How do you learn to eat food you don't like?
Discussion
I'm a really plain eater. Pork chops, steak and chips, sausage and mash, fish 'n chips.
Don't like salad, the only vegetables I eat are carrots and peas, hate anything with too much taste.
And I mean hate. If I put anything in my mouth that I don't like the taste of it can actually make me gag and want to vomit. I just cannot do it.
I don't (can't) drink wine, beer, fruit drinks, coke (or anything fizzy). I just drink orange squash or water, and recently managed to upgrade to orange juice, woohoo!
If I want alcohol it has to be vodka and orange.
All of which has been fine for forty years, until now. I've recently started a job which I absolutely love, but it means flying to different countries as the guest of different businesses. Which is the best bit, frankly, it's amazing.
Right up until the point where I'm taken out to dinner to some posh restaurant that definitely won't have burger and chips on the menu and has never heard of tomato ketchup!
I'm really jealous of people that look at a menu and say "ooh, I've never had that, lets give it a go" as I dare'nt. But worse, often there's simply nothing I can eat.
It's becoming a real problem. I'm trying really hard to just MTFU and eat, but it makes me feel genuinely nauseous. I've come home from some trips very very hungry after living on breakfast and bread, plus it doesn't look good toward the hosts and its simply not social.
So how the hell do I train myself to just get on and eat stuff? I don't need to enjoy it, I just have to be able to do it without gagging on it and feeling revolted by it.
Anyone overcome this?
Don't like salad, the only vegetables I eat are carrots and peas, hate anything with too much taste.
And I mean hate. If I put anything in my mouth that I don't like the taste of it can actually make me gag and want to vomit. I just cannot do it.
I don't (can't) drink wine, beer, fruit drinks, coke (or anything fizzy). I just drink orange squash or water, and recently managed to upgrade to orange juice, woohoo!
If I want alcohol it has to be vodka and orange.All of which has been fine for forty years, until now. I've recently started a job which I absolutely love, but it means flying to different countries as the guest of different businesses. Which is the best bit, frankly, it's amazing.
Right up until the point where I'm taken out to dinner to some posh restaurant that definitely won't have burger and chips on the menu and has never heard of tomato ketchup!
I'm really jealous of people that look at a menu and say "ooh, I've never had that, lets give it a go" as I dare'nt. But worse, often there's simply nothing I can eat.
It's becoming a real problem. I'm trying really hard to just MTFU and eat, but it makes me feel genuinely nauseous. I've come home from some trips very very hungry after living on breakfast and bread, plus it doesn't look good toward the hosts and its simply not social.
So how the hell do I train myself to just get on and eat stuff? I don't need to enjoy it, I just have to be able to do it without gagging on it and feeling revolted by it.
Anyone overcome this?
VinceFox said:
I await the answers with interest. I'm he same, i'm afraid.
Cant eat plant of any sort. The texture makes me gag.
Glad it's not just me, makes me feel such an idiot.Cant eat plant of any sort. The texture makes me gag.
Agree about the texture too, mostly its the flavour, but anything slimy... uuurgh...
I don't even have gravy on a Sunday roast...
I used to be much the same, strong flavours and certain textures.
Most cooked veg is out, prefer it fresh or at the most, lighlty stir fried or steamed. Soggy cooked onions, mushrooms and seafood are pretty much the only total no-nos for me these days, though. Oh and raw tomatoes.
For me it was a control issue I think, especially as a kid. As I got older I got bored eating the same stuff all the time and got stuck into making stuff I'd wanted to eat but had previously discounted because I didnt like a particular ingredient in it or the way it was done.
I hate to say it, but yeah, MTFU a bit. Have you tried cooking something that you'd consider "strongly flavoured" from scratch and then trying to eat it?
Most cooked veg is out, prefer it fresh or at the most, lighlty stir fried or steamed. Soggy cooked onions, mushrooms and seafood are pretty much the only total no-nos for me these days, though. Oh and raw tomatoes.
For me it was a control issue I think, especially as a kid. As I got older I got bored eating the same stuff all the time and got stuck into making stuff I'd wanted to eat but had previously discounted because I didnt like a particular ingredient in it or the way it was done.
I hate to say it, but yeah, MTFU a bit. Have you tried cooking something that you'd consider "strongly flavoured" from scratch and then trying to eat it?
Wow. I'm quite surprised anyone can be like this in the 21st century especially with the diverse range of food available on your typical high street in Britain.
Anyway, it sounds like you have a real issue with food that you're not used to. I would advise you seek help from a hypnotherapist, NLPer or EFT therapist. Or just man up if you don't buy into that hocus pocus.
Anyway, it sounds like you have a real issue with food that you're not used to. I would advise you seek help from a hypnotherapist, NLPer or EFT therapist. Or just man up if you don't buy into that hocus pocus.
Cock Womble 7 said:
Ari said:
I don't need to enjoy it, I just have to be able to do it without gagging on it and feeling revolted by it.
If you find out, can you let the wife know?Edited by Hoofy on Tuesday 8th May 21:43
Rub Vicks Vaporub into your nostrils and eat in the dark?
I suspect the serious answer is you have to keep trying the same new food, by tasting small squares of it and getting used to the texture until you feel comfortable with it. The more new things you try, the quicker you will be able to cope, as your taste learns to learn.
I think there's supposed to be a certain period of life when you learn from parents which are safe foods to eat, and if you don't have enough different foods in that window, it can leave you over-cautious to being poisoned.
Mind you, if your family cook like I do, it could save your life.
I suspect the serious answer is you have to keep trying the same new food, by tasting small squares of it and getting used to the texture until you feel comfortable with it. The more new things you try, the quicker you will be able to cope, as your taste learns to learn.
I think there's supposed to be a certain period of life when you learn from parents which are safe foods to eat, and if you don't have enough different foods in that window, it can leave you over-cautious to being poisoned.
Mind you, if your family cook like I do, it could save your life.
As daft as it sounds - baby steps... Literally!!
I'm such a fussy eater, and my son is the same. Possibly due to me not eating much of a variety, he has followed in my footsteps, something I didn't want to happen to my daughter.
I started making all my own soups, sauces and pretty much anything I could blend foods I liked with a minimal amount of foods I don't like.
I never ate any veg apart from potatoes, and I still don't eat fruit, but I'm working on that one!
The only meat I ate was chicken.
Now I eat peas, broccoli and carotts as well as beef and pork.
I thought of it as more of changing my children's eating habits more than just my own.
Just take one piece of food at a time, and just get used to it.
I'm such a fussy eater, and my son is the same. Possibly due to me not eating much of a variety, he has followed in my footsteps, something I didn't want to happen to my daughter.
I started making all my own soups, sauces and pretty much anything I could blend foods I liked with a minimal amount of foods I don't like.
I never ate any veg apart from potatoes, and I still don't eat fruit, but I'm working on that one!
The only meat I ate was chicken.
Now I eat peas, broccoli and carotts as well as beef and pork.
I thought of it as more of changing my children's eating habits more than just my own.
Just take one piece of food at a time, and just get used to it.
Ari said:
Stuff
That's a bit of a pickle. Unless that makes you retch too. 
Seriously though, you should be able to find something really bland on pretty much any menu.
You'll find rice pretty much all over the world, probably best to start there on any menu. Ditto pasta or noodles.
There is plenty of psychological stuff on the internet about it, but basically you are just going to have to MTFU if you want to dig in to the exciting things.
If you look at some recipes for ketchup:
- 10 pounds tomato, dead-ripe
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 4 large onions, chopped
- 1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 5 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 4 Tablespoons brown sugar, packed firm
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
You are eating all of that stuff all the time; and I bet you didn't realise you were. I imagine you've pushed plates away for having less.
Up until several years ago, I hated salad and veg with a passion. Couldn't stand the texture or the taste. No idea what changed, and I can't pin point when, but it's now probably one of my most eaten foods. Absolutely love all veg and rarely have a sandwich without salad.
There is still no fruit I like however, can't stand it. Can't eat a grape without gipping.
There is still no fruit I like however, can't stand it. Can't eat a grape without gipping.
*slurp*
davepoth said:
Seriously though, you should be able to find something really bland on pretty much any menu.
The problem is, quite often there's no menu, stuff is just brought and put in front of me, and I sit there looking like a lemon with a full plate until someone eventually takes it away...And I don't even like lemons...
It is fecking pathetic and I am just trying to just get on with it, but I really am struggling...
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