Key points
- Yes, you can lose weight if you don’t like vegetables. Weight loss comes from eating a little less energy than you use, and no single food is required for that.
- Vegetables help by taking the place of richer food. When trials only told people to add fruit and vegetables, without eating less of anything else, weight hardly changed.
- Disliking vegetables is not a lack of willpower. Taste genes, a strong sense of bitterness and texture all play a part, and picky eating in adults is partly inherited.
- Protein, fruit, beans, oats and wholegrain bread can do much of the same job: they fill you up, bring fibre and make a smaller calorie intake easier to live with.
- Blended vegetables you cannot taste still count. In a lab study, adults ate about 200 to 350 calories less a day when vegetables were puréed into dishes they already liked.
- If you eat only a handful of safe foods, feel afraid of choking or being sick, or are losing weight without trying, see your doctor: this can be more than picky eating.
- Talk to your doctor first before you change what you eat, especially if you have diabetes, kidney disease or a bowel condition.
Can you lose weight if you don’t like vegetables?
Yes. You lose weight when you take in a little less energy than your body uses over weeks and months, and that can happen with very few vegetables on your plate. Vegetables make it easier for many people, but they are a tool, not a rule.
Before you change what you eat, talk to your doctor first, especially if you have a long-term condition or take daily medicines. This page gives general information, not advice for your personal situation.
A meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at randomised trials in which people were simply asked to eat more fruit and vegetables, or had them delivered to their homes. Across seven trials, this advice on its own made no clear difference to body weight.
The authors explained why. Adding food, even healthy food, adds energy. Fruit and vegetables only help with weight loss when they replace something richer, such as crisps, cake, a second helping of pasta or a sugary drink.
That is good news if you dislike vegetables. The real job is to make your meals filling for fewer calories, and other foods can carry much of that load. To see roughly how big your daily calorie gap could be, try our calorie deficit calculator.
If you do enjoy some vegetables, or want to learn to, our guide to the best vegetables for weight loss lists the lightest ones per portion. This page is for the many adults who would rather skip them.
Why some adults really dislike vegetables
Many adults dislike vegetables because their bodies taste them differently, not because they are stubborn or lazy. Bitterness, smell and texture can be far stronger for some people than for others.
Bitter taste runs in families
One taste receptor gene, called TAS2R38, affects how strongly you notice certain bitter compounds. In a US study of college-aged adults, people who barely tasted a bitter test substance ate more vegetables of every kind than people who found it very bitter.
The effect was not limited to bitter greens such as kale or Brussels sprouts. It reached vegetables in general, which suggests that a sharp sense of taste can colour the whole food group.
A Dutch study of 8,016 twins went further. It estimated that about half of the differences in adult picky eating between people, around 49 %, can be explained by genes. The rest was linked to each person’s own, unshared experiences.
Texture, smell and how food looks
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania compared adults who called themselves picky eaters with those who did not. The picky eaters more often turned food down because of its taste, colour or texture, and slimy textures stood out.
They also rated both bitter and sweet test liquids as more intense. In other words, their mouths seemed to turn the volume up on flavour, which makes strong-tasting vegetables much harder to enjoy.
A larger survey of 1,339 US adults found a separate picky eater profile in about 18 % of people. These adults ate slowly, enjoyed food less and felt more anxious about eating with others.
So if you have always pushed peas to the side of your plate, you are far from alone. Shame does not help anyone lose weight. A plan that starts from the foods you actually like does.
What vegetables do for weight loss, and where else to get it
Vegetables do four useful things for weight loss: they give a big portion for few calories, they bring fibre, they need chewing, and they add vitamins and minerals. Each of these can come from other foods too.
The table below shows each job, the vegetable that usually does it, and an alternative that many people who dislike vegetables find easier. Our page on foods for weight loss explains fullness and energy density in more depth.
| Job | Usual vegetable | Alternative you may like | Why it helps you lose weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| A big plate for few calories | Salad, broccoli, courgette | Berries, melon, apples, a blended soup | You eat a satisfying amount while the calories stay low |
| Fibre | Greens, cabbage, carrots | Beans, lentils, oats, wholegrain bread, pears | Fibre slows eating and keeps hunger away for longer |
| Chewing time | Raw carrot sticks, crunchy salad | A whole apple, a pear, an orange in segments | Slower eating gives your fullness signals time to arrive |
| Bulk in sauces and mince | Onions, peppers, mushrooms | Blended vegetables you cannot see, or red lentils | The same pan of food goes further with fewer calories per spoon |
| Vitamins and minerals | Leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes | Oranges, kiwifruit, strawberries, beans, fish, eggs, dairy | Your body stays well fed while you eat less overall |
No food on the right is a fat burner. Each one helps only if it takes the place of something higher in energy, just as vegetables do.
Build every meal around protein
If you don’t like vegetables, protein is the best place to start, because it keeps you satisfied for hours and helps protect your muscles while you lose weight. Put a protein food at the centre of each meal and build the rest around it.
Good everyday choices are chicken, fish, eggs, quark, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, lean mince, tofu, beans and lentils. Most of them taste mild, so they rarely trigger the dislike that bitter greens do.
The evidence on protein and fullness is on our page about high protein meals, together with 14 easy recipes. For lighter cuts and cooking methods, see our guide to meat and fish for weight loss.
A simple rule of thumb: put the protein on the plate first, then add a starch you enjoy in a measured portion, and finish with fruit. That gives a full, balanced meal without a single leaf of lettuce.
Fruit as your volume and fibre food
Fruit is the easiest swap for people who don’t like vegetables, because it is sweet, watery and full of fibre, so it fills you up for few calories. Most adults who reject vegetables still enjoy at least a few kinds of fruit.
Use fruit where vegetables would normally go. Have berries next to your eggs, an apple with your lunch, orange segments after dinner, or melon when you want something large and cold in the evening.
Eat it whole rather than as juice. Juice loses most of the fibre and is gone in a few gulps, so it fills you far less. Keep dried fruit to a small handful, because the water has been taken out and the calories are packed tight.
The numbers below come from the USDA food database and are approximate, per 100 grams. Fruit is light, while beans, oats and bread bring more energy along with much more protein or fibre, which is why portions matter for them.
| Food | Calories (kcal) | Protein (g) | Fibre (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberries, raw | 32 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Orange, raw | 47 | 0.9 | 2.4 |
| Apple with skin, raw | 52 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Raspberries, raw | 52 | 1.2 | 6.5 |
| Pear, raw | 57 | 0.4 | 3.1 |
| Banana, raw | 89 | 1.1 | 2.6 |
| Lentils, boiled | 116 | 9.0 | 7.9 |
| Kidney beans, boiled | 127 | 8.7 | 6.4 |
| Wholewheat bread | 252 | 12.5 | 6.0 |
| Oats, dry | 379 | 13.2 | 10.1 |
Raspberries stand out: per 100 grams they carry almost as much fibre as cooked lentils for under half the calories. Frozen bags work just as well as fresh and cost less outside the summer.
Our guide to the best fruits for weight loss compares 23 fruits per portion and answers the usual questions about fruit sugar, so we won’t repeat that here.
Beans, lentils, oats and wholegrain bread: fibre without the green taste
Beans, lentils, oats and wholegrain bread give you plenty of fibre without the bitter, leafy taste many people dislike. That matters, because fibre seems to make a lower-calorie diet easier to stick with.
In the POUNDS Lost trial, 345 adults living with overweight or obesity followed reduced-calorie diets for six months. They lost about 7.3 kg on average, and of all the things the researchers measured, fibre intake was the strongest predictor of how much weight each person lost.
People who ate more fibre also kept to their diet better. This was an analysis of eating records, so it shows a strong link rather than proof, but it fits with how fibre slows eating and keeps hunger quiet.
Beans and lentils have a mild, earthy flavour that blends into chilli, curry, stew and soup. Red lentils almost melt away when cooked, so they bulk out a sauce without changing its taste much. For the best types and portion sizes, see our section on beans for weight loss.
Oats make a filling breakfast with milk or yogurt and fruit. Wholegrain bread, brown rice and wholewheat pasta bring more fibre than their white versions, as long as the portion stays sensible. Our page on carbs and weight loss explains portions of rice, bread, pasta and potatoes.
Start slowly if you are not used to beans or oats. Add one portion a week, drink enough water, and give your gut a few weeks to adjust.
Hidden vegetables: blend them into food you already like
Hidden vegetables are vegetables blended so smoothly into a dish that you cannot see or really taste them. They lower the calories of each spoonful while the food still tastes like the meal you enjoy.
A lab study at Penn State tested this in 41 adults. On three separate days, they ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in which the main dishes contained different amounts of puréed vegetables, without being told.
People ate about the same weight of food each day. When the vegetables lowered the energy density of the dishes to 85 %, they ate about 202 kcal less that day; at 75 %, about 357 kcal less. They rated the dishes as just as tasty and felt no hungrier.
This was a short study in a lab, so it does not prove long-term weight loss. Still, it shows that a vegetable you never notice can do real work. The trick is a smooth texture, so use a stick blender or food processor.
| Dish you already like | What to blend in | How much to start with | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato pasta sauce | Carrot, red pepper or courgette | One small carrot per portion | Cook the vegetables soft, then blend everything until smooth |
| Bolognese or chilli | Red lentils or puréed carrot | A quarter of the mince | Red lentils turn soft and take on the flavour of the sauce |
| Mashed potato | Cauliflower or butternut squash | A quarter to a third of the mash | Mash together with a little milk; the colour barely changes |
| Macaroni cheese | Butternut squash or cauliflower | Part of the cheese sauce | The orange squash blends into the yellow sauce |
| Curry | Onion, tomato and spinach | One handful of spinach per portion | Blend the sauce base before adding the meat or lentils |
A smooth blended soup is another easy way in; our soup for weight loss guide has filling recipes. Some people also drink their vegetables inside a fruit smoothie, where the fruit covers the taste, as shown in our smoothies for weight loss page.
If you live with others, you can cook one pot for everyone. If you would rather know what is in your food, that is fine too. Hidden vegetables work as well when you add them yourself, knowingly.
For more ideas that use visible vegetables, have a look at the twelve easy ways to add vegetables, and pick only the ones that suit you.
Learning to like one vegetable at a time
Many people can learn to like a few vegetables by tasting a small amount often, starting with mild and sweet ones and serving them with flavours they already love. You don’t need to like them all, and you don’t need to start with kale.
A large review in the European Journal of Nutrition gathered 77 studies on ways to raise vegetable intake. Most were done in children, about four in five of the interventions, so the results for adults are less certain.
Still, the pattern is useful. Repeated small tastes improved liking or intake in about 70 % of the interventions that tried them, and pairing a vegetable with a flavour people already liked worked in 12 of 14. In the tasting studies, children were often offered the same vegetable about 6 to 10 times, sometimes more.
Your genes may also decide where to begin. In a US community trial with 497 adults, people who were less sensitive to bitterness raised their vegetable intake more after nutrition counselling than people who tasted bitterness strongly. If bitterness is your problem, start with the sweet end of the vegetable world.
Where to start
- Pick mild, sweet vegetables first: carrots, sweetcorn, peas, red pepper, cucumber or butternut squash.
- Roast them. Roasting turns carrots, pepper and squash sweeter and less watery than boiling does.
- Use a dip or sauce you love: a yogurt and garlic dip, salsa or a spoon of hummus.
- Keep the portion tiny. One stick of carrot or a spoon of peas is enough; no one needs to finish a plate.
- Try the same one again. Taste it a few times a week for several weeks before you decide.
- Change the texture. If soft, slimy vegetables put you off, try them raw and crunchy, or blended smooth.
Sweetcorn, peas and squash contain more starch than leafy vegetables, so count them as part of your starch portion. If one vegetable never grows on you after a fair try, move on to the next one without guilt.
A day of eating for weight loss with few vegetables
A day of eating for weight loss with few vegetables can look like the example below: protein at every meal, fruit at most of them, fibre from oats, bread and pasta, and one small carrot hidden in the dinner sauce. Talk to your doctor first before you follow any eating plan.
| Meal | What | Calories (kcal) | Protein (g) | Fibre (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Porridge of 40 g oats made with 200 ml skimmed milk, topped with 150 g strawberries | 270 | 13 | 7 |
| Lunch | Two slices of wholewheat bread (70 g) with 100 g tuna in water mixed with 50 g Greek yogurt, plus one apple | 415 | 40 | 8.5 |
| Afternoon | 150 g fat-free Greek yogurt with one sliced pear | 190 | 16 | 5.5 |
| Dinner | 120 g roast chicken breast with 150 g cooked wholewheat pasta and 150 g tomato sauce with one small carrot blended in | 515 | 49 | 10 |
| Evening | One banana | 105 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | About 1,500 kcal | 1,495 | 119 | 34 |
This is an example, not a prescription. Many people living with obesity need more energy than this to lose weight at a steady pace, and some need less. Your doctor or dietitian can help you set a target that fits your body, your health and your medicines.
The fibre in this day, about 34 grams, comes almost entirely from fruit, oats and wholegrains. Swap the tuna for eggs, chicken or beans, and the pear for any fruit you like.
Prefer a plan made around your own tastes, including a dislike of vegetables? Our free eating plan is built from foods you choose.
What to watch when you eat few vegetables
When you eat few vegetables, keep an eye on three things: regular bowel movements, enough variety for vitamins and minerals, and swaps that only look healthy. A little planning covers all three.
Keeping things moving
Less fibre can mean harder stools. Fruit, beans, lentils, oats and wholegrain bread replace much of what vegetables would bring, and a daily walk helps your gut work as well.
Drink enough water through the day; our page on water and weight loss explains how much most people need. If constipation lasts more than a couple of weeks, or comes with pain or blood, see your doctor.
Variety still matters
Eat different colours of fruit across the week, and rotate your protein between fish, eggs, dairy, chicken and beans. Each brings its own mix of vitamins and minerals.
If you eat very few foods overall, ask your doctor whether a blood test or a talk with a dietitian makes sense. Do not start supplements on your own to make up for vegetables.
Swaps that do not count
- Chips, onion rings and vegetable crisps are fried and energy-dense. They do not do the job of vegetables for weight loss.
- Vegetable juice and fruit juice lose most of their fibre and fill you up far less than whole food.
- Greens powders and vegetable capsules do not replace food. They cost a lot and give no fullness at all.
- A meat-only diet is sometimes sold as the answer for people who dislike plants. It removes fruit, beans and grains as well, and it is not needed to lose weight; see our comparison of the best diet for weight loss.
When picky eating is more than taste
For most adults, disliking vegetables is simply a strong food preference. For a small number, very selective eating is part of an eating disorder called ARFID, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, which needs proper help from a doctor.
In ARFID, people eat a very limited range of foods because of their senses, a lack of interest in food, or fear of what might happen when they eat, such as choking or being sick.
What sets it apart from ordinary picky eating is the harm it causes. Doctors look for weight loss that was not planned, missing nutrients, relying on nutrition drinks, or eating problems that disturb daily life, work and time with other people.
Researchers describe picky eating and ARFID as points on one scale rather than two separate boxes. Picky eating that started early and never eased is linked with more ARFID symptoms, at least in a study of children and teenagers.
| Sign | More typical of picky eating | May need a doctor |
|---|---|---|
| Range of foods | You skip vegetables but eat many other foods | Only a handful of safe foods, and the list keeps shrinking |
| Feelings at meals | Mild dislike or boredom | Fear, panic or gagging, for example about choking or being sick |
| Weight and energy | Weight is stable or changes as you planned | Losing weight without trying, feeling tired, dizzy or unwell |
| Daily life | Eating out takes some planning | You avoid meals with family, friends or colleagues |
| Nutrition | Eating covers your needs | You rely on nutrition drinks, or tests show missing nutrients |
If several signs in the right-hand column sound familiar, please talk to your doctor or an eating disorder service. Only a professional can tell what is going on, and help is available. You have not failed; you deserve support.
Our page on psychological support explains what talking therapy can offer. If you mostly eat in response to stress or low mood rather than avoiding foods, our guide to emotional eating may fit better.
Walking does the rest
Food does most of the work in weight loss, and walking helps you protect your muscles, sleep better and keep the weight off. Both together work better than either one alone.
Start with a distance you can manage today, even ten minutes, and add a few minutes each week. A walk after dinner also helps your digestion when your meals contain less fibre. Our walking for weight loss guide has a step-by-step plan; talk to your doctor first if you have heart, lung or joint problems.
Free help to lose weight with good food and walking
We help people lose weight and get healthier with good food, suitable exercise and walking, including people who don’t like vegetables. Everything we offer is free, because we are a non-profit.
- A free personal eating plan built from foods you actually eat, with or without vegetables: ask for your free eating plan.
- Free workout videos at your level, from Start to Build to Strong: get the free videos.
- A free video meeting (in English) to talk about your tastes, your hunger and your goals without judgement: book your free video meeting.
- The free Obesity Foundation Club, a personal account to track your progress and ask for help: create your free Club account.
Start with one change this week: a protein food with breakfast, a piece of fruit with lunch, or one sauce with a vegetable blended in. Small steps you can keep add up.
Frequently asked questions
Can I lose weight without eating any vegetables?
Yes. Weight loss depends on a steady calorie gap over time, and you can create that with protein foods, fruit, beans, oats and wholegrains. Trials that only asked people to eat more fruit and vegetables found no clear weight loss on their own. Talk to your doctor first before you change what you eat.
Is fruit a good replacement for vegetables when losing weight?
Whole fruit can take over much of what vegetables do: it is watery, filling, rich in fibre and low in calories. It is a little higher in natural sugar, so keep to normal portions and eat it whole rather than as juice. Combine it with beans or oats for extra fibre.
Do greens powders or vegetable juice count?
Not really. Juice loses most of the fibre that makes vegetables filling, and powders and capsules give no fullness at all. They also cost far more than fruit, frozen berries or a tin of beans, which do more for weight loss.
How many times do I need to taste a vegetable before I like it?
There is no fixed number for adults. In studies, mostly with children, people were often offered the same vegetable about 6 to 10 times, sometimes more, before liking or intake improved. Keep each taste small, pair it with a sauce or dip you enjoy, and try a mild one such as carrot or sweetcorn first.
How can I make vegetables taste less bitter?
Start with vegetables that are naturally sweet and mild, such as carrots, red pepper, sweetcorn and squash, and roast them instead of boiling them for a long time. Serve them with a dip or sauce you already enjoy; in studies, mostly with children, pairing a vegetable with a liked flavour often improved liking. Blending vegetables into a tomato sauce hides most of their taste.
Will I get constipated if I eat few vegetables?
You might if your fibre drops. Eating fruit, beans, lentils, oats and wholegrain bread, drinking enough water and walking every day usually keep things regular. See your doctor if constipation lasts more than a couple of weeks or comes with pain or blood.
Sources
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- Blatt AD, Roe LS, Rolls BJ – Hidden vegetables: an effective strategy to reduce energy intake and increase vegetable intake in adults, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2011)
- Miketinas DC, Bray GA, Beyl RA, Ryan DH, Sacks FM, Champagne CM – Fiber intake predicts weight loss and dietary adherence in adults consuming calorie-restricted diets: the POUNDS Lost study, Journal of Nutrition (2019)
- Kauer J, Pelchat ML, Rozin P, Zickgraf HF – Adult picky eating: phenomenology, taste sensitivity, and psychological correlates, Appetite (2015)
- Koenders EA, Wesseldijk LW, Boomsma DI, Larsen JK, Vink JM – Heritability of adult picky eating in the Netherlands, Appetite (2024)
- Ellis JM, Zickgraf HF, Galloway AT, Essayli JH, Whited MC – A functional description of adult picky eating using latent profile analysis, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2018)
- Duffy VB, Hayes JE, Davidson AC, Kidd JR, Kidd KK, Bartoshuk LM – Vegetable intake in college-aged adults is explained by oral sensory phenotypes and TAS2R38 genotype, Chemosensory Perception (2010)
- Calancie L, Keyserling TC, Taillie LS et al. – TAS2R38 predisposition to bitter taste associated with differential changes in vegetable intake in response to a community-based dietary intervention, G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics (2018)
- Appleton KM, Hemingway A, Saulais L et al. – Increasing vegetable intakes: rationale and systematic review of published interventions, European Journal of Nutrition (2016)
- Breiner CE, Knedgen MM, Proctor KB, Zickgraf HF – Relation between ARFID symptomatology and picky eating onset and duration, Eating Behaviors (2024)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service – FoodData Central: SR Legacy (2019)