When veggies are the bane of your existance?

[EmpyrealFantasy]

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my little post.

I am new to this diet and will be starting as soon as I can complete grocery shopping. I have read Dr. Atkin's book and understand the process, I have browsed these forums for hours looking at different recipes (those tacos are looking delicious, I've gotta tell you ) and tips... but I have one major problem.

I despise vegetables.

This is probably a leftover from childhood, but I just don't like vegetables. I don't like the texture, I don't like the taste, and with the exception of cauliflower in liberal amounts of cheese sauce or salad greens (of many varieties) with bleu cheese dressing, I just don't ever eat them. I don't know that I can even force myself to eat them.

This makes my outlook very grim, I am sure. But is there any advice you can give to someone who is so utterly hopeful about this diet? Can supplements take the place of my vege-less diet? How likely to fail am I with this detriment?

Thank you for your time.

[ErinB]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Advice? Mine would be to just give it a chance, one day at a time. If you read the rules and follow them, just because they are the rules, your way of eating will change and your taste buds will change.

Start with the three cups of veggies you are most able to tolerate. If you really don't like them, then take them like medicine, just because you know you need them. Try hard to keep an open mind to the change. Be sure to weigh and measure. Three cups is really not very much.

Most, if giving up a lot of bad carbs, will experience a drastic change in how things taste. Of course, since we're trying to keep a balance of 65% fat/30% protein/5% carb with most of the net carb count of 20 being around 11-17 net cabs, there is room to doctor up the taste of the veggies with good things like butter, olive oil, bacon grease even, cream and some cheese (3-4 oz. allowed per day!). Experiment with seasonings, too.

Track your food on fitday.com to make sure you are within the guidelines and, as you progress on to and through OWL, add a new veggie ever so often. You will be surprised how welcome the new veggie foods will become to you.

That has been my experience, anyway. Always have hope. This has been true for many, many, people.

[not2late]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my little post.

I am new to this diet and will be starting as soon as I can complete grocery shopping. I have read Dr. Atkin's book and understand the process, I have browsed these forums for hours looking at different recipes (those tacos are looking delicious, I've gotta tell you ) and tips... but I have one major problem.

I despise vegetables.

This is probably a leftover from childhood, but I just don't like vegetables. I don't like the texture, I don't like the taste, and with the exception of cauliflower in liberal amounts of cheese sauce or salad greens (of many varieties) with bleu cheese dressing, I just don't ever eat them. I don't know that I can even force myself to eat them.

This makes my outlook very grim, I am sure. But is there any advice you can give to someone who is so utterly hopeful about this diet? Can supplements take the place of my vege-less diet? How likely to fail am I with this detriment?

Thank you for your time.

There are over 50 vegetables on the vegetable lists. About 20 are on the "salad" list and 30 are on the "Other" list.

You said you like salads. Terrific, because salad green are on the vegetable list.

Cauliflower is located on the "other" list.

So based on your current vegetable preferences, there is no reason that your Atkins be "vegetable-less".

[EmpyrealFantasy]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

So based on your current vegetable preferences, there is no reason that your Atkins be "vegetable-less".

*nods* But will that be enough? I see many posts with people reinforcing how important the vegetables are to the diet, and it makes me worry about ruining my efforts by my own pickiness.

I wouldn't mind my taste buds changing. I am giving up my life blood (Diet Dr Pepper :P) for this, so that would be a welcome change. But for all my determination, I still worry that I will manage to mess something up. :P

[imagood1]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

The first thing you need to do is quit saying you "don't" -- you don't like vegetables, you don't like drinking water, you don't like fish, etc. This is a very tasty way to eat if you give it a try and open your mind.

You really need to eat more than just salad vegetables, the "other vegetable" list has vegetables with more fiber which will help keep you regular. I'm afraid if you only eat salad vegetables you 1) won't get enough nutrition; 2) not enough fiber; and 3) will tired of eating them and quit.

As you are on the plan for awhile (through induction) your tastebuds will change - things you didn't like before will start tasting much better and you may even start craving them.....try eating frozen vegetables and steam them until just about done .... if you must eat canned vegetables drain the brine (salt water they are packed in) off and rinse them two or three times -- then add your own seasonings. I find spaghetti squash in the microwave is delicious with butter on top - I just had that last night....6 months ago you couldn't have gotten me to eat it - no matter what....how I have it a couple times every other week and enjoy it.

[mizski]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Some ideas for the veggie challenged:

• Sneak shredded veggies into just about anything you can think of. Zucchini (courgette) is great for this with it's neutral flavor.
• Pureed veggies are a good way to sneak in some veggie vitamins. For example, pureed cauliflower for mock mashed potatoes.
• If you don't like it raw try it cooked or vice versa.
• Roasting brings the natural sweetness out of most veggies and that appeals to lots of people more.
• Try frozen veggies (better than canned in my opinion). You can try buying it in the small boxes so you're not wasting your money on bigger amounts you won't use. There is a huge variety out there too.
• Try those veggie steam bags (I use Zip 'n Steam). I was never a big fan of broccoli until I tried those. OMG...so good, not soggy. Add some butter & it's superfood heaven.
• Check out some recipes for interesting ways to prepare veggies. Plain boiled veggies staring up at you on a plate would dampen even the most enthusiastic veggie lover's palate. Check out Linda's Low Carb veggie recipes...there are a lot of super great ideas there.

See? Not so grim after all.

[EmpyrealFantasy]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

You guys are amazing. Thank you ever-so-much for making me feel just a little more confident about this excursion into the unknown. I've always had disgusting eating habits (I actually lived off of frozen pizzas for a year. :P) and I really hope this can be my chance to teach myself better.

I'm most worried about these first two weeks. I figure if I can survive it without mauling a tortilla... I'll be a stronger and better person for it.

Do the cauliflower mock-potatoes work well? That is an interesting one that I've seen mentioned quite a few times.

[imagood1]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Do the cauliflower mock-potatoes work well? That is an interesting one that I've seen mentioned quite a few times.

I love the loaded cauliflower -- the mock-a-foni & cheese (had that last night and again for lunch), how about fried radishes with onion (I swear they are the best things) -- try them -- you WILL like them....LOL!!!

[mizski]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Do the cauliflower mock-potatoes work well? That is an interesting one that I've seen mentioned quite a few times.

The cauliflower mock-potatoes (pureed cauliflower) is probably the most useful recipes I've found. It took me a while to get it right...at first it was too lumpy or too soggy or too blah, but I tried different recipes and kept at it and now it's one of my staples. It's that good.

This is my favorite recipe for faux mashed potatoes. I use frozen cauliflower. Make sure it's real soft after cooking and drain it well. HTH

[ErinB]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

I wouldn't mind my taste buds changing. I am giving up my life blood (Diet Dr Pepper :P) for this, so that would be a welcome change. But for all my determination, I still worry that I will manage to mess something up. :P

Ah, good for you! That will be huge in changing the way things taste to you. Losing the coffee for us former coffee drinkers really helped, too.

You can focus on the negative and think yourself into failure. Change your mantra to something like, "I can do it! I will do it!" Believe in your ability to succeed and you will.

I used to think I didn't care for veggies much. The truth is I just never took the time to learn how to prepare them and I hadn't (still haven't, although I am slowly working on that) even tried most of them.

I knew I didn't dislike pumpkin pie, but never thought of pumpkin as a vegetable. Then somebody mentioned pumpkin treat and then came Mitzi's Ultimate Pumpkin (MUP) and other pumpkin recipes. I purchased liquid sucralose (got mine via Amazon) to avoid the maltodextrin in granular Splenda and began trying pumpkin recipes others have developed. Oh, yum! Forget pumpkin pie and cheesecake. I now have several variations which taste just as good to me and they are totally LEGAL. The bonus is the fiber content and the fact they count as ... what? ... yeh, VEGGIES!

Just finished a rather late lunch here and never had lunches like this before Atkin's. A 4 oz. juicy steak and a whole cup of jicama sliced kinda' thin and fried in olive oil with lemon pepper and a dash of salt for seasoning. Awesome! And there are tons of ideas for jicama I have yet to try.

Eventually, I'll want to try more veggies, but, for now, bell peppers, green onions, radishes, jicama and pumpkin provide quite enough good taste and variety for me and plenty of good fiber, too.

A year ago, if you had pointed at jicama and asked me to try that, I would have rolled my eyes and rolled the cart on down the aisle to the potatoes (which I never plan to have again or even miss).

I think you actually like veggies. You just don't know it yet.

[EmpyrealFantasy]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

I now have several variations which taste just as good to me and they are totally LEGAL. The bonus is the fiber content and the fact they count as ... what? ... yeh, VEGGIES! [. . .] a whole cup of jicama sliced kinda' thin and fried in olive oil with lemon pepper and a dash of salt for seasoning. Awesome! And there are tons of ideas for jicama I have yet to try.

Egads, I'd never thought of Pumpkin, either. Never had any variety but the pie and roasted seeds when I was And jicama! I'd forgotten about that one. My husband's sister got me hooked on it dipped in ranch last Christmas... though I suppose that is out now. Now I'm going to have to look around for flavoring suggestions since I'm quite stuck dipping everything. But I liked it quite a lot then, so I can't see why I wouldn't like it differently as well.

I think you're very right, I just don't know that I like them. I've been limited to the 'staple' veggies for so long that I've forgotten how many other things there are. Ah, stuck in my ways...

the mock-a-foni & cheese (had that last night and again for lunch)

Ooo, what's that one? I must look it up now.

[ErinB]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

JulieB posted a recipe for homemade Ranch dressing recently. A search would probably unearth that fairly quickly or maybe somebody can point to it. You would need to count any carbs in it, but it wouldn't have the sugar carbs as in commercial products.

A search on jicama will keep you reading for awhile. These are the two topics which caught my interest:

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/food-cooking-chat/57653-jicama.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/main-atkins-diet-forum/76804-jicama-recipes-anyone.html

And then I didn't try it for awhile because I wasn't sure where to buy it. As it turns out it is in the organic foods section of our local Safeway ... within walking distance even.

[ErinB]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Found JulieB's recipe for ranch dressing. Try this one?

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/main-atkins-diet-forum/78733-ranch-dressing.html#post1099626

[pagliaccia]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

I used to NEVER eat vegetables. Now, I can't get enough of them. My advice is to go to a farmer's market, and just kind of go crazy getting a lot of different things. Also, your best friends for eating veggies are the saute pan and some butter, trust me. Now, I can't imagine NOT eating vegetables.

[liv]

Re: When veggies are the bane of your existance?

Well this is a great thread. So many awesome ideas.
Looks like things will work out great after all Emp. Just start where you comfortable then go on and experiment. An open mind will be your best tool.