Eating healthy hasn’t always been easy for me. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t just a matter of discipline and changing my habits… I also had to get over an actual fear of healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Losing weight when you are a picky eater can be an scary task, it requires not just a change in habits, but also a complete change in the way you think/react to many foods.
When I was a kid I was one of the pickiest eaters there was. I absolutely refused to eat fruits and vegetables, in addition to tons of other healthy foods that freaked me out for a number of different reasons. The thing is that my picky eating didn’t just stop at childhood, it carried on into adulthood too and not only contributed to my weight gain, but made it even harder for me to start eating healthy when I really wanted to lose weight.
I knew that there were lots of foods that were “healthy” for me, but when I was young that didn’t really mean anything to me, because I wasn’t sick (or so I thought) and nobody ever told me that my poor diet was linked to how chubby I was growing up.
It wasn’t until my early twenties that I learned how eating healthy food makes you lose weight, but it wasn’t as simple as making the transition at that moment. As a matter of fact, it was years before I was in the right mindset to start losing weight, and before I finally made a sustainable change that led to me losing 80 pounds.
In previous attempts to lose weight, I would eat the only few healthy foods that I wasn’t freaked out by, which wasn’t enough to fill my diet on a normal basis, and certainly wasn’t enough to get a good balance of nutrients.
In short, it was never going to work when I was tiptoeing around the problem. Without a full healthy diet I would never be able to replace the junk… because if you cut out the junk and have nothing to replace it with, you’ll starve.
But even knowing this, for the longest time I just gave up on trying which led to me gaining even more weight.
Realizing the need for change
In my mid-twenties everything changed. There came a day where I took a good hard look at myself, and didn’t just decide to make a change, I realized that I NEEDED to change or I was headed towards a life of low confidence, possibly sickness, and unhappiness.
It seemed I had everything I needed… the drive to change, and the knowledge of how healthy food causes weight loss, but I still had to overcome picky eating.
Losing weight was finally important enough to me that I took action, went to the store, and bought some new healthy foods in addition to the few I was already accustomed to.
Remember that I had never eaten one fruit or vegetable in whole form… and so when it came to eating healthy the learning curve was huge for me.
I had no idea that you had to wait for bananas to ripen, and so my first banana was actually really gross but I powered through it because I didn’t know any better, and I was determined to improve myself.
A few days later of course I realized that bananas are actually amazing when they are just right.
I remember eating an apple at work, and someone asking me whose apple I was holding, because the last thing anyone would have expected was for me to eat a piece of fruit.
Many of the foods that I find delicious now, I literally had to force myself to eat at first, and chew while I was gagging because of my irrational mental block, but I am thankful every day that I broke down those barriers and now have a completely positive relationship with healthy food.
Don’t get me wrong I still have lots of foods to try and the fear is still there, but one by one I continue to expand my diet so that I can stay healthy and have a wide variety of flavor and nutrients while doing so.
It’s still a site to see when I try a new vegetable… I never went through those awkward motions as a kid and so now it’s even stranger as an adult to be making these changes so late in life, but it’s better late than never.
And so… I often say that if I can do it, anyone can! If you already eat healthy foods every so often, especially vegetables, then you are well ahead of where I started from as far as diet content goes.
How to eat healthy when you are a picky eater
Discovering how to lose weight as a picky eater may take a little extra effort in either finding the foods that you do like, or simply taking the time to expand your diet and get over any mental barriers you have built up over time with concern to healthy foods.
As with anyone else trying to change their diet, I always recommend taking things at a pace that you can handle, and by extension will ensure long-term success. The secret to weight loss for picky eaters or for that matter anyone who finds it hard to change their diet for the better, is consistently following a healthy diet that you can stick with not just as a temporary change in your habits, but a complete, enjoyable, sustainable lifestyle change.
One step at a time
The way I got over picky eating is the same way that led to me being able to stick to my diet long-term.
Taking things one step at a time allowed me to get used to the changes I was making, and to let the new foods become a natural and enjoyable part of my life.
As I added more and more healthy foods into my diet, I started to eat less junk food without even focusing on it, my daily calorie intake dropped dramatically (although I wasn’t counting), yet I was never hungry at all.
Making gradual changes is one of the important parts of my successful transformation, and is exactly how I help others lose weight as well. You can get started on your own transformation right away by making step by step changes, with the 8-week weight loss challenge. The program will lead you to your ideal weight and a life filled with healthy food, one step at a time!
Finding healthy foods you love
One thing that getting over picky eating has taught me, is to really put some effort into discovering the healthy foods that I truly enjoy, including how to best cook, prepare, and flavor them. Taking the time to find the healthy and nutritious foods that are enjoyable/delicious, will lead directly to successful weight loss for picky eaters, and a life filled with super healthy, tasty foods.
At first, I thought that I was just going to have to “put up with” healthy foods for the rest of my life, and that I would never again enjoy my diet content like I used to with junk and super unhealthy foods.
But thankfully this wasn’t true, and today I actually crave the foods that keep me healthy. There are a wide variety of these healthy foods that I like to choose from, and the list is always growing.
So, when you do make a change (hopefully today!) don’t limit yourself with the false notion that healthy food could never compare in taste, because it can. In all honesty some healthy foods ARE gross, but some of the foods I think are gross you will love, and vice versa… so don’t let one or two or even ten bad experiences ruin the way you view healthy food.
When you find ones you don’t like, it doesn’t mean you don’t like healthy food, it just means you don’t like that one.
When you find one you do like, add it to your list of weight loss foods you can choose from, and simply eat to lose more weight.
This also goes for different methods of cooking and using different flavors. You may find that you really like steamed veggies, but perhaps not so much baked veggies. Just be open to new things, so that you can truly find what you love, and build a variety of options you can choose from on a daily basis.
If you want to start making healthy changes to your diet and reaching for your weight loss goals as soon as possible, yet in a way you can handle and stick with, try the 8-week weight loss challenge! Sign up below for your free PDF training or read more about the course here.
Want to learn everything you need to know about healthy weight loss, and lose 100 pounds or more? Check out the “Ultimate Guide to Losing 100+ Pounds.”
