How to Expand Your Food Horizons

It’s hard to eat more vegetables if you don’t like any. It’s a valid excuse, I mean, no one wants to eat what they don’t like. Here I share a few helpful steps with you to get you on your way to new foods.

The first step is to decrease consumption of junk food, processed food, and most restaurant food. These foods are engineered to give your palate an addictive load of sugar, salt, and fat so that you’ll absolutely need to return for more. Even if you make your own burgers and pizza, you will still benefit from the fact that you made them because you would never add the amount of salt and sugar that a restaurant adds. You can control the quality of the fat and use more extra virgin olive oil instead of a vegetable oil. These small changes matter so much that you would surely benefit entirely from the fact that you eat homemade food versus non homemade food, even if it’s still not the healthiest of food.

The second step, once you’re more comfortable in the kitchen, once you’ve got some favorite recipes memorized, is to begin to try a new side dish every couple of days. Try steaming a vegetable and adding a little butter and salt. Try to keep it simple. If you need to, add some cheese to vegetables. Eat a piece of fresh fruit. Try an herbal tea with less honey than you’d normally add. Play around with different spices and herbs which add flavor and antioxidants and zero calories. Savor your food, realize just how much flavor is there.

The last step is to try making it a habit to be open to new foods and flavors. It only takes a bite of something new once a week to begin to get your taste bud’s attention. Years ago, the only vegetable I enjoyed was lettuce covered in ranch. After using these steps over the course of about 6-7 years (take it easy, it takes time!) I got to the point where I now sincerely enjoy the taste of dozens of vegetables and other foods like quinoa, barley, and brown rice. I make salads with lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper, no longer needing a thick creamy dressing. Looking back I can hardly believe how much my diet has changed. It took time and patience but somehow my taste buds adjusted.

Yours can, too! There’s a whole world of food out there, don’t miss out!