I hate veggies

Ok, I'll admit it.  I don't really like veggies.  At least the ones that are best for you - like asparagus, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, the list goes on.  I was thinking of calling my blog "the veggies haters club".  I have learned to like romaine lettuce and spinach in salads, along with onions.  And I do enjoy the starchy second-class vegetables like potatoes, corn, and carrots.  

So here I was, working with my personal trainer on a food plan, and he was putting major amounts of this green stuff into my food plans.  I told myself - "ok, for the greater good I will gag this all down," but after a few days I was seriously asking myself whether I could keep this up forever.  And any sign of learning to love these things wasn't happening. 

Can a veggie hater lose weight and get healthy?  Well, I'm here to tell you yes, it is possible.  How?  Well, there are many tips I could offer, and probably will over time, but these are a good start:

• See if there is one that you can tolerate better than others.  Like for me, broccoli is more tolerable.  
• Flavor them!  Don't just boil or steam them, they definitely need flavor.  A quick tip is to put a small amount of melted butter (yes butter, not margarine) and then sprinkle some salad seasoning on top, like this.  I'll talk about butter in another post, but in small quantities it's fine.
• Go for healthier versions of the vegetables you like.  For example, Yokon Gold potatoes are a lot healthier than your standard potatoes.
• Mix them up with things you like.  Like cut up the cooked broccoli into brown rice, season them up a storm, and you have some great tasting food.  I tend to like stir fry with chicken, noodles or rice, and veggies all mixed up with a yummy sauce better than a pile of steamed veggies next to my meat.
• Don't eat the same ones meal after meal.  You'll turn something you already don't like into something you loathe.  Get a small repertoire of veggies (including salad) and rotate between them.
• Juice them.  I don't do much juicing, but it's a popular trend.  You can take a whole lot of kale or spinach, and blend it up with milk or water and strawberries, blueberries, etc. for flavor and they become much more tolerable, and you're eating many servings in a very concentrated form.  Some people think this destroys some of the nutritional value of the veggies, and it might a bit, but it's still chock full of nutrients.
• Drink a V8.  For whatever reason, although I don't like many veggies or even raw tomatoes, I do like tomato juice, and V8 which tastes like spicy tomato juice.  A small can is a whole serving of vegatables, and you can get the low sodium kind if you want to cut down on salt.
• Don't avoid them.  They are good for you, and they need to become a part of your life.  Just figure out ways you can tolerate them and incorporate them, and yes, you may even learn to like them over time (I'm still working on that).

Remember, your commitment to health is bigger than the little annoyances you experience along the way.  Once you've decided to do whatever it takes, you deal with the smaller issues as they come rather than letting them become major obstacles.