How can you not like veggies?!
A half-done stir-fry... broccoli, yellow beans, carrots, pineapple... I like a little rice with my veggies, too!
Q: Do you have any suggestions for me and my STRONG dislike of veggies? The only cooked vegetables I like are greens and green beans….PERIOD! I like them with all the nutrients boiled out. There’s no way possible I can stomach eating other cooked veggies. I do like salads but, after a while it gets a little old. Sometimes I snack on celery sticks. Other than that, I have a hard time eating the recommended servings for veggies. I absolutely love fruit but, I try to keep it limited.
I’m always a little concerned when I hear that people are seriously pulling that elementary school game at the dinner table.. “I don’t like veggies! I don’t wannit!” complete with the poking out of the lip and folded arms. I mean, yeah, I might giggle at the image (especially if I know you personally) but the question is this:
If you aren’t eating vegetables, then what are you eating?!
Seriously! I’ve got to know.. if you’re not eating a vegetable at each meal, what are you eating for dinner? What are you having as a side for lunch? Since this is Q&A Wednesday and all I can do is make assumptions on the details surrounding your question… if you’re eating anything like I was, you’re probably eating pre-made processed foods and putting them together to make dinner. Lemme tell ya… that doesn’t count.
Veggies are probably the best and fastest way to fill yourself up. If I make a stir fry, yeah there’s rice in there… but its mostly vegetables… probably 3/4ths vegetables. (No, your nearest chinese food joint may not be able to say the same… rice is cheaper for them to get a hold of than vegetables.) The average serving of vegetables is well under a hundred calories, and paired with a few other awesome vegetables and maybe some rice and a little protein? You’re in there like swimwear… usually for under 400 calories.
What are your weight loss goals? Your current diet of not eating veggies, is that diet helping you to accomplish your goals? If not, I’d suggest… getting over it. No jokes, I promise.
If you’re someone who’s used to the taste of vegetables in an already-processed dish, and you suspect that this is why you don’t like veggies (because “they don’t taste that way when they’re in my soup/tv dinner/[insert other processed food item]”), then you have to really let it go. Our processed foods are chemically altered (think “monosodium glutamate” and “natural flavors”) so that our brains find the taste more appealing. What happens is that we start to develop unreasonable expectations for the food that comes straight up out of the ground, thus causing us to dislike the clean vegetables and crave the processed foods again. No good.
Treat vegetables as individual items with individual tastes that can serve individual purposes. I dispiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiised brussel sprouts until I just sucked it up and bought a bag of them frozen one day. I microwaved one little brussel sprout and bit into it expecting fire and brimstone to shoot out into my mouth, expecting to pass out and fall to my death through the ground and out to China… but I got nothing. I got a small, salty little cabbage-esque taste. That’s it. I even… liked it. Gross, right?
So now, I’ve got a bag of these little salty balls, and nothing to use them for. Never one to waste money, I started thinking long and hard about where I could stick ’em. One night, as I was making my rice for dinner, I decided to throw some chicken in a skillet, chop it up, throw some red peppers, pineapple, ginger, garlic and… chopped brussel sprouts. It was so yummy! I was proud of myself – not only did I learn to appreciate a vegetable I originally disliked, but I found a great recipe to use it in.
In all seriousness, this is another big reason why I keep shouting that you have to let go of processed foods… especially when they alter your perception of how a vegetable is supposed to taste. Stop coming to vegetables and having expectations of them. Treat veggies like bricks. By themselves you might not be able to do too much with them, but when used creatively can make beautiful houses. So try a new veggie today, and think of all the different random places you could sneak it in!
What veggie fears have you overcome? What veggies are you afraid of? Let’s hear it!
Show a little love by voting for me in the Black Weblog Awards for Best Health or Wellness Blog category! That’s right – BGG2WL is a finalist thanks to you! Let’s do what we can to bring it home!