Hey guys,

I was wondering if there are any other fussy eaters out there and what you eat? I want to eat healthy but i'm finding extremly difficult right now when I can barely decide on something that I want to eat let alone it being healthy. I keep looking at healthy recipies on the internet and in cook books -- but the problem is half the stuff in them I don't like and it doesn't seem worthwhile to even make it anymore.

Anyone have similar experiences? And what did you do to overcome it?

I'm not that fussy of a eater, but I DO have a suggestion. Rather than look for recipes, look for a list of nutrient dense foods (a long list). THEN highlight every food on there you are willing to eat. THEN do a search for recipes by ingredient. Also, don't be afraid to keep it simple. Chicken with 2 sides of veggies. Try to come up with the largest list you can of foods themselves then of recipes. Add to it as you go along. Doing this will allow you to rotate foods and not feel so picky and restricted. Everybody likes different stuff. If you like cheese, have a reduced fat mozzerella cheese stick (one) for example. Find alternatives. I have to do the same thing because my crew doesn't really like many veggies, so I have to think of what they DO like and it may be stuff I don't regularly think about (we all get stuck in a rut).

I love these lists because it helps me know what foods have what vitamins. My goal is to become healthier but I'm certainly no gourmet or vegan. Personally many of these recipes I see on healthy websites are a little out there for me as well. I adapt what I already do.

I am an extreeeeemly fussy eater! When I see recipes that call for ingredients that I don't like......I just don't put in the unwanted ingredients. Usually you can adapt any recipe to suit your individual tastes. Likewise, at restaurants you can tell the waiter to omit certain things you don't like from your meal.
But I hear ya, it can be very very difficult (I am a veggie and don't even like most veggies!!!) and as a result I don't have a very broad base of meals to eat..........but I like what I do eat and I am satisfied with that.
Hope that helps.......

picky eater # 1 here !!! seriously, it is easier to list what i DO eat rather then what i dont eat...

the easiest thing for me is meat meat meat meat meat meat meat i cant state meat enough... as long as you have a decent selection of meats that you like the rest can be easy...

ok so you are used to having a pork chop a big heaping pile of mashed potatoes and biscuits... instead... have 2 pork chops... heck if they are the thin lean boneless kind have 3 of them, dont have the potatoes have a veggie you like (if ya like veggies) and a whole wheat biscuit... or dont like whole wheat huh... yeah me either... have an apple

also check portion sizes on things, you would be surprised just how changing your portion sizes can effect everything... i had to go on the diabetic diet when i had gestational diabetes with my baby...

i thought i was going to starve to death, 90% of my diet is made up of pastas and carbs... but ya know what... it didnt take those things away from me, i just had to break out the measuring cups and measure out the proper servings that i was allowed to have...

and i'll be d*mned that i ended up with MORE food on my plate, then before i messured stuff, half the time i ended up throwing half a plate of food away becasue the aloted amount was more then i could possibly eat

but for us picky people i strongly stress meat meat and more meat, you can fill up on the protien which helps lower your carb intake...

when i was living on my own i did this... i was the type that would eat a box of mac and cheese for lunch cuase its quick easy and i liked it, i switched to making me two small thin pork chops for lunch (or other meat) and i'd still make the mac and cheese but only allow myself like a 1/4-1/2 cup of it...

i lost like 7lbs my first week, and those were the only changes i made, i added meats because i liked them and cut way down on my pastas, i wasnt hungry i didnt feel deprived because i didnt cut them out completly i just lowered them and it worked !

of corse now i live with 5 other people and its not easy, but i am getting back on the wagon and starting slow and eating habits are on my to-do list... right now i am working on water intake... food is gunna be my hard one cause i have to think about everyone else in the house too

I agree with Tayja about the protein. A meal doesn't always have to be a traditional entree, side, and a vegetable. I tend to break mine up into smaller meals and sometimes for my afternoon snack I'll have a can of tuna. Or pieces of white turkey meat with low fat gravy to dip it in. These fill you up and help maintain and build muscles. Other things that aren't generally thought of as a "meal" could be something as simple as a bowl of cereal or a baked sweet potato. Just find things you like and make it work for you. This is coming from someone who owns about 30 cookbooks and only uses them on holidays.

I am (and always have been) a WICKED fussy eater! My family always used to make fun of me because we would go out to a nice or unique restaurant, and I would always just get a burger or chicken Of course, if I got a burger, it had to have cheese, lettuce, mayo, and maybe honey mustard or bbq sauce and maybe bacon so I couldn't really taste the beef since I don't actually care for beef itself

I make minor variation to the same meal almost every night (and Jeff deals with it since he can't cook, so if he doesn't eat what I make, he gets NOTHING! ). I have boneless, skinless chicken breast (I only buy the thin-sliced now since I don't like plain chicken, and the thin-sliced soaks up the marinade throughout), and I marinade it for at least 2 hours before cooking (sometimes overnight). Then I either grill it (LOVE the George Foreman!) or bake it. As a side, I happen to HATE almost all veggies, but I KNOW I need them, so I make either brown rice or whole-wheat blend thin spaghetti (broken up into smaller pieces so it's not really spaghetti-like). Then I add some frozen veggies (to rice, I add a bag of mixed corn, broccoli, and red pepper...to noodles, I like to add half a box of frozen chopped broccoli and half a box of frozen chopped spinach). Then I cook the crap out of it--I don't like broccoli crunchy because I can't taste it as much if it is mushy, so that is better for me. Then I add some of the sauce (whatever marinade I used for the chicken) the the carb/veggie side, and that's my meal!

The trick for me is just trying lots of different sauces. Most have 25 or fewer calories per serving, and I don't worry about the sodium since everything else I eat throughout the day is practically sodium-free. I have used bbq/mesquite sauces, garlic and herb, honey dijon (this one is AWESOME on the noodles with broccoli and spinach), teriyaki, ginger...For sanity's sake, we go out to Subway for dnner once a week (Thursdays).

Sometimes I will also make turkey burgers. I have also recently bought a bag of potatoes, but we'll see if I ever actually cook them So yeah, I only eat chicken as my main source of meat with the occasional ham/turkey sandwich and turkey burgers. Every few weeks of so, I'll even eat some turkey hotdogs. Other than that, I don't typically eat red meal or fish or turkey (only deli sandwich meat turkey--I don't even eat roasted tukey at Thanksgiving). I only eat spinach (because when you mix it with other stuff, you can't even taste it) and mushy broccoli for veggies because I don't really like any others. Like I said, for me, the trick for variation is in the added flavorings

I grate veggies in my spaghetti sauces or other items just to get some veggies in. Even chilli gets something else like bell peppers (which they don't like). The only thing they don't get fooled by though is mushrooms.

I hate hate hate vegetables. I try to add them in by incorporating food I can stand with them as well. Like broccoli and CHEESE, or a salad but with TURKEY PEPPERONI... is like having that little bit of something I like to look forward to does not make it as bad eating the veggies.
Also I find if a recipe calls for something and I omit it, it doesn't taste as good. So I usually make the recipes as is (if I can afford to) and then eat around what I dont like. Heck sometime I just get too lazy and end up eating whatever it was I was omitting (althought that does not happen very often)