How do you get healthy food to actually taste good?

[Calliope]

You can argue that butter is much better for you than margarine, but smothering anything in butter is not good for you - everything in moderation. Having said that, I agree with Miriel's point about fats not being inherently bad for you - I eat a lot of olives, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, nut butters and avocado, myself.

It sounds like you've been masking your vegetables completely, so I'd be interested to see if you've tried anything like Miriel has suggested above and how you may have enjoyed some simply prepared veges that allow their natural flavours to come through. Unfortunately, you do need to stick with it to get used to it.

The one thing I would advise without having more information is to do away with the sodas - If you can, I'd replace them with iced tea, coffee, or fresh fruit or vegetable juice, or if you have a jug of water in the fridge you can put some fresh fruit slices or sprigs of mint or something in there to flavour it. If you must drink soda, go for the full-sugar variety over anything with artificial sweeteners.

I think my personal sweetener hierarchy goes artificial sweeteners < white sugar < brown sugar < raw sugar < honey < maple syrup < agave nectar, but that's just me, and I have pretty bad reactions to highly sugary items (headaches, mood crashes, etc.). Sugar-free red bull remains my weakness, though, but I try not to drink the stuff very often, I swear I can feel it eroding my stomach even as it fortifies my spirit

I guess my last question is how you would define your wants/goals in this exercise - to have more energy, to decrease your cholesterol, regulate your moods, control your insulin, have more luck in concentrating and to sleep better? To be able to eat out with friends, cook for your family, have more variety in the foods you eat? I would also say that a plateful of cheese, meat and a white starchy vegetable constitutes a healthy meal depending on what else you have had to eat that day. Don't confuse weight loss and eating only the "right" foods with being healthy - they can indicate good and bad health both.