What to do with the picky eater?

dolphin9803
dolphin9803 Posts: 125
edited October 1 in Food and Nutrition
I will be honest here I am the most picky eater out there I think. I won't or don't (however you want to look at that...lol) eat alot of thing I know I should. But I just can't get over the taste and/or texture of some foods.
okay so here is a list of vegs that I'll eat: Corn, carrots raw, cali raw, broc raw other then that I don't like anything else, I won't eat it if they are cooked also changes the taste and I don't like it. Fruits straw, grapes, canto, pineapple, oranges. I'm not a big meat eater either except for chicken and turkey I will however eat some red meat but I don't like it so it doesn't happen often. The list of stuff that I don't eat could go on forever I think...lol So now what do I do to stay on track with weight loss and start eating healthier. Keeping in mind that what you eat I more than likely don't So far I have just kept my eating habits the same and just cut the portion size to what I should be eating not what I want and that seems to be working for now. Any advice?

Replies

  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    If all you like to eat is raw fruits and veggies, why do you need to lose weight? I wouldn't think it possible to get overweight on just those. Or are you trying to gain?
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    See a nutritionist. People think nothing of hiring personal trainers at the gym but rarely consider going to a professional nutritionist. I don't understand why since weight loss is determined far more by what you eat than by your activity level (and yes you need to do both and yes you need to weight train to replace lost muscle, but ultimately, it's what you eat that will determine your success). So my advice is to get a good diet tailor made to what you can and will eat designed by a professional.
  • RNewton4269
    RNewton4269 Posts: 663 Member
    All I can say is wow...you are a picky eater. But at least you know this. Good luck!
  • allaboutty
    allaboutty Posts: 13
    I am exactly like you! I eat the same veggies (the same way). I will eat almost all fruit (but melon, yuck!). I have seen a dietician/nutritionist but it doesn't help, just more money down the drain. I've tried these foods as I've gotten older, thinking that will help but it doesn't. I haven't found the magic cureall. Just try to eat the best of what you can eat and hope for the best - that's what I do :) Good luck!
  • savlyon
    savlyon Posts: 474 Member
    You have to cut the processed crap out of your diet. Our taste buds want to be entertained like the rest of our selves. Once you get all of the unnatural stuff out of your system I think your body will be happier with the natural. Try introducing a new vegetable once a week. Be creative...like egg plant parmesan... I would think that egg plant by itself would be disgusting but egg plant in place of pasta is great. Also be aware that your taste buds change. It is probably more of a mental thing at this point for you. When you were 5 you got away with "hating" spinach...so now you "hate" spinach even though you haven't tried it in years.

    Good luck to you! Remember it's all mental. :)
  • christy_frank
    christy_frank Posts: 680 Member
    Well, eat a lot of chicken & turkey and fresh califlower and broccoli. You almost cannot eat better than that!!!!
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
    How in the world are we supposed to give you advice if you've already said you won't eat the stuff we suggest? Good luck.

    By the way, those are just a list of the HEALTHY foods you will and won't eat. I wonder what the list of unhealthy foods you will eat looks like?
  • cdngrl81
    cdngrl81 Posts: 434 Member
    Wow! I have never seen anyone who is just as picky as me. Although I do like red meat and eat it at least twice a week. But I find it really hard to find healthy options for work lunches especially when people always recommend salads.
  • rdmchugh
    rdmchugh Posts: 76
    Many people do not like vegetables because all they have ever had is boiled to mush versions. You might try other ways of preparing veggies.

    One thought is to go to a farmer's market and just pick them up and smell them. Does it smell good? Feel the texture in your hand, is it firm? Do you think it would be crunchy when you eat it?

    Roasting firm veggies may be a way to open you to a whole new world! Start roasting with one you like, maybe brocoli. Put foil on a shallow pan (like a cookie sheet), lay out the veggies, spray lightly with olive oil (or such) and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash or other herbs. Bake in the oven at 350 for 10-15 min.

    I recently bought a ceramic veggie steamer. It is a pottery bowl with a lid. You put in fresh veggies, sprinkle with herbs, add 1/4 cup water and toss in the microwave for 5-6 min or the oven for 10-15. Veggies are still crunchy and so YUMMY!

    There is more to eating the bread, pasta and packaged food...just try it, you may be surprised :)
  • jbdowns35
    jbdowns35 Posts: 352
    Are you reluctant to try new foods? The people I know who claim to be picky eaters are almost always someone who is afraid to try new things. Everytime someone says they don't like something, I always ask 'did you ever try it?' And beleive it or not they always say "NO"! Ofcourse my next question is "How do you know you don't like it if you never tried it?" How old are you? I've found as I got older my tastes have changed & alot of things I didn't like before I like now. Also, trying things prepared in different ways can change your mind. For instance, I never liked salmon. Tried it several times, just didn't like it. I was out to dinner with my boyfriend one night & he ordered cedar planked grilled salmon & I reluctantly tried a bite. I loved it & now I cook salmon regularly, many different ways. Just try really hard to become more open minded towards food, & try them all different ways. you'll be surprised you might actually change your mind about some things! Take it from a food lover - you don't know what you're missing!
  • dolphin9803
    dolphin9803 Posts: 125
    If all you like to eat is raw fruits and veggies, why do you need to lose weight? I wouldn't think it possible to get overweight on just those. Or are you trying to gain?

    Trying to lose. Being hypothyroid makes me gain weight as my thyroid doesn't work like other peoples so therefore my metabolism is pretty non-existant (acording to my endo dr.) Anything that I eat would be like you eating a whole cake every day the results are the same. And being that it went undiagnosised for yrs I never new I had it and my eating habits were by far worse then what they are today lots of sweets back then. Since finding this out I have completely cut the sweets out except for once a wk. As an example when I was preg with my son 13 yrs ago I gained 65-70 lbs never lost any of it but maybe 10 lbs, got preg with my daughter 8 yrs ago and thats when they tested for the hypo and started meds for it and I only gained 11 lbs with her lost that 11 when I had her. that would be the difference in having my meds and not having them.

    I'm not reluctant to try foods that I have in the past I have retired them and I still don't like the taste of them. I tried tomatoes in my salad figuring that okay they are mixed in with stuff I'll eat and hopefully I won't even know they are there. It didn't work like planned still don't like them.

    As far as the unhealthy stuff I eat sure I'm like everyone else love chips, sweets any thing that Is easy as a snack. When is the last time I had chips 2 wks ago and I had 5 and closed the bag and put them away. 2 months ago your damn right I would have choosen the crap over the vegs and fruit, Hense the reason I'm here!. Today that doesn't happen anymore once a wk I might let myself have a candy bar guess what tho I eat maybe half and throw the other out.

    Don't judge me by what I used to do I'm trying to change and thought that I would ask what other people thought Instead I get smart comments nothing shes been told twice. I thought the ppl here where different and understood when everyone is going through.
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
    Sometimes you just need to put on your Big Girl Pants and make yourself try new foods - or retry ones you thought you didn't like - for no other reason than for your health.

    It's not very productive to say, "this is what I eat and I won't eat what you eat - so what should I eat?"

    I periodically retry things I thought I didn't like, and now that I am a grown-up I have discovered that yes I do like brussels sprouts. I never would have known that if I hadn't kept trying them.

    Your turn.
  • Heather75
    Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
    You must be a hoot at a dinner party.

    Try some new things. Your tastes change and you might discover that if you keep an open mind, some foods that you haven't enjoyed in the past might actually appeal to you now.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member


    Anything that I eat would be like you eating a whole cake every day the results are the same.


    This is the biggest bunch of BS I've heard in a long time. Hypothyroid can be hard but there are LOTS of us here that have it and are losing or have lost. Comparing it to eating a cake everyday is ridiculous.
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member


    Anything that I eat would be like you eating a whole cake every day the results are the same.


    This is the biggest bunch of BS I've heard in a long time. Hypothyroid can be hard but there are LOTS of us here that have it and are losing or have lost. Comparing it to eating a cake everyday is ridiculous.

    Don't go gettin' all technical. Excuses are what makes us.... uh.... fat?
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
    No TV. No video games. No dessert.
  • korygilliam
    korygilliam Posts: 594 Member
    Heya, I am close to being the same except I don't like any fruit (except pineapple) nor any veggie (except sweet potato) nor any seafood. Mine is mainly due to texture as well. I am 33 and I have attempted to try the different foods again, but either the feel, texture or the taste is just blah! For those of you that respond 'she's already been told, no use in trying to help' or respond 'you need to try again, because you are now an adult' don't understand what we are dealing with. I would LOVE to enjoy fruits and veggies...they smell good and they sound good, they just taste terrible (no, I don't smoke).

    To lose most of my weight, I ended up decreasing my portions to allow myself to eat more palateable items, but overall, they aren't bad options. I eat a bowl of kashi cereal w/ fat free milk every morning (or a kashi granola bar)...typically a lean pocket and yogurt for lunch...then try to do a good dinner and keep under 800 calories (i.e. Arby's reg roast beef w/ baked lays instead of fries...chick-fil-a chicken sandwich w/ chick noodle soup instead of fries...cheese tortellini w/o the parmesean cheese and no bread...sandwiches w/ 2% cheddar cheese slices and wonder light bread (tastes just like regular bread)...

    You are welcome to check out my diary...I have been having an abnormal couple of weeks, but I log everything that I eat. Right now having an issue w/ getting enough protein and cutting down my sodium, but maybe it will give you some food options.
  • Panda_Jack
    Panda_Jack Posts: 829 Member
    Honestly I would say HTFU.
  • TByrd1325
    TByrd1325 Posts: 920 Member
    I'm hypothyroid... I lost a bunch of weight. I grew up eating mac and cheese, pizza, ramen noodles. I never had a salad until I was 19 years old. I refused to eat anything remotely healthy. I realized if I wanted to get healthy and lose weight I'd have to try new different foods I thought I hated. Turns out, I didn't hate them.

    It can be hard losing weight with hypo, but it's definitely not impossible.
  • Alissa_Sal
    Alissa_Sal Posts: 141
    I used to be like you. Honestly, I changed just by sucking it up and eating the foods that I "didn't like" for a while. I think that for me, I just wasn't used to the tastes of certain things since I always refused to eat them as a kid. After I ate them a couple of times (trying to keep an open mind) I found that I really didn't mind them at all, I just needed to get used to the taste and get over my mental block of believing that I couldn't possibly like them. I will say that there are a few things that I have simply never been able to get myself to like, but trust me, my eating is about 100% better, and honestly, my life is easier now. I remember how hard it used to be to order things at a restaurant (like 90% of the menu was off limits because it was full of things I "didn't like") or eat over at someone else's house.

    Things that I "didn't like" but now am just fine with:
    Tomatoes
    Onions (cooked)
    Peppers
    Zucchini/Squash
    Green beans
    Cooked carrots
    Spinach
    Sweet Potatoes
    Bananas
    Melon
    Fish

    I know that "suck it up and just eat them" is kind of harsh advice, and I truly do know how hard it is to make yourself do it, but I still advise you to try. Just being able to add those things to my diet has seriously made my life way better and easier, and opened up a world of food. I'm so glad that I can eat most things now without a problem. The only things that I can say now that I really still don't care for are mushrooms, olives, and raw onions, but even those things I am not nearly as picky about now - I can eat around them without it really bothering me. I hope you are able to get to a place where you can overcome most of your pickiness too. Good luck!
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
    Think of what this is doing to your kids! Go see a nutritionist!
  • 123456654321
    123456654321 Posts: 1,311 Member
    If all you like to eat is raw fruits and veggies, why do you need to lose weight? I wouldn't think it possible to get overweight on just those. Or are you trying to gain?

    It is possible to get overweight on just about anything.
  • dolphin9803
    dolphin9803 Posts: 125
    Both of my kids will eat anything you put in front of them
  • laughingdani
    laughingdani Posts: 2,275 Member
    I urge you to go back and re-try all the veg and fruit that you "think" you don't like. Try different recipes it can make a world of a difference how things are prepared. If you don't like it prepared one way it doesn't mean you can't eat that particular food, it just means you don't like that recipe. Try it again a different way. Personally, I am not very picky. There's a few things I don't care for. Celery being one of them. It tastes like a** covered in dirt. lol But...I still eat it and incorporate it into my diet here and there. I haven't totally banished it from my life.

    Also, making vegetable purees out of some of the veggies and then mixing the purees into sauces, soups and casseroles is a good way to include more veggies in your diet. And because you're not biting into huge chunks of the vegetable you don't even notice it's in there. My family thinks they don't like squash. I have put squash puree in almost everything with a sauce base that I've cooked and they never notice. I think sometimes it's a mental thing.
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