Recovering Picky Eater Challenge - April 2011

If you've been reading for a while, you know that a few months ago, a nutrition instructor used the recovering picky eater challenge with her students as a class project.  I was honored.  My work, as a project in a college class?!?  You just never know what will happen when you evangelize about the benefits of a real food diet and develop tools to help more people get hooked on real food.  To read more about Sally Kuzemchack MS, RD check out her blog, Real Mom Nutrition.

Sally plans to use the challenge at the start of each course.  The intent is to show students the power of a the mind when it comes to food preferences/tolerances.  After all, "food isn't nutritious if it isn't eaten,"  says Brian Wansink in this article.


What a recovering picky eater pledge needs to do
1.  Think about all the foods you've hated forever.
2.  Pick one.  A nutritious one (no, bagels don't count as nutritious).  You will be using your brain and the way you think about food to change your mindset about that food, it's texture, smell, taste.  You will be digging into the "why" it is repulsive to you, and replace the negative thoughts you have about the food with positive ones. 
3.  Eat your challenge food at least once a week.  Keep trying new recipes, preparations until you find one that isn't repulsive.  Mindset shifts take time.  If it doesn't work on the first try, keep trying. Here is some reading that will help you make the mindshift.

• Find A Way to Like  Food You Hate - Actionable Steps to Take
• Bend your Mind, Like a New Food - Create new positive thoughts about a food you hate

4. "Like" the Food with Kid Appeal FB fan page and look for the RPEC status update every Sunday.  You can share your experiences, success, failures and see how others managed to overcome their food aversions.

What counts as "nutritious"?
Fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, animal proteins, dairy, healthy fats (coconut oil, olive oil, fats from animal products if the animals eat their natural diet and are raised organically) are all nutritious.  The average American already over consumes soy, corn, wheat, grains, so do your health a favor and don't challenge with one of those items.  Do your health a favor and get organic animal products if budget allows.  If you're not sure if your challenge food is nutritious leave a comment and I'll advise.

Try not to challenge a "reactive" food.  Sometimes we avoid reactive food in childhood because they make us feel bad.  Your brain is smart.  It will protect you even in childhood, if you listen.  Eating reactive foods (also called food in tolerances) causes inflammation in the gut.  You don't want to inflame your gut.  Your gut is the only vehicle you have to nourish your cells, when it's inflamed you can't get nutrients to your cells and organs and they start malfunctioning.  The malfunction may seen benign at first but over time it builds up can cause some annoying disorders like migraines, allergies, asthma, learning/attention disorders, mental health deficiencies, constipation, IBS, diarrhea and more.  So listen to your body.  If your eczema gets itchier, your throat feels scratchy, your nose gets congested or your notice your tummy is roiling after you eat your challenge item, that's a good sign to discontinue it, at least temporarily.  For example, I recently discovered that conventional strawberries are reactive for me.  Organic berries don't make me react, but conventional ones do. I'm guessing the pesticides used during their cultivation are irritants to my immune system and cause nasal congestion and a flare up of eczema.

Most hated foods are not reactive foods
More often than not you have avoided a food in childhood for other reasons that to avoid inflammation and tummy distress.  You avoided a food because you couldn't tolerate the texture, smell or taste.  Or it was introduced to you during some time of distress (health or emotional).  Your brain linked the food with the distress, when really there is no link.  Or you didn't have a real food advocate in your life and so no one ever taught you that yes, indeed you really do need to eat real nutrients to fuel your body or your body can perform and function optimally.  If your parents took the "they'll eat it if they want it" route and never really expected you to eat protein, fat, fruits and vegetables you may have grown up eating on the foods you wanted to eat, instead of the foods that would fuel your body for a well life.  Don't worry, it's never too late to learn to like real food.  Even the pickiest eaters can reform.  I did.  You can too.  The good news is, you can say good bye to annoying conditions like IBS and trouble maintaining weight, just by eating more real food and less processed food. 

Will you Pledge to become a Recovering Picky Eater?
Are you with me?  Are you tired of saying "no tomatoes" to the waiter when ordering a side salad at a restaurant?  Are you ready to leave the hypocrisy bag behind when you serve veggies to your kids but won't eat them yourself?  Are you ready to stop avoiding baked chicken because the bones creep you out?  Are you ready to embrace the mouth feel of raw crunchy carrots or nuts?  Is there a dish your spouse loves that you can stand because it contains onions or a feared vegetable from childhood?  If you are ready to leave your picky eater label behind, leave a comment on this blog post in this format:

Hi, I'm (your name). I pledge to learn to like (disliked food item) in the recovering picky eater challenge.

To leave a comment, scroll down to the bottom of this article, click the comment link that looks like this

Posted by jenna at 5:20 PM 0 comments

Disclaimer :  Forgive typos, kids are ravenous, gotta get started on breakfast, I'm already a week late on this deadline, it's publish now or drop the ball.