But I don't like <insert name of food here> !!!

Mindful_Trent
Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
edited September 21 in Food and Nutrition
So many times I've seen people on the boards flippantly say that they won't eat one thing or another because they don't like it. Ex - anything other than iceberg lettuce (which is the most useless/nutritionless of lettuces!), beans, veggies without added salt/sauces, etc.

Doesn't being an adult mean making the choices that are best for you even if there are other choices you would rather make?

Sure, some of the chocies (ex. iceberg lettuce vs spinach) may not be exactly good vs. evil :laugh: However, by completely writing off a whole group of foods because you "don't like it" , you are seriously depriving yourself of what could be a much more nutritious and varied diet. Plus, I've learned that tastebuds can be retrained, if you keep eating foods that may not be your favorite. I used to not like salads very much, but after eating them regularly over the last year and learning to make GOOD salads full of lots of veggies and fun ingredients like nuts/seeds, beans, protein, etc., I love them! (And I don't even use dressing any more!)

To all my MFP friends (and whoever else reads this) - please don't be afraid to try new things, or to eat foods that may not be your favorite. You're doing yourself a favor! You just have to stop telling yourself that you won't like it - words/thoughts do have power, and you can convince yourself of something before it's even entered your mouth. Give things a fair chance. Try cooking it different ways. Food preparation can seriously make ALL the difference. My mom has always hated eggplant, but when I made eggplant parmesan (with properly prepared eggplant), she said she liked it and would eat it again! Make yourself try something several times, using different preparation methods before deciding you won't eat it again. And even then... it might be worth revisiting now and then.
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Replies

  • sexylonglegs
    sexylonglegs Posts: 278
    i tried yogurt and i can honestly say i hate it. :laugh:
  • MystcDrmr
    MystcDrmr Posts: 36 Member
    i love yougurt but i have never tried eggplant but im willing to try it
  • loopybec2002
    loopybec2002 Posts: 313 Member
    I have found my fitness pal very useful and everybody on here has been very friendly but to be honest I cannot believe you are trying to be little people but me in particular from another post. Yes I am an adult and yes I make my own choice and if I do not like any other lettuce than Iceberg than I shall not eat it no matter what the nutritional information is on spinach and I don’t want to retrain my tastebuds I eat what I like and don’t eat what I don’t like. If I start eating the food I don’t like for the sake of losing weight and becoming healthy I wouldn’t last very long. My food is working for me and I am losing weight. I have eaten iceburg lettuce almost every working day for the last 4months and it has no effect on your life I do not take kindly to being told what I can and cannot eat just because you think you know best.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    Funny, the title of your post indicates you want a list of hated foods but the body of your message is encouraging eat new things, don’t hate anything. We'll I do try almost everything and don't particularly hate anything but I'm going with the list-idea from your subject line just for fun.

    I HATE CHEESE! Luckily cheese is fattening so that works in my favour &
    I DISLIKE SEAFOOD it’s just so squishy, ewww! That being said I DO eat fish and have stomached shrimp on occasion however shrimp is low cal but so high in cholesterol so again, it’s not a bad food to hate.
  • Amarillo_NDN
    Amarillo_NDN Posts: 1,018 Member
    I hear what you are saying. 10 years a go, I wouldn't touch a salad, now I make them my self to eat. No way in hell would I eat anything that had celery in it, till my friend cooked some thing for me and after I told her how much I love it, found out it had celery in it. In her case, she chopped it up so finely, I couldn't tell it was there.
  • Cina04
    Cina04 Posts: 609
    Very picky eater here and trying to eat "healthy" didn't work out too well.

    For example tried turkey bacon and yeah I tell myself this is good for you but it hasn't.

    I still eat "regular" bacon in moderation and still lose weight =)
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
    I LOVE eggplant! I was the weird kid who ate all those vegetables but wouldn't touch fruit! Though my excuse is that they literally make me ill (Seriously, half an apple makes me vomit). So it's not a matter of retraining tastebuds it's more like my pancreas super overproduces insulin when I eat sugars. D:
  • loopybec2002
    loopybec2002 Posts: 313 Member
    Heather mine is the stinging nettle lettuce I can't touch the stuff but most other food i love can't stand the texture of bananas either but surely give him 5 minutes and there will be another post regarding that!
  • Maggie1960
    Maggie1960 Posts: 322
    I have to admit, there's very few foodstuffs I haven't tried in my lifetime, and there's pretty much nothing I can say I genuinely don't like. I think the only think I say I would rather not eat is Turkish delight! And I wouldn't consider eating that anyway, it's not part of a healthy diet.:bigsmile:
    Iceberg lettuce may have poor nutritional value, but it sure jazzes up a ham sandwich!
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    I hate bananas! hate 'em!
  • ChubbieTubbie
    ChubbieTubbie Posts: 481 Member
    I'm very, very picky! I found it works in my favor, though. I've convinced myself that I hate Burger King (where I used to eat 3x per week) and now the mere idea of it repulses me. :laugh:
  • carolstrange0
    carolstrange0 Posts: 134
    I dont like: tuna, cottage cheese, beets (there's more but i cant think now... sleepie)
    :yawn:
  • raelbee
    raelbee Posts: 219 Member
    I completely agree...and have thought the same things when reading the boards. Thank you for posting this open letter of encouragement :)

    Part of my motivation for wanting to lose weight, get fit, become healthy has been wanting to "eat like and adult" - which for me means staying away from the junk and having an open mind when it comes to food. I felt that eating all the sugary junk that had filled my life that last couple of years was not the kind of lifestyle that i wanted to continue, or a good example to set for my daughter. It was a mental shift, but one that was necessary for me to embrace health and wellness. I started eating clean, for the most part, and am now much more open-minded towards foods that fit into this healthy lifestyle. It takes baby steps, but ones we are all capable of attaining. We won't like everything, but we should at least give it a try...or taste :)
  • gambitsgurl
    gambitsgurl Posts: 632 Member
    I hate tomatoes. And I won't eat them. At all. Ever. EVAH. (not even ketchup)
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
    I have found my fitness pal very useful and everybody on here has been very friendly but to be honest I cannot believe you are trying to be little people but me in particular from another post. Yes I am an adult and yes I make my own choice and if I do not like any other lettuce than Iceberg than I shall not eat it no matter what the nutritional information is on spinach and I don’t want to retrain my tastebuds I eat what I like and don’t eat what I don’t like. If I start eating the food I don’t like for the sake of losing weight and becoming healthy I wouldn’t last very long. My food is working for me and I am losing weight. I have eaten iceburg lettuce almost every working day for the last 4months and it has no effect on your life I do not take kindly to being told what I can and cannot eat just because you think you know best.

    I had no idea that this is what the thread was about.

    Frankly there is a difference between making excuses to NOT lose weight (I "can't" because blah blah blah) and simply stating "I don't like this but I make it work for me."

    Kudo's for you for figuring out your body and what makes it work. It's cool if you can completely change your lifestyle to only eating organic noms but there's also nothing wrong with sticking to your guns and working with portion control. Life is about happiness.
  • nehtaeh
    nehtaeh Posts: 2,849 Member
    I don't like most cooked veggies. I have tried a lot but just don't like them. I have to disagree that being an adult doesn't mean that I have to eat cooked veggies because they are good for me. I can still eat healthy without having to gag on a cooked broccoli. Just the smell of cooked broccoli is disgusting. I will eat it raw though!

    I have become more open with trying things, but I will not eat things that I don't like simply because they are healthy.
  • Beebee78
    Beebee78 Posts: 703
    Growing up I would NEVER eat meat. Any meat. I hated the texture and would throw up if my mother tried to make me eat it. However when I met my husband, his Mum used to cooke for me and I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't like it so I started to try it. I eat practically any meat 14 years later and eat things some other people would struggle too - all it took was learning to enjoy the flavour rather than concentrate on an obsession with the texture - ground or minced beef was the worst - I now eat 200g of extra lean for breakfast! xxx
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    I have to admit, there's very few foodstuffs I haven't tried in my lifetime, and there's pretty much nothing I can say I genuinely don't like. I think the only think I say I would rather not eat is Turkish delight! And I wouldn't consider eating that anyway, it's not part of a healthy diet.:bigsmile:
    Iceberg lettuce may have poor nutritional value, but it sure jazzes up a ham sandwich!

    Awww Turkish Delight is awesome!!! It’s a long jube jube covered in chocolate, how can you go wrong!!!!
  • jenni185
    jenni185 Posts: 23
    i tried yogurt and i can honestly say i hate it. :laugh:

    My sentiments exactly...
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  • stringcheeze
    stringcheeze Posts: 286
    I'm fortunate -- or perhaps unfortunate, that's what got me into this situation in the first place -- to have yet meet a food I didn't like. :wink: I blame that on my mother who had the rule that we had to try at least a spoonful of whatever we found questionable before leaving the table.

    Well, except for anchovies -- every time I try them again, I'm reminded why I couldn't get through one the last time.

    You're completely right; foods we didn't like as a kid and keep stigma over can cloud our judgement as adults. Taste buds change throughout your life -- give baby spinach a try if you don't like regular spinach. If you don't like butternut squash, give sweet dumpling squash a try. And don't write it off immediately either; maybe try a different prep method.
  • VeryKerri
    VeryKerri Posts: 359 Member
    I can understand one point in accountant_boy's argument though, I have been trying new healthy things also and having to try them severla times until I find that I do like them. ie carrots.... I never liked them before and now find that I love them.
  • Cina04
    Cina04 Posts: 609
    oh! I tried skinny cow ice cream products - yucky!!

    I managed to find ice cream that have the same cals as skinny cow and still yummy! Or I go to Mc D's and get a small ice cream cone and it's only 150cals!! =)
  • FlashBang
    FlashBang Posts: 136
    I have discovered avocados are not just for guacamole. Love them on everything. This morning we only had 4 oz of milk and I needed 8 for my post workout drink. We had some buttermilk left over from a cake we made so I finished it off with that and some Ovaltine. It was terrible, will never do that again! But is was worth a shot.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    I have found my fitness pal very useful and everybody on here has been very friendly but to be honest I cannot believe you are trying to be little people but me in particular from another post. Yes I am an adult and yes I make my own choice and if I do not like any other lettuce than Iceberg than I shall not eat it no matter what the nutritional information is on spinach and I don’t want to retrain my tastebuds I eat what I like and don’t eat what I don’t like. If I start eating the food I don’t like for the sake of losing weight and becoming healthy I wouldn’t last very long. My food is working for me and I am losing weight. I have eaten iceburg lettuce almost every working day for the last 4months and it has no effect on your life I do not take kindly to being told what I can and cannot eat just because you think you know best.

    I'm sorry you felt I was singling you out. I wasn't. If I wanted to, I would've responded on the other post - but I didn't want to do that, so I started a new thread, and I made it pretty general. You're not the only one who has said they only like iceberg lettuce.
  • sallyLunn
    sallyLunn Posts: 381
    I'll eat a banana if I have to, but I don't like them.
    I'll eat yogurt if I have to, but I don't like it.

    The fact is, I'll eat anything if I have to but left to my own devices, I will choose foods I enjoy.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    Just to clarify - I'm not saying that people should force themselves to eat foods they hate, I'm just saying that people need to open their minds and give a variety of foods a fair chance. Too many people seriously limit what they eat because they're either afraid to try new things or they've just always thought they hated something. It's why so many people don't eat enough veggies - they get bored of the few they do eat and end up not eating enough. Many people hate things as a kid, and learn they love them as an adult.

    Try something new every week, and before you write something off, try a different preparation method - it really can make a huge difference. I hate cooked carrots by themselves, but as part of stew/soup, I don't even notice them.
  • lilac67
    lilac67 Posts: 311
    I would love to eat cantaloupe and fish, but I can't get it down. I can't even stomach tuna anymore. It's so good for you and low in calories. I'd love some suggestions if you have any!
  • KPaden1221
    KPaden1221 Posts: 433
    i can honestly say i HATE i mean HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE Tomatoes, Fish, and Broccoli!!! I've tried them all a MILLION different ways and just cannot do it!!!!
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    I don't like most cooked veggies. I have tried a lot but just don't like them. I have to disagree that being an adult doesn't mean that I have to eat cooked veggies because they are good for me. I can still eat healthy without having to gag on a cooked broccoli. Just the smell of cooked broccoli is disgusting. I will eat it raw though!

    I have become more open with trying things, but I will not eat things that I don't like simply because they are healthy.

    Sorry if you misunderstood my post - I wasn't saying you have to eat veggies a certain way to be an adult... You've found the way that you prefer your veggies - I don't see anything 'non-adult' about that! :flowerforyou: This is an example of preparation making a difference - you don't like cooked veggies, but you'll eat them raw. As long as you're eating them, that's all that really matters!

    What I don't get is people who eat almost no veggies because they say they don't like any of them. There are A LOT of veggies out there, but too many people just equate veggies to whatever they were raised on. If they were to try different cooking methods (or eating them raw!) maybe they would find that there were quite a few veggies they actually liked. No one's going to like all of them, but some things (like veggies) are so important to our health that we HAVE to find ways to fit them into our diets.
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