What to do if you’re a picky eater?

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xxxTiaxxx
xxxTiaxxx Posts: 310 Member
in Food and Nutrition
One thing that has messed my diets up is the fact that I don’t like many foods. I try everything but I don’t like a lot. I’ve tried to follow meal plans but I don’t like half of the items on there so I eat even less than what I should be. Can anyone relate or have any tips on how to incorporate food I don’t like but should eat?

I’m making smoothies right now and adding a lot of fruit so I’m getting in all the stuff I wouldn’t normally eat on its own. I’m actually trying and not just saying no this time =)
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Replies

  • allshebe
    allshebe Posts: 423 Member
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    What DO you like to eat? Plan your meals around that. For an eating plan to be sustainable, you have to like the food items, whether you need to lose, gain or sustain. I mostly don't like many fruits, so I don't eat them. Ah, well. I DO like many vegetables, so I eat lots of that. You should be able to find a balance from what you do like to eat without having to choke too much yucky stuff down. (On the other hand, you "might" need to moderate some things you really do like - depending on what they are)
  • belligerent599
    belligerent599 Posts: 40
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    What to do? Learn to not be so picky is the best thing. I don't like having to commute for hours in heavy traffic but I do like being able to pay my bills. Find things you're willing to tolerate and maybe eventually you will get used to them and then branch out further. I used to hate onions and mushrooms but now I like both a lot.
  • xxxTiaxxx
    xxxTiaxxx Posts: 310 Member
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    Well I guess it's just that easy. Don't be picky. Thanks for the advice. I'm now off to not be picky....
  • xxxTiaxxx
    xxxTiaxxx Posts: 310 Member
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    What DO you like to eat? Plan your meals around that. For an eating plan to be sustainable, you have to like the food items, whether you need to lose, gain or sustain. I mostly don't like many fruits, so I don't eat them. Ah, well. I DO like many vegetables, so I eat lots of that. You should be able to find a balance from what you do like to eat without having to choke too much yucky stuff down. (On the other hand, you "might" need to moderate some things you really do like - depending on what they are)

    I think if it was up to me I'd eat just meat lol. I know the stuff I have to eat that will help me in the long run but I just hate all of it. I'm like a little kid who wont eat veg but will only eat it if I know it's not on my plate. A lot of the "good stuff" I don't even now to to cook or prep. My knowledge and pallet is pretty limited especially when it comes to green things.
  • AllisonMarisa
    AllisonMarisa Posts: 74 Member
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    I'm a fairly picky eater and a lot of it for me is just "developing taste" for some of the healthy items that maybe you don't think taste so great. I do this by mixing it with food I do like. So if I make a stirfry I have 3 things I like in there, and 1 thing I don't or say if I am making a sandwich I'll add one thing on there I'm a little unsure of. Slowly I just develop a taste for it.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    What DO you like to eat? Plan your meals around that. For an eating plan to be sustainable, you have to like the food items, whether you need to lose, gain or sustain. I mostly don't like many fruits, so I don't eat them. Ah, well. I DO like many vegetables, so I eat lots of that. You should be able to find a balance from what you do like to eat without having to choke too much yucky stuff down. (On the other hand, you "might" need to moderate some things you really do like - depending on what they are)

    I think if it was up to me I'd eat just meat lol. I know the stuff I have to eat that will help me in the long run but I just hate all of it. I'm like a little kid who wont eat veg but will only eat it if I know it's not on my plate. A lot of the "good stuff" I don't even now to to cook or prep. My knowledge and pallet is pretty limited especially when it comes to green things.

    Maybe start checking out different ways of preparing vegetables? There are lots of websites that offer suggestions on different ways to cook green things.
  • cindybpitts
    cindybpitts Posts: 213 Member
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    My picky eating is what messes me up too!! I dont like raw vegetables ( cant make myself eat them because I will heave!),do not like avocados, tuna fish, hummus,...white rice & brown rice are eatable but dont care for it at all. I make soup every Sunday to eat for lunch all week. That helps get cooked veggies in me. Anything that is healthy to eat that I like, I have eaten it over & over til Im almost sick of it. Im already worried about what I will eat if I get tired of soup and I am getting tired of soup. I cook london broils,pork tender lions, ham, shrimp but that is getting old. I looked at a healthy eating website for new things to cook..I went through 12 pages and give up. It was'nt one thing I would eat. Quinoa is ok in soup but wont eat it any other way. I have tried new things..Im proud of myself for that. Tried turkey burger and heaved so that didnt work. I dont eat any ground up meat (gross!) Thank God for eggs & cheese! I will eat a salad but blu cheese is the only dressing I will eat and that defeats the purpose. Dont like sweet potatoes, never have. Dont like yogurt either..tried putting yogurt in a smoothie but didnt like that either.

    On a good note I did put spinach in a smoothie and I couldnt taste it so I do that from time to time. It`s hard when you really try but just cant stomach the food you should eat.
  • saitiffeh
    saitiffeh Posts: 251 Member
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    This is my problem exactly!

    First I'd have to say, ask yourself WHY you are a picky and WHAT foods you are picky towards. For example, I am not a fan of vegetables. I like potatoes and carrots and that's about it. Peas and corn... the easy stuff. And I always thought I hated broccoli. So I tried doing something different. Instead of boiling it to death, I've learned I like it a little soft with just a hint of crunch. I just hated the sogginess! I've learned that I like lettuce as long as it's fresh and crunchy... I hate when its soggy! I'm still not a huge fan of lettuce but I can do it!

    So as yourself what you dislike, what it is about that food that you don't enjoy, and brainstorm ways to prepare that food which might help you enjoy it more.

    Good luck!
  • kburns0709
    kburns0709 Posts: 297 Member
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    If it's bad enough that it affects your life significantly, you could always see a therapist. Yours probably isn't as bad, but mine was ridiculous, it was like what you'd see on TLC or something. Basically it turned out to be OCD and I'm on medication for it and I never would have thought it would be something like that. I'm totally normal now.
  • jacknblack
    jacknblack Posts: 9
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    I haven't tried it yet but I've seen a lot of smoothie recipes that have spinach mixed in with fruit, supposedly you can't taste the spinach, maybe you should look up some of those recipes and give it a try :)
  • spaghetti93
    spaghetti93 Posts: 140 Member
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    I used to be extremely picky until my mid teens. I would eat cereal or pasta for pretty much every meal and hardly anything else. I also had a texture thing when I was a child and wouldn't eat yogurt/pudding/etc. for a couple of years. If theres a reason other than just not liking the taste of some food, identify what that might be and try to confront it. Recently I started trying food I didn't think I liked once, and if i didn't like it then I'd try it again later and maybe find out I was actually ok with it. For example back in september I ate an egg and hated it and in January I tried one again and have been eating them ever since. (It was both a texture and taste thing this time.) I have no idea why I suddenly started liking them, but just continue to try foods you're not used to and maybe you will be surprised. (Maybe not, but it's worth it.) But if your pickiness isn't a major problem and you can get a somewhat balanced diet, I don't think you need to worry excessively. Just eat what you like, there's no reason to make yourself miserable and forcing things you dont like if you dont absolutely need to!
  • carlysuzanne85
    carlysuzanne85 Posts: 204 Member
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    I've seen advertisements for cookbooks for parents with recipes that "hide" vegetables to get their kids to eat vegetables without knowing it. Like adding puréed spinach to meatloaf or something. Maybe something like that would help you! :)
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    get over it and try new things. they won't kill you. :smile:

    but honestly, take a cooking class or grab a new cook book. learn to cook better. most of us can't cook so the recipes we make are repetitive, boring and bland.
  • xxxTiaxxx
    xxxTiaxxx Posts: 310 Member
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    See these are the responses I like.. People who are actually giving advice, relating and telling their own story. So thanks for that. I’m not as bad as some of the stories on here, I was more looking for advice on how to cook it or eat veggies in ways that I won’t even notice they are there. Advice from parents who dish these things up to their unknowing children is good. That’s the way I want to go lol.

    I loved Cindybpitts’ suggestion about the soup. Even the couple suggestions with the spinach in the smoothie. I want to try those.
  • cindybpitts
    cindybpitts Posts: 213 Member
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    I haven't tried it yet but I've seen a lot of smoothie recipes that have spinach mixed in with fruit, supposedly you can't taste the spinach, maybe you should look up some of those recipes and give it a try :)
    This is true! I tried it and I could not taste the spinach.
  • cindybpitts
    cindybpitts Posts: 213 Member
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    See these are the responses I like.. People who are actually giving advice, relating and telling their own story. So thanks for that. I’m not as bad as some of the stories on here, I was more looking for advice on how to cook it or eat veggies in ways that I won’t even notice they are there. Advice from parents who dish these things up to their unknowing children is good. That’s the way I want to go lol.

    I loved Cindybpitts’ suggestion about the soup. Even the couple suggestions with the spinach in the smoothie. I want to try those.
    I always do either beef broth, chicken broth or vegetable broth...then add onions,celery,carrots, spinach...maybe some string beans, squash,..sometimes I add chicken or beef for added protein..this week I added barley. Quinoa is ok added too & kidney beans. Someone told me today to look at skinnytaste.com. Heard it was good food that I may like.
  • Gwyn1969
    Gwyn1969 Posts: 181 Member
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    I was more looking for advice on how to cook it or eat veggies in ways that I won’t even notice they are there.

    Veggies in curry or stir fry can end up just tasting like the meat or the sauce that you use for the dish.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
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    I like about twice as many foods now as I did when I was overweight.

    As you incorporate more healthy foods into your diet, your taste buds become more sensitive to the healthy stuff - more sensitive to sweet, sour, spice, and fat.

    Find varieties of healthy food you can stomach and stay with them. For example if you don't like raw apples, maybe try unsweetened applesauce, or bake / puree them into a bread mix. If you are not the biggest fan of bananas, try freezing them and using them in smoothies with chocolate protein powder and sweetener.

    A lot of foods can be made more desirable by changing the texture, cooking them, or masking them with other ingredients.

    You have about 50 common fruit and vegetable species to choose from, so you'll probably find one or two that you can eat regularly. :)
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
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    Find the stuff that you aren't keen on but would describe as 'not too bad'. Make them with a bunch of things you know you do like, then bargain with yourself that you'll just have a bit of the new thing, then a bit of the stuff you like, then a bit of the new thing again.

    It's said that you have to give a child a new food around 12 times before they learn to like it. With my children, I expected them to try a bit each meal and then they could leave it. This meant they ended up eating and liking the food in most cases - I wasn't forcing them to eat loads of something they didn't like. But they didn't get to say they didn't like it unless they tried it more than once.

    This results in my two genuinely not liking butternut squash or sweet potato, but loving cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beans and pretty much all other veg. And one loves all fruit, the other only really likes apples, grapes, strawberries and orange juice.

    I suppose you work with what you've got. What do you like?
  • alli_baba
    alli_baba Posts: 232 Member
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    When I was in grad school, I dated a guy who would not eat vegetables or fruit. His diet mainstays were pizza, hamburgers, and fries. So I coaxed him into more vegetables and fruit by adding them to his favorite foods.

    For example, he loved macaroni and cheese. I incorporated some cut up broccoli to the dish and he loved it (swore he couldn't even taste the broccoli). Instead of french fries, I would bake "fries" by tossing sliced potato (or sweet potato) with a bit of oil and baking in the oven instead of deep frying. Quesadillas were always a hit because I could "hide" any vegetable in with the melted cheese and meat in the tortilla. Sliced fruit on ice cream or frozen yogurt went over well as did chocolate-dipped fruit.

    The smoothie idea is great -- I still use smoothies as way to pack in vegetables (carrots are really great in smoothies as well as spinach). I second the idea of using chocolate protein powder -- especially in "green" smoothies.

    Learning to cook really helps -- once you get started, you'll find more and more ways to make healthy eating tasty.

    Good luck!

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