What do you do to get over gross tastes/textures of foods?

I’m trying to reconcile your question with your follow-up.
Are you saying that you think all food tastes or feels gross?
That you are limited to a small number of foods that don’t?

If it’s a serious problem, cognitive behavioral therapy (treating it as a phobia) does wonders for it.

More detail is required here as Nimis says. What textures and tastes do you consider gross?

Non-junk food has all of the tastes and textures of junk food. I like the crunchiness of vegetables. I like the crispness of lettuce. I like the velvety smoothness of a cheese sauce or lobster newburg. I like the creaminess of a bowl of oatmeal. I like the toothiness of a great bagel.

As for tastes, I love the sweetness of ambrosia (orange sections and coconut). I love the dense moistness of banana walnut muffins, the spiciness or curried chicken salad.

Yes, as nimis says, we need to know more about what you mean.

I don’t eat it. You can’t force yourself to like something.

Sorry for not being clear,
I know that I need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but I think that almost all of them either taste bad or the texture of the fruit/veggie grosses me out.
I was wondering what you do to get over foods that you don’t care for.

Think about people who have no food. People who are starving and would eat anything to survive. Put yourself in their shoes and consider how fortunate you are to not only have food but to have a wide selection of foods. Imagine what someone starving would think of you turning away nutritious food because it has an “gross texture”. That ought to get you over the hurdle.

@sferik—Even if I were starving, the texture of raw tomatoes would still make me gag and I wouldn’t be able to eat them. So I’m not sure thinking about the less fortunate would be all that helpful in getting over the hurdle.

Eat them with something else. Fruit in a salad, veggies in a casserole.
I’ve no problem with tastes, textures.

Are you orally defensive because of some past medical history? If so, a speech therapist can be helpful in “step by step” reprogramming.
If you are not, then it could be that you need to take about a week and eat almost no sugar or foods with corn syrup in them. After your body and taste adjust to not being overwhelmed with extreme sweetness, you can start trying to eat those healthy foods again- they will definitely taste different to you after that week of deconditioning yourself to sugar.

Drink juice if you have no health problems. Are there any fruits that you like?

Drink V8 Fusion. A full serving of veggies and a full serving of fruit in each glass. Tastes very good, just sweet fruit taste.

Variety is the spice of life! Ok had to get that one out. LOL! In a way it’s true you may find that you don’t like a fruit or veggie straight up, but in say a soup or stew it’s great. Perhaps adding apples or plums to your pork chops or tenderloin roast when you cook it. One of my favorites it to use apricots or oranges with chicken or fish. Make a fresh compote of apples and peaches then take a turkey breast or thigh salt and pepper well. Put the turkey into the oven to roast for 20 minutes. Put the fruit over the turkey and finish roasting till juices run clear from the turkey. Surprisingly the fruit cooks down and ends up being this chunky sauce for the turkey. Yummm. Just think outside the box, and change the textures or flavors if necessary.

I used to never get enough veggies in my diet because I hated the way most of them were cooked when I was growing up. Almost every vegetable was overcooked and too mushy. I actually eat most of the things I never liked when I was younger. I just realized that when I cook them I don’t have to cook all the life out of them. I eat a lot of veggies raw in salads or just by themselves. I get a lot of them chopped small in soups, too.

You can slice, chop, cut, puree, mince them any way you’d like. Just try things until you find what you can live with and still be healthy eating what you need in your diet.

Start with foods you like. Then make healthy substitutions into them, especially things that you don’t really notice. For example, if you like mashed potatoes try adding some cooked carrots and chives to them (somehow when my boyfriend did this it ended up tasting like cheese-y, sour cream-y goodness instead of vegetables). Similarly, try using fat-free half and half in things like mashed potatoes.

But if you want, give us some foods you like and we can give you healthy alternatives.

Like fries? Try cutting potatoes into the fry shape, brushing them with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake at 375ish. 30ish minutes later, baked fries. Same texture as fried ones, but way healthier.

Like pizza? Make it at home. Get some pizza dough if you want, but make everything else. Add onions and garlic and other spices into the sauce. Go light on the cheese. Go light on unhealthy topics, and heavier on veggies.

Give us some things you like and we can give you healthy versions or alternatives. The more you eat healthy things and vegetables, the more you’ll want them.

Also: if you can afford it, fresh vegetables are always better tasting than canned/frozen.

Ditto to what @EmpressPixie said.

@MacBean- I cant eat raw tomatoes, just thinking about them makes me cringe.

I avoid them.

there are tons of foods out there that should allow you to find things you love. Don’t subject yourself to things you don’t like. Just keep trying new stuff. You might be surpised.