Suggestions for picky eaters?

[Mikado]

I'm about to turn 30 and I've decided that I'm tired of looking the way I do, feeling the way I do, and so I'm trying to make adjustments in my life to healthier and take better care of myself. However, my biggest obstacle in all this is my extremely picky tastes.

This may sound strange to some, and believe me I would love nothing more than to enjoy all the delicacies in and around town, but I can't seem to make my body change it's taste for foods. For example, I don't eat many vegetables at all. Beyond corn and a few types of beans I won't eat any of them. I don't eat salads. I don't put any veggies on hamburgers, deli sandwiches, or anything else for that matter. I don't eat fish. I eat very little pasta. There's just not a lot of food I have a taste for.

I've tried time and time again to eat salads, hamburgers with vegetables, etc but I don't enjoy it. Salads make me sick to my stomach. I'll continually order items I know I don't enjoy just to see if I'll eventually develop a taste for it. So far I haven't. I just can't imagine having a healthy regiment of exercise and food until I can find a way to broaden my tastes.

Perhaps others have similar appetites and could share some suggestions on what they ate while exercising to maintain a health weight. Maybe someone has a suggestion on changing your taste buds or something similar. Besides eating dry chicken breast on wheat every day, I'm not sure what kind of diet would suit a health lifestyle and fall within my picky eating guidelines.

[itlain]

I used to be an extremely picky eater. Then I joined the military. While I don't advocate this route, by putting yourself in a situation where "unhealthy" food is available, your more likely to eat it. Even now obviously if I don't buy trashy food, don't go near a McDonalds or something along that lines when I'm hungry or around my normal meal times, I tend to eat a lot healthier. I think ultimately your body will adapt to what is around. Buy healthy food and gradually change your diet. I think by drastically trying to change in a short time it won't work too well. It took me about a good year to change how I ate. It also affected my wife; by changing what we bought, she lost close to 30 lbs over 14 months just by changing a diet. I know its not a drastic weight change, but it was healthy and she's kept it off.

[squeeeb]

try to trick yourself into eating healthy. boca burgers taste like real meat and are totally vegetarian. how about making smoothies to get some fruit into your diet?

if you can find "petes tofu to go" that is pretty good, tastes great, and you get your protien. healthier than red meat.

if you live in a place with a good mexican restaurant (taco bell is not a mexican restaurant) and you like tacos, try the fish tacos?

if you have a middle eastern restaurant, try baba ganoush or hummas.

what about chinese food? you can get fried veggies that taste good. have you tried roasted vegetables?

also hang out with friends who eat healthy (easier said than done, i know).

i dont' know why salads make you sick though, perhaps you should see a doctor about that....good luck....

[stevie667]

I'm extremely picky, what i've found has helped is slowly adding in new things.

For instance, i now eat spinach by the ton because i put two leafs on my plate and munched through thoughs. I will still only eat it raw and straight out the fridge (cooked...yeugh), but its progress. Sandwiches and salads are a no-no, bread, meat, sorted. Salad or fruit or similar on the side of the plate can be done. It all ends up in the same place, so no biggy.

What kind of textures do you like? I know thats one of my big hangups, if things don't feel right, they go to binsville.

As for exercises, pick some up, it will increase your metabolism and make you more open to eating. God knows the stuff i've started eating over the past 3 weeks that i would turn a nose to before due to needing to eat.

[Mikado]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I'm trying to slowly introduce different foods into my diet, but it's a work in progress. I know it can be done though, I added alot of different foods to my diet when I went off to school. I know the cafeteria doesn't serve the best of foods, but since I had already paid for my meal plan I had to use it. I couldn't afford to eat out. Now that I'm a bit older and in a better position financially, it's tough to find a way to limit what types of food I'm around so that I'm basically forced to adapt to it.

I don't know what the deal is with salads. I've tried every type of salad I can think of and I can't take more than a few bites before I feel sick to my stomach. Maybe it's in my head, I don't know, but I've definitely made an effort. I'm going to try to introduce more fruit in my diet because I know I enjoy all different types. Steve mentioned textures and now that I think about it that may be one of the reasons I have a tough time adapting to new food. I'm very picky about textures. If it doesn't feel right when I'm eating it, I don't generally have a taste for it. I might need to explore that more as well.

Keep the suggestions coming. I recently visited my physician and was told my blood pressure was too high as was my cholesterol. I wasn't suprised knowing how my diet's been over the years, but I definitely want to make a change. I'll take all the help I can get.

[AquaFox]

for salads, try loading up on croutons and other crunchies to top your salad with nothing else, thicker dressings like ranch help to. Between the thick ranch and croutons, the salad will be well masked. Loading with croutons and ranch isn't that healthy, but it will get you eating the green you can slowly add other salad bits and remove some of the extra ranch and croutons.... or if you go out to eat, there are places that do specialty salads like BBQ chicken salads... yum!

[Willravel]

I've eaten dog. Just to put things in perspective.

Try this: the next time you shop for yourself, make half of the food stuff you love and the other half new stuff that looks interesting.

[Pogue Mahone]

Find ways to enjoy healthier foods. For example, I hate raw tomatoes. They're too squishy. But I really like them in Chili, salsa, and various Italian dishes because they're with something else. If they're on my salad or on a burger, I can't do it.

You said that you hate salads. There are different ways to make a perfectly healthy salad, and there are different kinds of lettuce. Some that actually taste like something! They're from Earthbound Foods or something of that manner. Check 'em out, you may find something you enjoy.