Picky Eaters

boilermarcher
boilermarcher Posts: 7 Member
edited November 9 in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone, my name is Alexis and I am a 24 year old woman. I am an EXTREMELY picky eater. I don't like lettuce, or most vegetables. I don't like a lot of protein options. I have a terrible love for take out chinese food, chicken fingers & french fries, and plain cheeseburgers. I eat like a five year old....
I find it really hard to make better eating choices and turn them into habits because the good things I do eat, I get really bored of really fast. I end up giving into cravings for my old vices.

Is anyone else a really picky eater that has found some success with this? What did you do to find that success?

Replies

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    You've seriously tried most vegetables prepared different ways and you don't like any of them?! That would be thousands of food combinations that you don't like.

    If you haven't definitely branch out and try different things. I usually find steamed veggies or veggies that are frozen and you just microwave gross. But, I love roasted vegetables (and all kinds). It's how I got my boyfriend to like brussel sprouts. I almost exclusively eat roasted veggies, but I'll also saute green beans with olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

    Either branch out or suck it up. You aren't actually 5 anymore.
  • mrsmartinez99
    mrsmartinez99 Posts: 1,255 Member
    Actually got my three year old (picky eater and overly dramatic) to eat veggies with various recipes I found on pintrest. Picked a veggie, like cauliflower, searched recipes until I saw one that "looked" appeasing and was healthy. Like the previous person, roasted veggies in the oven is amazing with olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and various other seasonings.
  • joshjordan127
    joshjordan127 Posts: 6 Member
    I'll say what I think. You're not 4 years old. Be an adult, and eat your veggies and all the other stuff that you might not like, but that works for your body. A Dr Pepper tastes better than water, but I don't drink any sort of soda. Just a matter of actually wanting it bad enough.

    On the lighter side of things, I thought you were my girlfriend at first. She's picky, and she knows it.
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
    mrsmartinez99 wrote: »
    Actually got my three year old (picky eater and overly dramatic) to eat veggies with various recipes I found on pintrest. Picked a veggie, like cauliflower, searched recipes until I saw one that "looked" appeasing and was healthy. Like the previous person, roasted veggies in the oven is amazing with olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and various other seasonings.

    I agree with this idea...there are so many ways to use veg that would surprise you...like making mashed potatoes that are half potatoes and half mashed califlower...you'd never guess they were in there if you didn't know. My favorite veggies undercover recipe is this: http://www.emilybites.com/2013/10/deep-dish-sloppy-joe-casserole.html

    It's 356 calories for a generous and filling serving. You can apply the same idea in this recipe to lots of stuff...I always shred up zuchinni to add to my meatloaf for example.
  • IowaJen1979
    IowaJen1979 Posts: 406 Member
    Try mixing a packet of ranch seasoning with light sour cream and dip raw veggies in it. 2 tablespoons of sour cream is about 35 calories. I prefer veggies raw. Try tossing some chicken in buffalo or barbecue sauce and saute them, then eat them over a bed of lettuce with some homemade low fat blue cheese dressing (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/04/low-fat-creamy-blue-cheese-dressing.html). Also, you can make zucchini or cauliflower tots, or make turkey burgers with red peppers and zucchini mixed in. Try to find ways to sneak in your veggies.
  • GCPgirl
    GCPgirl Posts: 208 Member
    try taking baby steps at first...modify what you do like...get brown rice at the Chinese place instead of white or fried, make chicken fingers without the breading...add some seasoning instead, instead of french fries make baked sweet potato fries or butternut squash (I bake it with a little sea salt and pepper), try turkey burgers instead of beef or instead of the bun try a pita or wrap. Your taste will adapt as your eating habits do as long as you are willing to make some changes. My husband hates cooked vegetables unless it is corn so I cut up raw carrots for him.
  • mrsmartinez99
    mrsmartinez99 Posts: 1,255 Member
    CaitlinW19 wrote: »
    I agree with this idea...there are so many ways to use veg that would surprise you...like making mashed potatoes that are half potatoes and half mashed califlower...you'd never guess they were in there if you didn't know. My favorite veggies undercover recipe is this: http://www.emilybites.com/2013/10/deep-dish-sloppy-joe-casserole.html

    It's 356 calories for a generous and filling serving. You can apply the same idea in this recipe to lots of stuff...I always shred up zuchinni to add to my meatloaf for example.

    Oh I will definitely try out the mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Hidden veggies are always a great way to get used to eating them. I had a recipe for Cheesy Zucchini Rice, which was perfect because my children thought it was broccoli and asked for seconds. I promise all you taste is the cheese and rice :)

    Alexis, I certainly understand where you are coming from. When you decided to eat healthier, its hard when so many items that are healthy are not all tasty to someone that is use to eating certain things. Hope this helps and feel free to add me, I can recommend various recipes to help out.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    mrsmartinez99 wrote: »
    CaitlinW19 wrote: »
    I agree with this idea...there are so many ways to use veg that would surprise you...like making mashed potatoes that are half potatoes and half mashed califlower...you'd never guess they were in there if you didn't know. My favorite veggies undercover recipe is this: http://www.emilybites.com/2013/10/deep-dish-sloppy-joe-casserole.html

    It's 356 calories for a generous and filling serving. You can apply the same idea in this recipe to lots of stuff...I always shred up zuchinni to add to my meatloaf for example.

    Oh I will definitely try out the mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Hidden veggies are always a great way to get used to eating them. I had a recipe for Cheesy Zucchini Rice, which was perfect because my children thought it was broccoli and asked for seconds. I promise all you taste is the cheese and rice :)

    Alexis, I certainly understand where you are coming from. When you decided to eat healthier, its hard when so many items that are healthy are not all tasty to someone that is use to eating certain things. Hope this helps and feel free to add me, I can recommend various recipes to help out.

    I will put pumpkin puree in tomato (pasta) sauce to help get a different mix of vitamins, and you can't taste it at all.
  • boilermarcher
    boilermarcher Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you all for the suggestions! I will definitely try adding some zucchini to meatloaf!

    I assure you all, my picky eating is not for a lack of trying new things. I try new things all the time, and I even often try eating things that I didn't like a year ago, just to see if my palate has changed. It often does not. I even try cooking things differently. Sometimes it is texture that I can't handle. Other times it's flavor. I also can't handle spicy things or even less so bitter things. But trust me when I say, yes I genuinely have tried most vegetables in most different ways of cooking them. Yes, that is thousands of combinations I don't like. Now you understand my problem.

    I'm also looking for things that remain healthy. While putting things in ranch or blue cheese (neither of which I like by the way) my sound good to some, adding calories like that defeats my purpose, but thank you for trying to help!

    I have to say, I didn't expect some of the meaner comments in here. This is supposed to be a community to help each other become more healthy. If you have nothing nice or helpful to say, why bother saying it?

    Thank you again to those who have been helpful with ideas!
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    I think people are going to say mean things here, but honestly eat what you want, just less. You'll lose weight.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Since you have tried a wide variety of things, finding ways to hide them may be a good idea. Do you like fruits? I know people swear by green smoothies and you can't taste the greens because the flavor is overpowered by the fruit taste (I've not tried one, so I have no experience).

    Do you eat pasta sauce? I find that a great way to hide veggies because it absorbs the flavor of the sauce and you can't taste them. Cutting veggies very small will also help with that. Chili works the same way and is great for hiding veggies, although you may not like chili if you don't like spicy things (although you can definitely have non-spicy chili, just lots of mild spices). Mushrooms chopped fine disappear into ground meats, and onions and bell pepper I find add good flavor to hamburgers and other ground meat dishes (again, cut small to limit how much you notice them).
  • boilermarcher
    boilermarcher Posts: 7 Member
    I do like almost every fruit in the book! I've been meaning to try a green smoothie... I just haven't had the courage yet haha I just pinned some recipes for some on Pinterest so I'm going to give it a shot this weekend.

    I do like pasta sauce, but I don't like the chunks. However, that's the store bought kind with tomatoes and onions. I might be ok with some other vegetables so I will give it a shot with making my own. Thanks for the ideas!!
  • ens102
    ens102 Posts: 37 Member
    It's also worth persisting with some things that you don't really like but that would make life a lot easier - lettuce for example. If you have it enough times in reasonably quick succession (not just trying it every 6 months or so) you do become much more tolerant and even start to enjoy it. I don't really like tomatoes but was struggling to find healthier sauces, I struggled for the first month but can definitely cope much better now - it's never going to be a favourite but for a few foods which would make life much easier it may be worth giving it a try.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    boilermarcher wrote: »
    I do like almost every fruit in the book! I've been meaning to try a green smoothie... I just haven't had the courage yet haha I just pinned some recipes for some on Pinterest so I'm going to give it a shot this weekend.

    I do like pasta sauce, but I don't like the chunks. However, that's the store bought kind with tomatoes and onions. I might be ok with some other vegetables so I will give it a shot with making my own. Thanks for the ideas!!

    You could also try blending pasta sauce to get rid of the chunks. And you can add any veggie puree and the taste will be hidden.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    As a former picky eater who now eats nearly anything (still not terribly fond of shellfish), I found that it can take trying something many times before you develop a taste for it. It's not enough to try something once or twice, decide you don't like it, and then try it again in a year. That way, you might need your whole lifetime to develop a taste for it. Instead, try a few bites every day for a week or two.

    It also helps to reframe the way you approach trying something: don't think, "I'm not going to like this"; instead, ask yourself, "Will I like this today?" Leave the question open.

    And now, I'm going to go roast some Brussels sprouts, which I didn't learn to like until I was in my 30s....
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
    I will put pumpkin puree in tomato (pasta) sauce to help get a different mix of vitamins, and you can't taste it at all.[/quote]

    That's a great idea! Personally I love veggies, but I'm still always looking for more ways to make whatever I'm eating a little healthier for me and maybe stretch that grocery buget while I'm at it.

    OP, you might also try adding spinch into certain dishes...most things with a red or white sauce would probably work and you could use fresh or frozen spinach (if frozen the kind in a bag is usually easier to work with than the block). If you wanted to, you could chop it all up really finely but I usually just through it in whole or roughly chopped. Works in all kinds of casseroles as well.

    Green smoothies are the best too! After a couple you get so used to the color it acually becomes appetizing. Haha. Word to the wise though...blackberries/blueberries will turn it a much less appetizing brown. Still tastes great but that is a color I'll never totally get used to.
  • boilermarcher
    boilermarcher Posts: 7 Member
    Blending the chunks out of pasta sauce is a brilliant idea! I would have never thought to do that. I will absolutely try that!

    Are there some greens/fruit combinations that taste more or less like fruit? What are the best greens to use for someone like me who feels like I can always taste the greens? I hardly eat any greens as it is and if green smoothies really do mask the flavor, I would be pretty excited. Right now I just make a strawberry or strawberry banana smoothies with some vanila whey protein powder.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Experiment with spices. Well, get some help, first - the wrong spice on the wrong food is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

    With the right spices, you can make things that are boring better. And you can change which spices you use, so that you have more options.
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
    Use spinach. You can't taste it at all. Swiss Chard and Kale could probably be used but have a more pronounced/bitter flavor. I've never used anything but spinach in a smoothy, but have used those two in juice. You can really use any fruit you like and it will taste like fruit... There are quite a few green smoothies out there...skinnytaste.com has some good ones. Banana and peanut butter work really well too (I think that smoothy is actually called the Green Monster). You can easily throw some protein powder in there too if you aren't getting enough protein.
  • giantangryrobot
    giantangryrobot Posts: 3 Member
    What about trying some of the recipes from a book like The Sneaky Chef? I think those recipes try to hide healthy stuff in kids food - maybe it'd work for you? Good luck!
  • jsnodgrass28
    jsnodgrass28 Posts: 3
    I've made smoothies with frozen bananas (peel before you freeze to make you life easier!), coconut water, spinach, and greek yogurt. Sorry I don't remember the exact recipe! I used to hate spinach, but found that if I added just a little at a time, increasing the amount over time, I got used to it. I started with so little that it probably didn't have much benefit, but it was better than nothing! :smile:

    Do you like eggs? Another good place to hide some veggies. I've put spinach into a food processor so it's super fine, and again, added a little to eggs and gradually increased the amount as my palette got used to it. The pieces are so small you don't notice the texture the way you would with large leaves.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,833 Member
    There's a lot of science out there indicating that our taste preferences are based on previous experiences and familiarity. Our preferences can and do change. You can train yourself not to be a picky eater simply by slowly introducing new foods to your menu and see if you grow to like them. And, as folks said above, start sneaking those new foods in. If, for example, you don't like cooked carrots -- don't start to change your taste through forcing down a bowl of them. Instead, see if a few chunks of carrots in a bowl of veggie soup bother you. Then move forward to mixing some "carrot noodles" (long strips of carrot made with a peeler) among some regular pasta. Then make some lightly cooked carrots with honey, butter, and dill. You may find you become a carrot addict!

    Of course, you may not. I have a friend who says if others tasted what he tastes when eating bell pepper, it would not be considered food. But vegetables have too many different flavors and too many different ways to cook them to write them all off as being yucky.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,833 Member
    Oh, and here's an article that might help: A five-step plan for overcoming picky eating (a.k.a. an open letter to Anderson Cooper)
  • SJKirk51912
    SJKirk51912 Posts: 176 Member
    edited January 2015
    As a picky eater myself I often had to force myself to like things. I would eat small portions of veggies I didn't like with food that would mask their flavor. I covered some veggies in cheese. Eventually I would add more veggies and less of everything else.

    I still HATE most veggies, and I mean HATE no matter how many times I try. Celery, cucumber, raw onions, raw peppers, raw tomatoes, and more. BLEH!

    But I just eat the ones I love over and over again in new ways.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I hated everything at your age except chinese food, chicken fingers, french fries, cheeseburgers, pizza, poptarts, spaghetti, sugary cereral.. This is all that I did eat.

    I have learned to try new things as I have gotten older and I do like a lot things I would never eaten before. I eat almost anything now except below:

    I still will NOT eat: grean beans, string beans, boiled okra, chicken and dumplings, all of this is OOOOOOOOOH.
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