I confess My eating habits suck but I don't know how to change

if you go to eating well.com they have loads of recipes that incorporate a healthy lifestyle and use vegetables and fruits.  You might be interested in trying something there. I find fresh is the best and knowing how to cook them properly can make a world of difference.  Good luck

Lovewins, sometimes I thought there were things I didn't like because I didn't like the way my mom or schools cooked them when I was a kid. I thought I didn't like eggs because I hate them hard-scrambled, but find I love them soft-scrambled just on the verge of almost runny.

Perhaps you were served canned or overcooked veggies as a kid. Nothing is much nastier than canned spinach or asparagus or peas, or overcooked stinky cabbage. Sometimes trying them cooked crisp-tender, or sauteed or raw helps.

I have a friend that doesn't like fruit because of that saliva-squirting response to citrus, but I found that she did like fruit cooked in things.

I have found a lot of healthy recipes on pinterest that cook veggies in ways that make them taste totally different. Roasting veggies with a little olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, and a little Parmesan makes them taste great. This is especially good on broccoli and asparagus. My kids will actually eat them this way. Check out pinterest. Search healthy recipes. The ones that are truly good for you will give nutritional info too.

The best way to change your eating habits is to change your shopping habits. If you don't have crappy food in the house, then it won't be there to eat. Try filling the fridge with good food. You'll be surprised how appetizing the fridge looks with all the different colors of fruits and veggies. Having it look good is the first step in having it taste good. A few hints; bulk up your herb and spice collection, use fresh ground pepper and have lemons on hand to add to green veggies. If your food is bland, you won't enjoy it.

Also, preperation is important. If you're like me, if it's not right in front of me, I don't bother eating it, especially when it comes to having fruit ready to just grab and eat. Buy a variety of fruits and spend a little time peeling and washing, put it in a pretty glass bowl and stick it in the fridge so that when you need a snack, you can just grab it out of the bowl. 

I think this was mentioned earlier, but a lot of people don't like vegetables because they've been eating frozen steamed mush. Almost any vegetable tastes amazing if it's cooked right. Fresh and roasted is the best way to go. Here's a recipe for brocolli that I know you'll love.

Cut fresh brocolli florets into large pieces

Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper, and three or four cloves of minced garlic. (use olive oil sparingly. Despite all the hype, it's still a fat) I like using a spray bottle for oil.

Spread evenly on baking sheet

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes

Add the juice and zest of a lemon after baking and cover with a spoonful of parmesan cheese (a little goes a long way).

Another good one to try is sweet potatoes

Cut a sweet potato into fry-size pieces

Toss in olive oil (again, sparingly), salt, pepper, garlic, dry mustard, thyme and a little rosemary

Bake at 450 for about 25 minutes, flipping half way through. When the ends turn nice and brown and crunchy, enjoy.

To make snacks like popcorn and rice crackers taste better, here's a quick blend you can put in a shaker and use on anything bland. I also use it a lot on lean grilled meats.

1/4 cup paprika

2 tbsp chili powder

1-2 tbsp brown sugar (depending how sweet you like it)

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp salt 

1/2 tsp dry mustard

Bottom line, shop for good FRESH fruits and veggies, don't overcook them, buy only lean meats and use herbs, spices, citrus juices and zests to make everything tasts delicious.....and never use anything frozen or canned. It just doesn't have a good texture when it's cooked. If the texture and flavor aren't good, you're not likely to enjoy it and you'll go back to eating the not so good for you stuff.

Really....try the brocolli, if nothing else. Even when my kids were little, they preferred it to anything else, which is saying something.

Good luck to you in improving your diet. Baby steps.

Edited: for clarity and to add, anytime you're roasting a veggie make sure it's completely dry. If it's moist, you'll lose the nice crunchy texture. 

I eat whole-wheat pasta with celery and onion (sautéed beforehand and kept in fridge to add to other dishes) and Mrs. Dash spice.
Sometimes I add cauliflower. I also add a very small amount of "light-tasting" olive oil. It has a great taste, almost like butter (which I gave up 2 years ago)  Try it, you won't miss the butter.

I miss cheese too, being a vegan, but am going to try the vegan cheese.

I cut up apples and eat them with a smidgin of peanut butter. I use berries with my morning oatmeal. Delicious!  I also juice, using veggies and fruits. My favorite is a combo of celery, carrots and a green apple. I sometimes add 1/4 lemon also.

Believe me, before I became a vegan, I disliked vegetables. But since then I've gotten creative and really like most of them now.

Yes, it really is 1/4 cup of paprika. It does sound like a lot, but it makes a lot.

I use Bertoli "extra light tasting" olive oil. Expensive, but you use so little it lasts for months.

I also really like mushrooms; very low fat and filling.  I add them to just about everything --

My favorite salad; Zucchini, Avocado, Tomato, with a little onion -

Carrots are very good grated; with raisins and a bit of lemon juice.

Found to have been fraudulently labeled as Extra-Virgin:

Whole Foods, Rachel Ray, Safeway,  Newman's Own,  Colavita,  Bertolli, Filippo Berio, Pompeian Star, Carapelli, Mezzetta, Mazzola

Found to be accurately labeled as Extra-Virgin:

Kirkland Organic, Corto Olive, California Olive Ranch,  McEvoy Ranch Organic

Just in case not everyone's aware.

Edited for punctuation

Lots of people find the very concept of "turnip," cooked or raw, pretty scary.  Roasted root veggies are delicious, drizzled with a little olive oil and the herb of the moment.  For flavor, you can include just a little of whatever you're trying not to have:  bacon maybe?

It happens I'd known our local nutritionist for years, never wanted to pay for her expertise, but was delighted to find I can see her for free.

If you can see the nutritionist at your cancer center even a couple of times, she should be able to help you get "grounded" in what are the real keepaways,what are the foods you really need to have in your diet, and what are all the unproven strategies that so many of us try, just because they sound as though they should work.

Good for you!  Sure is more expensive than Wesson corn oil , isn't it?  I got sticker shock too--

I read on another thread you were interested in some ground turkey, but I lost the thread so I'll post it here.

I don't know how you feel about super spicy food, but I love it. If you have a food processor (just because for this, tiny chunks cook better), here's a tasty lean alternative to a fat-laden beef burger. I put the bacon and veggies through the processor. This is the only time I'd recommend bacon, but you kind of need it in ground turkey so it doesn't feel like you're eating a dry cotton ball. The measurements are approximate because I usually eyeball everything, but they're very close. The only thing I'm not sure about the measurements on is the bread crumbs.....just add enough to bind it nicely. 1 package of ground turkey is enough to make about 4 or 5 burgers.

1 package ground turkey breast

4 slices cooked bacon

2 or 3 cloves garlic

1/2 small or 1/4 large red onion

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp parsley

1/2 bell pepper, any color will do

1 serrano or jalapeno

2 tsp of the seasoning blend mentioned in my earlier post

2 or 3 drops of tabasco

1 egg

1/4 to 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs to bind. Panko gives a really nice texture. 

I usually end up cooking these on a George Forman type grill so I don't add any extra fat frying them up. They taste really good on a toasted kaiser with a some lettuce, greek yogurt mixed with a pinch of the seasoning blend to cool down the heat on one side of the bun and a smidge of pepper jelly or red currant jelly on the other side. The yogurt and jelly wouldn't be to everyone's liking though. Any of your favourite burger toppings would go nicely, I think.