Toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, but picky eating doesn't necessarily stop at childhood. Picky adults are often stuck in a rut, eating only the foods they know and like. Dieting can be difficult for picky eaters, because dieting involves changing eating patterns and eating different foods than usual. By following a diet that is flexible in food selection and preparation, diet foods can be appealing even for the pickiest eaters.
Foods You Like
Start by assessing the foods you do like to eat, and determine which of them are part of a healthful, nutritious diet, recommends food journalist Shaun Chavis at Health.com, an online information resource, reviewed by a team of independent medical advisers, from the publishers of "Health" magazine. Start by selecting whatever fruits and vegetables you will eat, even if they are just grapes, bananas and green beans, and steadily add servings of these each day until you are eating the nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines. While eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables each day may have more nutritional benefits, eating the healthiest foods that you like and can tolerate eating is a positive diet step for picky eaters.
Paired Foods
Using a technique called flavor-flavor learning can help picky eaters learn to eat nutritious diet foods they would otherwise avoid, advises Diet.com, an online diet and nutrition information resource directed by Dr. Robert Kushner, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and clinical director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity. The Mayo Clinic website refers to this technique simply as making eating fun: Pair a nutritious diet food with something else such as a dip or sauce that contains a flavor you already know and like. For example, pair broccoli, an excellent diet food, with a peanut or sesame-orange sauce, or dress carrots with a honey or brown sugar glaze. If you like chocolate, add berries--a nutritional diet powerhouse--to nonfat, low-calorie chocolate pudding. Once you've established the positive association between the diet food and the taste you enjoy, increase the proportion of the lower-calorie fruit or vegetable in the combination.
Sneaky Foods
Sneak high-fiber, low-calorie diet foods such as carrots, broccoli, green peppers and zucchini into foods that are on your picky-eating list, such as spaghetti sauce, lasagna, casseroles and soups, suggests the Mayo Clinic. Sneaking good diet foods such as vegetables and whole grains into soups such as bean soup or vegetable broth is a good way to fill up without a lot of calories, suggests Diet.com. The vegetable additions can be disguised even more by running them through the blender or food processor, then added to soup to thicken it. Shredded vegetables can also be added to the picky eater's preferred sandwiches to add bulk without adding many calories.
Member Comments