I am once again trying to lose this extra 100 pounds I've been carrying around with me for the last 20 years. I am about the fussiest eater you will ever meet. I hate, yes HATE, most foods. There are a select number of foods I will eat and of course they are very calorie and fat dense. I believe I'm also addicted to most of these.
First and foremost is Pepsi. I basically drink nothing but Pepsi all day, every day. Can't stand the diet either. I drink about 4-5 large fountain sodas every day. Cheese is next on this list. That is about the only source of protein I get. I'm not much of a meat eater, although I will eat the occasional cheeseburger (fast food of course). Bread is an obvious one. I think most people have this addiction. I mainly use it for sandwiches (cheese and pickle).
I HATE cooking and I'm really bad at it! I eat mainly sandwiches and fast food. Oh, I also hate frozen dinners....
So..... if anybody has any ideas for me I would be ever so appreciative. Here is a small list of some of the foods I've been trying to eat.
Yogurt (breakfast)
String cheese
Peanuts
Apple
Orange
Grapes
Dill pickles (I LOVE pickles....they're like candy to me)
Broccoli (frozen and I grind it up in a food processor and swallow it with water)
Turkey sandwich on wheat bread with mayo (can't stand the low fat/no fat mayo either but I'm trying not to go crazy with it)
Ham & cheese sandwich with pickles, mayo and mustard (again....regular mayo)
Water I've still been drinking about 1 large fountain soda a day but that is much less than what I was doing. Since I really don't like anything else, I've just been drinking water.
I can't stand fat free mayo, and I hate most low fat mayo as well, so therefore I suggest trying French's Gourmayo. It's a light mayonnaise seasoned with wasabi and horseradish. There are other flavors, I believe, if you don't care for that one. I personally love it and it is the only light mayo I will eat.
Are you a fan of stir fries? I personally cannot stand the flavor of general steamed mixed vegetables... YUCK! I hate carrots, peas, and canned corn. I do like stir fry vegetables, though, when made in a yummy marinade. What I like to do is make a peanut butter teriyaki sauce - I take 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter, teriyaki sauce to taste, about 3-4 tsp sugar, and mix it all up. I defrost the stir fry veggies and cook them in 1 tbsp olive oil, then add sauce, mix it in, let it get very hot, then let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. You can add chicken, steak, tofu, or whatever other protein source you're fond of to the mix. I like to put my stir fry over some boil-in-a-bag brown rice. The nice thing about stir fries is also that they do not take a whole lot of preparation time.
I'm also a fan of smoothies (though mine are more like slushies with real fruit). What I do is I buy some frozen berries (a mix of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries), grind them up in the blender with some orange juice, add a banana, and a bit of sugar or splenda. I'll also add ice if it is needed, though it usually is not, considering the fruit is already frozen.
As for yogurt, some of my favorite is Yoplait Light Thick & Creamy. It has this delicious thick and creamy texture while still being fat free.
Another thing I love is Subway! There are several subs you can get with under 6 grams of fat, as long as you don't get cheese or fatty condiments on top. If you DO get cheese, it will only add another 4g fat, which obviously won't kill you. FATTY condiments include regular mayo and Chipotle Southwest sauce. I personally like to get my subs with honey mustard or sweet onion sauce on both sides. The veggie sub is only 230 calories (plus the calories of the condiments) and the meat subs range from 280 to 380 for 6 inches. You can find out the nutritional value of the condiments on Subway's web site: http://www.subway.com
Since I ALSO hate to cook (and I'm BAD at it), I've become a big fan of pitas. White albacore salad on a bed of lettuce in a whole wheat pita is great. If you don't like whole wheat pitas, white is fine too. If you don't like either, you can just have the tuna on the lettuce. I refuse to eat any tuna that is not pure white albacore, but white albacore is pretty good. I make my tuna salad with Gourmayo, some chopped onions, chopped pickles, garlic salt, and a hint of black pepper. You can do the same with chicken salad, or you can just buy grilled chicken and prepare it however you want. I always buy precooked, preseasoned grilled chicken because I can't STAND to LOOK AT raw chicken, let alone touch it! Touching most raw meats makes me want to vomit.
Other tasty, easy, healthy things:
-Fiber One bars. A lot of people don't realize that they are not getting enough fiber in their diet, but it may hold back weight loss progress. They taste great, but eating more than one may have unpleasant side effects, so be careful now!
-Make yourself a random salad. You can use grilled chicken, tuna, steak, or whatever you want. Add as many vegetables and/or fruits as you would like, and use whatever dressing appeals to you - just be careful of your total caloric intake and watch the portions of dressing you put on. I measure mine to make sure I really am using 2 tbsp. If I use more, I just keep track of it.
A salad I like is grilled chicken, pineapple, walnuts, cherry tomatoes, and red peppers on a bed of lettuce with passion fruit or honey mustard dressing.
-Soups: French onion, split pea, lentil, and vegetable soup are all low in fat and calories and will fill you up. They often have high amounts of sodium, though. For me, sodium is not a huge concern as long as I drink plenty of water throughout the day.
-Beef jerky: LOTS of sodium, but it IS low fat and an EXCELLENT source of protein! Just drink plenty of water.
-Veggie burgers: Since you like burgers, you could always make yourself a Boca Burger with cheese (or Morningstar Farms, I personally like those a lot, the regular grillers - they are much less fattening and unhealthy than regular beef). Even if you made yourself a double stacked one, you would still be getting much less calories with much more nutritional value than you would with a small burger at a fast food joint.
I hope some of these ideas proved useful for you!
Last edited by NightengaleShane; 09-04-2007 at 11:58 AM.
Reason: added a couple other things :)
I think there is hope, but it won't be an easy road. I'm a picky eater, too--really dislike most vegetables, which makes weight loss a bit hard-going. You've made some positive changes--like cutting down on the Pepsi--but it sounds like there is more work to be done. I was the biggest mayo addict in the world. I love the stuff, and pretty much view a lot of foods as vehicles for mayonnaise. I also think the light stuff tastes icky. That being said, I've cut it out. I asked myself the question would I rather eat mayo and be fat, or not eat it and get thin? The answer to that question, for me, was not eat it and get thin. That's the fundamental question we all have to ask ourselves.
What about subbing Dijonnaise in for the mayo/mustard combo? If you get bored with water, try iced tea or sugar-free Kool-Aid or Crystal Light. If you like fast food cheeseburgers, maybe try a BocaBurger Original with some no-fat Kraft singles on a light bun. The calorie total there is under 250, and the taste and texture are similar to a quarter-pounder. Basically, you need to play around and find out what you like and, barring that, how to trick your palate.
It is going to require some sacrifices, though, at least it did for me. I think more important than anything else for weight loss is being mentally ready--having that lightbulb moment when your desire to lose weight is stronger than your desire not to change your eating habits/not to eat stuff that you don't like as much as what you normally eat.
The nice thing is, taste can change. I know mine have. In the space of a month, I've gone from hating water and craving fast food to drinking a ton of water (and enjoying it) and being really excited about those Boca cheeseburgers I mentioned before. It may take a bit to get over that initial hump of "ehhhhh," but it will eventually happen.
I personally haven't had mayo in years, I just don't eat it. I have found that I like mustard much better than mayo. There are also alternatives that aren't mayo that you can put on a sandwich.
Have you tried lowfat cheese? I personally think nonfat cheese is disgusting but I like lowfat cheese.
I think your best overall bet would be to carefully count your calories. That alone I think would help you improve your diet. When you realize that you are spending so much of your daily calorie allotment on high calorie foods, it may help you switch to lower calorie options.
I used to drink lots and lots of coke every day but then one day I gave it up and haven't looked back since. I did venture into the diet soda realm for a while but I really don't care for it much these days. Have you tried Pepsi one? I thought that tasted pretty good.
My overall recommendation would be feel free to explore new foods and count your calories. Losing weight doesn't require you to eat any special foods but often people seem to do better at keeping their calories low by eating low calorie foods such as vegetables and limiting high calorie foods such as soda.
This is a tricky one. I think you can train your palate to like things other than fat, btw, you just have to give it a chance.
I do think, however, that if you give up, yes, GIVE UP, Pepsi altogether, you will lose a bunch of weight in just a few weeks without making any other changes. You're having about 1000 calories a day of just soda! It might take a while for you to get used to drinking water (or Crystal Light, if that suits you better), but you'll get used to it eventually.
Losing weight does mean making changes and sacrifices. Eliminating pepsi seems like a very simple and effective start to me.
I do think, however, that if you give up, yes, GIVE UP, Pepsi altogether, you will lose a bunch of weight in just a few weeks without making any other changes. You're having about 1000 calories a day of just soda!
Others have made good suggestions! I'd just add--find out what you WILL eat, out of all the choices, and try broadening your food horizons. Changing weight means changing eating patterns--not just now, but for the future so you don't just regain the weight. So, it's good to do your own research. Look for what will work for you. Not just, what don't you like, but what can you stand to substitute? How much? How often?
Sounds like you don't like vegetables--but are there any you do like enough to eat? Such as, baby carrots? String beans? (Not canned--) Even corn isn't bad in moderation. What about lettuce? Can you manage to eat some lettuce? And so on...
Experiment! You might surprise yourself. Good luck!
Losing weight isn't about eating foods you don't like. Its about small little lifestyle changes that will change YOU, physically, and the way you think MENTALLY. It heals you back to healthy both ways. The only way to do this successfully is to find a way that truly helps you, not works against you. If I ate rabbit food and health pellets all the time, I'd just give up. But i didn't, I found a way out of this "diet" mentality, took it over and kicked it hard in the a$$ goodbye. (Sorry for my language, but I remember why I was so frustrated with myself years back) I kept ALL the foods I loved, eat as much as comfortable (which to me, used to mean stuffed, but gradually changed to "full" upon portion control), and limited the "bad" foods, like fast food. One way that people keep at their weight loss and maintenance is to truly take every little detail of their life and evaluate it as a potential correction. If you love something so much, why not keep it? Portion control is the key! Satiation usually occurs after the first bite and stops after a few! If you hate healthy foods, incorporate it little by little each day. Try to walk 10 minutes the first, 15 the next and then maybe you'll work yourself up to running marathons few years from now. It all starts with ONE step, one at a time. It's like the Alli commercial- be ready to make lifestyle changes if you want to be a "new" you.
My DH is a picky eater. I believe that refusing all kinds of interesting foods is a control issue for him. Nothing will entice him to try something that is not on his very short list of things he "likes". In reality, it is his loss.
You might ask yourself if you are getting something, psychologically speaking, out of being a picky eater. You have to know that you are severly limiting your chances of sucess by not being willing to widen your food selections.
Loosing weight and keeping it off, is all about changes. You have gotten some really great suggestions - now go for it! You can do it!
For me - may not be so for you - the bottom line was the foods I was currently eating were making me fatter...I CHOSE to not eat things that didn't contribute to my weight lose and health. I didn't think of it as denying myself anything. I chose not to eat them at the time. I learned to eat foods I thought I didn't like. Food preferences can be changed. You weren't born hating broccoli. In my case, it was because it was always overcooked. But I now love it raw or steamed. You don't get healthy food in prepackaged meals. They are full of sodium and chemicals. They are fine for the occasional emergency meal. In general, if you learn to fix your food and cook ahead, it can be so much more healthy and just as fast. You have to experiment with different ways of fixing your food until you find what you like and what contributes to your weight loss. Good luck!
Thank you all so much for responding to my post. I couldn't believe when I logged in and saw the number and the wonderful encouragement. I must admit, I was a little hesitant about posting expecting to just be told I must eat what I have to eat and get over it. I've tried that so many times and it lasts for maybe a day. I just know what my past failures have been and it's always because I'm trying to force myself to eat foods I don't like and deny myself the things I do. "SHY MOMENT" It's so encouraging to see how you were able to incorporate still having the occasional soda. That's what I want to be able to do. "VEGGIE LOVER" I completely agree with you and want to do this with the majority of foods I like. I realize I'll have to somethings I don't care for. Maybe in time I'll learn to like them.
Thank you also for the advice on the mayo substitute. I don't normally like dijon type mustard but maybe mixed with the mayo it will be good. I'm really going to try to introduce something new every week or so. If I could find a good mayo substitute I will have it made because I LOVE sandwiches!!!
Gailr42....I don't know what is the basis or background of my pickiness but I've been this way since I was a small child. The worst part is I've passed it on to my children, who are both nearly grown now. I actually saw the tail end of a show once where somebody went to see a food aversion therapist about their weird obsession and pickiness over food. I don't think I'm as extreme of a case as he was but I sure would like to look into it
There is hope for you! My diet is incredibly restricted for medical reasons -- on bad pain days, all I can really eat are starches and vanilla ice cream! -- and I am still able to lose weight. If I can do it, anyone can.
Also, you may find that you grow to like foods you previously hated. I know that my tastes have gradually changed a lot.
Others have given great suggestions, but I just wanted to let you know that it is possible! Good luck!
I'm likely reiterating some of what's been said. But there are three things you could try. First, try giving up one item that is bad for you at a time...like the soda. Secondly, try experimenting with things you don't like...ie: Can't stand cauliflower? Turned it into creamed cauliflower with some cream cheese and seasoning blended in and see if you'll eat it that way. And thirdly, keep TRYING foods you don't like. I hated yogurt all my life. And when I decided to lose weight at age 37, I kept trying different brands of yogurt and forcing them down. Couldn't STAND them. They all tasted like crap. Then I found a brand I COULD stomach and started buying it. Later, when I couldn't find that brand, I tried another one that I was SURE I'd tried before, but what the hey. And I LIKED it. So I started trying others and I LIKED them. What happened? My taste buds grew accustomed. It's like mom telling me that blue cheese grows on you. Maybe, but I'm not about to keep forcing myself to eat something that gross that I don't need just to see if it will. LOL But with the yogurt, it was healthy, and not nearly as gross as blue cheese, so I kept trying.
You stated that there are very few foods that you like...and I find that interesting.
Maybe you can think about it in a different way...
Instead of focusing on the handful of foods that you actually like, why not try focusing on trying 1 or 2 new foods per week? REALLY trying them...not just taking one bite and saying heck with it. The reason I said that is because I don't like canned peas. Yuck. Complete mush. However, I love frozen peas-because they haven't been sitting in a can getting mushy for ages. They are more colorful, more tender-crisp-just BETTER.
When you try a food, sometimes you also have to try different ways of eating it before you decide if you like it or not. Also, try different brands. I am partial to 2-3 brands of yogurt, for intance, over most others.
Is there a fruit that you have not tried yet? Browse the produce aisle and see. If so, get one and try it. Aim to expand your horizons slowly, a little each week, until you have more variety in your diet.
Here is my advice, if you really WANT to lose the weight, you will. Over the summer I knew I "should" lose it... but it wasn't until just over two weeks ago that I decided to actually commit to it. If you don't have the desire, it's harder to do. This is bascially, should lose vs. want to lose. Ok, onto some things to help you.
Pepsi, limit it. Don't give it up, but allow yourself one a day. Personally, I'd save it for dinner, so I have something to look forward to.
Bread, change the bread you are eating. Try a whole grain bread. Not whole wheat, or made w/whole grain... but a true 100% Whole Grain bread. They are very filling, and don't even taste that bad. You just have to try a few different ones to find the one you like. Whole grains get processed through the body differently. My new motto is "white breads and pastas are bad". Just from staying away from them, my tummy is strinking!
I'm all about cheese. I just try to limit it to lower fat ones. Fat free are gross. How about a salad w/some blue cheese crumbles. I LOVE them. If I want swiss cheese, I get Alpine Lace, it's lower in fat.
Fast food. I have Chipotle once a week. I have the chicken salad. It's romaine, chicken, black beans (which I didn't even knew I liked until I had them at Chipotle on accident), mild salsa and cheese. I do not get their rice, even though I LOVE it. It's white, so I stay away from it. I'd love the guacamole and sour cream, but I know I'll feel guilty if I eat it... so I don't even order it.
I also eat Boston Market. I have some chix or turkey w/out the skin. Instead of my old stand-by's of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. I now get green beans and side salad. The salad has sunflower seeds and dried cranberries which make it taste SO good. Who knew I liked that stuff? Not me... until I tried it.
Also, even though I HATED apples... I now choke one down once a day. I just tried about four different ones until I decided I like Fuji apples.
Every day I start out the same way. Bran flakes w/skim milk. Mid-morning snack is an apple or a banana. Then the rest of the day I wing it. I just make sure I'm eating at least ONE veggie a day... and trust me, I HATE them... but they are good for me... so I choke one down.
Good luck. Seems like you just need to expierement more. Oh, and my friend always says, if you can read, you can cook. Just follow the directions... and my advice is... don't be afraid to use spices. They really help!
Last edited by luvthelighthouse; 09-06-2007 at 12:47 AM.
How to lose weight when you hate so many foods
From one picky eater to another!
The nice thing about stir fries is also that they do not take a whole lot of preparation time. 
I refuse to eat any tuna that is not pure white albacore, but white albacore is pretty good. I make my tuna salad with Gourmayo, some chopped onions, chopped pickles, garlic salt, and a hint of black pepper. You can do the same with chicken salad, or you can just buy grilled chicken and prepare it however you want. I always buy precooked, preseasoned grilled chicken because I can't STAND to LOOK AT raw chicken, let alone touch it! Touching most raw meats makes me want to vomit.
) Even corn isn't bad in moderation. What about lettuce? Can you manage to eat some lettuce? And so on...
The reason I said that is because I don't like canned peas. Yuck. Complete mush. However, I love frozen peas-because they haven't been sitting in a can getting mushy for ages. They are more colorful, more tender-crisp-just BETTER. 
Just from staying away from them, my tummy is strinking! 