Training myself to like healthy food?

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Cheryl_onmyweighdown
Cheryl_onmyweighdown Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm not a fan of healthy food options (shocking right??) And while there are many I can tolerate in the healthy food options I find I just have no appetite for them.

How can I train myself to want those foods?

What's been common for me is to buy, prep, plan and pack healthy options like salads, etc. but then choose to not eat anything because I'm completely turned off of what I packed for lunch and don't want to eat something "unhealthy". Then I'm back to my old ways of not eating anything for 8+ hours :(

Has anyone gone through this? How did you get your brain on track to help your body crave and want the healthy options??
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Replies

  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    I think you need to find foods that are healthy that you enjoy and find different ways to prepare them and stick to that. Life's too short to eat things you don't like. I don't like beans (except green beans and recently black beans) so I don't eat them. I also hate ground meat of any kind. Easy enough to replace ground meat with shredded meat in (almost) any recipe.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    I don't know that there's anything you can do so you "crave" healthy foods you don't like.

    Here's the thing, I'm not a big fan of salads. It's often a big ole plate where I have to sit and chew and chew and chew. I like smaller volumes of food (except popcorn!!). So salads made primarily of greens don't really do much for me. But, if I add 2T of really good cesar dressing, then I shovel that in my mouth because I love cesar dressing so much. So if you WANT to eat salads, but they just never sound good, then maybe add ingredients you like more?

    I'm not sure what it is you would prefer to eat, but maybe there's ways to see that in a different light or make them healthier? But it's all so dependent on what your definition of healthy is. Salads CAN be terribly "unhealthy" in my mind.

    Don't crave celery? How about celery with peanut butter. Don't crave apples? How about apples with caramel. As long as you're accounting for the calories in the dip, maybe your "healthy" foods will excite you more if they're paired with something yummy?

    One last thing, once I started limiting my added sugars, I found foods with natural sugars more tasty. Sweet potatoes, plain fruit, carrots... they all tasted a lot better plain after about a month of severely limiting my added sugars (which is sometimes hard because there's added sugars in places you wouldn't imagine. Bread, for instance).
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Instead of trying to eat food you don't like - eat the foods you like but maybe smaller portions so that they fit your calories.
  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    edited September 2015
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    You might also try making healthier versions of the foods you like. Homemade pizza with less cheese than store bought. Lower calorie pastas with lower calorie pasta sauce. Or even veggie pasta if that's your thing.

    For example: I love sandwiches. When I started in January, I bought 45 calorie bread which I loaded up with meat and thinly sliced cheese so I was still in my calorie range and ate what I wanted. I nixed the dressing or use lower cal dressings. If you aren't willing to compromise on proper bread, you can eat an open faced sandwich. Use boneless skinless chicken breast instead of other meat options. Ground turkey instead of less-than-lean ground beef.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited September 2015
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    my guess is that one of your issues is that you probably have a very narrow view of what is "healthy"..there's more to "healthy" than vegetables and salads. I eat a salad only very rarely...and I eat very healthfully.

    as an example of my healthy dinner I'll be eating tonight...I'm grilling some pork tenderloin that I've had marinating in one of my awesome homemade marinades...i'll use a little apple wood in the smoker box as well...I'm serving with some roasted baby red potatoes and some curried green beans. what's not to like?

    there tends to be this perception that "healthy" means bland and boring and/or a bunch of raw veggies or whatever...nothing could be further from the truth.
  • eDonatti
    eDonatti Posts: 49 Member
    edited September 2015
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    All of the above plus - and I don't know if that's true but apparently you can train your brain to well... accept if not crave food. The point is that you need to eat given food everyday for couple of weeks. Sort of you force your brain to expect this food.

    It apparently works both ways and I can certainly say that after having binges of eating sugary food - first few days are hardest - part of my brain was like - "hey, what's going on! I need this s**t! Gimme!!!!" After few days it wasn't that bad.

    Perhaps it's worth trying?
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    my guess is that one of your issues is that you probably have a very narrow view of what is "healthy"..there's more to "healthy" than vegetables and salads. I eat a salad only very rarely...and I eat very healthfully.

    This too. "Healthy" doesn't have to mean a small portion of something green. I make very hearty foods all the time that are delicious and healthy. Last night I made homemade chicken noodle soup. Last week Huevos Rancheros. Awesome.

  • Cheryl_onmyweighdown
    Cheryl_onmyweighdown Posts: 5 Member
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    "Healthy food" for me would be anything such as fruits/veggies, Whole grain breads/pastas, lean meat/poultry/fish, low/fat free dairy products. Something I would consider ok for breakfast which I had today was an English muffin toasted with an egg + egg white, slice of back bacon & slice of cheddar cheese. Lunch was boneless seasoned chicken breasts with potatoes & corn (the only 2 vegetables I really like) and supper is planned as sweet&sour ex lean meatballs with rice. I'm not getting the proper nutrients even if the food meets my caloric intake goals.

    I have no appetite for other fruits/veggies and I guess that's what bothers me?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    When I get sick of some food I sit down and have a deep think about it, then build a strategy to overcome it. Last summer my garden exploded with salad greens so it was several months of mason jar salads, which were wonderful. But once winter hit, I could not bear to eat the same salads made of bagged salad greens and they would go untouched. I didn't want to stop eating vegetables so I had a deep think about it and decided I had to acknowledge that I was sick of salads. Then I gave myself a one week challenge to prepare a new vegetable I never had before every day for a week. It worked. I fell in love with vegetables again, even if they weren't always salads.

    What is it about the salads that you're missing? It might be missing a little zing, like fat or salt. That's what Feta is for. Or maybe some crispy nuts, croutons, or sesame bits.

    Or switch to sandwiches for a while.

    Change it up.
  • preeJAY
    preeJAY Posts: 46 Member
    edited September 2015
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    Our taste CAN BE trained and retrained. Over time, I have weaned away from chips, overly-sweet drinks, candy, most fried things -- and wasn't even deliberately trying to change. Simply by not eating these things for a period of time, I got into a habit of not eating them, stopped craving them, and the few occasions I eat them I find don't really enjoy either the taste anymore, and/or the aftereffect. (Ice cream and gelato, tho!! = forever love)

    Healthy is a huge variety of things, and you should experiment to find what you like, or find healthier VERSION of what you normally like. So basically, the answer to your question is to (1) ease into it, don't suddenly go from extremely "unhealthy" to extremely "healthy (boring)" but slowly switch one thing at a time; (2) find delicious healthy food you would and could eat for a long time; and (3) TIME.

    I personally find salads to be very deceptive: it's either a giant bowl of bland nothing, or, if doused with dressing and cheese, not that healthy after all. I support you in not eating it! :)
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    cherylmacaulay wrote: »
    "Healthy food" for me would be anything such as fruits/veggies, Whole grain breads/pastas, lean meat/poultry/fish, low/fat free dairy products. Something I would consider ok for breakfast which I had today was an English muffin toasted with an egg + egg white, slice of back bacon & slice of cheddar cheese. Lunch was boneless seasoned chicken breasts with potatoes & corn (the only 2 vegetables I really like) and supper is planned as sweet&sour ex lean meatballs with rice. I'm not getting the proper nutrients even if the food meets my caloric intake goals.

    I have no appetite for other fruits/veggies and I guess that's what bothers me?

    All of those things sound good. But when you say you only like 2 veggies...I would imagine there are lots you haven't tried? I have a theory that anybody can like just about any food if it's prepared right. Experiment. Feel free to add me and message me if you want some suggestions. I cook lots of veg.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,951 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    When I get sick of some food I sit down and have a deep think about it, then build a strategy to overcome it. Last summer my garden exploded with salad greens so it was several months of mason jar salads, which were wonderful. But once winter hit, I could not bear to eat the same salads made of bagged salad greens and they would go untouched. I didn't want to stop eating vegetables so I had a deep think about it and decided I had to acknowledge that I was sick of salads. Then I gave myself a one week challenge to prepare a new vegetable I never had before every day for a week. It worked. I fell in love with vegetables again, even if they weren't always salads.

    What is it about the salads that you're missing? It might be missing a little zing, like fat or salt. That's what Feta is for. Or maybe some crispy nuts, croutons, or sesame bits.

    Or switch to sandwiches for a while.

    Change it up.

    I have absolutely no interest in cold foods when it's cold out - salads are a strictly seasonal food for me :)

    I love your One New Vegetable a Day for a Week Challenge. For those of you in New England, Market Basket has an awesome produce section - whenever I'm having a hard time finding a veg at stores closer to me, I end up finding it at Market Basket.

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Make tasty things. Seriously, I never cooked before, now I cook all the time and I can make some pretty tasty things.

    Basically I just ask myself what I want to eat, and I look up a lower calorie recipe. For example, I was craving shepherd's pie last week... so I made one with lean ground beef, lots of veggies, light on the mashed potatoes (and potatoes just made with a bit of 1% milk and no butter). It was delicious and satisfying. The other day my kids wanted Burger King and it sounded good so I made myself my own chicken nuggets and fries, turned out 500 calories for a big amount (a lot of chicken) and it was delicious.

    It's on days when I don't crave anything that it pretty much sucks and I end up eating plainer food.. but you can alternate your salad, make tasty sandwiches and wraps etc.

    I know it's hard to believe but once you start making your own stuff, a lot of the high calorie options just don't sound that appealing anymore (except dessert).
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited September 2015
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    Yes, I went through that. I got busy learning how to make healthy foods that I liked. This meant new cookbooks, rewatching Alton Brown veggie episodes, trying advice that didn't interfere with my Get Healthy mission, eating a lot of things that didn't come out as good as I'd hoped and learning how to make healthy foods in yummy ways.

    It took time. Lots of effort. It wasn't "Quick & Easy!" and had it's down points. Some of the herbs and spices I tried...I didn't like them.

    But now I have a healthy diet that is full of food I love to eat. For me, that's worth all the time and effort I put into it. :)
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    cherylmacaulay wrote: »
    "Healthy food" for me would be anything such as fruits/veggies, Whole grain breads/pastas, lean meat/poultry/fish, low/fat free dairy products. Something I would consider ok for breakfast which I had today was an English muffin toasted with an egg + egg white, slice of back bacon & slice of cheddar cheese. Lunch was boneless seasoned chicken breasts with potatoes & corn (the only 2 vegetables I really like) and supper is planned as sweet&sour ex lean meatballs with rice. I'm not getting the proper nutrients even if the food meets my caloric intake goals.

    I have no appetite for other fruits/veggies and I guess that's what bothers me?

    Okay......corn is not a veggie (but a grain) and potatoes are starchy too. There is nothing wrong with them, but they are using up a pretty good number of calories.

    Maintenance - a smaller you will require a smaller number of calories...........forever. Making better/different food choices is not just a temporary thing.

    I prefer the taste of sweet corn to green beans. However, I can have 1 cup of green beans for fewer calories than 1/3 cup of corn. I don't want really tiny portions for the rest of my life.

    I prefer the taste of ice cream to apples. But 1/2 cup of ice cream is easily over 100 calories (1/2 cup is miniscule). An apple is the same.....but it takes me much longer to eat the apple. Besides, the apple has fiber.

    You can have small portions forever. There is nothing wrong with that. But, you can also try to like new things. Cooking veggies many different ways changes flavors & textures. I like adding veggies to casseroles. I can often increase the serving size without increasing the calories. Adding mild flavor veggies to soups or sauces with a stronger flavor, you don't even taste them (much).
  • Osiris275
    Osiris275 Posts: 228 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I don't eat what most people would call 'healthy'. Most vegetables and salad make me gag and I can't swallow them. Tried and there's no point stressing over it now.

    For lunch I'll often have rice cakes or crisp breads, or medium thickness sliced bread with sliced ham, chicken turkey etc. sometimes low fat cream cheese. I'll also have a multipack size packet of crisps or 'chips' (but always baked variety, they are under 100 calories). Then I have some fruit as I do love fruit.

    That fills me up for a good 5 hours and is always under 100 calories. It fits my goal and I enjoy it, plus it's easy to make!

    If it fits into your calories, I see no point in feeling bad. If you've tried foods and thy make you miserable, you ant do anymore. Make the bet you can while still enjoying it :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    cherylmacaulay wrote: »
    I have no appetite for other fruits/veggies and I guess that's what bothers me?

    The first thing is to keep trying them -- a lot of times people really haven't tried that many or tried them cooked different ways. I wasn't wild about vegetables growing up (I liked some, found others okay, and was in the habit of eating them because we had to), but as an adult when I started eating at nice restaurants and at dinners with people who knew how to cook I figured out that vegetables could be really tasty if cooked right (and ideally if not canned). I also learned that a bunch of vegetables in a good soup or stir-fry or homemade pasta sauce would usually taste good.

    So the second thing is learn how to cook them. Try different ways. Roasting is usually a good way to go for people not into them.

    My third thing is trying to change your attitude and convince yourself that they are enjoyable. This doesn't always work, but I think part of how I fell in love with vegetables (and I really do love them now and eat lots and lots) is by focusing on the things that make them fun -- gardening, going to farmers markets and hearing about the different varieties. Eating seasonally (I like strawberries more now, and learned they taste a lot different when fresh, local, and in season than when I buy them out of season in the grocery, and beyond that it's exciting to wait for the asparagus to come in season or the tomatoes or to focus on the fall veggies in fall and the like). Along with that, food porn -- beautiful cookbooks with beautiful vegetable-focused recipes or a website like 101cookbooks.com can really help change one's feelings, I think.

    Don't go crazy with the low fat. Adding some fat can make them taste better (also vinegars). Cooking with herbs and spices in general is something to learn. A little cheese can help, just watch the calories.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    So you don't like fruits and vegetables. My suggestion is eat exactly the way you do, except force yourself to eat 1 fruit and a couple servings of vegetables per day. Like, don't give up your egg muffin and meatballs. Just add in veggies and a fruit where you can. 1 serving of fruit and two servings of vegetables is 110 calories, so honestly I think you can just add these in without cutting out anything else.

    Like, cut up a carrot and eat it. Cut up celery and eat it. Cut up an apple and eat it. Eat a banana. These are just part of your regular meals you listed, but just eat them on the side. No, they might not taste the best. But you're not eating them for a meal, your just eating them on the side. You still get to eat the meal you want, but you earn that meal by "forcing" yourself to eat a couple bites of produce.

    Or, you could "hide" them in things. Diced tomato, pepper, onions in the egg. An almond milk, banana and spinach "shake." Tiny diced onions in the ground beef. Etc.
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
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    Apparently it takes 24 tries of a food before you can truly say you like/don't like it. Tastes change over time certain foods now taste really salty or sweet or just plain rubbish to me now where once they were heaven on a plate.

    My husband never was a big vegetable eater so i just hid veg in meals such as tomato and vegetable soup, wizz it up and the content is unrecognisable and pretty tasty. Tomato based pasta sauce can accomodate a fair few veggies without it being noticeable. He eats quite a selection of veg now.

    I think the suggestion of trying/eating one fruit or veg a day is a good one I would also suggest variety in cooked and raw veg, I say that because i actually prefer most my veggies raw as opposed to cooked and if they are cooked i can't eat them cold they have to be red hot.

    Also everything tastes better with added bacon (just my humble opinion) so maybe add something you really love to enhance the taste so to speak.

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