HELP! I'm a picky eater, and I need to loose weight!

My name is Shay, I'm 24 years old and 250 LBS *sigh* I am a very picky eater. I've been trying to change my diet and add exercise to my lifestyle. It is hard for me to see healthy food and want to eat it (I did say i was a very picky eater), I'm opening this message board for two reasons,
1. For recipes that i can try since i am a picky eater
2. If you are a picky eater and you've lost weight, share your story or lay down some tips.

Thank-you

Replies

  • SandyBVTN
    SandyBVTN Posts: 367 Member
    You can still be a picky eater and lose weight, just eat less of what you do like, or figure out how to make still-satisfying lighter versions of your favourites.

    I love pizza and regularly make pita bread pizzas now, for between 300 and 400 calories. I love pasta but now eat it less often, and have less of it when I do. You can keep your favourites and make it work, I am sure. It's all about calories, don't worry too much about becoming a veggie lover right away (if ever).

    This has nothing to do with weight loss, but I do recommend trying new things over time though, and new ways to prepare them. Without putting pressure on yourself, you might be surprised:)
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    You don't have to change your diet in order to lose weight. You can lose weight eating exactly the same things you eat now -- you just need to eat less of them. Start with that, and slowly start introducing new foods as you go.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    It's impossible to give you recipes since we don't know what you like. Try searching online. Allrecipes is a good place to begin.

    If you eat healthier food, you can eat a lot more of it. Work in as much as possible. Keep trying new things.

    Stick to your calorie goal.

    Exercise.

    Good luck!
  • QTIN
    QTIN Posts: 12 Member
    I agree with the majority of people who are replying to this. Its definitely about portion control! You can still enjoy things you like, But also you can find many food products that have like reduced fat/sodium etc... Example-If you like peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches you can get reduced fat peanut butter and sugar free jelly.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    As has been said we have no idea what you like and dont like except you don't like whatever your idea is of healthy food.
    If so then you can go with what alicedark says and just eat smaller portions of whatever you are eating now as long as you are at a deficit.

    To decide what you will eat then you are just going to have to google some healthy recipes.

    You can try this site.

    http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/healthy-eating

    Before you start worrying though id get things like your mindset, plan, intended deficit and understanding of dieting , nutrition and exercise sorted out. You are looking for a diet that works for you and is long term sustainable. It usually involves a change in lifestyle.
  • many_splendored
    many_splendored Posts: 113 Member
    Hey Shay - like others have been saying, there are plenty of ways to modify comfort food to make it healthier, but keep the taste. My question is, what sort of foods do you like?
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    I also am a picky eater. I eat what I like and don't worry about the rest. As long as I come in on calorie goals - I'm a happy girl! You can do it!
  • cirellim
    cirellim Posts: 269
    I have an awesome suggestion for you!

    Make an instagram account (it takes 2 minutes) and follow this account @LowCalFoodie

    They give you tons of low calorie but still very tasty food options!!

    I just found them today and its so awesome give it a try! They said they will be posting tons of new food ideas in the next few days/weeks!!!

    Hope this helps!
  • ShayBerry136
    ShayBerry136 Posts: 4 Member
    I'm sorry i forgot to add that in there. I'm a meat and potatoes girl, i love a good meat lovers pizza, and meatballs subs from Subway. I love lasagna and spaghetti. I love Ranch too, (i blame my son for that but that's a different story) I love burgers and fries. (I'm a fast food restaurants dream), not to mention i love going to Perkins and eating their chicken fried steak, with mashed taters (yum!) Lets not forget CHOCOLATE, (my list is way to long) i hate white and dark chocolate though.
  • ShayBerry136
    ShayBerry136 Posts: 4 Member
    I've been trying to loose weight. After the birth of my last baby (my son) i was the heaviest i had ever been (265lbs) I've been going through a lotta emotional changes (i gave my son up for adoption) I've been wanting to lose weight to get healthy. My mind is set on this weight loss. My goal is to be 150ish pounds by my sons next birthday (end of June). I know its not an amazing start, but my husband bought me a Wii Fit Plus, which i used every day i can. On weekends i can spend up to 2.5 hours on that thing doing Yoga, Strength training or other games they may have ( i normally spend Mondays and Tuesdays hurting but i feel good) I wanna change my diet because i don't want to end up like my paternal grandma (465 lbs many many health problems and has to have people wash her, so gross, that's part of my motivation) I know this is a lotta info for a bunch of strangers but i need some help and plus my therapist says it good to find a group of people willing to help.
  • AcromionProcess
    AcromionProcess Posts: 4 Member
    Definitely log in everything. I am an extremely picky eater too. I went to my campus's Wellness center and talked with a nutrionist to see what do-able changes I could do. For instance: I am not a big veggies girl. I can do carrots, corn, green beans, and spinach (on pizza, so damn good). Since I have a "texture" issue, I like things mushed up for consistency. She suggested adding some butternut squash (which is amazing, look at butternut squash tortellini recipes. They are so good), and trying cauliflower. I am big on grains, so I just switched to whole grains for my pasta, cereal, and bread (fills you up more, and doesn't give you sugar spikes like "white" can).
    I also took dairy almost completely out of my diet (except cheese). Found out from restraining from dairy that I actually was lactose-intolerant, and that dairy instantly made me bloated, gave me swollen breasts, and all around bad times. I love Silk as a non-dairy option. Honestly cereal just tastes better with Silk than milk ever did.

    So what types of food do you like? Lets focus on what you like about them, and we can start slowly expanding your experience with new ingredients.
    I like this recipe, but I add carrots to it:
    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/healthier-oven-roasted-potatoes/
  • AcromionProcess
    AcromionProcess Posts: 4 Member
    I love this sweet potato and chicken baked recipe. Really good and tastes like Thanksgiving. Try swtiching your brown potatoes for red potatoes sometimes. They're just as yummy and I fell like they fill me up more than brown potatoes do.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    It is not what you eat, it is how much you eat. Of course, you can eat a lot more volume of veggies and fruit for the same calories as like, pizza.
  • marinabreeze
    marinabreeze Posts: 141 Member
    I'm a foodie, so I like various types of foods, but my DH eats a lot like you - he is very much a meat and potatoes kind of person, and doesn't like to deviate from that. So I get that. I agree with the others, you can eat what you love and still lose weight. Just make sure you are measuring your portions and maintain a calorie deficit.

    I also would suggest long-term that it may be helpful to venture out a little bit when it comes to your food choices. It doesn't even have to be stereotypically "healthy" foods like salad either, but branch out a bit as you feel comfortable and you may find that you like a few more things besides meat and potatoes, and foods you can eat more of and feel full, and still stay in a deficit and lose weight. Hope this helps!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    You either have to change what you're eating or change the amount you're eating.

    I'm going to vote for changing what you eat. Prepare healthier meals. You can lose weight and your son will learn to eat healthy things, so this cycle of fat people in your family will end.

    If you don't really want to make the changes, then don't. But you cannot have your cake and eat it, too.

    Be obese, don't be obese, whatever...but make a choice and enjoy being the thing you chose to be.
  • Bsexi88
    Bsexi88 Posts: 83 Member
    You don't have to change what you eat but you will notice as you make your very own path in this journey that when you incorporate veggies not only is it healthier but you can have more food for less calories and doing every ounce of your body good.

    I hated broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, banana peppers, squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini but honestly these are things I can't live without well the squash and zucchini LOL. You don't know the hate I had for them but slooooowly I've learned to love each and every one of them. Just have your mind and body open to tasting new things at least.

    Maybe if you like pizza or pasta throw a little spinach in baby steps you'll always hear it's a marathon not a Sprint. I do have pic from my first time on MFP (not the best clarity but you can see) I lost 18lbs before getting back on MFP and 7.8 lbs since August 1 and lots of inches you can do it for yourself and sweet baby ????
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    Like they've been saying, you can go a long way with portion control and eating what you currently do.

    But here's one benefit you have: Most of the "picky eater" horror stories are about Person A who's trying to feed Person B while trying to figure out new foods. The big headache tends to come from finding, buying, and cooking new kinds of foods and still not knowing if the picky eater will even try it.

    But, because YOU are the picky eater, it's simply a matter of you looking at something you haven't eaten before and then you, yourself, get to say "hey, I'll give it a try" or "no, I'll pass" before you buy it. If you see it in the store and say "no way am I trying that", then at least you don't waste money and time on it.

    I'd still say that you might help yourself if you make yourself open to trying new things. I'm not talking about major dietary changes, just give it a try. Then, if you try it and like it, that's one more food you can use. More options helps keep things from getting boring, especially when you're already working with the limitation of watching caloire levels. If you try it and don't like it, then you don't have to force yourself to eat it. Just don't get it, again. No harm, no foul.
  • ShayBerry136
    ShayBerry136 Posts: 4 Member
    I want to thank you all for your tips. I have learned a lot just from you guys and i will defiantly take your advice to heart! I actually didn't think i'd get this big of a response and i appreciate all of your time!
  • WickedPineapple
    WickedPineapple Posts: 698 Member
    I'm similar to a poster above. I'm incredibly picky and weird about texture. I'm also very sensitive to spices and bitter food. As everyone has mentioned, portion control is very important and where you should be starting. However, I also recommend making healthy switches in your diet wherever you can along the way. I would not recommend just right out overhauling your diet, that will lead to you rebelling against yourself. There are likely healthy foods that you already like, you just don't eat them very often. Identify those and try to squeeze those into your diet somewhere. For me it was apples and nuts, which I eat everyday now. Be willing to try new foods, prepared in different ways, and be open to liking them and including them in your diet. There are foods I hated 10 years ago that I like now. There are also foods that I still hate. :smile: The above poster mentioned cutting out a lot of dairy. I did something similar, not dairy (which I didn't consume a bunch to begin with), but meat. It happened naturally, I didn't do it on purpose. I just realized at some point that there are some days I don't eat meat at all.

    I've also found learning to cook and preparing things myself really helped (like the basics, if it's more than 5 or so ingredients or takes longer than 25 minutes, I want nothing to do with it).
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    I was a picky eater. Its something I've been working to overcome. I'm now 39 and have made some progress in recent years.

    Tip #1: sometimes you just have to do what you know is good for you. No one wants to get shots. But sometimes that is what you need. Same with veggies. Sometimes you just have to do it. <--especially as a parent. My kids are old enough that I can't get away with saying they should eat veggies if I don't.

    Tip #2: try things in different ways. If you get accustomed to a wider variety of tastes and textures you're bound to start 'liking' more. Just because you didn't like something once doesn't mean its totally out. Keep trying. But you may need to push the boundaries of your comfort zone. See #1.

    Tip #3: try sauces. Put chopped peppers, onions, etc. into a blender and add them to spaghetti sauce and such. Getting rid of the 'look' may help.

    Tip #4: try baked. One of my favorites now is baked veggies (chopped cauliflower, broccoli or sliced zucchini usually) tossed w/ a little olive oil, seasonings and some parmesan cheese. Then bake for 10-15 minutes.
  • With few exceptions, I HATE HATE HATE veggies. Feel free to check out my diary though I've only been back at it for a week and a half. I've been pretty good about my 1,200 calories of food, it's the alcohol that I'm working on (and making progress).
  • penny0919
    penny0919 Posts: 123 Member
    Just my opinion but it doesn't sound like you are truly "picky", just that you have a preference for high fat, high calorie foods (so do I!!!) I would eat all of those things every day if I could and be thin/healthy.

    If I were you I would start by cutting back. Instead of 4 slices of meat lovers, try 3 and some carrot sticks.

    Try roasting veggies and finding a good salad dressing. I am not a huge veggie lover but both of those things help me tremendously. The salad dressings in the refrigerated section (by the produce) taste a million times better in my opinion. Roasting most veggies with salt, pepper and a little olive oil is delicious.