I am on a roll this morning, sorry.
Does your food plan include foods that you really don't like but you eat anyway because they are "Good for you"?? I was making my menus for the week and was including things like bananas and cups of milk for snacks, even though I don't care for these things. I wondered, why force myself to eat a slimy, mushy banana when I have a bag of delicious Honeycrisp apples right here? Why hold my nose and chug down a glass of milk when I could just eat some string cheese? I have seen some posts on here of people forcing themselves to eat or drink things that they do not find appetizing and I wonder if this is making it harder than necessary to lose weight. I do not think I could stick with a diet plan that included foods I did not like. The good thing is that I have developed a taste for some new foods that I didn't like before, but a few of them, no matter what, still taste gross to me. Why not swap that yucky stuff with something you find delicious but still good for you? Are there foods that I really SHOULD be making myself eat?

No. For me, anyway, that is a guaranteed recipe for failure. If I put something I hate on my food plan then I am going to spend all day obsessing about how much I *don't* want to eat it, which will eventually lead to a) not eating whatever it is, b) starvation from lack of calories, and c) rationalization of a trip to the vending machine (if I'm at work).

As for foods we should be eating, I try to keep the Superfoods in mind, but I'm not that great about incorporating them into my diet every day.

I love every little morsel of food that goes into my mouth. There is no way on earth I would eat something that I didn't like. There is no way on earth that I would stick to my plan if everything I was eating wasn't delicious. Now of course my tastes HAVE changed. I experimented with different vegtetables and methods of cooking and I have acquired a love of them.

I actually enjoy the food I am eating now way more then all the garbage I was before. Not sure if it has something to do with appreciating things more now. Before I ate soooo much, that I appreciated nothing. Now I take the time and look forward to every meal.

Cottage cheese is a food that jumps out at me as something that I wish I liked. Low in calories, high in protein - but I just don't care for the texture of it. It turns me off. I won't eat it.

To answer your last question - stuff you should be MAKING yourself eat? - I think not - but DO experiment. You just may be surprised. I never ate asparagus, spaghetti and acorn squash before my lifestyle change. Now, I can't get enough of it. I always hated tomatoes, loved tomato SAUCE, but not the actual raw tomato. I started cutting them up small and liked it that way in salads and now I love them, every which way. Grape tomatoes are a great snack.

Why waste calories on stuff you don't like? The more pleasure you get from your food, the more satisfying it is....

I will NEVER eat a banana and can care less about how good they might be for the body. They are nasty and not going in my mouth!!

There, having said that I do agree with Robin that I have acquired a taste for foods I normally never ate when I lived the life of an unhealthy fat eater. I now loved roasted veggies, I love lots of fruit other than bananas. I even love cottage cheese (as long as it covered in my favorite fruit), and plain yogurt now.

Do experiment and keep searching for healthy choices, but don't eat foods you hate. You deserve the best in looks and in taste.

::sigh:: I'm in the same boat. I really wish I liked it, but I can't get past the gross texture.

Yes and no.

I don't eat anything that I can't stand. But, there aren't too many of those foods. I hate applesauce, cottage cheese, tomato juice, and brussel sprouts.

However, even these, except for the brussel sprouts, I can and have eaten "hidden," or altered. Such as applesauce as the fat in banana nut bread, cottage cheese in spaghetti mock lasagna, tomato juice as a soup base...

I don't eat any one thing, though, solely for the purpose of it being healthy, because there are always alternatives that are just as healthy. But even foods I'm not crazy about, I will try to find ways to prepare them that I do like, and have learned to like some things just because I kept trying them until I did.

Broccoli comes to mind, as a food I am just generally not as fond of, as my husband is. I probably wouldn't eat it as often as I do, if I wasn't preparing it for him. Oriental dishes and raw broccoli salad, are about the only way I can say that I really like it (well maybe raw, drowned in ranch dressing, but since I hate low fat ranch dressing, that's not really an option).

I don't care for milk (except with sweets) or most milk products except maybe cheese, but I am prone to calcium and vitamin D deficiencies and get cramps in my legs if I don't have dairy. I've taken supplements before, but there's no substitute for real food, so I try to get in my dairy. It's not that I don't "like" it, as I'm not holding my breath and chugging to get it down, it's just when there's an alternative beverage available (except maybe coffee, yuck) then I'll probably drink that. I did find that The WW 1 pt yogurt smoothie drinks are very good, so I'll buy those, but they're still not my first choice.

I'm not a big fan of bananas, but every once in a while, I will want one (I literally seperate one or two from a bunch to buy just what I want).

For me, since I love lots of foods (too much) getting a balanced diet isn't really a problem. My husband, however, likes very few vegetables and fruits, so I'm always trying to prepare the ones he does like (which luckily are powerhouses like beets and broccoli), and asking him to at least try the ones that I made for myself. I have to admit though that I haven't made much progress with him. He will now eat a small salad with light ranch dressing, and1/2 of an apple, if I cut one in slices for him and myself (so I now buy much bigger apples).

You know - I used to hate fish. Seriously - everyone who knew me knew that 'Heather hates fish!'.

I eat fish now. Why? I don't know. It's low calorie, tasty, high protein, low fat... is that why? I don't know. I'd still rather eat processed fish (sounds horrible - what I mean is these little stuffed sole fillets with broccoli and cheese in, or lemon and wild rice stuffing) than say, a fresh trout, but I eat it now, knowing it is good for me, and I don't hate it.

It's honestly odd, and I cannot explain it. I always have fish in the freezer now. I don't know if, like Robin, I just appreciate more what I am putting in my mouth... I just don't know.

Now, on the other hand - I am NEVER eating liver. I don't care if it is a magical food that makes me lose forty pounds per ounce I eat... oh, well, okay... maybe then - but probably not!

Don't eat food you hate. It makes no sense. There are so many other options

Heather

I third this. At the beginning I tried to eat it in different ways three times. The only way I`ve found that I like it is in an eggplant lasagna that I make. Once it´s warm and melty-ish I can get past the texture.

I`ve also added it to my bean soups so I can get some protein in there. I can only eat it warm and cooked.

And no, now the only time I eat something I hate is when my mother in law makes squash soup (gag, gag). I tried saying no by telling her I was on a diet and the next time she made low calorie squash soup (gag, gag, gag). That`s it. Otherwise, I am enjoying everything that goes into my mouth.

ps. Melissa, how do you stay away from the mouth watering paradise that is watermelon? That makes me cry!

I'm too stingy with my calories to waste them on things I won't enjoy. Eating is pleasurable for me. Weight loss needs to incorporate that (for me) or I won't succeed.

Same thing here -- Definitely don't eat things I dislike such as eggplant, parsnips, and tofu -- but I have developed a liking for a few things I was not overly fond of before such as celery, raw red and green peppers, and bananas (as long as they are fairly green).

I may be the minority on this issue. I made a lifestyle change lat year that requires me to "eat the foods I don't like". It was the foods that I like that got me in trouble. I had a bag of Healthy Choice microwaveable popcorn today. Sprinkled some I can't believe its butter spray, and some Garlic & Parmesan popcorn seasoning, and some cinnamon. I would prefer a nice bag of Cheddar Cheese popcorn instead. Scratch that, being I never was a fan of popcorn until this diet (I eat it for the starch/fiber/snack), I would rather have a large bag of Flaming' Hot Cheetos!

The salad I have for dinner, well there is too many damn veggies in that. Plus the fact I am using a fat free ranch dressing. I would rather have a steaming hot pizza instead. There is nothing exciting about veggies. The only thing exciting is that they fill you up.

The Lean Cuisine Meals I eat are loaded in green beans - again a veggie. Thank God I can cover these with mustard.

Cheerios tastes ok, Honey Nut tastes better. **** Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch is to kill for!

So, if it helps me lose the weight, I will continue to eat, and learn how to like, the foods that "I don't care for"

I get what your saying, FresnoBeeDude. I just came home with a bag of McDonald's cheeseburgers and fries for the kid. You betcha I wanted it and it smelled so good sitting in my lap. But, my chicken Florentine that I'm making for dinner will taste just as wonderful for way less calories and with way more healthy nutrients.

Cottage cheese is good ONLY if it is 2% milk and not that no fat stuff. And if it has fresh cantaloupe or pineapple on it.

Fresno, I'm really sorry that you feel this way. Maybe you need to do a little experimenting.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my veggies. I love them raw in salads and roasted in the oven with fresh chopped garlic. In fact green beans are one of my favorites prepared this way. I also love my veggies sauteed with garlic and onions in a stir fry.

As for those Lean Cuisines, I know many people are successful using them. But if you don't care for them...... Perhaps a fresh chicken breast sauteed with garlic, spinach and mushrooms. Chicken breast sauteed with onions, portabello mushrooms and marinara sauce over spaghetti squash. Maybe you need to experiment a little. I'd HATE to see you burnout because you're not enjoying what you're eating.