I cannot eat healthily! Big issues!

[CrimsonMama]

Ok here goes! I have always been a sweet-tooth junk food person! I didn't put on weight though until pregnancy and then just never really recovered after... Even though my youngest is seven now.

The big issue I have with dieting is the requirement to eat all the foods I severely dislike!

Vegetables: I will ONLY eat peas, carrots and onion. And potatoes in chip form if they count. Onion I love. Peas and carrots I don't hate but neither get satisfaction from so tend to eat them once or twice a week. I HATE all other veg! So salads are definitely off the menu for me!

Fruit: I dislike anything with small seeds so strawberries, raspberries, blackberries no way. I don't hate and will eat but not enjoy apples, bananas, melon, grapes. I like it better if it's in dessert form like an apple crumble. To me it is pointless eating as I get zero satisfaction and therefore is adding calories when either way I will still need a chocolate instead....

I also dislike milk, yoghurt and any brown or wholegrain breads or pasta. I have seeded bread or those horrid revita cracker things my mum loves! Oh and I dislike bran, porridge and cereal. And I dislike mashed or boiled potato...I do like white rice though.

An average day of calorie counting food for me is (using today's list):

A crumpet for breakfast (108 calories with half teaspoon butter)

Go to work. Had 2x Jaffa cakes (92 cal)

After work a cherry scone and butter (160 cals) and a Turkish Delight chocolate (185 calories).

Dinner: chicken ham and cheese Kiev (294 cals) 1/3rd tin of sugar free baked beans (90 cal) and homemade chips (243cals). A scoop of halo top ice cream (40 cal)

Then snack time in evening: packet of crisps (97 cals) a flake choc smaller size (104). A scotch pancake with tsp maple syrup (107) and 2x Jaffa cakes (92).

Total 1612 calories.

Sorry if that's a bit 😨😨😨😨. My fussyness drives everyone mad! My oldest daughter is very healthy and loves fruit, veg and water and rarely wants chocolate. My youngest very much takes after me! Although even she eats broccoli pasta (but not just broccoli) and loves sweetcorn and strawberries and some other things.

When I was a child I was held down and force fed and I used to be worse. I also had tonsillitis and epileptic fits and was in hospital quite a bit as a child. But I don't think I can blame my childhood really anymore.

I would love to go on one of those fussy eating TV programs to see what they make of my restrictions! And how on earth I can ever eat healthy? But I'd be too shy to have people recognise me if I was on TV!

[Bobalobs]

I hear you - I don't like many veg so I my tricks have included combining things I like with a little of what I don't. So a basic ratatouille (no aubergine - yuk!) then added a tiny amt of spinach the first time, mushrooms the 2nd - couldn't taste either. Rice, I mixed white & wholegrain for a few times and now prefer wholegrain.

Pippy fruits can be strained to make a sauce for greek yoghurt (less sloppy han plain yoghurt) or ice-cream.

Don't rush it and don't try to do too many things at once - enjoy trying new foods one at a time, it has taken me a while to get to the stage im at now, still fussy but have a wider range of foods (tomatoes in sandwiches fine, cherry tomatoes straight in the mouth = nope!) plus I looooove crisps and have a pack of French fries every day at a quiet time to really enjoy them (counted into my calorie allowance).

I hope you don't feel alone as there are probably a lot of us like it

Bobs x

[Hidden]

Have you ever tried beetroot / celeriac / fennel / butternut squash / Sweet Potato??

Cous Cous / Bulgur Wheat / Lentils / Quinoa???

When you say you don't like the things you don't like - could it be the way they have been cooked previously? You say you only like potatoes when they are chips and you love onions ... so you can make a dish from potato and onions where you layer onions and thinly sliced potato in an oven proof dish in a little chicken stock or even in a dauphinoise.

That with peas, carrots and a chicken breast would be a great meal!!

Chicken Kiev - you can make which is a lot less calorific and a lot more healthier than the shop bought ones!!

KFC use to be a big vice of mine ... then i found out how to make my own healthier version (which was also a lot tastier!)

I hated a lot of veg previously - because they were cooked wrong when i ate them!!

Now i'm eating more things than ever!

Beetroot - i stayed away from for years because as a child i tasted pickled beetroot and hated it. I've now learnt beetroot actually doesn't come in that state normally though!!

Give yourself a chance and try new / different things or even try old things you didn't like but done in a different way!

[Bobalobs in reply to Hidden]

I don't like beetroot unless it is beetroot chocolate cake that counts, right?

[Hidden in reply to Bobalobs]

YES!! That counts for sure!

[CrimsonMama]

Oh I am relieved I am not the only one! I have tried different things. An old lady at work (I work in a care home) has given me rocket salad (yuk) and fresh cherries (not bad as long as I bite pieces, not put the whole thing in my mouth and feel the stone).

I also like mayo now when I didn't used to for many years and spinach is ok in small amounts but only in cheese sauce!

I also gave up Pepsi and coke and replaced with zero sugar Dr pepper. I know that's still not great but it's cut a lot of calories I used to consume! I dislike water but with all the exercise I am doing I am going to try to introduce it. At the height of exercise I'm too hot and thirsty to care that much what I drink! That's the theory!

That's a good idea about mixing rice Bobalobs! I will try that!

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to CrimsonMama]

Just tagging Bobalobs so they see your reply

[Bobalobs in reply to BridgeGirl]

Mmmm, cheese sauce, that's how I started eating leeks! (now I can eat them finely cut without the sauce) High cal foods are all about moderation for me, I don't believe in cutting everything out and being miserable, if you can sneak them in every once in a while. But it does surprise me how your mindset changes once you don't restrict yourself - now I prefer a veg lasagne (homemade!!) over the pizza takeaway the family has cos the grease makes me feel sick.

Love fizzy pop too (we are v similar!) however I have swapped from coke to diet lemonade and lime after speaking to my cardiologist (caffeine!) due to sleep issues. I hate fruit squash but luckily don't mind water, very cold though (see, still fussy! )

Keep in touch and we can compare tricks and new tastes.

Bobs x

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Bobalobs]

I do leeks thinly sliced in butter, then add a bit of double cream or cream cheese.

I also top cauliflower and broccoli with a leek and cheese sauce: start the leeks in butter, then add cream cheese, cheddar or another hard cheese and some cream to make it into a sauce consistency. A variation of this recipe dietdoctor.com/recipes/pork...

[PippiRuns 6kg Restart Jan 2025]

One strategy that I’ve used with my children when the were younger was to hide the veggies like in this spaghetti bolognese bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5-d... That might help you get the veggies in.

But no one just wakes up on their 25th birthday suddenly liking beetroot. You have to eat it, and eat it, and eventually, you may start liking it.

It may take a new cooking method, or new type of seasoning. And you just may never like beetroot, no matter how hard you try. But you have to keep trying new vegetables if you are serious about getting over your veggie phobia. 🍅🍆🥑🥦🥬🥒🌶🌽🥕🥔🍠

[Hidden in reply to PippiRuns]

Couldn't agree with this more. I eat a lot more veg now and really enjoy them ... but if you'd have told me a year ago that i would like certain things ... well i'd laugh at you!!

Mostly because my experience of certain things was them being boiled / steamed for much longer than needed and just never trying things.

I'll use a carrot as an example. My experience when young was a boiled / steamed carrot on a Sunday lunch. I did like them and eat them.

Now - i eat them roasted, grated, raw as carrot sticks, boiled / steamed, stir fried, use them in fritters, even had them in overnight oats for breakfast!!

[IndigoBlue61]

Maybe focus on what you CAN eat . . . Three nutritious meals a day, reduce portion size, minimise snacking . . . Sugar and sweet treats would be the first thing to work on. Food is a pleasure, no one is going to suggest you force down foods you don’t like. How are you for meat and dairy? These are full of protein and good fats, excellent for satiety 😊

Remember, we only need a calorie reduction of 500 per day for fat loss of a pound a week, ie cut out one sweet treat a have a 30 minute walk and you’re there 😊

[CLARAmay]

Hi there, do you have a weight or any health issues or are you ok

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs]

Hi CrimsonMama, I’ve been reading up a lot lately on various theories for weight control, and one thing that keeps cropping up is that all calories are not treated equally by the body. So although you may be counting them, your body may not be using all of them for energy, because if they’ve been eaten in the form of sugary snacks (simple carbohydrates) then insulin response will shunt them straight to fat, leaving you feeling hungry and craving food again. This quote from oncologynutrition.org

“Eating a lot of simple carbohydrate at once can raise insulin levels quickly. High insulin levels can lead to a rapid fall in blood sugar, in a sort of "rebound" effect. Low blood sugar levels then signal the body that it is low on fuel. This triggers appetite, encouraging you to eat again, to bring blood sugar levels back up again. While levels are "bottoming out", people are hungry, irritable and prone to overeating. This can become a "vicious cycle," with the body's blood sugar and insulin levels going up and down rapidly. The extra calories you eat can cause weight gain, especially because the excess insulin encourages fat storage”

I’ve also found it very interesting to watch the YouTube video series “The Skinny on Obesity” where it discusses addiction to sugar.

Just some suggestions: try replacing the chocolate/crisp snacks with snack size portions of cheese (easy to carry with you ) and have a batch of boiled eggs handy in the fridge too. Nothing wrong with peas and carrots, the carrots can be roasted to replace chips. Cheese omelette can be very filling and is low in sugar, add some spinach before you flip it in half. Start reading labels, add up how much of your calorie intake comes from sugar and try and redress the balance. Best wishes to you.

[Hidden]

I was a really fussy child too. Not just with vegetables, but with a lot of things, including eggs, which I didn't start eating till I was 25! And pizza - who doesn't eat pizza? It's taken time to get the point, where I will now give most things a try and enjoy a really good range of vegetables. I hated beetroot initially, but I persevered with it over a few years, mostly in a green juice and now I really love it. Same with mushrooms, the texture makes me a bit sick, but it's okay if I cut them up into small slices or blend them in a soup.

I think the trick is to start small and try tweaking what you already cook. My mum used to make tomato pasta with onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and whatever else was in the fridge and for years I hated it, but now this is the base for a lot of my meals. It just takes time and not going mad.

I did a MOOC last summer that talked about a lot of these foods and how to make sure you were getting enough nutrients from them and it really opened my eyes to how much better I would feel if I ate well. I have an underactive thyroid, so I often struggle with low energy and fatigue, but I see such a big difference since I started making a more conscious effort to eat really well. It's not always easy and processed foods are sometimes so more quicker to make, but I'm getting close to 40 now and my continued good health is the most important thing to me.