that kept coming up was veggies – especially “cruciferous” veggies – the cabbage family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, etc). I decided I was going to start eating them and learn to like them. I figured anything that reduced my risk of pain and death was probably worth trying. I looked up a bunch of recipes and then just did it. At first, I thought of my veggies as just something I had to get through. I’d eat a serving first to get it over with. But as I ate more of them more often, I realized I was liking them for themselves, not just as something I had promised myself I would eat.

    Moral? Start by figuring out one thing you are willing to eat. Frozen peas and carrots? Green beans? Stock your freezer and commit to putting a half-cup on your dinner plate every day. Habits become easier, foods become familiar and tastier. Branch out – baby carrots? Broccoli?

    If you need to add something to make it go down, at first, I’d do it. I still eat my kale sautéed in oil with lots of garlic. Butter your green beans. Heck, add cheese sauce at first if you need to (but not too much). My kids learned to love asparagus when I roasted it with lots of olive oil and salt and sprinkled it with grated parmesan.
  • moustache_flavored_lube
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    You really need to eat veggies to be healthy.

    You don't like them because you don't eat them. Make a commitment to consume them with every meal. The fresher. and less cooked , the better they taste.

    With in a few months you will like veggies.

    what you like / don't like is far more a factor of your eating habits, than some genetic predisposition for "taste". You can change it if you want to