Guest guest Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 this is the first chance I have had to introduce myself. I am Katya, 35, single and no children. Originally from California but live in Washington now. I am pretty much vegetarian (would like to be a full vegetarian but the dr. thinks I need to keep chicken and turkey in there since I am picky eater anyhow...He is concerned that I won't get enough protein.) I am wondering how to go vegetarian fully and omit the meat (which I eat in the smallest portions I can) I normally don't do dairy because its hard for me to digest minus maybe yogurt. I don't really care for beans because I get gas...I am not the biggest fan of nuts either so I am trying to figure out how to eat a varied diet. I do enjoy products such as wheat breads, brown rice. I consume soy products and drink soy milk. I don't eat white flour, sugar, and white rice. Don't really care for cheese too much either. Love pretty much all vegetables and some fruits but I am not fond of sweets. Anyone know of any good websites or books adressing a picky eater type. I would like to get all of my nutritional values met by my diet but I still take a multi-vitamin everyday just in case I missed anything. Thanks to the member who suggested the San Francisco vegan book since I will be there next week... How it all Vegan is a good book for a variety of vegan receipes also... Looking forward to checking things out and learning how maybe to incorporate foods I don't like/care for into my diet. Katya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 How are you with tofu and things made with tofu? I'm down to fish and eggs myself due to my body's inability to digest various foods. I've found that if you get some really good tofu recipes, you should be ok. I have this eggless tofu salad that is simply delicious, and I'm addicted to it. On 1/2/06, aprivatekat <aprivatekat wrote: I am Katya, 35, single and no children. Originally from California but live in Washington now. .... I am wondering how to go vegetarian fully and omit the meat (which I eat in the smallest portions I can) I normally don't do dairy because its hard for me to digest minus maybe yogurt. I don't really care for beans because I get gas...I am not the biggest fan of nuts either so I am trying to figure out how to eat a varied diet. -- AIM: Kyrene Ariadne : kyreneariadne * Dadoukhoi http://www.dadoukhoi.org/ * Temenos Theon: http://kyrene.4t.com * Boston Mysticism Boston_Mystic * NewEngland Hellenists: NewEngland_HellenistsBeloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, make me beautiful within, and grant that what-ever happens outside of me will help my soul to grow. May I always be aware that true wealth lies in wisdom, and may my " gold " be so abundant that only a wise man can lift and carry it away. For me that is prayer enough. - Socrates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 At 05:43 PM 1/2/2006, aprivatekat wrote: >I am Katya, 35, single and no children. .... >the dr. thinks I need to keep chicken and turkey in there since I am >picky eater anyhow...He is concerned that I won't get enough >protein.) Hi Katya, Barring any specific health issues, there doesn't seem to be any cause for concern with regard to your diet. You might consider a dietary consultation with a R.D., if this is the case. S/he will have you keep a food diary for 3 to 7 days (tedious, but helpful), and perhaps order some blood work. Your level of activity, lifestyle, etc. will also be considered. From there, you both can work out a diet plan which is acceptable to you. As a health care professional, I took some nutrition courses with med students and, suffice it to say, doctors don't even come *close* to being authorities on diet. They get anywhere from 2-4 hours of study in nutrition, and that is aimed at therapeutic diets for disease; beri-beri, diabetes, pellegra, etc. Even so, it's surprising to hear the concern about protein in this day and age. Most of the questions I'd hear from medical people concerned calcium and/or iron intake, since most are knowlegeable enough to realize protein is a non-issue for the average person. Please see: http://www.pcrm.org/health/Info_on_Veg_Diets/protein.html >I do enjoy products such as wheat breads, brown rice. I consume soy >products and drink soy milk. >I don't eat white flour, sugar, and white rice. Don't really care >for cheese too much either. Love pretty much all vegetables and some >fruits but I am not fond of sweets. You're a dietitian's dream. Check out the Vegan Rainbow: http://www.nutrispeak.com/veganrainbow.htm and the Vegan Starter Kit: http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/ >Anyone know of any good websites or books adressing a picky eater >type. I would like to get all of my nutritional values met by my >diet but I still take a multi-vitamin everyday just in case I missed >anything. Here's a letter from a picky eater: http://vegrd.vegan.com/pages/article.php?id=176 Browse the archives at this site: http://vegrd.vegan.com/ Some good books here: http://www.nutrispeak.com/foodguides.htm For tasty vegan recipes, find cookbooks published by the Seventh Day Adventists: " Ten Talents " , " Country Life Cookbook " , " Of These Ye May Freely Eat " , etc. (I'm not SDA, but admire their work). Bryanna Clark Grogan's " Twenty Minutes to Dinner " (quick and easy), " Recipes From Nonna's Kitchen " (Italian), " Authentic Chinese Cuisine " and others. You'll find lots of familiar 'comfort foods' which will greatly facilitate your transition. Good luck! Nancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Nancy, Thank you for the wonderful resources!! Just what I also needed. On 1/5/06, Nancy <meritra wrote: > http://www.pcrm.org/health/Info_on_Veg_Diets/protein.html > You're a dietitian's dream. Check out the Vegan Rainbow: > http://www.nutrispeak.com/veganrainbow.htm > and the Vegan Starter Kit: > http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/ > Here's a letter from a picky eater: > http://vegrd.vegan.com/pages/article.php?id=176 > > Browse the archives at this site: > http://vegrd.vegan.com/ > > Some good books here: > http://www.nutrispeak.com/foodguides.htm > > For tasty vegan recipes, find cookbooks published by the Seventh Day > Adventists: " Ten Talents " , " Country Life Cookbook " , " Of These Ye May Freely > Eat " , etc. (I'm not SDA, but admire their work). Bryanna Clark Grogan's > " Twenty Minutes to Dinner " (quick and easy), " Recipes From Nonna's Kitchen " > (Italian), " Authentic Chinese Cuisine " and others. You'll find lots of > familiar 'comfort foods' which will greatly facilitate your transition. -- AIM: Kyrene Ariadne : kyreneariadne * Dadoukhoi http://www.dadoukhoi.org/ * Temenos Theon: http://kyrene.4t.com * Boston Mysticism Boston_Mystic * NewEngland Hellenists: NewEngland_Hellenists Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, make me beautiful within, and grant that what-ever happens outside of me will help my soul to grow. May I always be aware that true wealth lies in wisdom, and may my " gold " be so abundant that only a wise man can lift and carry it away. For me that is prayer enough. - Socrates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 >Anyone know of any good websites or books adressing a picky eater >type. I would like to get all of my nutritional values met by my >diet but I still take a multi-vitamin everyday just in case I missed >anything. Well, as you probably already know, picky eaters tend to have a restrictive diet and usually find themselves eating only a few different things. Whether you are a meat eater or a vegetarian, this tendency is quite problematic to one's health. The longer you go restricting your body from getting neutrients it needs from foods you need but are not eating, the greater your risk of health complications. Fortunately, there are a couple of simple steps one can take to overcome being a picky eater. Step # 1 : Knowing your Food base.... The first thing you want to do is to keep a note book of foods you like eating. Write down as many as you can think of off of the top of your head. Leave some room to write down neutritional information beside or under that food, which you can find via simple searches online like through google. Then as you visit the grocery store, take your journal with you and as you see foods that you haven't had in a while, update your list. And if you see foods you have never tried before, place these foods in a category of tastes you would like to experience. Over time this list will grow and you will find that there are quite a few different types of foods that you enjoy eating. But, you have to do this actively and when you write down foods you would like to try out, you really have to make it a point to try them out. Also make it a point to visit grocery stores that you do not normally buy groceries from--especially stores that sell foods from other cultures. Anything to train your taste buds to have the enjoyment of experiencing new types of foods. Remember, this is not an exercise to become less picky with junk food. It is an exercise to learn neutritious ways to increase your food base so that you are able to handle eating a wider variety of foods. This is why it is very important for you to take the time to look up the neutritious value of the foods you place on your list. For those who already have a good working knowledge of how to eat a variety of foods, this is a great exercise to do with food additives. Write down food additives you read in stores on labels and go home and look them up. Step # 2 : Reprogramming your taste buds. Once you have developed a fairly decent sized variety of foods to choose from in your food base, it might be important to learn to eat certain foods you do not enjoy eating. It is important to realize that the first time you stick a new food in your mouth, you usually find that you have one of three reactions. Either you really like that foods taste, you really hate that food's taste, or it has a taste you can tolerate but isn't all that exciting. Strangely enough, we do not usually sit around and intelligently discern if we like a food or not. In most cases, it is more an unconcious reaction than a concious thought that governs our initial reaction to the foods we stick in our mouth for the first time. Fortunately, as humans, we have quite a bit of control over the triggers in our brain that causes these reactions and can reprogram many of these associations if we desire to exhibit a more favorable reaction to foods that we might not normally find tasty. Now, if you have a reaction like perfuse vomiting when you eat a particular item of food, it is probably a good idea to avoid such foods. But, if the problem is that you merely do not like the taste of the food, then it isn't usually that difficult to create new associations in the brain to handle these situations. Okay, here is how this is done. Rule 1: When tasting something for the first time or something you do not normally like the taste of, you must never tell yourself that you do not like it. The more you tell yourself that you do not like something, the stronger that belief will become. And this translates to the more work you will have to do to unprogram this conditioned reaction to foods you dislike. Rather, before you even stick the item of food in your mouth, tell yourself that you are going to enjoy the experience and that you are looking forward to eating it. And proceed very slowly to allow your taste buds an opportunity to orient to the taste rather than to merely react to it. Most people plop something in their mouth, it shocks their taste buds, the brain interprets this as offensive, and they spit the food out never daring to taste it again. Rule 2 : If you do not like the taste of a particular food, do not react to it with a lot of drama like spitting it out or gagging if you can avoid it. Such harsh reactions only more strongly reinforce the conditioned pattern of disliking a food that is being registered in your brain. Rule 3 : Try tasting a food you normally do not like the taste of for 21 days three times a day in very small portions. Generally it takes 21 days to reprogram the mind to accept the taste of a food you do not normally enjoy eating. For the first couple of days, you will not want to actually eat the food you are not used to liking, but just rub it on your tongue to slowly introduce your mind to the idea of the taste. It's like when you wear a certain cologne or perfume all the time. After a while, you don't even notice it because your brain has learned to accept it as normal and you block it out. Also, because the drama associated with the sense of smell has worn off because it is no longer a unique experience so the mind doesn't find the fascination with it that it once did. The same is true with tastes when you are desensatized to them over time. The reallity is that most people can farily easily get out of the habit of being picky eaters by taking the time to reprogram their taste sensorium. Corey... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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