Diet Tips Needed for Fruit and Vegetable Haters

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ronmayes
ronmayes Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Like it or not, I cannot stand most fruits and vegetables. There are a few exceptions such as green beans, celery, corn, apple sauce, and basic salads. I am sincere and dedicated to losing weight and improving my general health by eating more healthy. I would appreciate tips on making the best of lean meats, and a very limited list of fruits and vegetables. I'm struggling with appetite from years of over sized portions. Suggestions greatly appreciated.
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  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    Doesn't matter what you eat to lose weight, just eat in a deficit. For overall health, you'll want to eat nutrient dense foods and if you're not going to eat much fruits and veggies, then you need to find other sources of fiber, such as grains.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    You don't have to eat fruits and vegs, but it's advisable due to the vitamins and minerals. I love to make smoothies in my nutribullet, I can pack quite a bit of fruit and veg into it.

  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    learn to love vegetables. And don't eat corn, its livestock food.
  • melonaulait
    melonaulait Posts: 769 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Have you tried a veggie or lentil soup? I find that veggies taste pretty mild in a soup. You wouldn't happen to like bananas, avocados, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, root vegetables, potatoes..? How about berries? Not that you have to eat them to lose weight, but if you haven't tried these, perhaps you could!

    You could also look at recipes that center around the veggies you can stand. That way you could cram your edible veggies in more often!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Eat your normal foods you like then and work them into your calorie goal.
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
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    Have you tried preparing your vegetables differently? Most root vegetables do very well in the oven.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    You don't "have to" eat fruits and veggies to lose weight. But it's a great tool if you can take advantage of it. The advantage is higher volume, low calorie, lots of fiber micronutrients.

    I like adding veggies to sauces, casseroles and soups. That way I still keep the flavor of the main dish. Start with spicy dishes (ie: chili). You could try putting fruits and veggies in a smoothie. Many people add spinach and don't notice the flavor. There's a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious with ideas on how to get picky eaters to eat more veggies.

    Re: corn, very starchy. Count this in with grains.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    who told you you have to eat fruits and veggies?
  • Dayofthebread
    Dayofthebread Posts: 20 Member
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    If you like things like tomato sauce you can blend up veggies in that and put it over meat or pasta. I wouldn't force yourself to eat things you don't like, but if you haven't tried something in a while it might be a memory of when it was cooked badly or in a way you don't like. Like I don't really like boiled carrots that much, but I love it grated on salad.
  • ronmayes
    ronmayes Posts: 3 Member
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    Great responses. I do like vegetable soup, and will make a point to eat more of it. Thanks for the responses!
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
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    Low sodium V8?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,998 Member
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    SonyaCele wrote: »
    learn to love vegetables. And don't eat corn, its livestock food.

    Livestock eat oats. Should we eliminate that, too? (Dr. Johnson's prejudices aside.)

    Corns are a grain, not a veg, but if you're not going to eat much fruit and veg, you should work other plant foods into your diet (grains, legumes, nuts, seeds).

    Eat the fruits and vegetables that you like. If you're up for it, every once in a while try a new veg or fruit or try one you think you don't like prepared in a new way. If you can manage it, you may find that if you'll something new several tries (you don't have to eat a whole lot of it each time), you may find it becomes more palatable over time.

    Since you only like apples as apple sauce, you might try cooking and pureeing other fruits (and even veggies), and eating them, either mixed with applesauce or on their own.
  • holothuroidea
    holothuroidea Posts: 772 Member
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    The most important thing you can do to eat healthy is to eat a wide variety of whole foods. Make a serious effort to include the fruits and veggies you do like into your meals every day, then slowly expand the variety of fruits and vegetables you eat.

    Also, sometimes people overestimate how large a serving of vegetables or fruit is. A half a cup of cooked veggies is enough for one meal.
  • ronmayes
    ronmayes Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks again for the suggestions. Since I'm basically a meat eater, I'm thinking about working in more turkey burgers, vegiburger, etc.. I can tolerate those quite well, and it seems that they would help to satisfy my appetite. Any thoughts about meat substitutes?
  • SizeTenByTeatime
    SizeTenByTeatime Posts: 34 Member
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    Do you like salads?
  • kportwood85
    kportwood85 Posts: 151 Member
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    Shredded vegetables in ground meat works well. I hide zucchini in all my kids food. lol. Don't rule out everything, there are a LOT of ways to cook and prepare vegetables. I kept bringing home brussel sprouts, like, 4 or 5 times. And, every time, we were disgusted. The 6th time, my husband said "why do you keep doing this? they are terrible" and I tried a new recipe and we both LOVED it.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
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    A good buddy of mine eats no fruits and vegetables. (well some veg, but stuff like pasta and potatoes.) We get chinese takeout, he gets chicken fingers and white rice (I know, I know another veg). But I hope you all get it when I say no fruits and veg.

    His doctor told him it's a non issue as long as he takes a vitamin and fiber every day.
  • jsidel126
    jsidel126 Posts: 694 Member
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    I started by buying a package of frozen vegetables and adding to other foods I like. I now eat two packages a week. A lot of bulk with very few calories. Not that difficult...
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    It takes 20 or more times tasting something new for most people to get used to it. I'd keep trying. I didn't learn to like Brussels sprouts until I was past 40.

    Roasting is a great way to prepare veggies, since it emphasizes their sweetness.
  • howekaren
    howekaren Posts: 159 Member
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    I second the "try them" option. I wouldn't entertain the though of Brussel sprouts as a child, but tried them as an adult and discovered I LOVE them. Same goes for yellow beans. I don't much care for most cooked veggies, but I do like raw veggies with some light ranch dip or tatziki sauce. I can second the "hide them" option as well. I'm not a fan of mushrooms, but I will mince them in a food processor to reduce the amount of ground meat in chilli and spaghetti sauce which makes for a lower calorie sauce. I also add zucchini to a lot of baked goods like banana bread as an oil substitute. Some experimentation will be in order for you to adjust to a new, healthier menu plan. I'm also a huge fan of vegetable soup. 1 cup is two full servings of vegetables with very few calories.

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