I hate Veggies

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I'm new to Keto and really don't know what to eat besides protein and fat. I don't like veggies, don't really know how to get my fat in. And that goes against everything I know - so I don't know what to eat!! Any help would be wonderful!!
Also looking for Keto friends!

Replies

  • RowdysLady
    RowdysLady Posts: 1,370 Member
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    Welcome aboard. I'm always happy for new friends. I learned to love cauliflower in casseroles. I like salad and I eat that often. I don't eat other veggies otherwise unless I chop them small and hide them in stuff - like my meatloaf is full of veggies cut up really small and sauteed in butter then added to the meat. I only eat fat to fill me up; I don't always eat to what my goal is. I taste the wonderful ground meat (I use pork and beef) and not the veggies but I'm getting some in.

    Others here will say they don't eat veggies at all, which is also fine. There are so many LCHF recipes out there that I don't think I will ever get bored with "just protein and fats".

    I'm a nurse and learning to eat fatty foods was really hard at first but now that I see it working, that I'm more satisfied and that my blood work looks great I am full force on board with eating pepperoni slices with cheese for breakfast :-)

  • 40DayFit
    40DayFit Posts: 246 Member
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    While you'll find folks here who don't choose vegetables, I wonder what "hating" vegetables really means for your overall health?

    How familiar are you with flavorful ways to prepare vegetables? With keto, with fat, you can cook vegetables in all kinds of tasty and nutritious ways. I'm a vegetable lover, so I know I'm approaching this with some bias. But vegetables are helpful as bulk for your diet, carrier for your fats, bulk for your stool, and conveyor of micronutrients.

    Pureed steamed vegetables stirred up with butter and/or cheese; added to meaty stews; cooked in an egg & sausage scramble; etc. You'll quickly hit your protein limits if you can't invent ways to branch out. Cheese sauce works miracles even for veg-averse folks. Cream soups, too. On and on, I can think of tons of options.

    If you simply will not eat them, Sam I Am, then you'll have to get used to the taste and feel of fat via your meats. Cook with fats. Choose fatty cuts. Toss in cheese & heavy whipping cream. Add to your hot beverages & broths.

    And maybe revisit vegetables!
  • lorijowilliams
    lorijowilliams Posts: 4 Member
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    So to clarify on Veggies - :smile: I like vegetables that I can't eat. Carrots, beans, corn, peas, etc. I will eat broccoli, but that's about the only allowable veg. So I feel like I'm eating broc constantly which I hate. And I won't eat anything raw. I don't like lettuce, spinach only very small quantities, etc.
    Another question though is what if I max out on protein and not fat? What does that do? I don't understand the science behind Keto yet, so I don't understand why high amounts of fat and not protein is beneficial.
  • lsz06773
    lsz06773 Posts: 10 Member
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    I am still working on getting to keto level carbs daily, but I love some hummus with raw veggies, peanut butter with celery. I cook veggies into most dishes as well. I'm also working on training myself to love zucchini.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    Eat fattier cuts of meat - chicken with the skin on, regular ground beef (73/27) vs. lean, ribeyes vs. sirloin and you will get your fat amount up versus having too much protein.

    Too much protein is only a problem if you are insulin resistant or diabetic - it converts to glucose but you'd really need a lot of protein for that to happen. Like over 300g mark.

    If you don't have any insulin problems, high protein isn't that much of a problem. I eat over 130g of protein a way and it hasn't affected me.

    The fat provides satiety and you get fuller off less volume of food, which helps keep your body at a calorie deficit. But if you're not hungry, then don't eat. Don't feel obligated to get your fat numbers up if you're satisfied. Your body will consume your fat stores in that case.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
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    Your tastes will likely change as you adapt. Since most of the veggies you say you like have higher carb and sugar content, that's why you like them. As you get over the carb withdrawal you will probably find that things you never thought tasted sweet before, taste sweet now.
    But, I don't eat veggies either. I love them! But they do a bad bad thing to my digestion. So I try to limit them as much as humanly possible.

    There are a few of us that eat a more carnivore diet. Everything from the animal kingdom. I bend that to fit some veggies (minimal) and coconut oil and occasional nuts. But I mainly eat meat and dairy.
    In order to get a good balance of micronutrients it's important to choose to eat beef cooked as rare as you can in order to preserve the nutrients. The more you cook meat, the more nutrients you lose. But some meats really need to be cooked more thoroughly. Beef is safer to eat rare. Incorporating some organ meat is incredibly good too however, I haven't yet done that.
  • 40DayFit
    40DayFit Posts: 246 Member
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    So to clarify on Veggies - :smile: I like vegetables that I can't eat. Carrots, beans, corn, peas, etc. I will eat broccoli, but that's about the only allowable veg. So I feel like I'm eating broc constantly which I hate. And I won't eat anything raw. I don't like lettuce, spinach only very small quantities, etc.
    Another question though is what if I max out on protein and not fat? What does that do? I don't understand the science behind Keto yet, so I don't understand why high amounts of fat and not protein is beneficial.

    I don't want to be that person who keeps referring newcomers to the posted sticky, but honestly, if you're still wrapping your mind around keto science...

    The Launch Pad at the top of the threads really is a great resource with posts, articles, and videos that I've found really helpful as I develop & tweak a well-balanced nutritional ketosis eating style. I've watched SO many videos, read articles, listened in on message boards. But the Phinney, Volk, Westman, and other videos listed do a really great job of explaining the science and reason behind keto, ways to adopt keto, and troubleshooting tips for getting adapted to fat burning. In layman's terms. I think a lot of keto folk get pretty into nutritional science as we explore what does or doesn't work, and why, for our own health.

    But to help you understand the WHY of this lifeway, suggestions on how to identify your macro grams (including what to do with all that fat), AND to see how vast the low-carb vegetable array really is, check out some of the materials linked in the Launch Pad. And poke around the recipe thread for delicious (non-broccoli) ideas!
  • tribal351
    tribal351 Posts: 72 Member
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    I eat very few veggies. My daily intake is 2 cups of raw baby spinach that I slather in cheese, meat of some sort, and salsa. Doesn't taste like veggies when it's a taco salad-ish thing. Other than that it's all eggs, sausage, bacon, ground pork, cheese, pepperoni, pulled pork, steak, etc. I would say that most of my calories come from egg based dishes.
    Oh, and if interested I've lost 54 lbs total, and dropped 30 points from cholesterol levels.
    If you don't like them, don't eat them. It will improve your chances of success if you enjoy what you eat.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I tend to eat plant matter. LOL Nuts, seeds, coconut and some green stuff. I generally think of veggies as a cheese delivery device. Veggies are always covered in butter, or a sourcream/cheese sauce, or dipped in tzaziki, or covered in a creamy full fat dressing.

    Carrots, green beans and snap peas are the only veggies I will eat not smothered in something. Corn would be in there too but I save that for fresh taber corn in late summer - once.

    If those are the veggies you like, you can fit them into your diet, just not as much volume as you could have in a bowl of spinach... spinach is also good smothered in cheese, or with eggs. IDK, veggies taste best when eaten with other food. IMO.
  • emaline2210
    emaline2210 Posts: 57 Member
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    I'm the opposite and a veggie fiend! Veggies are what often make me almost go over the edge of my carb goals for the day. Well that and dark chocolate.

    So in some sense, eating this way and not being a veggie fan is almost natural. Your carbs and fats can come from nuts and dairy. I needed more fat recently, so I put a pat of butter in my chili. You can always add butter or oil to up your fats.
  • collegefbfan
    collegefbfan Posts: 346 Member
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    I was same as you @lorijowilliams ... I love peas, corn, beans, etc. Had to give that up. It is in the way you spice these new veggies up. Even Brussel sprouts are awesome with some chopped up bacon and heavy whipping cream. Some white cheddar. Cauliflower au gratin is great and all done in the microwave.

    As far as keto and being new. Do a lot of reading. These folks are so helpful. They helped me tons in losing 34 pounds in 14 weeks. Fat and protein deal you spoke of. Fatty meats, butter, coconut oil, avocado, heavy cream, olive oil, etc. I do eat smaller portions of meats now. If I didn't, my protein would be way over fat. I didn't understand either but it works. Get your water in and don't slack on sodium either.
  • McShorty7
    McShorty7 Posts: 69 Member
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    Don't forget about zucchini, mushrooms and cauliflower! I love all veggies so It's a bit difficult for me to relate, but I think that you may be able to get used to cauliflower with all of the great things you can do with it
  • Bonny132
    Bonny132 Posts: 3,617 Member
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    Read the launch pad so much good info there, really helped me out a lot.

    My tastebuds has changed a lot, sweet foods now are too sweet, bitter food is starting to taste less and less bitter. My body wants salt. Vegetables tastes so different.

    Bolognese sauce, you can purée in veg such as onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, olives, peppers etc and it only adds to the flavour. Zucchini makes great spiralized "spaghetti"

    Eggplant/aubergine, tastes great baked in the oven and filled with minced meat and topped with cheese.

    Peppers, halved and filled with minced meat and topped with cheese. So yummy.

    Asparagus, grilled, rolled in Parma ham is OH so good.

    Brussels sprouts drizzled in butter with crumbled bacon on top, tastes amazing.

    My advice for anyone "hating" veg is to be playful. Try new veg, new ways of preparing and don't overcook them. Be inventive. Have you tried vegetable crisps? Carrots, beetroot, parsnips etc makes great home made crisps to get you used to the idea of eating more veg.
  • solska
    solska Posts: 348 Member
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    I didn't really know what low carb was first, I thought it was low carb high protein... and all that high protein didn't work for me, because from what I understand, in the absence of carbs the body will burn muscle/protein as glycogen... so you don't get in keto or fat adapted.

    It was a relief for me to learn this in a way as I spent most of my life as a vegetarian and been eating meat only the past few years, for me it's a chore to fit protein into my diet without it being accompanied by past or bread. I can tolerate a burger in a bun with sauce etc.. but meat on its own is hard.

    But I love veggies prepared in creative ways. I have a strong dislike for some veggies, like broccoli. And some veggies can taste terrible if they aren't done right. Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, it can be horrible if cooked wrong, same for asparagus. My recommendation is to try highly rated recipes, and using olive oil, butter, parmesan, garlic, vinegar, and cream (creamed spinach is crazy delicous). I think veggies sautee or bake well but lose taste steamed or boiled. I also like salads. My recommendation is to get your veggies from farmer's markets... so so much better, fresher, tastier.
  • idocdlw
    idocdlw Posts: 208 Member
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    I love most veggies but was struggling to find a way to work my nemesis, cauliflower into the mix. I had tried riced, mashed, scalloped and several other ways, but never liked (abhor it raw). I finally tried Cheesy Cauliflower Puree on the IBIH website and love, love, love it. The mistake I had made in the past was skimping on the fat!

    I was also reminded that I should eat more brocolli after enjoying a "thankful someone else is cooking" Thanksgiving at Applebee's. I really have to have "loaded brocolli" more often at home...yummy, yum, yum!

    So bottom line for me to enjoy the veggies that I don't is DO NOT skimp on fat...in fact, SMOTHER those suckers in fat...add butter, add cheese, add cream, add bacon...then ENJOY!!