Everyone has obstacles when it comes to losing weight. Many of us share the same ones – we don’t want to exercise, we like junk food. You know there are a million reasons and excuses for not losing weight. But I really think hating vegetables is a major stumbling block for me. Now I know that that sounds silly and childish but it’s a problem. Before you just poo-poo this reason (excuse) think about one food you really, really dislike – a food that you know you don’t like and as an adult you aren’t even going to try it again. Maybe its spinach, maybe liver or Brussels sprouts. Well that’s the way I feel about most healthy foods.
Let me list the veggies I do like – it’s a short list. Potatoes and corn (can you say starches), green beans are okay as long as they have been canned by someone’s grandmother. I like grilled onions or even raw sometimes in salads. Spinach is okay if it is in a spinach dip. In other words in enough unhealthy things are added – cheese, mayonnaise, creams. Sweet potatoes are fine but better mashed with a little butter and a little brown sugar. I know this is a major problem but at the age of almost 54 how do you go about changing your taste buds?
I see some weight loss shows that show you a tiny piece of meat and a sliver of potato and they tell you that you can either have that or a platter of vegetables that would feed a couple of dozen people. I’m going for the meat and potato. Who cares if you can eat all you want if you don’t want any of it. I’m not much better on fruits. It’s a struggle. When I was losing weight before I never got to where I was eating healthy. I could refrain from eating junk and I could limit my intake on the stuff I liked but I never could get those veggies down.
If I could eat what I
wanted to, I think I would be fine with chicken and rice or mashed potatoes, chips and soda, and maybe a donut thrown it every once and a while. Not much of a weight loss diet, huh? So the plan is to cut snacks in between meals to nearly nothing and to watch my proportions at meals, this along with exercise. It’s not the fastest way to lose but I don’t know what else to do. I’ll take any suggestion you may have.
Oh, PK,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I'm not a fan of veggies myself. Certainly not enough to to get in those 5 servings a day, and most days none at all.
So I figured that since the main purposes of veggies are cleansing fiber, iron and antioxidants, it would make sense to replace them with something that provides those functions. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm running into too many people that swear by the Acai berry. From what I understand, it can completely take the place of vegetables in your diet. The stuff seems to be a bit expensive, and you'll want to research it well enough to make sure you're not being ripped off. I'm planning on incorporating it into my diet in January (my official month for starting anew), and hopefully I'll get the benefits I'm looking for. Give it some thought. If you decide to try it, maybe we can compare notes.
SugarAnne
If you don't like vegetables, you need to find ways to sneak them into other foods.
ReplyDeleteOne way you might try getting your veggies in in soups. You can use a blender to purée them if you hate the lumps, or an immersion blender to chop up the veggies into small pieces for more texture.
Add extra veggies to beef stews. I have a recipe that includes potatoes and carrots but I add parsnips as well. When making chili I add sliced red peppers and carrots, and at least as many beans as meat.
PK: I wish I had some good advice but I need to lose 15 pounds myself. Do you like grapefruit or watermelon or pineapple? Not eating between meals is good, too, as well as the exercising. And drink a lot of water.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
FD
PK..i agree with L...find ways to sneak them in...might google how to get kids to eat veggies. Also, losing wieght is a slow process. What works best for me is counting calories....it is more time consuming at first, but after a bit, you know how much is in each portion. If i stick to 1200 calories, and wii or walk 5 days a week, I usually have a good report for Master! Hang in there. abby
ReplyDeleteTry using recipes that use puree veggies in them. You can make a cake using canned pumpkin and 1/3 cup water instead of eggs and oil. Use apple sauce instead of oil.
ReplyDeleteGood luck I am facing the same struggle of loosing weight but at least I like veggies!
Very hard if you don't like to eat your veg PK.
ReplyDeleteCouple of tips from Google.
Add any veg you quite like to any dishes you love
Add veg to your favourite soups
Grate veg into salads (start small)
Raw can sometimes be better than cooked.
Sweet potatoes, why do you need to to mash them with butter and sugar? Mash them with a little sea salt and black pepper.
If you need to snack try and eat fruit and nuts (not too many nuts though)
If I can think of anything else will let you know.
Good luck.
Love,
Ronnie
xx
PS - Drink water instead of coke and fizzy drinks like that or if you want a little flavour add a small amount of fruit squash x
My son hated salad and wouldn't eat it until we took him to the Olive Garden and he loved the salad. Turns out, he loves italian dressing. Now he'll eat salad...lettuce and croutons...if he has that dressing.
ReplyDeleteThe moral of that long story is...try something new. You might actually like it. Try a new dressing, try a low cal dip for dipping sauce, or a new way of cooking.
Either way, I know you'll figure it out and then tell me....right???
HUGS!
grace
SugarAnne,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds exciting. I’ll be anxious to know what you learn about it and I’ll do some looking too. It sure would be easier if we liked veggies.
L,
Putting some finely chopped in soups might be an idea I can try. I love to make a chicken and rice soup and I could add some veggies without ruining it I think.
FD,
I really don’t like the fruits you mentioned, although I like pineapple juice. I really do need to drink more water. I should work on that.
Abby,
I’ve tried recording what I eat but I’m not very good at it. I’ve never done much calorie counting either but it might be something I need to try. Do you have an online site you use for counting calories?
Annie,
I have tried a pumpkin cake like that using pumpkin and a spice cake mix. It’s really good. I had almost forgotten about that. I really think a lot of us are in the same boat.
Ronnie,
You have some good ideas here and I think I’ll try some but sweet potatoes with salt and pepper –are you mad??? You need butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and maybe marshmallows. I never saw anyone use salt and pepper.
Grace,
If I ever figure it out you’ll be one of the very first to know. I promise, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.
PK, I'm like you, my wife despairs at me, I don't like veg or much in the way of fruit.
ReplyDeleteLove and warm hugs,
Paul.
Try vinegar and salt on vegetables, raw or cooked. It's fat-free and you can vary the taste with flavored vinegars. Eat a banana to balance out the salt intake. (This is the only way my picky eaters will eat vegetables. But they will eat them all.)
ReplyDeletePK Sparkpeople is the sight that got me going. It offers lots of other stuff, that i never got into, but i makes the calorie counting a lot easier!
ReplyDeleteabby
PK, if it makes you feel any better you like more veggies than I do. I do like most fruit but they have a lot of sugar in them. If you do drink juice try add some seltzer water. I do like raw carrots but not much else, no salad or soup either. It is a struggle when you can't even think of trying them. I gag. LOL
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteGlad to know I’m not alone. I guess we’ll survive somehow.
Anon,
Thanks for coming by. I might give this a try but it’s still hard to work up any enthusiasm for eating them.
Abby I might go and check that out. I am still having a problem getting my head in the whole program.
Kaki,
Thanks it does help to know I’m not alone in what seems like a childish pickiness. But you know it’s a real problem. Let’s hope we both find ways to deal with it.
Do you like spaghetti? I used to get my kids to eat veggies by making the veggie puree (or better yet, use a jar or two of 1st foods baby veggies) and adding them to a spaghetti sauce. The sauce can also be made with ground chicken in place of beef or pork to take a few calories off. Another tip for weight loss in general is to measure everything. Yes, it is a pain in the neck, but it lets you get a better idea of how many calories you're taking in. Get a good food scale and do internet research on appropriate serving sizes. Eliminate all of the junk food snacks from your house and drink ice water. I know that sounds stupid, but it helps. Good luck!
ReplyDelete