I hate vegetables

If you don't mind me asking--- what kind of veggies have you tried and disliked, and how were they prepared?

I don't eat veggies either, never have even as a child. However I like fruits. I am not on any quick shift diet, I just elected to eat less than what I normally consume. I am Filipino, so rice is a staple. I just try to eat a fourth or half a cup instead.

I totally understand what you're saying about WANTING to eat veggies but end up gagging. I cannot let leafy ones past my throat either. I don't even like how they feel in my mouth. My saving grace is when my mom cooks vegetable soups with chicken or whatever, I actually LIKE the taste of the liquid part of the soup itself, which I imagine would contain some of the nutritional value of the veggies. Carrots I can eat raw, but rarely do anyway. I can also eat carrots when cubed and cooked with some corn in butter. Aside from that, if potatoes are veggies I eat those too. However they are carbs and I'd stay away a little bit.

Maybe also consult you doctor and find out with supplements or vitamins you can take to get the nutrients you need.

So I am looking for those people out there who hate fruits and vegetables. The problem I am having is I HATEEEEE them. The only way I can get them in my diet is if they are in a smoothie and it has to be blended until there are no chunks. I hate a smoothie that has chunks in it. I have a texture problem. I dont eat red meat or pork. I eat chicken on occasion but I dont like to eat it every day. Loosing weight with all these food problems is the hardest thing ever. Does any one have any suggestions out there for food ideas for someone who hates fruits and veggies and meat?

Gotta hate being overweight more than eating nutritious vegetables and fruits. That's the reality.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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I have a texture problem too! Because of this, I don't eat meat at all because it feels chewy and gross!


I too, was once a veggie hater. I AM NOW A VEGGIE LOVER! lol. You just have to know how to work the fruits and veggies.
Here are some ideas:

***FRUITS***

---Apples: I don't eat skin, peel/core them and dip in peanut butter. Or if you have a sweet tooth sprinkle small amt of sugar/cinnamon on top! Delish.
---Bananas: slice them and sprinkle with I tbs. of chocolate chips on top!
---Strawberries/blueberries with chocolate chips or sprinkle with sugar! Or splenda, but I don't use that stuff lol
---Pomegranates although messy, are naturally sweet!
---Sweet potatoes with brown sugar on top ahhhhhhh

FREEZE YOUR FRUIT! Raspberries and grapes are great frozen.

---

***VEGGIES***

---Celery with peanut butter
---Carrots with dip or peanuty sauce (search allrecipes.com)
---Steamed Broccoli (or carrots, cauliflower, zucchini) with shredded cheese on top
---Asian style steamed veggies with less sodium soy sauce
---Lettuce and hummus. There are so many kinds!
---Sauteed veggies: I.E. Broccoli and Asparagus. Put in pan with small amt. of butter/garlic...YUM!
---Grilled bell peppers with spices.
---I like shredded cheese on my salad ^_^


I have a lot of texture issues, and I'm still learning about new healthy foods everyday. Spices are your best friend and can make a veggie taste 1000 times better lol! If you need anymore ideas feel free to ask.

:flowerforyou:

V8 Fusion is one way to quickly get fruits & veggies into you and there is no texture to it. I believe each small bottle has 1 serving of fruit and 1 serving of vegtables.

Something to try to replace your pasta is try replacing spaghetti squash for regular spaghetti - there is a bit of a taste diffrence but atleast has a similar texture once lathered in spaghetti sauce.

Try having curry! If you like spicy foods this is great because the intense flavor of the sauce can really cover the taste of the veggies if you want it to. How I make it is to saute veggies (using water), add skim milk, water, lots of spices then toss with Rozoni Smart Taste pasta (50 calories less than normal pasta but still delicious) or CousCous and simmer until it's all evaporated. If you put lots of spices in and let the veggies cook down a lot before adding the milk and pasta you won't get much veggie flavor but still all the nutrition. (And to anyone reading this who likes veggies like I do only cook them to be al dente and semi-soft then add milk, spices and pasta so you get all the yummy veggie crunch). Traditional curry calls for coconut milk most of the time but I've found that using fat free milk tastes really great and is VASTLY healthier. Try it!

My best advice is just to suck it up and force yourself to eat them because they're good for you. I've had to do a lot of that since having kids -- I pretend to like a lot of things that I really don't just so they won't be picky.

Smoothies aren't bad, try roasting vegetables, it's yummy

You might want to get over the veggie aversion before you actually try lowering your calorie intake. Veggies in rich gourmet foods are a lot easier to get used to. Once you've got your toe in the water, you can experiment with lower calorie alternatives.

Sounds like a very smooth puree is acceptable. You eat pasta -- with red sauce? Tomato sauce is a vegetable.

Do you like pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie? Pumpkin spice bread? Vegetables.

Fruit pie? Not much different from vegetables, just more sugar. You can make a nice quiche using eggs, shredded cheese, and vegetables reduced to an unrecognizable puree. Leave off the crust and use egg whites and it's lower calorie. Nonfat cottage cheese actually works okay instead of other cheeses, too, once it melts in the mix.

If you like potatoes, they are vegetables. It's the stuff people put on them that has most of the calories.

People eat spaghetti squash instead of pasta, though I haven't tried it. Spinach pasta was mentioned, and that's indistinguishable from plain pasta in texture. You can also get breads with spinach or tomato puree baked into them. Pretty much any baked good can have part or all of the fat substituted with pureed fruits or vegetables.

The curry idea is good, but get a recipe book for Indian foods rather than adding "curry powder" to everything.

Squash soup, with sherry and cream added, can be divine -- like lobster bisque.

I would suggest that you try pureeing cooked vegetables and straining them, so there are no lumps or seeds. Try unfamiliar vegetables that don't remind you of people trying to force you to eat. Turnips and rutabegas can be cooked and mashed like potatoes. Various spices can create all kinds of ethnic flavors.

I honestly had the same problem. My parents had to force me to eat 1 TBLS of corn with my dinner and that was the only veggie I would get all day. Corn? Hardly a veggie. I still didn't eat vegetables other than what was served at dinner at all through my early 20's (although I knew I had to eat more than a spoonful). It's now 10 years later and I eat ALL vegetables! I actually have adopted a flexitarian lifestyle. My dishes are so colorful! And like you.....all I ever wanted was cheese (and milk!!). Now I have drastically reduced my intake. This is what has worked for me, but has definitely been a process that has taken a long time for me.

1) Keep trying those veggies (and fruit)! Pick one that you think is "ok". There HAS to be something out there that you don't despise and eat it regularly. The more we're exposed to things the more likely we are to get used to them. That fruit or veggie will be like a gateway to liking others.
2) This I think is the most important step!!! GET RID OF THE PROCESSED CRAP!! That's all I grew up on. If it didn't come in a box or bag, we didn't eat it. Well, guess what, processed food is addictive and actually engineered to taste better than "real" food. So by eating it, you are training your tastebuds that processed food tastes better. After eating whole foods for a while, you will find the processed crap doesn't taste so good. (And, yes, I do still eat it on occasion).

It's going to take a while and you're probably going to feel like you're suffering at first. You have to make a promise to your body that you love it more than you love pasta! Once I adopted these changes it's amazing the difference I feel. I have a lot of health issues and eating this way has really allowed me to notice an improvement in these problems (some food related, most not). Good luck!!!

My fiance has exactly the same problem, and it's certainly psychological. It took four years of knowing him to encourage him to eat a carrot after he used to gag whenever he tried. Now, he has them roasted but still on rare occasions. I'm still, two years on, trying to encourage him to take the next step.

It's a slow process, but do-able if you want your health enough.

This may sound weird, but you may have a form of lachanophobia (fear of vegetables). Check out this story - the woman sounds similar to you http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/6526816/Woman-diagnosed-with-fear-of-vegetables.html

I agree with the general concensus....juice them, puree into soups, et cetera, but most of all get help!

Mary Ann
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/iddreams/view/overcoming-the-obesity-mindset-194711

@ sarackr The only fruit I can eat whole is an apple...without the skin. I cant eat anything else whole. Bananas are too mushy, strawberries have seeds and hair on them. Blueberries are rubbery. I wish I didnt have this problem. You dont know how many times I have sat at the table WANTING to eat these things and gagging on my plate.

I'm very similar to you except I had a little bit of a larger repertoire. It was meat and bread for me as a child; I HATED vegetables, fruits, beans, and condiments.

When I got to college I was embarrassed about how many different foods I didn't like. It became a social issue. Also, I was worried about the vitamins and minerals that I was missing out in my diet.

It was more smell/taste for me than texture -- I hated how vegetables and many fruits smelled, and I despised anything bitter. But texture was distressing too. Disguising food in other food - creaming cauliflower in cheese for example - never fooled me. I smelled it and wouldn't eat it.

I had to get over it. What I did was pick a food I wanted to eat, and desensitize myself to it. Just one food. For me it was broccoli. I cut it up into microscopic pieces and swathed it in bread and ranch dressing to disguise the smell and weird texture. And I even though I could taste that nasty little piece in there, and even though it made me gag, I ate it.

I did this every day until I could eat that tiny fleck of broccoli without totally being grossed out. I think it took me two weeks. Next, I cut larger pieces, and repeated until I could eat a little sprig.

This was maybe 15 years ago. This worked for me and now gradually, over years and months, worked on other foods. I can eat many fruits and vegetables now. There are still many that I never became OK with - raw tomatoes, for example. But, I'm actually a vegetarian now which my family never would have believed after catering to a picky eater for so many years.

Carbs are not your enemy in excess, but in moderation they are fine.

You need to try *something* to expand your food horizons. You're missing out on a lot of delicious food. Good luck!

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I have a 3 year old that hates fruits and veggies, too AND I'm a vegetarian so I don't cook meat. He loves waffles with applesauce and pumpkin, though. Mac and cheese can have any yellow, orange or white veggie puree blended in the cheese sauce and he'll eat it. Baked goods with prunes (if they are chocolate or dark) or applesauce (if they are light) instead of oil and half the white flour with wheat. There are several cookbooks out right now (like Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious) that sneak fruits and veggies into lots of different foods. Hummus (bean spread) can be made from lots of different beans and he likes that on bread or crackers. He likes Dave Butternut Squash Pasta sauce (amazingly). Puree your veggie soups and put wheat pasta or barley in there. He eats Boca Burgers and veggie sausage. Is any of this helpful? I can go on all day

you are amazing. i'm going to have try some of those for my picky little eaters.

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