HELP! picky eater

I am on this food journey by myself...I cook 2 dinners...but what I do for myself is prepare most everything ahead of time...or use pre-cut stuff from the grocery store (lettuce, frozen diced green peppers, lots of frozen veggies)...there are ways to make it easier

you can pre-cook your meat on the weekend, put it into individual packages and freeze, then take out what you need in the morning, it will be almost thawed when you get home...heat and eat (almost easier than frozen dinners)

Hello,
I am in the same boat. I too am extremely picky. What I have done so far is to figure out what I like and what I don't. Then I look at what are the healthiest choices in that list. I find that I mostly eat high protein foods that are lean. Like Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Turkey. These help me stay full throughout the day, so I am not eating the "bad" stuff. I have also been eating a lot more oatmeal in the morning. I always hated oatmeal, but one day I tried the Kashi Vanilla oatmeal and it is very good, just as it comes, without having to add anything like brown sugar or cream. Plus it is only 150 cals. When I have time on the weekend, I cook up a bunch of boneless chicken, either baking on parchment paper in the oven, or grilling it. Then I weigh out 4 oz portions and bag them with my vacuum sealer. I put a few in the fridge for the next few days, and the others in the freezer. Then when I get home from work, I can make some Rice or a baked potato, microwave a bag of steam veggies, and microwave the chicken from the fridge. Dinner is done in a flash. To change things up, I use different spices for the chicken. I do some plain with just pepper (no salt), some with italian spices, some with a powdered buffalo seasoning, etc. Experiment with different spices and flavors to see what you like. It helps to keep things interesting, so you are not feeling like you are just eating plain chicken every night. It also lets you cut a lot of sodium out of your diet. I used to eat the prepackaged cut up grilled chicken, but so many of them are loaded with sodium.

The other thing I do is try to plan ahead some. Have at least a rough idea of what you would like to eat and make sure you have stuff with you. I had a Pizza party the other night for my scout group, so I put in the slices I planned to eat that night in the morning for my log, so I was seeing all day. It helped to remind me to make good choices throughout the day, since I knew I was going to allow myself something special that night.

My biggest hurdle is to get myself to eat more veggies and fruit, and seafood. I don't eat any seafood and very limited fruits and veggies. I have recently just started to eat Bananas, which I always hated. I just keep trying them a little at a time and over the last week, I have become more tolerable of them. They still are not my first choice, but I can eat them now without wanting to gag. This week I am going to work on Sweet Potatoes and Squash. Then maybe a berry of some sort the following week. Just keep trying! You have been programming your brain not to eat these foods for many years, it is not just going to be as easy as flipping a switch and you'll like all the healthy stuff. Some people (including my doctor) have said that "I just need to grow up and eat them". Well they are right, but it is not just going to happen because they said to. It is something that has to be done by committing to change your attitude about trying things. If you keep trying them, you are bound to like something or at least to be able to tolerate some new things in your diet.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

I myself am not a picky eater, I've been on a seefood diet most of my life (i see food i eat it) but my biggest problem was eating nothing all day then eating a huge meal at supper leaving me exhausted and ready for bed, wich everyone knows is the worst thing you can do. i've tried many diets depriving myself of things i enjoy eating and had no results, i'm no pro but so far what has worked for me on here is eat what you want just less and make it 3 meals a day with light snacks in between. if you are working out, always eat something like fruit or energy food about 45 minutes before so your body has the nutients to work with. however never eat mcdonalds its crazy bad for you...i learned that the hard way lol....either way no matter what you want to eat its fine just keep in mind the more you exercise the more you can eat. i'm sorry i was'nt more helpful

the only way to help you is to tell you the truth, you know what you ate to get you and your hubby in the shape your in now, So you must do a 180 and eat somethings you mite not like or stay the same. Sorry if it sounds mean, you cant poor sugar on a brussel sprout and call it healthy

My spouse is also very picky; his two vegetables are potatoes and corn. He will occasionally eat an apple, applesauce loaded with sugar, or pineapple chunks with shredded coconut. Other than that, it's meat and carbs for him.

I do not cook two meals. I cook a meat-based entree, a starchy side, a vegetable and/or a fruit. I watch my portions, and eat his share of the veggies. For example, tonight we had hamburgers. I made them with very lean organic beef (Laura's ground sirloin), and I weighed mine before cooking to make sure the portion size was right. I actually made myself a 3-oz portion and gave him the extra meat (he likes that, and he doesn't have a weight problem). I made raw fries (home made potato chips) and a garden salad. I ate my burger (on a Pepperidge Farm deli flat, which I have just discovered), the salad and a very small (weighed on my kitchen scale) serving of the raw fries. He ate the burger and the fries. Our kids were given a serving of each, although my little one (who is suppose to maintain a higher than normal BMI because of some medication she takes) mostly ate the fries, sigh. And then wanted ice cream after, double sigh.

Pretty much every meal is similar to that.

One thing I *have* done is to add recipes that are healthier, and cook my less-healthy recipes less frequently. Time was I would make fried chicken one night, fried pork chops the next night and country fried steak the night after that. Now, I might make one of those things once a week, or every other week, and in between I'll make something that's not fried. I've not had any complaints about that strategy, just so there's a meat and a starch on the table.

Good luck with your finicky self and your finicky spouse! It's a tough thing to deal with, and I know there are a lot of folks hereabout who do cook multiple meals.