There are many reasons why you have to lose weight (providing that your doctor has said you have to lose weight).  But dieting can often prove to be stressful, and stress can make you fat.  This gets to be a vicious circle.  It doesn’t have to be.  One of the reasons why people don’t stick to a diet is that they claim everything tastes so bland.  However, you can retrain your taste buds so that in a couple of months you can be more receptive to the flavors in "diet" food like fresh fruits and vegetables, unprocessed foods and home cooked meals.

Gradual Is Okay

Unless your doctor advises otherwise, you don’t have to suddenly go cold turkey off of your old unhealthy diet.  You might want to start cutting back here and there in order to get your taste buds used to newer, healthier tastes.  Retraining your taste buds is a lot like retraining your bodily muscles — you can’t do it all overnight.  You get a healthy body over time — unless science comes up with brain transplants in the near future.

Some things to help you gradually retrain your taste buds:

• Don’t put margarine, butter or salt on your cooked green, orange or yellow vegetables
• Change to low fat milk rather than continue with full fat milk
• Eat unsalted pretzels or nuts for a snack instead of really salty crunchy snacks
• Don’t add any extra sugar onto cold cereal
• Use only olive oil and black pepper on your salads instead of creamy dressings
• Try not to overcook your vegetables — that makes them very bitter
• Try a new food every few days.  Remember, your taste buds change as you mature.

Pair Contrasting Foods

Some foods like tofu can be a turn off because it’s so smooth and "mushy".  First, you need to cook the tofu in with spices and vegetables so it picks up their flavor.  Also, it’s good to pair the tofu with stir-fried or sauteed vegetables that still have a bit of crunch to them.  Be sure to drain the tofu and smash it into tiny pieces to make it firmer.

And that’s basically all there is to food pairings.  Perhaps you aren’t too keen on salads.  Add a tablespoon of crumbly cheese, which makes a great contrast with the crunchy salad veggies.  If you think green tea is too bitter (and you will at first), pair it with a non-chocolate cookie as a tea break or dessert.  Also, there are many commercial green teas available with added herbs like mint which cut the bitterness.  Here are some more tips about contrasting foods.

Stop Smoking

One of the more immediate benefits of quitting smoking is that you can retrain your taste buds to like foods you previously thought were too bland.  Smoking dulls the taste buds and so you might only eat really salty, high-far foods because that’s all you can taste.  But of course, quitting smoking is a whole other subject in and of itself.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about eating mindfully, which can help you in retraining your taste buds.  Hope this helps.

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