Helping a Picky Eater Lose Weight

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nebblkshts
nebblkshts Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so I have survived my entire life without eating fruits and vegetables. I have struggled with my weight since I left the Army. I have been able to keep a good weight until I hit 40 now I am 46 and no matter what I do my weight keeps creeping up.

My Wife and I went to a body fat test to see what our body fat was. This is where you get in the water and they calculate your body fat. Well, I am 36% fat no surprise. Leaving there they said I needed to eat more calories. But I am confused how.

I run on the treadmill Monday, Wednesday, Friday doing an interval workout for 30 minutes. According to my Apple watch, I burn anywhere from 500 to 540 calories. I have recently gone back to lifting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays I focus on upper body and Thursdays I focus on lower body. Then in the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I focus on core workout at home.

I love my carb foods this is a problem I know. I do not like and have issues trying to eat Fruits, Veggies, and Fish. I have no problem eating lots of meat and eggs. My Wife is the opposite she eats fruits and veggies but cannot eat "Red Meat". How do I add more calories when I do not like fruits and veggies? If I try to start fruits and veggies I will fail as I have tried this in the past. I think it is the texture and just grosses me out.

Going to a nutritionist is not an answer because they are going to say is eat more fruit and veggies. I have been tracking my food and breakfast I drink a Whey protein shake after my workouts. Lunch is usually a thin 4 carb bread and lunch meat with cheese roll. with a small bag of chips. Dinner is anything from a burger patty, chicken breast, eggs, anything ow carb that will not get me past the days' calorie count. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I try to stay under 1800. ON the other days I try to stay under 2100 calories. If I need to eat more calories how?

BTW the stuff I have been doing is not working so I am looking for suggestions on how to fix it. I am not opposed to trying to drink a V8 to get past the veggies part but I need to do something to curb the weight gain.

With my Apple watch, I found a heart monitor and I have found that during my runs my heart rate is well about the "Green Zone" calorie burn. I am hitting around 200 bpm. could this be part of my problem? I feel like I once heard you have to say in the "Green Zone" not below and not over to maximize your burn.

Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    I don't eat fruits or vegetables either, and I can still gain or lose without problem if I put my mind to it and actually have the discipline to control my intake calories.

    What you eat has virtually nothing to do with weight loss or weight gain. How much you eat does. If you don't like fruits or vegetables, don't eat them.

    Are you male? 2100 might be too many cals for you, especially if you aren't dead on with your logging (which very few are). If you are consistent with your logging and confident in your numbers, I would cut cals by 10%... NOT increase them.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Not eating veggies is the least of your concerns right now. You are very confused, either you're mislead or you misheard.

    If you're overweight, you have to eat FEWER calories. Love of food is not a problem. Overeating is. You can eat what you like and lose weight, but you have to eat less.

    Heart rate zones is unimportant at this stage. Just get moving. Anything that gets you moving is great.

    Then you can address the pickyness. Just grow up, both of you. A monotonous diet is not very challenging. Going out of your comfort zone, is. Things will feel and taste weird the first times, and then some of them, or mst of them, start to feel and taste right and exciting. You'll pick up nuances, and get preferences. You'll become more adventourous and confident. Few people like everything, and that's not necessary either. You just need to eat a variety of food from all the food groups.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited January 2018
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Just grow up, both of you. A monotonous diet is not very challenging. Going out of your comfort zone, is. Things will feel and taste weird the first times, and then some of them, or mst of them, start to feel and taste right and exciting. You'll pick up nuances, and get preferences. You'll become more adventourous and confident. Few people like everything, and that's not necessary either. You just need to eat a variety of food from all the food groups.

    I'm all set, thanks though. Maybe next time you could call my house, maybe in the middle of dinner, and try to sell me something else I'm not interested in?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited January 2018
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Just grow up, both of you. A monotonous diet is not very challenging. Going out of your comfort zone, is. Things will feel and taste weird the first times, and then some of them, or mst of them, start to feel and taste right and exciting. You'll pick up nuances, and get preferences. You'll become more adventourous and confident. Few people like everything, and that's not necessary either. You just need to eat a variety of food from all the food groups.

    I'm all set, thanks though. Maybe next time you could call my house, maybe in the middle of dinner, and try to sell me something else I'm not interested in?
    Why are you replying to me?
  • bronaghCPM
    bronaghCPM Posts: 26 Member
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    I find it strange when people say they don't like fruit and veg because there are literally thousands of different types of fruit and vegetables with many varying textures and tastes. Are you sure you've tried enough to say you categorically will never eat them? An apple tastes pretty different to a dragonfruit, and carrots are pretty different to kale.

    Having said that, if you're sure you don't want to vary your diet but you want to lose weight, it's really just about eating less calories. Just fill out the goals section of mfp and it will tell you what your calorie limit should be, do that for a few weeks and see how it goes.
    You can take supplements for vitamins you're not getting in your diet, it's not the healthiest way to live your life - but whatever works for you.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Just grow up, both of you. A monotonous diet is not very challenging. Going out of your comfort zone, is. Things will feel and taste weird the first times, and then some of them, or mst of them, start to feel and taste right and exciting. You'll pick up nuances, and get preferences. You'll become more adventourous and confident. Few people like everything, and that's not necessary either. You just need to eat a variety of food from all the food groups.

    I'm all set, thanks though. Maybe next time you could call my house, maybe in the middle of dinner, and try to sell me something else I'm not interested in?
    Why are you replying to me?

    Because of the bolded specifically.


    And while I SORT of agree- like- stop being a baby mouth and try new thing- @jjpptt2 isn't wrong either- you CAN lose weigh without eating veggies/fruit.
    Why on gods green earth you'd want to- I have no idea- but I eat more veggies than vegetarians- so don't ask me.
    But he's not wrong.


    OP- there is no way you should be eating MORE calories.
    and there is no way you are burning 500 calories running 30 min on the treadmill- unless you're INSANELY quick- a good rule of thumb is a mile is approximately 100 calories- sooooooo unless you are running 5 miles in 30 min- I'm not seeing that calorie burn.

    So- that being said- one of the most common problems people have is they over estimate their calorie burn- and under estimate their food intake. If you reverse that- the problem almost solves itself immediately.
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
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    It's a body composition issue. Here's how I lost 40 lbs by changing my muscle to fat ratio.

    I ate more protein and good fats (like olive oil, coconut oil, grass fed butter). These good fats help me reach my calorie goal pretty easily. I eat way less sugar and carbs (no more than 100 grams of carbs and at least 100 grams of carbs every day). While this is still considered very low carb, it is enough to ensure that my thyroid isn't affected.

    For me at 1400 calories, around 100 grams of carbs works out to 30% of my daily diet. My protein grams are at 88 grams (25%) and my fat is at 70 grams (45%).

    My breakfast is 2 HB eggs and 100 grams of cold potato with salt and pepper. I make a bunch up on the weekends and then just peel and add to my bagged meals for work. (The potatoes end up not being that cold when I get to work and provide some resistant starch.) (243 calories)

    While my lunch is chopped veggies and 3 oz of lean protein (177 calories), since you don't like veggies, what about a homemade protein shake that has some sort of tasteless fiber in it to help you feel full? I really like plain whey protein powder, cocoa powder, half a banana, with a small amount of Konjac, also known as glucomannan to make it more filling. You could try one of the many nut milks (almond, coconut, hemp) and see which one appeals to you. Cocoa does require some sweetener, though, so maybe add some stevia or monk fruit or one of the alcohol sugars. Check out Amazon for people's comments on what they liked or didn't like about the various proteins, sweeteners, or nut milks.

    My two favorite snack choices are EPIC meat bars (under 150 calories with little carbs) or unsweetened peanut butter (190 calories no carbs).

    My dinner is usually a healthy protein, lot of veggies (which you would obviously skip) and a small amount of carbs. (I like making half servings of pasta or rice and adding it to chili, or spaghetti sauce and letting it set until it absorbs all of the liquid. This gives me the illusion that I am eating a lot of carbs when I am really not.) I also eat a lot of beans (black beans with salsa, navy or white beans with bacon and onions, mashed chick peas with garlic and butter.

    IMO it's doable and it's not too bad. I do give myself permission to cheat when I go out to dinner -- but we cut way back on dining out.
  • DamienAngelica
    DamienAngelica Posts: 281 Member
    edited January 2018
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    My guess is you're eating more than you think. Buy a food scale and weigh and record everything you eat and drink. Do this for a couple weeks without changing anything in your diet and see how much you're really eating. Then make adjustments until you're eating at a calorie deficit. At that point you'll start losing weight. It's basic math.

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