In which we ponder...

[jesshartley]

Several folks, both on and off line (including my boss at the realty company) have basically said "Oh, that sounds like a cool diet, but... I don't really like vegetables." or "I could never eat vegetables or salad with all my meals. I just don't like them that much."

While I understand that everyone has different tastes and that some folks can't (for food allergy/sensitivity reasons) eat certain foods, the whole "I don't really like vegetables" thing is kind of a weird topic.

Personally, I'd much rather sit down to a big chocolate shake and a hunk of pie for breakfast than a piece of crustless quiche or breakfast scramble. I'd honestly love to eat pizza, chicken strips, burgers or Jimmy's Chicaco Hot Dogs for lunch every day rather than a big salad with low fat cheese and lean meat sliced over the top. And who wouldn't rather have a big platter of lasagna, deep fried chicken chimichangas or sweet and sour chicken than a small piece of lean meat, and several servings of vegetables for dinner? I mean, it's really not that I'm choosing to eat better because these are the foods I'd really rather be chewing on at any given moment.

But what we put in our mouth is a choice (just like what comes out of it, but that's another topic.) And I've made the choice to eat things that are immediate satisfaction/long term detrimental for many many months now. I've grabbed a candy bar any time I wanted one. Bought into the convenience of pizza for dinner*, fast food for lunch and sugar coated cereals (or worse, the ones that look healthy, but are higher in calories than Calvin's Sugar Coated Cocoa Bombs) for breakfast. I've done it, because it's what I like. I've got a sweet tooth and from an immediate-satisfaction only standpoint, I'll always choose sweet/chewy/cheesy/greasy/buttery stuff over salad or veggies.

But at some point, I have to stop ignoring that life isn't (just) about immediate satisfaction. Making those daily choices has consequences. For me, I gain weight, I get even more sluggish (viscious cycle) I feel cruddy, I crave /more/ sweets & fats, and I build a habit of eating bad foods. Those are things that, at any given moment, may not weigh on me as heavily as the call of chocolate, but when I'm able to stand back and take a look at things, they're not a very good option, compared to just eating "good" (lots of veggies, lean meats, whole grains, lowfat dairy and good oils) with an occasional sweet treat.

So, please don't tell me (or yourself) that you can't eat well because you don't "much like" vegetables, whole grains, lowfat dairy, etc. Compare to the greasy, fatty, sugary, starchy convenience foods we've developed as the American "norm", of course you don't. Very few folks would look at a carrot and think "oh, this is my favorite" compared to, say chocolate, fries or chips.

I'm not eating this way because I love to do it. If I loved to do it, I'd have never put on all this weight in the first place. I'm doing it because it's a healthy choice for me to make, and that's more important to me than the instant-gratification/long-term detriment of things I "like" more.

And, strangely enough, the longer I am away from that "instant" food, the less appealing it becomes. So, do what you want and need to do about your eating, but don't justify eating crap to yourself by saying you don't "much like" healthy food. We're all big kids here, and there's more to our eating choices than instant gratification... or at least there should be. Make your choices where you will (gods knows I have) but don't justify them with the illusion that folks who eat healthy don't crave cheeseburgers too.


* - almost instant, almost no dishes or prep, cheap and everyone likes it... it's the perfect food - until you look at the calorie count/nutritional value and realize you're not eating one slice along with a salad and serving of veggies, you're eating 3 or 4 pieces with nothing to balance it, and you've just had more than your entire daily allotment of calories, fat and sodium in one meal.

Comments

[matt-m-mcelroy.livejournal.com]

I've recently been eating a lot more veggies than I used to. I've cut down on my junkfood snacks a ton by doing this. I never would have thought of eating a bowl of steamed corn as a snack, but it works. There are these new individual serving steamed vegetable packs from Birds Eye that come 4 in a box in the frozen foods section.I've also switched from chips to Wheat Thins as a alternative snack.

Anyway, between that and hitting the gym a couple times a week, I feel better than I have in ages.

[hobbesthetiger.livejournal.com]

This may be a strange question, but what's the sodium content of those individual packs of veggies?

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

It's a question that makes sense to me, but this surprised me: NO sodium!

[hobbesthetiger.livejournal.com]

Dur, I should have checked the tubes myself!

That is a pleasant surprise, though! No need to add more sodium :).

[adamantine1.livejournal.com]

You won't get any whinging from me, Jess.

The Egyptian's type one diabetes made us all put food under the microscope, and we were pretty aware before.

[jagash.livejournal.com]

Understandable, though i will say that home-made pizza is far more healthy. Actually having a variety of vegetables and dramatically cutting down the fat content. Not perfect, but a darned sight better then the commercial variety.

don't like vegitables?

[la-loba.livejournal.com]

i don't think that people "don't like vegetables" so much as americans LOVE processed and prepared foods. maybe it's not love but a habit and a lifestyle.
growing up there were always vegetables at dinner, and sometimes breakfast depending, and lunch was usually a sandwich b/c i was in school. but we ate alot a vegetables b/c jamaicans eat a lot of vegetables and fish b/c such a small island can't really produce large quantities of meat. i never had steak as an entree or just a load of pasta as a meal until i started eating out w/ my american friends. i didn't really eat instant food [ramin] until i was in college. i didn't know kids were supposed to have an aversion to veggies until i saw that joke made on tv.
i'm not saying we didn't have candy, chips, soda, and all that rot but they were supposed to be treats and treated as such. eating too many treats got me in trouble.
i think most people [americans] "don't like veggies" b/c they've chosen not to, or b/c those add campaigns are way to successful.

i have a sweet tooth too. sometimes i'll go through a pound of gummy bears like they were pop corn, especially when i had my meal plan at college. when i felt my clothes were getting too tight, i'd stop eating candy and drop 5lbs.
but sometimes i remember that a can of pineapple or a pomegranate is just as gratifying. and i've been actively not buying candy b/c i eat it like a fiend.
i swear if you keep at it, looking at a triple fudge chocolate cake and thinking about eating it will seem gross, but one slice will seem perfect.
i think it's awesome that you're changing your thought patterns along with your eating habits. eventually you won't be "eating healthy" you'll just say "i don't eat crap"
yay for home cooked unprocessed foods!

Re: don't like vegitables?

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

OMG, Pomegranites are my absolute favorite fruit!
And, I'll be off Phase One (which is a bit wonky, but does wonders for killing sweet cravings) early enough to get a couple before they go away at the end of the holiday season.

Woot! Thanks for the awesome reminder!

[eleri.livejournal.com]

It's something I occasionally want to remind my hubby of, but he has had some allergy reactions to several veggies, and some honest-to-god minor trauma as a child around them, so I don't push it.

It makes it hard to make healthy meals though, when I know he's going to bypass them for something crappy.

That, and the sheer amount of Laaazzzyyy around here when it comes to food is immense.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Got any recipes?

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Tons!
What kind of things are you interested in?

[dan-lian.livejournal.com]

Agreed! I try to keep adding veggies into my diet, but sometimes I get vexed on what to add and how (ie. I love asparagus, but there are only so many times in one week I can eat it steamed/boiled...) so it can be frustrating. But it feels good, in the end, when you realize you're mostly full after eating a good salad.

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

Try roasting it in a shallow pan in the oven with a bit of olive oil and seasonings sprinkled over top. At least it's a small change. :)

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Or steam extra and put it in a quiche the next morning? Yummers!

[dan-lian.livejournal.com]

That would imply I eat breakfast another place than work. ;)

[ladyrutile.livejournal.com]

Pop the quiche in the oven while you eat dinner. Pop it in the fridge when it's done. Nuke some for breakfast... most offices have microwaves nowadays.

[sabbathunter.livejournal.com]

the smell/taste of many vegetables make me gag. I can deal with corn, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuces.

but something like broccoli or califlower etc and just the smell of it makes me gag.

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Brocolli and cauliflower both do have a very strong scent (as does cabbage and brussel sprouts)

I find that all of the above (other than Brussel Sprouts, I just don't eat them) are much less offensive if eaten fresh. (I even got the viking to like brocolli (but not cauliflower) raw, although he still doesn't want to be in the house when it's cooked!)

Have you tried either brocolli or cauliflower raw? How about raw cabbage (cole slaw?)

[sabbathunter.livejournal.com]

Cabbage raw I can deal with, either as part of a salad or cole slaw.

Brocolli and cauliflower I have tried raw and it tasted awful to me.

[ladyrutile.livejournal.com]

try picking up a small bag of Mann's Broccoli slaw and mixing with cabbage for and shredded carrots for an interesting variation on slaw.
Also broccoli, if put in a colander & pour boiling water over it until it's a brighter green, then toss it in the fridge until it's cold, tastes much better to me and is less work to chew.

[arimenthe.livejournal.com]

Been doing a lot of reading on junkfoodscience over the last few weeks.

The site has great information about what is healthy, about weight and about what myths are presented to us as facts by the media.

www.junkfoodscience.com

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Could you check the link, that goes to a temporary holding site?

eeek..

[arimenthe.livejournal.com]

I left off one word...ooooops!

http://www.junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

And, strangely enough, the longer I am away from that "instant" food, the less appealing it becomes.

You know, I've noticed that too. In the past year or so, I've made a conscious effort to pay attention to what I'm eating. I've found some flavorful whole-grain breads I like, and I've discovered that treats like soda and instant chai latte mix are often too sugary for me. While I'm still a fan of bacon and pizza, I can't bear the thought of eating too much of it at a time, because I'm not acclimated to that much grease anymore. In contrast, when I want a snack, I actually crave after a nice tangy orange or juicy red bell pepper instead of a candy bar...and honestly, vegetables are freakin' tasty. It's just a matter of experimenting to find the ones you like. Mmmmmmm, broccoli.

Most of this involves nothing more than changing what I keep on hand in my kitchen. It's a small effort, in the scheme of things, but one that makes me feel a lot better about myself and that I know makes a positive difference in my health.

[generalbullet.livejournal.com]

how very true!

I've been doing the best life diet (as anyone whose read my lj would know), and have lost 20 since September. and the best thing is, I'm craving veggies as my side of choice, not fried. I had fries the other day and got literally sick - and it was a well done french fry, not a crappy one!

I think too many people have excuses not to eat healthy - it takes too long, too hard to do, too expensive. If you stopped buying the junk food, bought less meat, and bought frozen veggies, you'll find it's simple and cheap. We keep five different kinds of frozen veggies that we mix and match, along with raw carrots and celery, cucumber, tomatoes and onions. They are inexpensive, it's easy to cook to frozen veggies - just put into a casserole and microwave. and they are super tasty that way. And fruit, well, we buy vacuum sealed frozen fruit and thaw it overnight for eating in the morning. not as good as fresh, but a great way to get out of season fruits!

I can understand allergies - I had a tomato allergy for years, and my mom is badly allergic to mushrooms - but there are so many varieties and choices, it's really not as hard as some people make it out to be. and a serving really isn't THAT much. I've learned to choke down coleslaw (with fat free mayo, of course) simply because cabbage is very good for you. i throw in raisins to make it taste better :D

Eating healthy has saved my life, and I get so frustrated by people who refuse to understand what they are doing to themselves.

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

Another thing: I like healthy foods well enough. And just because I'm eating healthy doesn't mean I will never eat chocolate again. It means that the junkier foods will revert back to being special (or emergency, e.g., pizza), which is really a better thing anyway.

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Oh, totally. It's not that I don't like healthier foods. But the attitude that someone 'can't' eat healthy because they "don't like" (ie: would rather eat) processed, high-calorie food is kind of irritating. If they want to make that choice (and gods knows I do often enough, when looking at it over my lifespan) that's great for them. But the "can't" in most cases is a cop out and I dislike that it's a response to my efforts to /try/ to eat healthier and find things within the healthier range that I can be happy eating, etc.

Oh, and I am /totally/ looking forward to special/emergency stuff in the future. :) I'm just going to try to keep it to that (as you said) rather than the default.

*nods*

[mseuphrates.livejournal.com]

When I did Adkins, I knew I was "in the zone" when I start craving salads, or thinking primarily about what veggies I was going to have with dinner. When you eat healthy (and yeah, I know that whether Adkins is ultimately healthy is up for debate, but it was better the processed empty diets most people eat) you tend to want healthy things.

[authorm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, same here. I prefer junk but I make the choice to eat better because it's smarter than indulging in food that's bad for me!

A different reason

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

My problem, and I really wonder how common it is, is that I have difficulty smelling many plants. Like most flowers (Roses have virtually no scent to me), and most vegetables. Virtually anything leafy and green is scentless and mostly flavorless to me. (Fruits are usually fine, and indeed great. Starchy "vegetables" like corn and potatoes are fine, too.)

I can eat them, but even fresh vegetables are mostly like eating cardboard with a less pleasant texture. Bleh.

(Also, most perfumes smell like chem labs to me, with the floral elements not detectable. Yuck!)

I didn't really figure this out until I was in my twenties. I just was berated for being a picky eater. A lot of Asian cooking turns out to rely on smells that I can't detect. (Soy sauce does not work for me.) And Indian - that common yellow sauce misfires badly in my nose.

Which isn't to say that this is true of everyone - just a counterexample that for some people, it's not exactly how you put it. This does mean, though, that I have to pay even _more_ attention to nutrition labels, since the easy path is particularly unpleasant for me. (And make sure I take vitamin supplements, since some things are really hard for me to get.) I suppose, though, as far as a physical disability goes, partial loss of sense of smell is a pretty mild one to draw, so I'm grateful of that!

South Beach

[(Anonymous)]

Hey Sis! Could you do a sample of what you eat each day. You know how crazy my life is, but I need to do something, being skinny just does not run in our family without putting thought into it. So I need pretty much a No Brainer, or it just wont get done.

Or just keep a journal, and I can copy it :) Isnt that what big sisters are for?

[anaka.livejournal.com]

I didn't like vegetables either until I was in my twenties or so. That's when I discovered that they could come from something other than a can and have a texture that wasn't soggy (love you, Mom). I still have a tough time with them, honestly. I'm working on it though. I've discovered sweet potatoes and asparagus, for example, and steaming various other veggies I can't stomach raw helps tremendously. Also, fresh salsa or hummus or something with triscuits is nummy.

This is my second day without a coke, btw. I did have a root beer yesterday, but it was left at my house, I only had one, and it didn't have caffeine.Coke is my addiction, you see. I can give up sodas and not miss them. I have not yet been able to give up cokes. I have one root beer left. I may not have it today. We shall see. Think happy non-soda thoughts for me.

[aersi.livejournal.com]

Bravo!
I strongly admire anyone who can stand up and say such things, and back it all up with the hard work eating right is.
Personally, I don't have that strong of a food will. I grabbed the cookies out of the cabinet instead of the grapes from the fridge when I sat down for a snack. I've made small changes in my diet for the past few months, (buying fruits and veggies, switching to turkey over beef, pretzels when I need my salty over chips), since I have the same body problems and fears that you've expressed.
Thank you for setting a good example, and being eloquent enough to share it.

Food Shopping

[arvanna.livejournal.com]

the first time I went on a "diet" it was through Jenny Craig. In spite of their reliance on their packaged (and expen$sive) foods, they did have some good classes on how to pick and prepare, and set up portions, of regular food in the real world. One tactic is to use lunch plates instead of dinner plates. Another is for grocery shopping: at the time, most stores were set up so all the meat, produce, dairy and unprocessed stuff was on the outside walls, so the trick was to do a circle around the outer aisles to get your food and avoid the rest of the aisles. (And of course, never go to a grocery store hungry!) I find most stores are still like that, but there are some exceptions now.

[de-foxley.livejournal.com]

GO JESS!!! :) *hug*

[korric.livejournal.com]

You go, girl!
I'll concur with what's been said previously about the adjustment required in changing one's diet and the decrease in the appeal of less healthy foods once one becomes accustomed to new eating habits.
This post makes me happy. I don't care for weak excuses, either.

[metallian.livejournal.com]

As a person who formerly ate lots and lots of meat, I was pleasantly surprised to find how appealing piles of vegetable matter can be when prepared properly. American cuisine just doesn't have a knack for it, IMO. Indian cuisine is awesome for vegetarian meals, Chinese and Middle Eastern/Mediterranean can be good that way, too.

[xyphoidprocess.livejournal.com]

I have been on the Southbeach, and I would be still if I knew how to organize healthy lunches at my current work situation (I'm phase 3 without having gotten to my goal) ... this will take planning and strategery(tm).

So, it being said that I am not in the boat properly now... there is a lot of deliciousness in the diet. After the two weeks fruit tasted remarkably sweet and delish. During the first two weeks I treated myself to a morning cheese omelet with a tomato salad, because my usual breakfast was quick and not particularly satisfying, so it really was a treat. I made cooking an adventure, but I had the good fortune of already enjoying green vegetables and mushrooms...

Oh, where was I? Oh yeah! South Beach Cookbook has some good ideas, too. And I wouldn't have survived phase 1 without ricotta cheese, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder or cinnamon. But I don't know if you like the texture of ricotta. ah well, still, an idea!

Good luck and keep at it. You are in control, not your cravings. They're driven by evolution saying you need to eat to survive, too bad evolution didn't realize we were going to develop high fructose caro and partially hydrogenated stuff, and those pesky cars and nothing I need being within walking distance (grumble)

Gym time?

[sagawizard.livejournal.com]

I've been a vegetarian for 14 years now..started when I was 16 years old and worked at Burger King. Ended me on beef. Gave up on birds a few years later. Tried giving up fish but found I got too weak and needed SOME animal protein.

For me, veggies are most palatable in nice stir fries with plenty of sauces. Sodium's not much of an issue for me so I don't mind soy, and if you get sauces without corn syrup in them then sugar isn't a worry.

At this point in my own health considerations, what I really need is a regimen of exercise. I simply cannot seem to find the time to go to the gym. I work from 6:30 - 3:30 every day as a teacher, take evening classes once or twice a week, and have tons of papers to grade. I go to bed at 10:00pm and wake up at 5:30am. AND I'd like to occasionally see my wife. I just don't see the time in my schedule for what would basically be a 2 hour chunk of time, 3 times a week (getting to the gym, changing, working out, showering, getting home).

And yet I *know* I would have more energy/be less depressed/etc if I worked out....

Anyone find a magic formula?

- SW