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picky eater
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 2007-05-13 12:19 PM |
Member  40  Providence |  Subject: picky eaterI'm an extremely picky eater and I like to eat the same things over and over.... and they aren't healthy!!... mac & cheese, grilled cheese, spaghetti, pizza, tacos... stuff like that. I've been trying to eat healthier but I am having difficulty branching out in what I eat... especially with my lack of cooking skills. I am going to the grocery store shortly but I want to try to get some healthier foods that I might like.... any ideas?? I like apples, bananas, watermelon, cucumbers, carrots, grapes.... and well, that might be it. I'll eat peppers with steak.... HELP! |
| 2007-05-13 3:20 PM in reply to: #798695 |
Champion 8936     | Subject: RE: picky eater Doesn't sound like you're a picky eater. Sounds like you like junk food. I'll let you in on a little secret. Almost all of us like junk food and would eat if preferentially if we could. If you really want to change that, you have to make a concerted effort and set goals for yourself. Nobody can tell you exactly how to do that. |
| 2007-05-13 6:05 PM in reply to: #798695 |
Master 1862 San Mateo, CA | Subject: RE: picky eater brown rice, fruits & vegis, lean meats are a few items that come to mind. Have you ever seen the magazine "Everyday Food?" It is published monthly and has a lot of excellent, easy to make recipies. The great thing about this magazine is that it also gives you a shopping list for the week, info on spices, herbs and such that you should have on hand for cooking. |
| 2007-05-13 7:59 PM in reply to: #798695 |
Expert 1022 In limbo | Subject: RE: picky eater I'm the ultimate picky eater....I never really grew out of the kid food thing, and have lived most of my life on mac & cheese and ramen! I also never really learned how to cook, so that doesn't help. What I've done is just try and make small changes, just a little bit at a time. My biggest change recently is that i've hugely increased the amount of fruits I'm eating. I've loaded up my fridge w/berries and apples and that kind of thing so when I'm feeling hungry and want something sweet I can go for fruit. I've also increased the amount of veggies I eat too....so I'll still have the mac & cheese but I'll have a salad with it. Also, pay attention to the nutrition info on the stuff you're eating. I was surprised to find that there's big differences in different brands/types of packaged foods....even the "just add water" type stuff can have a lot of variety. Just found that one of my fave quick pasta meals comes w/whole wheat pasta now....little things like that can make a difference. My eating habits are still far from perfect but they're getting much better. Now when I get hungry I'm starting to crave healthy foods over the junk, because I don't want to feel weighed down by the stuff I used to eat all the time (though of course I still go for the junk at times!). My goal once I'm done with school is to start learning how to cook, so I can have some more options, but for now I just keep trying to do the best I can with what i've got....Good luck! |
| 2007-05-14 4:33 PM in reply to: #798695 |
| Mountain View, CA | Subject: RE: picky eater Whatever changes you make, make them gradually. If you try to overhaul your diet overnight, you'll probably be miserable. Try making your spaghetti with whole wheat pasta, or even your mac & cheese (I love Annie's whole wheat shells & cheddar). If you find a whole wheat or multi-grain bread you like, you can make your grilled cheese with that. If you like stir fries, serve them over brown rice instead of white rice. Cucumbers and carrots are great dipped in hummus, or chopped up and stuck in a (whole wheat) pita with some grilled chicken (and/or more hummus), and maybe some fresh spinach. I also find that roasting or grilling veggies (over charcoal, not gas) is a great way to get out of the steaming rut. Zucchini, asparagus, bell peppers, etc. Sometimes their flavor is surprisingly different (in a good way), and you can always marinate them if you want. |
| 2007-05-14 9:48 PM in reply to: #798695 |
Elite 4547 | Subject: RE: picky eater Here's an easy one for you, my whole family loves it: step 1: take fresh leaf spinach and pop it in a food processor. step 2: put into saucepan with jar of spaghetti sauce and a chopped up zucchini or onion. step 3: cook pasta (whole wheat is better) but regular won't kill you. Ease into the changes. Voila! It's that easy! When you are at the store, avoid the crap. Fruits, veggies, lean meats with very little beef. Drink plenty of water and be disciplined with your training. Honestly, I'm a notorious junk food connoisseur. I used to eat whole boxes of Little Debbie snack cakes as a lunch. 10 packs (back when they sold them, now they are 8-packs) of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups was also an occasional lunch. The best thing for me has been getting disciplined for my upcoming 1st tri, a HIM. When I eat crap and workout I feel it! It does not feel good! What do I say? Keep eating crap! The more you workout, the sicker you'll feel until you make the decision to feel better. I'm at the point now that it hurts to eat the crap. I hope tri can do the same for you. Good luck!  |
| 2007-05-16 6:01 AM in reply to: #798695 |
Champion 6107 Out running or enjoying a fine glass of red... | Subject: RE: picky eater Some other suggestions - we eat clean & healthy in my house, but I try not to deprive my children of semi-normal childhood experiences, so we have taken the typical kids food and made it better (if not healthy)... Mac & cheese - try organic (Annies is good) & whole wheat, toss in some meat so it's not all carb, all the time, or even some veggies Grilled cheese - use whole grain/high fiber bread, lower fat cheese, and grill it up with some meat and spinach leaves (you won't taste them, it's like putting lettuce on your sandwich) Spaghetti - Chinese Democracy's idea above is great - we hide all sorts of stuff in salsa & sauces and put some lowfat meat in there Pizza - make your own on flatbread (whole wheat/high fiber), use lower fat meat (e.g. turkey pepperoni or lean turkey sausage), load it up with veggies & don't use much cheese Tacos - they make a pretty good organic, baked blue corn taco kit - we don't eat it often, but sometimes and we make it with lean ground turkey breast and load it up with spinach, tomato, salsa See - you can actually eat everything you like and none of it is hard to make healthier. Of course, eating some plain old fruit, veggies, and lean meat is what my kids eat most of the rest of time. But you can still eat the fun food. |
| 2007-05-18 6:09 AM in reply to: #798695 |
Expert 686 oregon ave, | Subject: RE: picky eater I am totally picky when it comes to food. I like about 15-20 things total. I actually posted a similar question like yours months ago. First of all, take small steps into changing your diet. Drastic changes usually don't stick. Try one or two new things when you go shopping. Second of all, Look at what you do eat and see if you can make them more healthy for example: Switching to whole grain breads, low fat cheeses, etc... And last, I treat junk food like a recovering drug addict treats drugs. Yes they are good/yummy and so irresistable and healthy food is so bla, but that's the trap. So then you say, I'll just do it in moderation, and two weeks later, your munching out again. It is a mind set that you have to work on. Junk food doesn't make your body feel good, it tricks your mind into thinking that way. Try to look at healthy food as fuel, energy, and a positive thing. over time of eating good foods, you'll feel the difference. The junk food monkey on your back never goes away though. be strong and good luck! |
| 2007-05-19 3:42 PM in reply to: #798695 |
| 24 | Subject: RE: picky eater I agree with enders_shadow -- there are things you can do to alter your junk food so that it's at least a little healthier, and not empty calories. I'm a picky eater as well -- luckily, having lived alone for 2 years, I've learned some creative tricks to making food healthy and tasty, though when I go visit my parents I tend to be back to eating crap. With mac n cheese, I mix in some steamed broccoli for veggies, or some tuna for protein, so that it's not a nutritionally void food. For a grilled cheese, make it with 2% cheese slices (not fat free, fat free cheese is vile and useless) and whole grain bread, and have it with a salad on the side, or a cup of tomato soup made with skim milk. For spaghetti, get whole wheat pasta (hint - cook it a little longer than regular pasta, and let it get soft rather than al dente), have it with low fat tomato sauce or some olive oil and fresh grated parmesan. You can make healthier tacos by using whole wheat tortillas and including black beans (full of fiber and protein). One of my favorite taco recipes, from just experimenting around in the kitchen, is to heat up some cubed tofu in a skillet with lots of salsa, then put it on a whole wheat tortilla with some mexican blend cheese on top (I guess you could do this with lean meat or something -- I don't eat beef, chicken, or pork so mostly I try to find creative ways to put tofu or tuna or imitation crab meat into stuff). For pizza, order pizza with a thin crust and lots of veggies on top instead of thick crust with just cheese or meat toppings, or try lean cuisine pizzas -- they're not as good as delivered or restaurant-made pizzas but come with built-in portion control. If you like cucumbers, try making a sandwich with sliced cucumber and hummus. Just experiment in your kitchen. You don't actually have to know how to cook -- just find some sauces, spices, and healthy foods that you like, and mix and match them until you find something you like. |
| 2007-05-22 11:45 AM in reply to: #798695 |
Veteran 157 | Subject: RE: picky eater omg, you sound just like my picky eater husband. The fact is, his mother (as much as I love her) never made him eat anything as a child that he didn't want to eat, so he always went for the tastier things (meats, cheeses, sugary stuff), and rejected the healthier stuff like fresh fruits and veggies. Well guess what- as someone who never learned any self-discipline as a child, all those habbits carried over into adulthood, and now he struggles with his weight. When I started cooking for him, he SWORE up and down that he couldn't eat green beans- they literally made him nauseous (insert major eye roll here). Well, it was all in his head, because he now eats them just fine.
I babysit a 4 year old girl who's mother allows her to eat crap all the time, and never forces anything healthy on her. Well, when she's at my house, she's not going to sit there and eat pudding pops while my kids eat healthy crap. Take carrot sticks with ranch dip, for example- my kids love that. This girl literally acted like she was going to die. It took her an hour, three glasses of milk, and lots of whining and tears to eat 4 tiny carrot sticks. In her mind they were so aweful that she was making herself gag. Guess what? She eats them today without batting an eyelash. She will actually tell you she likes them.
I guess my point to all this is that healthy eating is an acquired taste. Just like beer- I don't know anybody that really loved their first taste of beer. But the more you drink, the more you like it (and the cuter the opposite sex looks, lol), and you actually begin to enjoy it. The good news is that the more you eat of something, the more your body craves it. Now that's bad news if you eat junkfood, but if you start eating healthier, you can use that to your advantage.
There's hope for you- I'm proud to report that my hubby eats vegetarian meat substitutes a lot of the time, has cut way back on red meat in exchange for chicken, has started eating lower fat/calorie snacks, eats whole wheat pasta, eats green beans every time they're available, will try a carrot or two without passing out (lol), and has even been spotted munching on an apple or two |
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