I Really Hate Vegetables - Solutions

I hate vegetables. More specifically boiled veg. They just make me gag. For someone like me (a fitness and nutrition guy) you may be surprised that I’m telling you this. But I have to be honest with you, I hate them, especially boiled cabbage.

It all started in my childhood… My mother used to crucify the veg and boil it to within an inch of its life. I have memories from a young age of eating my Sunday dinner at the table with my brother and sister and actually crying and begging to be able to leave the table and not eat my veg.

In the end I used to get a pint of water and just try to wash it down as fast as I could.(that strategy has stayed with me until today)I have done some crazy things with food over the years in order to achieve different goals. I once blended two tins of tuna in a pint of water and drank it (a real protein shake). At the time it was all about the protein intake for me, but that’s another story.

So obviously being a nutritionist I know the importance of eating vegetables. They can’t just be – left out. That’s why I still include them in my diet. But I do it my way.

My logic is that as long as I consume them and “get them down my neck and inside my body” it's all good, right? Oh yes, and in any form, whether its liquid, or powdered supplement.

Over the years I have developed a few different strategies, which I will share with you today.

Steamed vegetables for my Sunday dinner – because I like my veg firm, not soft.
Salads – I love Rocket & always add some balsamic vinegar.
Soups/stew/cawl – the taste of the ham or beef and other herbs and spices helps hide the taste of veg.
Roast vegetables – I could eat these every day, just roast a load of veggies with some herbs, delicious.
Green breakfast shakes – these are a tough task for me because I still have the STRONG taste of veg
but as they only take 30 seconds to drink I do it three or four days a week.

For a green breakfast shake put spinach, avocado and banana in a blender with some water. You can try this or with other veg and things like olive oil and raw eggs.

The benefits far outweigh the small amount of discomfort I get while drinking it, my gut health is pretty good and I know this helps. Greens powder (3 plates of veg in a glass) – this is useful and some have a mint flavour.

Over the last 18 years I have clients who never eat or drink certain foods.

Things like -
Fruit
Veg
Oily Fish (that’s me too)
Water
Red meat

Its my job to identify these “gaps” in their nutrition and plug them with an alternative method. We only do this though after the basics are being done consistently, otherwise its a waste of money.(the basics are cutting out junk food, and eating a high protein low carb diet).

So I wanted to share this with you so you can see that even though you may not like a certain food you can still find a way around the problem.

Are there any gaps which need to be plugged in your nutrition? or should I say what are the gaps as very few of us eat perfectly.

Take care,

Rich