Eating the foods you hate

245

Replies

  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I didn't hate it, but I had never tried cottage cheese because I thought it looked gross. I finally tried it and now eat it everyday. I also hated plain yogurt until I tried Fage. You guessed it, every day.

    And next weekend, I'm tackling a Bloody Mary -- something else I've never tried, but they look icky. Wish me luck. BTW, I'm 50. And yes, have never tried a Bloody Mary. Won't make that an every day thing -- at least until I retire.
  • Habiteer
    Habiteer Posts: 190 Member
    Kudos for trying to better yourself OP. I don't know of any better way to do something than just keep giving it the old college try.
  • sandsofarabia
    sandsofarabia Posts: 95 Member
    b3achy wrote: »
    Yep, plenty of foods that I used to hate but keep trying them...some I eventually like (for various reasons), some I still don't like but will eat, some I just don't like and won't bother eating.

    1. Beer - has to be the nasty stuff ever invented. But after college and being in the Army overseas (where it was a primary drink of choice), it kind of grew on me. Now I actually get a hankering for it sometimes, especially if it's hot outside.
    2. Eggs - still can't really stand them, but I've finally found a way to prepare them that I can get them down (lots of peppers, onions, cayenne pepper and some cheese in an omelet; or scrambled with hot sauce). I like the protein and nutritional value, but still find most versions of them nasty...but you put enough hot sauce on it (old Army trick), and you can eat it. Now, sometimes I even have had a hankering for them, so guess they are starting to be more palatable.
    3. Eggplant - It was a main staple when I was stationed in Turkey decades ago. Nasty and mushy, but they had a hot salsa, so I'd slather that on the eggplant, and I could get it down. Still don't like eggplant, and won't choose to eat it a this point.
    4. Bananas - this was more a texture thing, since I don't mind the banana flavor. So I had to learn to buy my bananas slightly green so they would be firm, and when they get mushy they get put into bread or frozen for smoothies.
    5. Red Wine - used to only drink sweet white wines, but as I've gotten older, the sweet wines are nasty and the dry reds and whites are more palatable. Sometimes your tastes just change.
    6. Yogurt - nasty tasting to me, but with the probiotics and other goodness, I keep trying to like it. Still a work in progress, but it's a long process.

    Some of the ones I just can't eat...mushrooms - slimy and nasty tasting; olives - slimy and yucky; peaches - just yuck; and kale - gross! I eventually will re-try them, but not going to force myself to like them.

    Agree with some of the comments, try not to nix an entire food group, but find what you like in that food group. I love most fruits, but some I don't like so I avoid them. Veggies are still a challenge as a former picky eater, but I like some prepared in certain ways (for example, hate raw tomatoes, but love tomato sauces).

    Always good to branch out and try new things. But you don't have to like everything.

    Yeah I know what you mean. For me, pickles and mustard are things that I've hated with a passion in the past (like I would gag at the smell of pickles) and now am obsessed with it and love putting it on so many of my foods. I only started liking it in small amounts when with other foods (such as Chicago hot dogs) but once I got used to the taste I can eat them with anything. I can still never get into eating celery.. it just has a weird taste to me. But with ranch it's bearable. I mean, it really is the same thing with alcohol. Eventually it doesn't taste bad anymore.

    I like to try to get used to foods just because being a picky eater can be annoying sometimes and now that I'm becoming more open-minded in my tastebuds, I can really pick anything off a menu and enjoy it or cooking in general becomes easier since I can add and use whatever ingredients I want.

    I don't try to force feed myself foods I hate right away but mixing it with other ingredients until I get used to it is usually the way to go.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,347 Member
    oh, I thought of one. Onion. I used to loathe raw onion, but I started adding it into things like salads, and noodle dishes and the like because it is everywhere and I wasn't going to keep avoiding foods that sound great otherwise, but would put me off because they have onion. Now I'll happily have red onion or salad onion in a salad or other dish.
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    Nope
  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,589 Member
    I've never made myself eat something until I stopped disliking it, but I do occasionally try small amounts of things I previously disliked. Some I've enjoyed. Some I still loathe. ;)
  • littlechiaseed
    littlechiaseed Posts: 489 Member
    I tried to eat fish because for some stupid reason I thought I had to in order to healthy. That was the nastiest crap ever so I have never eaten it again. Still alive. No need to eat foods you don't like
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Not really. I like a lot of foods so I don't feel I need to eat things I don't like.
    However, tastes can change and sometimes eating things more often or trying a food prepared differently can sometimes change how you feel about it. I disliked green peppers as a kid. I didn't just love them one day after refusing to eat them for years. I started being too lazy to pick them off of pizza and ate the peppers and decided they weren't bad after all. I eat them frequently now. There are a few foods like that for me.
    I won't keep eating stuff I absolutely hate though.
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
    Actually, yes and I have had some success doing so. I have always hated vegetables but I have figured out which ones, prepared which ways, I could tolerate. Now, that group is starting to grow and there are a few I am actually starting to enjoy.
  • Sloth2016
    Sloth2016 Posts: 838 Member
    I also have come a long way increasing the number of vegetables that I will eat.
    The thought of sushi and sashimi at one time turned my stomach, but now these are my favorite foods.
    Burdock root took some getting used too as well. I learned to like this and sushi when I lived in Japan for a couple of years.

    No way I am ever going to like Natto, however. Just not happening.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    I really tried to like Greek yogurt, but I don't like it and I don't eat it. Because it's gross. There are so many better things I can eat with the calories I have.
  • kmiaow
    kmiaow Posts: 1 Member
    I hate a lot of foods, I'm the fussiest person and it makes it really hard trying to eat healthy.

    Eg

    1. Yoghurt - I agree with b3achy - this is NASTY!! I can't stand it, it makes me want to vomit. I can stomach greek yoghurt ONLY if it's got mint in it or it is used as a dip/topping for lamb etc. I'm working on it, but it's gross :(
    2. Peas, Corn, Squash, Eggplant - all disgusting. Have never been able to get myself to eat these even though I try.
    3. Lettuce - I hate lettuce, but learnt to use green oak/red oak and this has been much more palatable. If in a salad, I'll add a stronger dressing (like balsamic), but this has become less necessary lately.
    4. Oats/Porridge - the concept of eating these is akin to sticking my finger down my throat and swallowing the vomit back down. I just don't get it. Love weetbix, hate oats. I keep trying but... yuck.

    I find a lot of healthy meal plans are hard for me to follow because they include so much stuff I don't like. Wherever possible I try to substitute or use a different recipe, that capitalises on the things I do like (ie. Broccoli, carrot, beans, whole grains, spices, chicken, eggs - omg I love eggs). As far as I'm concerned, I've made a hell of a lot of progress... SO baby steps. It sounds like you're doing great!
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited October 2016
    I can't say I really hate broccoli, but we're barely on speaking terms. I do eat it though, mostly by concentrating on the pleasing crunchy texture. Now kale and spinach, they're dead to me.
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    I've never made myself eat something until I stopped disliking it, but I do occasionally try small amounts of things I previously disliked. Some I've enjoyed. Some I still loathe. ;)

    very well put, that's pretty much what I do too.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    I havè tried to like Cottage cheese, olives, celery. I don't so don't bother
    Haven't retried avocado in years , might try and see if I like it now
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    If I had forced myself to eat certain things in order to lose weight I would have given up 2 weeks after starting
    I think many people think of certain items as successful diet food which isn't right
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
    Both my husband and I have. He with olives and I with ansjovis. In both cases, we could not understand that we did not like it and many people do. There must be something to it
    My husband now loves olives. I am still not the biggest fan of ansjovis, certainly not as is. But in certain recipes I find I need them for their texture and salty flavour as an ingredient, and like them as past of the bigger picture.
    Some foods can be horrid when the first time you eat them it is prepared badly. However when prepared well they are excellent. For instance I will not at certain organmeats, unless prepared by a cook of repute that can make them taste good. That is how I have come to appreciate sweetbread and kidney.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    elsing84 wrote: »
    Anyone tried to force themselves to eat the foods they hate until the liked them. How was the experience and did you have success.

    I'm tackling nuts and seeds, I've always hated these it's the last food type on a long list of foods to definitely be avoided by my former picky eater self. I'm starting by adding them to yoghurts, oats and adding a sprinkling in some recipies.

    Day 1 - 3 I couldn't help but pull a face at the taste and they had a horrible aftertaste
    Day 4 - just a slight aftertaste and no pulling faces (or did I just add more yoghurt)

    I used to hate nuts too, till I realised it was only certain nuts. I hate peanuts, brazil nuts and hazelnuts, but I love cashews, almonds and pistachios. I tried eating them even though I didn't like them because I knew how healthy they were and thought after many years my taste buds may have changed. I also used to hate beetroot, I love it now.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    edited October 2016
    i despised onions growing up. you know in taco seasonings they have the tiny microscopic onions yea i would pick those out. Onion rings... id only eat the breading. At 17 i entered a classic french culinary school and if you dont know onion and garlic is basically the base of everything. As a chef it's important to train my palate so i ate A LOT of food i hated (including eye balls and brains ect) fast forward im now 29 and legit obsessed with onions. I cant eat enough onions.. raw, grilled, fried, roasted.. I NEED ALL THE ONIONS.

    no matter how much training i will never like seafood or mushrooms.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    I don't eat foods that I hate. I don't feel that it's necessary to punish myself. There are so many good, nutritious foods that I actually enjoy, that I don't bother with the things I don't like. If I had to eat something I hate in order to survive, I'd certainly do it. But otherwise, why would I? B)
  • jnwisniewski22
    jnwisniewski22 Posts: 22 Member
    Sunflower seeds are my favorite snack. Sitting there to crack them open keeps me busy, but if you don't like them don't eat them there are plenty other things to eat like peanut butter pretty much the same content just tastes better. Maybe try a different type of seed or nut thou will eventually find one you like. They are really good if you make a trail mix out of them to eat after a workout or during a walk.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,689 Member
    elsing84 wrote: »
    Anyone tried to force themselves to eat the foods they hate until the liked them.

    Nope. Absolutely not.

    And especially not since joining MFP. If I've only got a limited number of calories to work with, I am eating ONLY foods I like!!

  • gillie80
    gillie80 Posts: 214 Member
    not in that way, no. every now and then i'll try an olive. thinking about trying cooked mushrooms. love them raw, but cooked, bleuch. kinda got used to mustard on some things (double cheeseburger lol) but i dont persistently eat something until i like it. good on you though. if you can see the value in it, protein, carbs, oils, it's worth a go.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    elsing84 wrote: »
    Anyone tried to force themselves to eat the foods they hate until the liked them. How was the experience and did you have success.

    I'm tackling nuts and seeds, I've always hated these it's the last food type on a long list of foods to definitely be avoided by my former picky eater self. I'm starting by adding them to yoghurts, oats and adding a sprinkling in some recipies.

    Day 1 - 3 I couldn't help but pull a face at the taste and they had a horrible aftertaste
    Day 4 - just a slight aftertaste and no pulling faces (or did I just add more yoghurt)

    I have no desire to force myself to eat foods I hate, but then I don't really hate that many foods (and have no particular reason to try and change my mind on the ones I do, like canned tuna). However, you might enjoy Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything (http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/steingarten-everything.html), especially the beginning where he talks about how as a food critic he thinks he needs to learn to appreciate everything and not be biased by his own dislikes.
    This is precisely how I felt about a whole range of foods, particularly desserts in Indian restaurants, until 1989, the year that I, then a lawyer, was appointed food critic of Vogue magazine. As I considered the awesome responsibilities of my new post, I grew morose. For I, like everybody I knew, suffered from a set of powerful, arbitrary, and debilitating attractions and aversions at mealtime. I feared that I could be no more objective than an art critic who detests the color yellow or suffers from red-green color blindness. At the time I was friendly with a respected and powerful editor of cookbooks who grew so nauseated by the flavor of cilantro that she brought a pair of tweezers to Mexican and Indian restaurants and pinched out every last scrap of it before she would take a bite. Imagine the dozens of potential Julia Childs and M. F. K. Fishers whose books she peevishly rejected, whose careers she snuffed in their infancy! I vowed not to follow in her footsteps.

    Suddenly, intense food preferences, whether phobias or cravings, struck me as the most serious of all personal limitations. That very day I sketched out a Six-Step Program to liberate my palate and my soul. No smells or tastes are innately repulsive, I assured myself, and what's learned can be forgot....
  • cgstitch
    cgstitch Posts: 5 Member
    I think it is great that you are trying new foods, and working on what sounds like some food issues. You are very brave! I don't intentionally eat foods that I don't like, but I like a wide variety of things so that list is very short! I do have a dear friend who struggles with specific foods, anything with a visible seed, and she just can't. I know the struggle is real!! That being said you can have a perfectly healthy diet without nuts or seeds! You are not a bird! LOL!

    I would encourage you to continue your journey. After your set trial period, and you still don't like them, I would check it off your list of things you just don't prefer! Maybe just focus on one thing at a time, one type of nut at a time if it is important to you. If you want to revisit it in a year, you can always do that!

    Good luck on your journey!!!
  • guinevere96
    guinevere96 Posts: 1,445 Member
    Coming from a past of VERY VERY picky eating, ive done the exact same thing youre doing and its vastly improved my quality of life. For some people, expanding your palette is just needed in order to make food and weightloss easier and more interesting. Eating the same thing all the time can get redundant and redundancy contributes to boredom, and boredom contributes to giving up IMO.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yeah, if someone is a picky eater (something I admit I have never really related to or understood), I give you great credit for working on it and trying to overcome it. Things are easier when you are able to eat a much broader variety of foods and don't treat new foods or a whole category of foods with suspicion. Way to go, OP!
  • SCOUSERWENCH
    SCOUSERWENCH Posts: 74 Member
    I hate the taste of cottage cheese and peanut butter... and chick peas! Don't mind peanuts but not in butter form
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    I drink a protein shake I despise every day. It's vegan and has a bunch of really good stuff for me that is just impossible to get in thought normal eating lol.....but it is disgusting. I just mix it all up and chug fast. Quick 2 minutes of my day to fill in all sorts of good nutrients? I just do it.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    There are millions of foods in this world. I am not eating the ones I don't like.
This discussion has been closed.