How do you learn to eat foods that you don't like but you know are good for you?

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  • mygnsac
    mygnsac Posts: 13,413 Member
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    You've gotten some really great advice in this thread!

    Over the last few years I've slowly added tons of foods that I thought I didn't like. A lot of the time I find its just a matter of preparation. A few of my examples...Broccoil, I don't like eating big chunks of raw broccoli, but cut it up finely and mix it in my salad, soup or beans and I love it (go figure); brussel sprouts, I don't care much for steamed, but they are one of my favorite veggies when roasted; spinach, I can't stand the canned stuff, but love fresh spinach raw or sauteed; peas, hate the canned stuff, love the fresh or frozen stuff; I love sweet, so adding raisins to my salads and even beans or soups makes them more palatable for me; had only eaten those yucky canned sweet potatoes most of my life, but I found I love a plain baked or roasted sweet potato; salmon, was on my yucky list until a couple years ago when I ate some that had been cooked properly (not over-cooked) and it's been my favorite fish since. Every weekend I roast up a bunch of veggies (carrots, brussel sprouts, little potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.) and then eat them the coming week. They are very flavorful and great eaten on their own, added to soups or beans, or even added to sandwiches. Lettuce wraps are also a great way of getting leafy greens down. Wrap then around some flavorful meat and cheese. The occassional green/fruit smoothie can also be a good way to eat your veggies.

    Some things remain on my yucky list (any shell fish, raw fish, curry, acorn squash, spicy peppers, etc), but I keep trying.

    Good luck!!
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    wizzybeth wrote: »
    I was never fond of potatoes growing up. Hated them, in fact. But I find out it was because my mom usually only made them one way: plain boiled. Occasionally we'd have them baked, but usually just boiled. Mashed was on a special occasion. For some reason now as an adult, I love them...I just learned to like them...lol

    I do however, still hate rutabega and eggplant, and will continue to hate them until the day I die.

    My husband hates (hated) spinach. That's because his experience with spinach was what came out of a can. He would cringe at the thought of it. However, I love spinach, always have, and wanted to add it to our diet. So I started making salad with raw baby spinach. HE NEVER KNEW. He in fact raved about the salad. One day he caught me making it and said "Why are you going to ruin it with spinach?" He was shocked when I told him I'd been making it like that allllllll along.

    SO maybe your hatred of veggies has more to do with how they were prepared when you were a kid, than the veggie itself. Maybe you might like the raw versions (supposedly, raw is healthier for you anyway) Raw often tastes quite different (esp. if your experience is with canned veggies - blech, yech, pa-tooey!)

    I also hated mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers as a kid. Now, I can't get enough of them. Give some veggies a try - you might surprise yourself.

    Something similar happened to me. I've always hated green beans, but my bf wanted to buy some. I agreed but told him as long as he was the only one eating them, cuz I wasn't going to go near them!! :noway: LOL!! A Sunday morning he made breakfast: scrambled eggs mixed with bacon and GREEN BEANS!! First thought that popped into my head, EW. :sick: But he made me have one taste... and it was delicious!! I actually served some for myself. I couldn't believe I was enjoying a dish with green beans (and he put a lot of it with the eggs.) I think it's all about trying foods in different ways. Some you may like, others you won't... it's just about experimenting with different foods. :smile: Hope you also get to enjoy different foods you've never had. :flowerforyou:
  • MystikPixie
    MystikPixie Posts: 342 Member
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    I think like most have said, you don't have to eat it if you don't like it. You have to try different ways of cooking the good stuff until you either decide you don't like the taste period or you find that you do like it.

    You growing up with a "meat and potatoes" family just means you didn't eat the good veggies. Doesn't mean you don't like the taste, how would you know if all you eat are meat and potatoes?
  • veganstarchivore
    veganstarchivore Posts: 12
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    Try things prepared in a different way. For me, it was oatmeal. HATE the stuff... but all my life it was always hot oatmeal. Smells and tastes like a big bowl of hot vomit no matter what I put into it. Then someone told me about overnight oats. Made them and now I LOVE oatmeal, just cold and uncooked. :P

    If you try things differently and still don't like them, don't eat them. There's usually other ways to get the nutrients of certain things from other items (like fish has omega 3's, but so do nuts). I'm a vegan, but even if I wasn't I wouldn't eat anything from the ocean because of the mercury.

    Good luck!
  • johnsat
    johnsat Posts: 7
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    I have never had this problem for a whole food range but like most people there are thing I dislike and you learn to avoid them. What I would suggest with fish problem is to look at them 1 at a time. For instance take the humble sardine, if you go to a large supper market you will find them fresh from the fish counter and tinned in isles. With tinned one's they come in a variety of sauces, tomato, olive oil, spring water, salt water some with added chilli, pepper and all manor of other combinations. Buy the smallest amount of each and try a small taste of a different 1 every day until you find one you can Iive with. Add spices to suit your individual palette cooking them differently will also make a massive taste difference. One of my favourite things is to add a couple to a beef chilli they really make it taste special. (Make sure you don't add any extra salt to any of the ingredients or you could be in for a disaster.) Try this with other thinks you don't like until you find all the good things you need to eat.
  • Lynn_babcock
    Lynn_babcock Posts: 220 Member
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    Food tastes better when you're hungry. Be more hungry and have a well-prepared vegetable ready. I like roasting in the oven with olive oil and salt, as mentioned above. I also like to sautee in just a little bit of oil and chicken or vegetable broth. One of my favorites is broccoli cut into stalks.. put it in a covered pot with 1/2 cup of broth and let it steam in there until tender (might need more broth added), once it's a little tender move it to a preheated skillet with a little oil and cook just a little but more.. salt.. and it's so good. Maybe make something like that as an appetizer to eat while you're cooking the main dish.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I was a very picky eater growing up and my parents just catered to it and only fed me things I liked, so this lasted until I was quite old. Finally I just grew up and started trying things. There are a lot of things I hated at first but I feel it was in my mind. After a while I started to like them. Now I eat vegetables every day.

    There are still things I don't like obviously. Not a fan of squash and zucchini so I don't buy those things. I will still eat them if they're prepared for me or if that's my only option. I just put them in my mouth, chew, and swallow. It's food and it's healthy so I eat it.

    I am very proud to say (because of how I used to be) that I am a very NON picky eater. I will eat just about anything.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I was a very picky eater growing up and my parents just catered to it and only fed me things I liked, so this lasted until I was quite old. Finally I just grew up and started trying things. There are a lot of things I hated at first but I feel it was in my mind. After a while I started to like them. Now I eat vegetables every day.

    There are still things I don't like obviously. Not a fan of squash and zucchini so I don't buy those things. I will still eat them if they're prepared for me or if that's my only option. I just put them in my mouth, chew, and swallow. It's food and it's healthy so I eat it.

    I am very proud to say (because of how I used to be) that I am a very NON picky eater. I will eat just about anything.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    It won't let me delete one of my posts
  • DanBGVa
    DanBGVa Posts: 50 Member
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    Everyone has given me some good advice, some I think I can take away some I feel does not fit me but it is appreciated regardless. This is why I joined MFP and everyone who responded I appreciate it, I read every single post. Dan
  • bruces41
    bruces41 Posts: 7 Member
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    Have you tried green smoothies? I use 2 vegetables and 3 fruits. (Spinach, Kale, Bananas, blueberries, strawberries, avocado, tangerines, grapes etc, sometimes put in almonds, flax seed or chia seed) That way I get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I also was putting Nestle quick in it but now put a chocolate protein powder - can't taste the vegetables and they always taste fairly good. Have it in the morning then the rest of the day I can eat all the things I like in moderation. Might try this, then you don't muck down what you really don't like, but get the benefits of the fruits and vegetables.
  • WVprankster
    WVprankster Posts: 430 Member
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    The first BM after a few helpings of chia seeds ( terrible texture) will make you rethink your mortgage. Just sayin'.
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
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    I have problems with this, too. I think I'm going to start dating a chef!
  • crazykatlady_
    crazykatlady_ Posts: 46 Member
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    There are so many things I thought I hated, but it turns out I just hated the way my parents cooked them! My favorite veggie? Green beans. I swore I hated them up until I was 19 and tried them at a friend's house because I didn't want to be rude. LOVE. You cannot put green beans in front of me now and not expect me to basically inhale them(my parents would drown them in vinegar for some reason and it was so gross.). The same goes for a lot of other things my parents would cook. I thought I hated potato soup. Nope. Just the way they made theirs (Literally just boiled potato mush with salt and MAYONNAISE added.). Meatloaf...used to hate it too (my mom put tons of green olives in it). I could name dozens of other things I truly thought were disgusting until I tried them prepared differently. My point is that I understand a little bit of where you are coming from. It took trying different cooking methods and recipes to find out that there were a lot of foods I actually loved but thought I hated. I don't know if you've tried grilling your veggies yet, but YUM! A lot of stuff tastes great grilled. Put flavorful things in with your vegetables...saute some bacon and garlic and add some vegetables. Use chicken broth to cook some in. Add some flavor! I understand why the other folks say don't eat what you don't like, but if I had done that I would have gone on thinking I hated what are now some of my favorite foods.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    There are some types of fish that are more meaty and less fishy. Mahi Mahi can be amazing. I like swordfish and cod too (not the heavily salted one). Salmon is different from them all. Maybe that can help with your experimenting to see if it's something you could do. There are tons of different ways to season them too. I agree with whoever said curry. Fish is excellent roasted with some curry powder on it if you don't want to do a full curry dish - and there are different levels of spiciness to fit your preference.

    There are always supplements if you still can't stomach it.

    Roast veggies with a little olive oil and garlic. Yum. When my kids were little, people were always amazed how well they ate veggies. Well, garlic was my secret LOL.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    crazykatlady_ wrote: »
    There are so many things I thought I hated, but it turns out I just hated the way my parents cooked them! My favorite veggie? Green beans. I swore I hated them up until I was 19 and tried them at a friend's house because I didn't want to be rude. LOVE. You cannot put green beans in front of me now and not expect me to basically inhale them(my parents would drown them in vinegar for some reason and it was so gross.). The same goes for a lot of other things my parents would cook. I thought I hated potato soup. Nope. Just the way they made theirs (Literally just boiled potato mush with salt and MAYONNAISE added.). Meatloaf...used to hate it too (my mom put tons of green olives in it). I could name dozens of other things I truly thought were disgusting until I tried them prepared differently. My point is that I understand a little bit of where you are coming from. It took trying different cooking methods and recipes to find out that there were a lot of foods I actually loved but thought I hated. I don't know if you've tried grilling your veggies yet, but YUM! A lot of stuff tastes great grilled. Put flavorful things in with your vegetables...saute some bacon and garlic and add some vegetables. Use chicken broth to cook some in. Add some flavor! I understand why the other folks say don't eat what you don't like, but if I had done that I would have gone on thinking I hated what are now some of my favorite foods.

    Who the hell taught your parents to cook?!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I'm in charge of cooking, I am a bit of an adventurist, and hubby is a meat-and-potatoes man. I coax him to try new foods by not changing too much at any one sitting. Neither one of us likes fish so I do try and incorporate it a couple times a month. In my opinion, Cod is a lighter-tasting non-fishy fish. I prepare it breaded and fried the same way I do chicken and hubby likes that. Fish is tender so don't overcook it; just until it flakes.

    I bombed on tofu two recipes in a row so I knew if it didn't "pass" on the third go, hubby would refuse to try it. So I made a breaded and baked recipe like this:

    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361132463845704546/

    A winner!

    As for vegetables, I find the fresher the better. Try bringing home a new vegetable, very fresh. Then look up a recipe to match. I am cooking fennel the first time this week for example.
  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    crazykatlady_ wrote: »
    There are so many things I thought I hated, but it turns out I just hated the way my parents cooked them! My favorite veggie? Green beans. I swore I hated them up until I was 19 and tried them at a friend's house because I didn't want to be rude. LOVE. You cannot put green beans in front of me now and not expect me to basically inhale them(my parents would drown them in vinegar for some reason and it was so gross.). The same goes for a lot of other things my parents would cook. I thought I hated potato soup. Nope. Just the way they made theirs (Literally just boiled potato mush with salt and MAYONNAISE added.). Meatloaf...used to hate it too (my mom put tons of green olives in it). I could name dozens of other things I truly thought were disgusting until I tried them prepared differently. My point is that I understand a little bit of where you are coming from. It took trying different cooking methods and recipes to find out that there were a lot of foods I actually loved but thought I hated. I don't know if you've tried grilling your veggies yet, but YUM! A lot of stuff tastes great grilled. Put flavorful things in with your vegetables...saute some bacon and garlic and add some vegetables. Use chicken broth to cook some in. Add some flavor! I understand why the other folks say don't eat what you don't like, but if I had done that I would have gone on thinking I hated what are now some of my favorite foods.

    Who the hell taught your parents to cook?!

    Sounds like the kind of things that come out of those community fundraiser cookbooks. Everyone contributes a recipe or two, most of them horrible.
  • tanyabecka
    tanyabecka Posts: 39 Member
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    Some people just hate the taste/smell of fish. I agree that a fish-oil supplement (gel capsule or chewy from GNC) will give you some great nutrients, I take them and also eat fish weekly. Good luck, you can totally do it.
  • 2BeHappy2
    2BeHappy2 Posts: 811 Member
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    OP...I like green bell pepper but not any of the other colors (different taste or something).
    I like onions and green bell peppers but they have to be cooked and slightly sautéing them isn't enough!
    Find ways to mask or hide the things that you want to have until you can eat them w/out having to pour stuff over them.
    For example, some people don't care for cooked veggies but love them raw or vise versa!
    If you want broccoli but hate the cooked smell maybe add a bit of melted cheese or even a little bit of parmesan for added flavor.
    I heard of someone who every month would pick put a new fruit and would eat them made in different ways in that month.
    She found things that she'd never stopped to glance at.
    In her discovery of these fruits, she found that she really liked things she'd never even heard of let alone had given a chance!
    I know of people who make lasagna or meatloaf and incorporate "hidden" veggies.
    My husband for a long time wouldn't have spaghetti squash so 1 day we agreed to 1/2 and 1/2.
    We had "spaghetti" using our traditional meat sauce but poured over the spaghetti squash instead of pasta.
    While he admitted it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, he said he wouldn't just have the squash as like a side noodle like others have suggested (salt, pepper and a little butter).
    We have tried cauliflower pizza which he loves...for me it was no different than cheese over cauliflower (w/ pepperoni on it).
    This is a great step and goal for you to have for yourself, great job on your efforts :smile:

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