I don't eat vegetables or fruits

Hey Everyone,

Dieting for me is a real nightmare. I do not eat vegetables or fruits. Well, I do like potatoes, corn, bananas and beans if those even count.

All the recipes call for veggies and I gag at the thought. I've tried for years to down veggies/fruits, but the crunch in the lettuce makes my head spin, the smell of cucumber literally makes me gag and I fear tomatoes (unless its ketchup). I blame it on my folks that never forced me to eat my veggies. They tried, but I was grossed out by veggies and fruits even as a kid and they gave up the battle because I would bring up whatever they forced down right at the dinner table.  =(     

All the trauma aside, when I try to lose a few pounds (I'm on a mission to lose 15 right now) I feel as if I have nothing to eat...  Anyone else out there have this problem?  Any alternatives or healthy recipes that I can apply?  I'm not opposed to cooking with vegetables to flavor the dishes, I just can't eat them (when A recipe calls for veggies I cut 'em up huge so I can pick 'em out).

I was the pickiest eater EVER growing up.  Gradually I would find myself in social situations where I had to eat something that I didn't like to be polite, and I would discover it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.  I think maybe it just takes time to develop a taste for vegetables if you don't like them.  I cook a loot of indian food, which if you like the seasonings is a great way to make vegetables - a lot of them use a tomato base which overpowers the veggie flavor.  Here's a couple you might like:

http://www.calorie-count.com/recipe/24291.htm l
This one is a cauliflower and potato dish -- wonderful!

http://www.calorie-count.com/recipe/25637.htm l
Lentils with spinach and ginger.  Packs a ton of vitamins and if you chop up the spinach before cooking it, you'll never even know you're eating it.

The spaghetti sauce I made yesterday had zucchini, carrots, and onions.  It also had mushrooms.  and obviously tomatoes.  If you shred the veggies into teeny-tiny bits and cook them down before adding the red stuff, you shouldn't be able to notice.  (My mom used to pull that trick on my brother and me until we got wise to it.  She also used to make a chocolate zucchini cake with an orange glaze that to this day still makes makes me cringe.  So I don't suggest that.)

another thought.  I'm not a fan of zucchini by itself, but I do love the flowers chopped up and thrown into a cheese-and-mushroom omelet.  The flowers don't have nearly the nutrients but they do have fiber.

 I used to DETEST veggies with a passion until I was 21 and forced to finish my salad by........of all people....... a ferocious waitress in a restaurant!

Then I discovered how yummy veggies are when you melt cheese over them....mmmmm.............

As for fruits, it may be easier for you to stomach them by making them into a smoothie with milk/yogurt & honey. It tastes like milkshake!

Hope this helps!

just buy everything in "fat free". after a while, you won't notice the difference....until u go back to the regular.

aegisrose...yes I'm curious also...what DO you live on? 

wow. I'm 75% vegan. all of my weight comes from the OTHER foods, and my destoyed metabolism. okay, and allot of wine too. god I love cheese and wine! so I'm a hedonist. makes me a better cook!

Fisrt, corn is a grain; potatoes are more like bread because of the starch (unless your talking skins), and beans are more like a protein. Bannanas are definetly fruit though. pretty high calorie fruit, but great to get rid of muscle aches (potassium)

I wonder how these vegies you hate are prepared. We all have our particular taistes, and some of can change while others can't. But how many veggie haters have tried them in so many different ways. (Someone mentioned the blender. That's how I first start out feeding these so called vegie haters. )

magic can be made with food. seriously, I make these meatballs that are about 1/8th meat. (you probally don't want to know whats in them) some of my secrite ingredients are: total cereal, blenderized broccoli, carrots or whatever else vegie i have, nutritional yeast. I told you you didn't want to know. well these two kids who supposedly hate vegies ate those suckers up right up, and even fought over them.

as for the american style of cooking them, steamed or boiled with salt and butter, yck, boring. dull gross! I hate carrots, celery, yellow onions and many more. but I know how to make them edible. It's an art to make things you dislike taist yummy.

grind em, blenderize em, cover them with exotic flavors, and spices. eventually you will find one or two recipees you like, and the rest well, explore vegan cookbooks. vegan cooks are magicians. (pst, i make a carrot/ beet cake to die for, and I dislike both carrots and beets!) keep an open mind and try a new recipee or an exotic species of vegie once every week or two. commit yourself to eating half a cup of it weather you like it or not, and have a vegan over to finish up the leftovers.

My boyfriend refuses to admit that he hates vegies. He loves my cooking though, every now and then he'll tell me I went too overboard on the vegies, i point to my protruding belly and wink, and he's quite again. and  slowly... very very slowly.. I've found where I can stick those suckers in his food. (often it's bettter if I don't tell him untill after the compliments flow!)

one major trick I've learned, with him, to avoid so much of a crunch (like boroccoli) I blanch and freeze them. this keeps the vitamins and such (that get lost in the cooking process) a little more stable, while softening the vegie. for the vegies he hates, I cut them up into tiny little peices and he never knows the difference. If you have more money then time (which I don't) you could purchase the ange hair variety of vegies.

OKay I've written too much. hope I was helpfull.

If you like potatoes try mashing in other vegetables such as peppers, broccoli, or cauliflower into them. It is really good.

One suggestion, try cutting the veggies up really, really small, they will practically melt into what you are cooking but you get the flavor.  This worked for me, I was a veggie hater but I can eat many things now (chopped normal size now...lol!)...I even sneak stuff this way into meals I make for my sister who still can't stomach any veggies.  We too are products of our parents...only they made us eat the veggies, canned, gray, mushy...blech!

Also, for fruit, you could try them with something you like, such as peanut butter, or sprinkle with a little cinnamon & sugar.

Good Luck!

bun wrote: aegisrose...yes I'm curious also...what DO you live on? 

LOL-- it's not easy. I do cereals for breakfast (with the occasional banana tossed into my frosted flakes or vanilla mini wheats) or bagles. Snack times consist of yogurts, cheeses or a 100-cal pack of whatever.

As far as meals, my main staples are rice / corn / black beans and some choice of protein (steak/pork chop/chicken). I've recently added a fish dish once a week (salmon mostly). Because of work, lunch often calls for a sandwhich, soup or the previous night's leftovers on the go.

My nemesis (I only indulge once or twice a month): A horrible fettuccini alfredo sauce I make with enough butter and whipping cream to give an elephant a heart attack.

brettybug wrote: just buy everything in "fat free".

I can't quite bump down to totally fat free... I do everything low fat / whole wheat though... right down to my pop tarts.

cemetary_ragdoll wrote: okay, and allot of wine too. god I love cheese and wine!........... veggies grind em, blenderize em, cover them with exotic flavors, and spices..... explore vegan cookbooks.

mmmm~  I cannot live without wine. My biggest issue is always cutting out the alcohol...  my hubby calls me "his little lush" because of the wine rack at home.

Thanks for the Vegan suggestion... never thought of that. I'll scope it out.

I just started here and am also having a hard time with the veggie thing (I do eat fruit).  Also live in South Louisiana so growing up if my mama couldn't fry it my mama couldn't cook it unless it was started with a roux.  My big problem has been the Carbs.  I just can't seem to get them under control. But I am trying and I do like Green Leaf Lettuce (covered in dressing and cheese) :0

Has anyone thought about the reason they do not eat veg. or fruits is becaus they are allergic to them. I used to gag as a kid and would not in any way go near them now as an adult if I accedetially get a little bit of something I can even need my epi pen. Just a thought you may want to think about. You may not just dislike the food you may have a real reason for the adversion for it.

Try soup, like minestrone. Some people swear by V-8 juice.

I love frozen mixed berries. Eat them thawed just a little. A great replacement for ice cream. Also experiment with making smoothies that contain fruit.

I'm not sure whether anyone has made this suggestion, but do you ever BBQ your veggies? Yum...I love BBQ'd carrots & asparagus, they taste sooo good a little burnt. Just a thought :-)

In reading this series, I really identify with those who can't eat fruits and veggies.  For me it's a major texture issue.  I have found steaming helps and I've forced myself to learn to like spinach and some other leafy greens.  Recently, V8 has aput out a new line of juices that say they are 100% juiceblends and that they give full servings of fruits and veggies with varying serving sizes.  I know this is not a source of fresh fruits and veggies but is it one of those "better than nothing"  situations?   Can I drink a bottle of V8 fusion each day and be healthier for it?  The flavor I like the most is the pomegranite.  Anyone familiar with this?

Also, in regards to parenting...  Even if we can't stand the fruits and veggies ourselves, we have to be hipocrits and make sure our kids are eating them.  We can't pass along the legacy of bad parenting so far as food goes.  My parents are amazing parents in many ways.  Teaching me to eat well was one of the few ways inwhich they fell way short.  We have to make responsible decisions for our kids even if we don't do it for ourselves.  it's cliche I know... do it for the kids : }

Since you like corn and it's summer why not eat corn on the cob? It's good for you and I always find it really filling. I put a little bit of real butter (hate margarine) and fresh pepper on mine. I could eat that every day. Also maybe try switching to corn flakes instead of frosted flakes and putting banana slices in and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Much better for you than the pre-sweetened cereals. Then you can wean off the sugar slowly.

I totally understand what you are going through.  Untill I was a teen I only like oranges, corn, potatoes and stuff.  Over the last few years of wanting to lose weight I have trained myself to eat more fruits an veggies.  I have found I like them more if I steam them and add a little salt or butter.  I put cottage cheese in my salad.  And smoothies have saved me from fruit deprivation.  I through in fruit and a low-fat yogurt with a little ice and splenda and YUMMMMY!!!! 
    Also veggies on the grill like Kabobs are yummy  try a yellow squash, yellow peppers, potatos, carrot, and chicken Kabob. 
oh and the best apples are Gala.

yeah, texture and taste definitely. i don't do fruit. i've forced myself to start eating appleas again and that's gone fine. next up, banana  - the only other fruit i ever ate as a child. i don't eat a whole lot of veggies either but i do tolerate salads, carrots, celery, corn, potatoes.

how do you grow accustomed to the squishy, super sweet taste of fruit? as a child i would try strawberries, watermelon, orange, grapes - some of the basics and i would have to spit it out, i couldn't stand chewing the stuff.

but with the apples and veggies, my body is already starting to get used to the healthy stuff going in and craves it. so maybe it'll make the fruit additions easier. tips would be helpful. thanks!

yeah, texture and taste definitely. i don't do fruit. i've forced myself to start eating appleas again and that's gone fine. next up, banana  - the only other fruit i ever ate as a child. i don't eat a whole lot of veggies either but i do tolerate salads, carrots, celery, corn, potatoes.

how do you grow accustomed to the squishy, super sweet taste of fruit? as a child i would try strawberries, watermelon, orange, grapes - some of the basics and i would have to spit it out, i couldn't stand chewing the stuff.


It sounds like you're into crispy and crunchy rather than squishy and mushy.  That's fine!

As for the super-sweetness, your instincts are actually appropriate in this case.  Modern fruit is hybridized and much too sweet.  Don't start with bananas if you're not that into them already -- in fact don't even bother with eating bananas on their own, if you don't actually like them.  As the most-hybridized-for-sweetness of all agricultural fruits, they're far less than the best fruit ever.  But they do make good additions to smoothies!

Start with not-very-sweet fruits that are closest to their wild state.  Starfruit (dragonfruit), which is lightly acidic and very very light in sugar, falls into this category. Other great ones are noni, goji berry, elderberry... pretty much any wild berry should be low in sugar and high in awesome.  :)

but with the apples and veggies, my body is already starting to get used to the healthy stuff going in and craves it. so maybe it'll make the fruit additions easier. tips would be helpful. thanks!

Excellent!
Now that you are digesting fruit properly, what you can do is blend the more common fruits which you find too sweet into a smoothie with greens, which will cut down the sweetness and simultaneously

Try this one:

1 cup blueberries (preferably wild)
1-2 cups raw dark greens (kale, chard, spinach, whatever)
1-3 cups water and/or ice
as much or as little honey as you like


This smoothie tastes like... blueberries!  For more a more creamy smoothie, add a banana, or use almond milk instead of water.

Making green smoothies is really a secret weapon in integrating fruit without suffering the high-sugar consequences of modern hybridization.  Plus they taste good and they make you awesome.  :D

yeah, texture and taste definitely. i don't do fruit. i've forced myself to start eating appleas again and that's gone fine. next up, banana  - the only other fruit i ever ate as a child. i don't eat a whole lot of veggies either but i do tolerate salads, carrots, celery, corn, potatoes.

how do you grow accustomed to the squishy, super sweet taste of fruit? as a child i would try strawberries, watermelon, orange, grapes - some of the basics and i would have to spit it out, i couldn't stand chewing the stuff.


It sounds like you're into crispy and crunchy rather than squishy and mushy.  That's fine!

As for the super-sweetness, your instincts are actually appropriate in this case.  Modern fruit is hybridized and much too sweet.  Don't start with bananas if you're not that into them already -- in fact don't even bother with eating bananas on their own, if you don't actually like them.  As the most-hybridized-for-sweetness of all agricultural fruits, they're far less than the best fruit ever.  But they do make good additions to smoothies!

Start with not-very-sweet fruits that are closest to their wild state.  Starfruit (dragonfruit), which is lightly acidic and very very light in sugar, falls into this category. Other great ones are noni, goji berry, elderberry... pretty much any wild berry should be low in sugar and high in awesome.  :)

but with the apples and veggies, my body is already starting to get used to the healthy stuff going in and craves it. so maybe it'll make the fruit additions easier. tips would be helpful. thanks!

Excellent!
Now that you are digesting fruit properly, what you can do is blend the more common fruits which you find too sweet into a smoothie with greens, which will cut down the sweetness and simultaneously

Try this one:

1 cup blueberries (preferably wild)
1-2 cups raw dark greens (kale, chard, spinach, whatever)
1-3 cups water and/or ice
as much or as little honey as you like


This smoothie tastes like... blueberries!  For more a more creamy smoothie, add a banana, or use almond milk instead of water.

Making green smoothies is really a secret weapon in integrating fruit without suffering the high-sugar consequences of modern hybridization.  Plus they taste good and they make you awesome.  :D