[Emily83]

Hi Everyone...

I really need some help as I sit here typing with an awful head cold. I have been sickly my whole life, I mean, I am constantly sick with something, and I know it is because I have an absolutely awful diet. I hate, I mean HATE vegetables with a passion, I always have. I am constantly being lectured by family telling me how I need to start taking care of myself, and well, I am finally realizing that they are right.

My problem is, how am I supposed to make myself eat foods that are good for me if I loathe the taste of them? This may seem like a silly question, but my constant colds, sinus infections, etc. are really becoming an awful inconvenience in my life. I am so tired of constantly feeling bad and unhealthy. Any suggestions are welcome.

P.S. I live by myself and am a horrible cook.

[DanielleNY]

being constantly sick or eating something twice a day that you may not love?? weight the difference........you do not need to be a chef by any means to eat healthy........i can't cook to save my life either but manage to work around that.....most vegeatables require very very little effort, all you really have to do is boil water and some you can eat right from the package (i.e. carrots).....buy your vegeatabnles fresh rather from a can

but there may be other factors other then your diet that is impacting how you are feeling..........to say you have ffeltsick your whole life is a pretty harsh statement.........i'm sure you have discussed this with your primary care dr..........do you have any cronic problems?

Other questions to ask yourself:

Are you excising?
Are you getting enought sleep (7-9 hr.s a night)
Are taking vitamins? (please tell me you are to made up for nutrients you are not getting from your food!!!)
Are you consuming alot of alcohol?
Are you overweight? (excess weight usually cause people to feel more tired and drained)


Minor lifestyle changce can improve your life greatly.

[Yves St]

Try snacking or lunching on celery, carrots, zucchini etc with a yummy dip you really love. There are some really yummy relatively low fat dips around and you'll enjoy that taste so much you won't pay much attention to what you're eating it with. Just cut raw veges up into sticks. It's also an easy meal to take into work. If your problem is related to weight however, maybe restrict the dip a little! Good luck

[Emily83]

Thanks for the advice :) Yes, I have been pretty sick in terms of ear aches, colds, flus (nothing like cancer or life threatening though) for a large part of my life. I am not by any means overweight, I sleep about 8.5 hrs a nite during the week, hardly drink, never smoke, and do exercise. I just have a really crappy diet because I hate the taste of most healthy foods.

I should have phrased my initial post better...it's not that I overeat or anything like that, I eat like a bird. I just don't eat good foods

[Christine]

Try taking some vitamins also. That may help boost your immune system.

[LoriB]

Vitamin supplements (even kids chewables are better than nothing!), Boost nutrition shakes, V8 Juice and V8 Juice Smoothies, fortified orange juice...there are just so many other ways to get nutrition into your diet without having to actually eat vegetables.

Drink a lot of water, that really helps with sinus congestion, chest colds, etc because it thins out the mucus.

Sleep with a humidifier running at night if you live in a cold climate and your heat is on a lot in winter.

Wash your hands more often than the average person. Carry hand sanitizer gel with you and use it often.

Buy some Zicam and use it at the first sign of a cold. Try Cold MD, proven to strengthen your immune system dramatically. Dissolve a fizzy Airborne tablet in a cup of water and drink it daily. Make sure you get tons of vitamin c.

Hope some of those suggestions help!

[Miss 2 A]

I love veggies, however my sisters arent' too fond of them therefore I try to find creative ways.. do you like raw veggies?? Maybe carrots and celery with a low fat dip (hummus, tahini dip ..etc)
Try adding some grated carrots, celery, onions and zucchini (or even eggplant) to spaghetti sauce, you won't even notice it's there. You can make lasagne the same way adding spinach.

If you really hate veggies you may have to hide them in the foods but the benefit will be there, the fiber and nutrients.

Salads are great, one of my favourites is a lettuce salad with cucumber, celery, onion, carrots and then I add white beans and tuna with a lemony dressing and some cumin, my sister just love this, and the whole bowl is gone within minutes.

Yams are really yummy too, baking them until they're tender, great fiber there, I generally eat one twice a week.

Most foods we consume today build up in the body as Acid, in order to keep yourself healthy you have to add alkaline foods and make your body more alkaline by balancing it acid 30% - alkaline 70% ... large amounts of acid in the body cause health problems and it's easy to get sick. There are many great books out there about alkaline/Acid diets and health benefits.

[gucci*lover]

Originally Posted by christine aus

Try taking some vitamins also. That may help boost your immune system.

I agree with this.....I used to be sick ALL the time. For the past few months I have been taking vitamins everyday and NOT ONE COLD so far!

[fuyumi]

Maybe u can try taking in multi vits.

[chloehandbags]

Is it possible you have allergies?

I had what seemed to be colds and viruses all through my childhood and they turned out to be allergic reactions.

I totally agree with others, that eating well is essential, too, though.

[kate79]

Originally Posted by chloehandbags

Is it possible you have allergies?

I had what seemed to be colds and viruses all through my childhood and they turned out to be allergic reactions.

Yup, this turned out to be the case with me as well. I was a very sickly kid and once I started getting weekly allergy injections, I was much healthier.

I also agree with taking vitamins and washing your hands frequently.

[Amina]

I don't know about the diet thing: i've been eating lots of veggies and fruits and taking supplements and I still came down with a nasty bronchitis infection. When you're going to get it, you'll get it.

However, that said, I'm planning on being extra careful to wash my hands for 20 seconds in hot water every time I go to the loo (which is every hour). That's the only thing I can think of to help prevent colds and flu's that I've not been doing. (I do wash my hands, but not in hot water and not for a full 20 seconds usually.)

And I've heard DHEA boosts the immune system, but who really knows?

[lorihmatthews]

I noticed a huge difference in my health after I started taking a multivitamin daily. I used to take Centrum and now I take One a Day for Women (it has more calcium). Make sure you take it every day, though!

If you're feeling tired and sluggish (you didn't mention this but I'm just throwing it in), you may also want to head to the doctor for a checkup -- you could be iron deficient and perhaps have an underactive thyroid (less common, but a possibility).

If I remember correctly, you're from the Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills area (from another post), which has a Whole Foods. Go there instead of a regular grocery store. They have wonderful, fresh foods and tons of prepared foods to try (if you're looking for something quick). Wander around the store when it's not busy and get a feel for what good food can really taste like. And get excited about trying new things! I love Whole Foods because they do not stock anything artificial in their store at all. So whatever you take home you know is not going to harm your health!

I know what you mean about veggies -- I did not eat them until I found ways to prepare them that I liked. (When I lived with my parents, my mom would only microwave veggies --- yuck!!! Soggy and gross, and she wondered why I hated veggies.) Now I buy fresh veggies, and stir fry them in a little olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Yummy!

[betseylover]

i remember watching a video with woody harrelson and he said he used to always have head colds and horrible sinus problems (could barely breathe) once he gave up the dairy, it went away.
that might help, its an easy and cheap way to find out too.

[Sternchen]

Do you really loathe the taste of fruits & veggies, or do you still have that childhood mentality and you just hate the thought of eating them??

It takes a few tries before someone can determine if they like or dislike a food...


If you don't eat fruits & veggies, what are you eating then??