Any picky eaters out there?
 

If so, please join in this thread! :^: Sometimes we just need to vent. Sometimes we can share something that we tried that made it easier to a) consume that healthy food that we have a major or minor aversion to,:p or b) cut down on consumption of the "comfort food" that is fattening.:jeno:

About me - I do struggle with some of the metabolic issues - hypothyroid, and PCOS (though I no longer have ovaries, I was informed that the syndrome persists). I'm a menopausal gal of 51, had a hysterectomy at 46. I'm about 70 lbs. at least above where I want to be.

I also struggle with ADHD which runs in one side of my family (mom's) and there are also people with Aspergers/autism in that side of the family. I've taken some quizzes and think I may be a "borderline aspie" but the label isn't as important as simply to state that I have sensory processing issues for whatever reason. This applies to being easily overstimulated by too much excitement, noise, bright or flashing lights give me a migraine sometimes, and so on.

Food - taste, texture, smell, even appearance - is a sensory minefield. I gravitate toward bland, starchy, fatty, and sweet. Things that soothe the pleasure or comfort centers of my brain. I steer away from things that are a sensory challenge. Sour, bitter, rubbery, slimy, little bits that chew weird (like minced onion), anything pickled, peppers, etc. to name just a few. Fishy tasting fish. The familiar and tried and true is good,:corn: the new and strange is suspect.:eek: :barf:

Exercise sometimes helps me eat better and it helps in other ways so I'm getting started with that. :woops:

Okay. Enough from me for now. If you relate to any of this and it presents a challenge to your weight loss and healthy eating efforts, please post!

I too am a very picky eater. I hesitate to try new foods because I am afraid they will taste weird and make me "sick".. My husband is always amazed if I try some new dish at a restaurant. It is like some kind of MIB moment for him! For example, I would love to try eggplant because it looks so pretty, but I am just afraid to take that step. I wish I were more adventurous, but I'm not. I can totally relate!

I can totally relate ! I have issues with color ! this may sound odd but i will not eat white foods with the exception of bread ! i dont know why I've just always been that way..no white potatoes, milk, cauliflower, mayo, vanilla ice cream..i just cant bring myself to eat it.

I wont eat any seafood but that has more to do with the toxicity levels then anything else, i just dont feel any amount of seafood is safe for human consumption anymore.

my newest little quirk has been my refusal to eat anything that doesnt come prepackaged ! i need to see the calorie content in order to know weather or not its okay to eat.

I can be pretty picky, only by taste though. Some psychological aspects too. I'm by no means a vegetarian, and enjoy meats. But red meats 90% of the time aren't appealing. That is a psychological issue, not relating to the animal as I myself am a hunter. But I think the blood freaks me out.

LUCKILY, sweets are a turn off as well as I hate the way they make my teeth feel. I don't want my teeth to feel like they're wearing a sweater. All fuzzy and such. Horrible.

And I too am weird-ed out by white foods. Particularly liquid or soft foods. Yogurt, cottage cheese (ick!), MILK, ice cream (*shudder*).. the list goes on. Sometimes I wish I could get past the cottage cheese thing, but I'm dealing. I just eat flavoured yogurt and almond milk (primarily in a shake).

Absolutely. I'm the picky one of the family, both mine and my partners. So much that I when I'm invited to meals they are prepared different and especially for me so I'll eat it all!!
I dislike vegetables. Their taste is what puts me off, especially onions and how they crunch in the mouth and release flavour. Eww. I've been eating only 4 vege's for dinner and I'm still struggling with lettuce and tomato. I have no idea how I'm going to cope with the winter vege's!

I'm a meat-eater, but I stay clear away from pig meat. I had a bad experience with my dad cooking up ham steaks every week :barf: and I dislike the way bacon is so salty. I hate salt too.

I remember one time when I was doing a stocktake which went over 3 nights from 8pm-7am (or 5 if we were on target). The store managers had ordered subway and their large selection of 6-inch subs. I hated them all from their meat fillings to the salads. One of the older ladies actually told me off for being picky :lol: I was 23 at the time, but I looked 16-17. (Even now that I'm 28, people still think I'm 20.)

I am a finicky eater!
 

Hi there Skinny-

Yes! I am most definitely a picky, finicky eater. I feel guiilty for everything I put my parents through trying to find something that I woud eat because a lot of it was junk. Now I have improved upon my pickiness just by trial and error. I tried a new veggie the other day and now am hooked on it, who would have thought that I would be trying veggies!!

My advice to becoming less picky and finicky eater is to try a food you wouldn't normally try but one that intrigues you. Try to step outside of your comfort zone.


Take care...

Thanks gals for the great replies! ;) There's a lot we can all relate to each other with regard to pickiness, isn't there! :grouphug:

Some of my pickiness I have overcome - there's what is called "food chaining" where you pick a new food to try that is pretty similar to something you already can eat okay. That has worked for me.

There are some things I can manage to eat for politeness' sake which wasn't always the case - such as salmon if prepared well - but I can only eat enough to fulfill the social need and don't go back for seconds. There are other items that I have to draw the line - peppers for instance, or pickled things. Ick. :barf:

I also don't like soups with a lot of vegetables swimming around in unidentifiable chunks - for that matter I don't like much "chunky" anything (unless it involves cookies and chocolate chunks, LOL).

That's interesting that people have an aversion to white foods. I've heard that from other pickies. Most white foods feel more safe to me; I associate the light color with comfort foods. White rice, pasta, and I like cottage cheese which is weird as most picky people don't, but my Mom and I liked it so I never had a problem with it. I used to only like white breads but now I like whole grain breads more than white - but hate rye or pumpernickel, those are just way too strong flavored.

Back to colors of foods - what I hate are colors that are dulled, like the color of overcooked vegetables. And the other day there were tiny flakes of parsley in corn and it freaked me out how neon green they were and to me they were kind of sour and I prefer my corn, well, corny with butter and salt. So I guess not too dull or too bright - at least with veggies and challenging foods. :smug:

How does this "food chaining" work? Do you jump in cold turkey or try the new food different ways? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

The way I did it was basically to "change one variable" at a time. Example - I like burritos with pinto beans. I think I might like them with black beans. So I make one and try it. It can be as easy or as challenging as you like, really. You can vary an ingredient, a texture, a seasoning, try the same food with an added ingredient, lots of possibilities.

It is a term being used now as picky eating is becoming recognized as something adults have not always outgrown. Some propose calling it "Selective Eating Disorder" in the psych diagnostic manual, I don't know if that's official or not.

But "food chaining" is a name of a treatment - you can Google it (and Selective Eating Disorder) to find out how others are doing it. I just improvised it before it had a name! :D

Food chaining sounds like a good idea. We're coming into winter in NZ, so I have to deal with those vege's. Sigh. :D

Hi Rhiko - Love your avatar - looks like one of the kitties at my house :) and also your bunny rabbit ticker. I have 2 pet bunnies. I may have to get that ticker myself. :D

I wish you good success with the food chaining! Also, has anyone else mentioned the Sneaky Chef series of books? Here's the website of their author, Missy Lapin: thesneakychef dot com. The basic concept is puree'ing the veggies and incorporating them into foods that kids (and we adult picky eaters who sometimes have the palate of a toddler!) can deal with.

The recipes are great because she has already gone through the trial and error process with her own children as testers! :cofdate: So she knows, for example, just how much cauliflower puree' (seriously!) you can sneak into macaroni and cheese before it's detectable to the taste buds.

A lot of people have mentioned online that they didn't like vegetables until they tasted fresh roasted ones. I have found this to be helpful, although there are some that will remain forever off limits - there is nothing that can be done to make me touch a bell pepper of any type. Part of that is they truly do upset my digestive system. You don't wanna know! TMI! :hot:

Moving right along! One other topic of interest to picky eaters - and I'd love anyone's feedback on this:

Does it irritate you as badly as it does me when the advice-givers say to add more spices to foods instead of, say, salt or butter or some other thing that is easy to cope with?! I mean, if I wanted all kinds of intense flavorings, I probably wouldn't be a picky eater in the first place! :mad: I can't fathom that illogical reasoning!

Yes, it drives me crazy about the spices! I want to say to people, "Hey, how about if I take something out of your comfort zone and push you straight into it? Would that be okay? No? Then leave me alone!!!!! It took me almost 4 years to add turmeric to chili to make it yummier (and now that I have, I love the stuff!). I'm a southern cook, and to me, if I want more spice or flavor, I would cook with more lard! I don't cook with lard any more, but it is so hard for me to be brave about spices. I am the least adventuresome person on the planet (or so my kids tell me!) and it takes a lot for me to try new things. I have had my doctor write me a list of things that would be super good for me that SHE likes and I am just trying one a quarter. I can't use any spices that have aspertine (Sorry about the spelling) (the MSG food enhancer) because it causes me to have mini seizures. The only way I am making it through this "food trial and error" is to keep a list of the foods I've tried and how I've tried them. Maybe someday I will be less cautious about new foods and spices, but that probably won't be for another few years!

Thank you. :D I love my cat! Her name is Neko (Google translate it to English :lol:). Her name and mine are a portmanteau so I thought I should honour that and have her as my avatar :)

To respond to the rest of your message:
I've heard from a close friend, who is also my future mother-in-law (if my partner ever asks me the question! ;)), that a food needs to be eaten at least 20 times before we start to like it. I used to hate tomato and now it is manageable, the same with some onion dishes :barf: and foods I didn't like before.

I love the idea of the purée or roasted vegetables. I watch a lot of the food channel, namely Jaime Oliver and Nigella, and they give idea of how to mix foods that I may not like with things I do like, such as peppers and spices. Admittedly, I haven't tried any of their meals yet but I'm working up the courage to give them a go. I'll probably try some recipes in June/July when I'm on break from all university work!

The question is, of course, if it takes 20 times to like a food, how does one endure the first 19? :p LOL

This has worked for me with some things but I know other things just aren't meant to be. And I'm OK with that as long as I feel I have expanded the things I can eat to the point of being able to be healthy.

Take vegetables, for instance. I like more kinds of "rabbit food" than I used to. :bunny2: The thing is, I often prefer them raw. Raw carrots :carrot:, leaf lettuces, spinach. Can't stand things overcooked and mushy and to me vegetables are refreshing in their natural state and strange cooked - except -

in Chinese food :broc: for some of the ones like broccoli that would be too gassy to eat a lot of in the raw state. Cabbage the same way. Or roasted as mentioned earlier. I even enjoyed some roasted Brussels sprouts.

So I do eat things I never would have dreamed in one regard. But it's like the more "exotic" the food on my sensory comfort continuum, the more particular I still am with how it is prepared.

I also have a difficult time with many mixtures of savory and sweet. Most of the time I prefer not to combine the two. For instance, some people put salt (and even pepper!) on canteloupe and watermelon. To me that is an abomination!:fr: Or at the very least I'm going why?!:?:

The only thing where I truly enjoy a sweet/savory combo is barbecue - smoked meat with sauce. Mesquite or hickory, not too spicy or exotic or vinegary. (I don't like anything vinegary.)

Oh goodness, am I a picky eater. I've broadened my food horizons for the sake of health, but there was a time I wouldn't have touched a vegetable with a ten foot pole. Most of my pickiness stems from texture issues. I hate bananas because of the awful squishiness, & cooked carrots gross me out. I like my carrots raw & crunchy. I'm just now getting to where I can tolerate avocados, all mushy & green. And I'm fairly certain I will never be able to bite down on a piece of onion, no matter how it is or isn't cooked, and not gag at the texture.

I recently started eating broccoli, beans, sweet potatoes, avocados, salad greens other than iceberg lettuce, & quinoa. I don't just eat them willy-nilly though, they have to be cooked/prepared just so.


@Skinnyminnie: I have ADHD, too, & I find that I can be overstimulated very easily when there's too much going on, too many sounds, etc. For instance, I was over at a friend's house one night with a bunch of other people. Some of us were playing a board game, some were watching tv in the same room, some were talking loudly nearby. It got hot & stuffy after a while & it was all I could do to not run screaming out of the house. Just wanted to say "I feel ya" ;)

I, too, am a picky eater and it stems from my virtually nonexistent sense of smell. The texture of food is a big influence on whether or not I'll eat it. Common foods I won't eat: ham, chicken on the bone, chicken thighs, mushrooms, eggs, shrimp, lobster, fatty steaks, and sausage.

One of the odd things I do enjoy is anchovies. I was told that if I could smell them, I wouldn't eat them.

From being a picky eater, I don't get bored as easily eating the same things over and over again, which helps when sticking to a diet. For about the past 1½ years, I've eaten a plain greek yogurt and either some celery or cucumbers every day for lunch at work. It's not only because it's something I'll eat, but it also takes the guesswork of figuring out what to take for lunch each day and I don't have to wait in line for the microwave. So, basically, laziness. :smug:

Yes, many of my non-picky friends kind of roll their eyes at my plain bean and cheese burritos, pasta, yogurt and other "staples" of my diet which are my frequent go-to foods. I totally get where you're coming from - but I'm like "Hey, I'm happy, and I do try to be healthy." I sometimes get bored, but not bored enough to want to experiment with something too exotic, I guess.

@ Rachel, thanks for the understanding reply! :) I don't get people who can just bite into onions either! I have some friends who can, and one who chews raw garlic! :dracula: I tell her, I guess you'll never have to worry about vampires, but eeeewwww! I like a bit of onion or garlic flavor in things like Italian food so I use the powdered form.

Raw garlic?! But you're right, at least the vampires will spare her. I use onion powder & garlic powder when I cook but I can't really use them in any other detectable form. Maybe if they're diced/minced up reeeeeaaalllly tiny.

Oh, and thanks for sharing the Sneaky Chef website on the first page of the thread, I will certainly be trying it out :)

Can I join here? Well, I am not a picky eaters but this discussion really open up my minds to reasons why some people were so choosy when it comes to food. I think the main reason is we have our own preference some are not sensitive while some are. I'm just lucky because at a very young age my parents always expose me to all sorts of food including bitter veggies and some sort of exotic ones for some people. Anyway, I love to try all sorts of food but not those exotic in general.

:balloons: Sure, come on in, it's refreshing to see someone who desires to understand us picky eaters rather than judge us.

I truly believe the #1 cause of picky eating to be . . . wait for it . . . the characteristic(s) of the food(s) in question! And in close 2nd place is the sensory apparatus of the person who is to eat said foods.

How many children have to be persuaded to eat, say, cake? :hb: But vegetables, that's another matter. Some kids have a higher threshold than others and can eat more of a variety sooner in life. :eating2: Some kids never lose the low threshold of tolerance and go on to become picky eating adults.

We can work on changing the threshold at least up to a point, but the key word is "work." It doesn't just happen by magic. :wizard:

I just want to say, that I have 3 boys who are 15, 8, and 3 yrs old...

My 15 yr old will eat ANYTHING. He's a big time foodie.

My 8 yr old is SO picky, I find myself trying desperately to plan our meals around what HE will eat. Either that, or making him something else entirely.
(He will simply not eat, I've tried waiting him out lol)
The funny thing about this, is that I exposed him to ALL kinds of foods when he was small. Every week, I would let him pick out a new vegetable and/or fruit to try from the grocery store. He was open to it as a toddler, and he looked forward to helping me cook and to trying new things. I don't know what happened. He tells me that things "stink" now. (to be honest, I think he might be on the spectrum for asperger's syndrome, albeit mildly)

My 3 year old seems to be inadvertently following my 8 yr old's lead... (he sees his reactions to certain foods etc, and will refuse to try them)

I used to think of myself as a picky eater too. But I've come to realize that its okay to like certain things and not others. I do try as much as I can to have a varied diet... but all in all, I'm trying to give myself permission to decide which healthy foods I like and which ones I don't. Instead of generally telling myself "I don't like healthy foods"... I'm learning that there ARE many healthy foods that I DO like. I just don't like all of them, or the same ones that others might like. And that is just fine with me.

One way my pickiness sometimes interferes with my weight loss efforts is that if I have eaten something for politeness's sake it makes me want to sneak later and get something I like. Sort of like how wine tasters "cleanse the palate," only without the spitting! :D

Update - 5/17/13 - I am doing a bit better with my diet. Hope to return to the gym and swimming next week - I was waiting for a deep cut on my finger to heal this week. Should be good to go by next. Anyway, with regard to pickiness, exercise does provide some of those whatever chemicals my brain needs and even sometimes make the healthy found sound more appealing. :)

Today I wanted to mention another thing that is related to picky eating, and perhaps to dieting in a way:

Strange food combinations, for instance in salads. To me, blueberrries and strawberries are fruit, hence sweet. They are for dessert or breakfast. Chicken is savory, for main course or in a salad with savory flavor such as salad dressing (don't get me started on raspberry vinaigrette, either, or any other vinaigrette!) - I like bleu cheese, ranch, or creamy italian.

Anyway, Wendy's has this salad with chicken and berries and this friend of mine just loves it. It's embarrassing when we've been conversing about healthy eating, which we like to do, and she touts the deliciousness (to her) of this (to me) bizarre salad, and I end up ordering a chicken sandwich with no condiments.

I used to order chicken nuggets with fries but I decided I really don't want to be eating the nuggets because they're that "mechanically separated" processed stuff, I think. So with the sandwich at least I'm getting a filet of chicken.

Do any other picky eaters think that a lot of diet recipes and/or popular combinations are thought up by "foodies" and are just weird? :p I still have some of that kid mentality, I suppose, that some foods shouldn't touch! :D

I'm trying to become more picky, actually. I am an omnivore in the greatest sense of the word. There are few things I won't eat, except I will not do what those guys on TV do, going out to find bugs, etc.

I grew up in the U.S., but I'm only a first-generation Greek-American. I like food with definite flavor. I'll eat all sorts of stronger-tasting meats and vegetables. If there's anything I have an aversion to, it's syrupy sweet stuff and foods with the wrong textures. I won't eat puddings, especially rice pudding (gagging just thinking about it), and I won't eat okra. I don't like particularly strong fishy flavors or odors and I don't like lobster or shrimp. Not a fan of calamari. I do love crab cakes and I once had the most amazing scallops at a very expensive restaurant in Beverly Hills. I had fresh oysters in Scotland last summer and they were nice!

So, my pickiness also manifests with how my food is sourced. I have loved me some fine carby, creamy processed food in my time. I love rice with butter, those Lipton Noodles and Sauce packets, Top Ramen, frozen TV dinners of anything with cheese sauce, all sorts of fried food and fast food. But I got really sick and really fat eating like that.

I really don't want to eat like that any more. So I've become a food snob. I'll only eat organic veggies, pastured poultry and grass-fed meats, plus wild-caught cold-water fish. I source all my food like that on behalf of my health. (I have health issues that can be managed with food choices.) I won't eat at any chain restaurants if I can help it. I don't go out very often any more, and try to only eat at places where I know what's going on with the chef and I can make requests to change my order as needed.

Professionally, I work at a fitness studio and help people discover new foods to include in their diets. There are people who really can't bear to eat certain vegetables because their taste buds are far too sensitive to the bitterness of some veggies, or their sense of smell can't go there either. Some people are simply not accustomed to eating vegetables because their people didn't eat vegetables. And some just don't have any experience beyond iceberg lettuce and Miracle Whip dressing. I tell them all that they don't have to like all vegetables. I have them start with vegetables that can be manipulated into something they do like.

Carrots can go into a slaw with a little sunflower oil and seasoned rice vinegar dressing. They taste sweet. Carrots are even sweeter when roasted. In fact, most vegetables sweeten when roasted. Beets are nicer roasted, dressed in a nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I have one client who would only eat steamed broccoli in very small bites with a giant water chaser. Once I turned her on to oven-roasted broccoli, her whole view of vegetables turned around. She's now enjoying roasted asparagus, cauliflower, zucchini and eggplant. And grilled zucchini and eggplant are even better to her. She will even eat grilled romaine lettuce salad, dressing in a light balsamic vinaigrette.

And by the way, everything tastes better with bacon!:D

I am not picky, but I know a lot of people who are, and reading this thread is really informative. I know a lot of picky eaters hate being picky, but it is so strange to me (I DO NOT mean to offend at all) when people are unwilling to try new foods. I guess it would be like if someone told me to eat a bite of a live octopus, though. I think one of the misconceptions about picky eaters is that they are "immature" because they tend to eat "childhood" foods that are comforting and uncomplicated. I will say, it must be extremely difficult in professional settings to go out with a client or boss to, say, a sushi restaurant and either not eat, gag, or order chicken fingers.

My former mother-in-law was extremely picky, with a lot of the aversions that people have mentioned here (nothing spicy,nothing she hadn't eaten 100x before, very simple foods). It actually caused problems in my relationship with her because she was only willing to go to a handful of restaurants, none of which I particularly liked, all of which I was sick of, and refused to eat anything I cooked, even though I tried very hard to cook to her taste (though, to some extent, I think, unlike many of the people on this thread, she did not understand that eating with someone is less about the eating and more about the socializing).

I have often wondered if friends/family members who are very picky know what they are missing out on, but I suppose if you don't try it, you don't know what you're missing!

I guess one thing I'm curious about, if you don't mind me asking, is if you have had bad experiences with trying new things? Or if your parents never really made you try new things in childhood? I'm sure there are as many reasons for being picky as there picky people!

Hi, me again! :wave: I enjoyed reading both thoughtful responses. geoblewis, I am actually kind of like you in that although I'm picky, I'm also health-conscious and glad I've learned to be a little bit "snobby" as you described. I have read a lot of things about mad cow disease, mechanically separated meats, hormones in meat, all those disgusting topics! :barf: I don't eat hot dogs or fast-food burgers for instance.

I need to find more ways to get organic meats and produce consistently. I don't really like grocery shopping; I usually find it stressful - again sensory and ADD issues, too many people, too noisy and hectic, etc. :eek: Not to mention with the way gasoline prices have soared, I am trying to make fewer outings altogether, to save money.

I've been in the situation of your person who was so tentative with broccoli and gulped down water! Most of the time I can deal with broccoli :broc: unless it's overcooked or in a context I'm not used to. But there's a whole range of foods between those I like and those I would never touch. Foods that I will attempt to eat if I can't get out of it. I eat really slowly and cut the foods up a lot and inspect to make sure I'm not going to bite down on something really nasty. Plenty of beverage helps.

Now as I said, vinaigrette dressing does not work for me at all because of the emphasis on the vinegar and the more unusual flavorings. I need something more cheesy to override the vinegar taste of a salad dressing. I don't even like to smell vinegar. :p

MarjorieMargarine, I'm not offended - I appreciate when people make an effort to understand before judging. :thanks: Picky eaters I've interacted with online would agree, I think (yes, we even have support groups!).

Funny you should mention octopus - I have an Asian friend who loves them (cooked) and when we went to an Asian buffet I couldn't stand to look at the poor tentacled critters' remains. It is a running joke between us now! LOL :D She can eat them but I won't look!

I wish people would understand that eating together is about the socializing - rather than get offended that I cannot eat (or enjoy) the same foods they like. I try really hard not to ask for special favors or anything; I just ask for the freedom to not have something if it's a struggle for me to eat it. And some things I must refuse outright or I would be vomiting on the tablecloth and nobody wants that, you'd think!

To answer your last questions - I do believe we with sensory issues with food can know if we are going to like something via sense of smell, or category of food, or past experience. Yes, I did have a mom who was too uptight about my eating and that didn't help, but I believe I was born with the basic aversions. And finally, it is one of several things that makes me glad I don't have a professional job that requires the ability to eat sophisticated foods on demand. I have in the jobs I used to have faced the embarrassment on many occasions. Things like sub sandwiches with lots of vegetables, mayonnaise and mustard and pickles, supreme pizza, somebody's homemade dish with onions and peppers, things like that. No can do. I suffer the embarrassment but it's better to me than ingesting the (to me) repulsive foods.

My parents were very picky eaters with regards to eating healthy food. They just didn't think Americans ate well (which is generally true) so we mostly had home-grown veggies (even wild greens and mushrooms), grass-fed beef from my uncle who raises cattle, organic milk (and we made our own butter from the cream), etc. We didn't eat the low-fat, sugar-free stuff or any processed foods. I actually didn't eat that sort of food until I went away to college and met my future husband, who's family was completely raised on TV dinners and whatever Betty Crocker promoted.

My parents also chose to join a fringe-Christian cult that followed Jewish-like food laws, so we never ate pork or shellfish either. (Although cheeseburgers were totally okay!) I followed along with that eating well into my 30s.

When the church organization fell apart, many of the children raised in the church found it difficult to venture into eating the "unclean" meats. Bacon seemed to be the gateway meat product. And many who's parents had banned white sugar from the house went nuts with the stuff. I recall my first venture into the world of pork was to have bacon on my cheeseburger. Dang, it was so tasty! But soon afterward, I had really bad stomach cramps and had to go to the bathroom, a lot! I've gotten past that reaction now (tee hee, I self-inoculated with lots of grass-fed, uncured Niman Ranch bacon), but find I don't really like ham or pork chops. Although Mexican carnitas is pretty awesome! And it took me nearly 10 years to try shrimp, and to find I didn't like it...I was cool with that.

I am very adventurous in many ways. I've traveled and lived all over the world, and not just the nice, easy, western-friendly destinations. If I wasn't adventurous, I wasn't going to be eating anything fresh. I've seen other Americans living overseas bringing suitcases full of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Honey Nut Cheerios for their kids because they wouldn't teach them how to eat local. They didn't seem to want to do it for themselves either, and they spent A LOT of money importing food that they preferred. And making up for calories with alcohol!

I'm sure if I had to live in some place that only had grubs for a protein source that I'd be importing things too! And I'd probably go vegetarian, if I could, the rest of the time. When I lived in Indonesia, there were so many interesting greens at the market, and the fruit was amazing. The sweetest pineapple I've ever eaten. It was like candy! Everything in the markets had smells. It was really heady. There was a fruit that I never could bring myself to eat...durian. Nasty-smelling stuff! It was banned from people bringing it on airplanes.

We had coconut trees in our yard. My gardener would go out and pick some every week, as needed, and my cook would make the most amazing ox curry (Rendang) with the toughest cuts of meat. The coconut milk completely tenderized the meat and it was so yummy! Very spicy too. I had never eaten anything that spicy before. Makes spicy Mexican food seem like child's play!

When I lived in Kazakhstan, I was always really afraid I'd buy horsemeat. It was in the meat case at the butcher shop right there with the beef. I couldn't tell the difference, so I would go with someone who could. I hadn't learned Russian yet so I didn't know how to ask for beef. And they didn't have distinct cut of meat like we have in our supermarkets. Their cuts of beef were more like, "Lady, here's a hunk of meat I whacked off with my hatchet for you. Good luck with that!" And the meat wasn't aged at all, which helps improve flavor. So we'd leave it wrapped up and stick it in the back of the fridge for at least a week before cooking it, and we always cooked it in stew to make sure it was well-cooked and as tender as we could make it. So glad I brought some canned coconut milk with me in my suitcase!

Ok, I'm done sharing. I'm sure some of you are overwhelmed with queasiness by now. So sorry!

Wow. Just wow. :fr:

My friend from the Philippines was telling us about Durian fruit. I guess it is supposed to be pretty delicious inside even though stinky on the outside! We may get some to try if we can find it here. I would be willing to try it because there's hardly a fruit I don't like now. When I was a kid things like seeds on strawberries would have bothered me. I thought kiwi fruits looked like turds, too. :D And had too many seeds! But now I love fruit.

In fact, one thing that in the past made me more willing to eat "rabbit food" :bunny::carrot: was having a little fruit salad. No chicken or anything that didn't "belong" with fruit on it, mind you! And just plain - lettuce with some assorted fruits.

Sometimes when there were more salad bars around (so many places did away with them) I'd have some savory salad then go back for fruit.

Skinnyminnie I have actually tried durian! It was not something I would eat again. The taste (to me) was akin to a strange combination of dirty cat litter and gasoline. I have heard people say they really love it, but I do not get it.

I just saw this thread today but I wanted to jump in. I have been a picky eater as long as I can remember. Like some of the earlier posters it is a smell and/or texture issue for me. I WILL NOT eat any type of ground meat. No hot dogs, hamburg, sausage, pepperoni and don't get me started on kielbasa. The thought of what they are putting in there makes my stomach turn.

My other 'food issues' as I call them, are no tomatoes (but I will have ketchup or tomato sauce, no lumps), onions (blech) peppers or mushrooms.

I have tried foods as I've gotten older (I was in my 20's when I first tried broccoli and loved it) so I will venture out of my comfort zone at times.

I'm boring to eat pizza with (cheese only) and I've been told I eat like a child but I know what I don't like and I'm not bending for anyone ! :tantrum:

I have always been a picky eater and recently found out that I'm a super taster (so vegetables are bitter and diet/no calorie sweeteners are extremely revolting). I have no idea how to diet around this as I'll eat fruits and salty stuff any day. I'm currently trying to set a diet that fits my picky eating but I also tire of food really, really, REALLY easily!!!!! Anyone else here like me???:?:

Count me among those for whom this thread has been illuminating. I'm the opposite of a picky eater. I like exotic foods with very strong flavours. Also a food snob and into fine dining. Fast food and comfort food do nothing for me, but give me creme brulee or marinated squid or a fiery Thai curry and it's game over.

F.

Wisertime and DanRae, we would probably all get along pretty well! ;)

And freelancemomma can have all the "foodie" food we don't like! :D

I have always been a very picky eater and unwilling to try new things. I only wanted unhealthy, greasy and ultra-carby food - NO veggies. However, I've found that my weight loss journey has pushed me into trying new things and I've played around with recipes until I've found healthy food that I enjoy. Apparently, I will eat cauliflower roasted in the oven (but still HATE broccoli with a passion) and love grilled asparagus. Who knew?

So true Skinnieminnie Wannabe!!! :D

Oh my god. Excuses, excuses. Being thin doesn't give the luxury of being a "picky eater." Lol. Food is fuel. Eat what is good for you. Eat what keeps you strong, active, and healthy! :p

Honey, there may be truth in what you say - I'm sure people without food aversions do have an easier time losing weight - but you need to research Sensory Processing Disorders before making such a generalization. This is not something people choose to have.

Moving right along . . .

I think I'm going to do better now. Found out I'm going to have surgery next week to repair a hernia (for the 2nd time) and I really want this to be turning over a new leaf.

There are a reasonable number of healthy foods I can put into my body if allowed to prepare them in a way that I find less intimidating, so that's one thing I'll do.

Eating small nibbly meals especially in the summertime is another way that I can get more of a variety of foods, not make a big deal out of eating, etc. For myself and other picky eaters I've encountered online, sometimes the norm in society of a formal meal can be problematic - especially for those of us needing to lose weight (and a small group of people who are unhealthily thin due to not being able to eat very many foods).

The thing is, with a big sit-down meal, it's great if it happens to be something the person with food sensory issues has no difficulty eating. Problems arise, however, when the food is unpleasant to the picky eater. She finds herself upset, depressed, stressed over it. And wanting to sneak later and have what she would prefer.

Or if the big meal is something she likes very much, sometimes there's a great temptation to overeat - almost out of relief, like "Whew! A meal I can just enjoy!"

So I'm going to try a "healthy grazing" approach and take most of my meals by myself as much as possible. :carrot:

I should probably do a blog about all this....

Would any other picky eating dieters be interested in a support thread?
 

I could sure use one. It's not a problem at every single meal, but when it does rear its ugly head I get kind of bummed.

If there are other ladies here who struggle with the extra challenge of sensory issues re food that make it more difficult to find healthy stuff to eat, let's band together. Even venting is okay. Or baby steps. No judging, no guilt.

Any takers?

Me :)

I haven't posted before but this thread has really inspired me. I've been diagnosed with dyslexia/dyspraxia and am fairly sure I'm on the autism spectrum. When I was a kid I had really problems learning how to use a knife and fork (poor hand eye co-ordination and muscle control) so found eating a struggle.

Things are a lot better now but textures get to me, I've got a whole load of clothes with labels cut out and I can't bare to wear anything 'scratchy'. I can't eat anything slimy or rubbery. Egg whites are my nemesis, the texture is always horrible no matter how they're cooked and they taste *wrong*. I still literally pick at food I haven't prepared myself (as politely as possible), I can't eat a sandwich without opening it up to check there's nothing I dislike inside.

That said I love green veggies, and have slowly worked my way up to eating spicy food.

I love the idea of support from other people who understand I'm not just being difficult or childish.