Good nutrition for picky eaters is the same as it is for everyone: You're advised to fill your plate with fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins when you're trying to lose weight, but these aren't foods you naturally enjoy. You can list the vegetables you tolerate on one hand and prefer nachos and burgers to brown rice and chicken breast. Being picky doesn't mean you can't lose weight, though.
Reform your picky eating by waking up your taste buds that have become sensitized to certain foods. Also, recognize that your pickiness isn't necessarily a bad thing when it comes to dieting. Sticking to a predictable set of meals day after day may actually lower your overall calorie intake.
The fundamentals of weight loss are the same for a picky and non-picky eater: Create a caloric deficit to drop pounds. This entails eating less and moving more. Cutting back from two doughnuts to one at breakfast and ordering a smaller size of soda and fries could technically help you lose weight, but it isn't the most nutritionally sound way to do so. Subsisting on sugar, fried foods and refined grains does little for your energy and can still leave you vulnerable to health problems, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Eating a variety of quality foods provides you with optimal nutrients to support your health and energy as you lose weight. Many Americans are deficient in vitamin D, potassium, calcium and dietary fiber, reported the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Vitamin D deficiency can cause your body to release more hunger hormones and raise your body's natural weight set point.
Eat more fatty fish and fortified milk to get optimal servings. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition published a paper in October noting that adequate calcium and dairy intake may help obese individuals lose weight. Dietary fiber, found in whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables, slows digestion so you feel full longer and experience less hunger when dieting.
Including healthy foods in your meal plans supports weight loss; you just have to find versions of them that you like. Read more: 10 Superfood Swaps for Picky Eaters. Sometimes healthy foods, such as vegetables and broiled fish, just don't taste good because you've eaten highly-flavored, processed foods for so long. You can learn to like whole, natural foods that support weight loss, but it will take a period of adjustment. Go cold turkey off the processed products and eat only whole foods for a few weeks. For example, have eggs and fruit for breakfast, a salad with grilled chicken and olive oil and vinegar dressing for lunch, and broiled flank steak with broccoli and a baked potato for dinner.
Your taste buds might be resistant at first as they're used to being dazzled by synthetic flavors. But as your hunger increases and these healthy foods become familiar, you may begin to crave tastes and textures that you had previously told yourself you don't enjoy.
The Picky Eater's Guide to Losing Weight
Slow down as you eat to actually chew and experience your food. Another example is chicken soup — the broth especially if homemade is full of vitamins, minerals, and some protein. Set some broth aside and let your child dip whole-grain bread into the broth.
- 1. Deal with any digestive issues right away.
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If you are serving it with noodles and they'll eat the noodles with the broth, put them inside or serve them on the side. You can also put chicken and vegetables on the side too. Serving dinner family style allows your child to choose which foods she or he wants to eat. If age appropriate, allow your child to serve themselves the foods they'd prefer.
Encourage them to try new things, and make sure there is always at least one thing on the table that you know they like. A balanced meal contains a healthy carbohydrate, a good source of protein, fiber, and some fat.
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This will yield a filling and nutritious meal. Some kids don't like the texture of typical proteins, but that doesn't mean they aren't getting any protein if they refuse to eat turkey meatballs. Think about your child's meal — a serving of protein, can be a glass of low-fat milk or milk alternative or, if you making a meatless meal, it can also include a whole grain, beans, or bean spread like hummus, nuts, seeds, eggs , chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef, cheese, or pork.
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A carbohydrate choice can be either a whole grain bread or different type of grain, beans, corn, squash, peas, or it can be a fruit. Adding sources of good fat such as cooking with oil, or adding avocado, or low-fat cheese to food can increase the flavor and nutrition profile of a meal. If you have a good menu that offers a few different healthy and tasty foods several times a week, keep life simple and rotate the menu. This way you can prepare accordingly, your children know what's happening for dinner, and you know they are going to eat.
You can still try to incorporate new foods into old favorites, by making substitutions or adding simple side dishes. You might start by rotating a three-day weekly menu and include a designated eating out day once a weekend. For example, a rotating menu could be:. Monday: Whole wheat spaghetti with Parmesan cheese, roast chicken, salad with cucumber and carrots if they won't eat salad set aside cucumber , and strawberries for dessert. Tuesday: Turkey tacos on whole-grain wraps chopped tomatoes, guacamole, shredded cheese, peppers — on the side let me make their own wrap, serve with cantaloupe or watermelon.
You can also opt for taco bowls with brown rice if the tacos are too messy. Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner — choose an option from above. Thursday: Same as Monday — you can switch the pasta shape, sauce, or protein type if you like. Friday: Same as Tuesday — you can swap the protein type or rotate the vegetable if you'd prefer. Saturday: Order out — family's choice. Sunday: Breakfast for dinner — choose any recipe from above.
Most kids will be more willing to eat different foods if they are involved in the food shopping, planning, and preparing.
Simple Healthy Meals for Picky Eaters
For example, have your child pick out one new fruit or vegetable each week and prepare it a few different ways. Let's say you choose, green beans — let them wash them, pop off the tips, and serve themselves. Giving them mealtime jobs can also help to create a peaceful, cooperative meal time. Most of the time, the biggest struggle at dinner is getting children to eat their vegetables. Whether they are fried, roasted, slathered in sauce and cheese, or hidden in the food, some kids simply refuse to eat vegetables. If they eat them this way, serve them up, however, they like.
If your kids won't eat their vegetables, don't give up. Continue to serve a variety of options and encourage them to try new foods, but try to avoid force-feeding. This can lead to the formation of unhealthy food habits and create meal-time battles. When your child refuses to try a vegetable, the first step may be to get them to keep it on their plate and offer a similar family of fruit for dinner with their meal.
For example, if your child won't eat sweet potatoes or butternut squash, serve cantaloupe or mango with dinner, too. Fruit also contains lots of good nutrition, including, antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water. Feeding children who are less adventurous, strong-willed, or pickier eaters can be challenging and overwhelming.
But, it's never too late to get your family eating better. Start slowly and make gradual, practical changes to increase the variety and nutrition in their diets. Aim to expand on foods they already like, create a menu schedule, serve fruit with meals, and don't be afraid to serve less typical foods for dinner, such as breakfast.
It may take a little trial and error, and some creativity, but it's not impossible. Get expert tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. Table of Contents View All. Expand on What They Already Like.