How to Eat Something You Hate

Using Mental Tricks

Pretend that the food before you is a food you really like. For example, pretend it's mushed-up cheeseburger or blended ice cream. Be creative in your imagined change to your usual favorite food type and then just go for it. Pretend it's just weird candy. So if it's sugar-coated ants, just pretend it's sugar-coated candy.

Try not to think about it. Do not stare at the food, sniff the food or indulge in thinking about it. Instead, just focus on the fact that you need to eat, that a meal is present and that there are some great things to be getting on with after eating. Come up with distracting thoughts, such as things you can't wait to be doing, favorite games you enjoy playing or destinations you'd like to visit.

Psych yourself to eat it. Tell yourself that the food is just fine and that you're going to be fine too. Tell yourself: "I can do this. If I eat this, I am a superhero."

Think about starving people. Okay, it's depressing but it will remind you that there are people who are going without while you're fussing about the food.

Coping with Foul Odors or Textures

Remember that what is "foul" when it comes to food is often personal. There are some foods that do smell bad to most people, such as stinky tofu and cod-based lutefisk, or stinky cheeses but many other food odors are fairly much tailored to your own experience. For example, a vegetarian might find the odor of meat unappealing, while a non-gourmet cheese lover might detest the odor of blue cheese.

Hold your nose when eating. This might help to reduce the odor. Open the windows and let a nice, fresh breeze flow through. Sometimes the build-up of strong odor is what makes you feel sick, and if air flow can dissipate this, it might help you manage to eat the food... just. Avoid sniffing the food or being too close to it for too long if you can't stand its odor.

Avoid chewing if you can't abide the texture. Instead, cut the food into tiny bits that are safe to swallow quickly, then toss them down your gullet as fast as you can. Wash them down with water, juice or a beer. If you don't like it because it's slimy or squashy, eat it without putting it on your tongue.

Hide the food inside something else. This is a great way of hiding bad tastes or horrible textures. If it's swimming or tucked inside some food that you do like, it'll be much easier to get it down. If you're the chef, even better. Be creative and find ways of hiding the foul food well and truly deep inside your baked or cooked concoction. Shave/grate/chop/peel, etc. the food to minute size and hide away. Strong seasonings might help make the food's flavor "disappear" when eaten.

Blend it into a drink. Add juice, milk or other liquids that you do like and a dollop of sweet or savory flavoring, then gulp it all down.

Chase it up with delicious food. Eat the offending food first. This gets it out of the way. Then bombard your taste buds with food that you really do like. The more of the delicious food you finish up with, the more the offending item will be but a foul memory.

Avoiding Eating the Food

Tell the chef or cook that you're allergic to the food. This is hard to refute unless you're at home with family who knows better. Even then, if you're visiting from interstate after being away some time, tell them you've since developed an allergy.

Tell the chef or cook that you're on a special diet. This could be anything from gluten-free to fruitarian.

Tell people that you tried it once and found it not to your liking. And state that you categorically refused to ever eat it again. You will probably need to be over 16 or so to get away with this one.

Hand it to a sibling or parent who adores the food. Plant a big smile on your face and make a show of saying how much you know they love the food and you're letting them have some more. It probably won't work but you'll make your point well and truly.

Find a pot plant. Shove said awful food into the soil and hope all goes unnoticed.

Hide the food inside your napkin/serviette. Without being seen, slide the offending food into the outdoor garbage disposal late at night.

Feed it to the dog. Only do this if the food is safe for the dog to eat and you don't mind creating a bad habit (dogs should not learn to eat from the human plate or table).