Why limit yourself? It seems like such a closed-minded way to view food. Help me understand?

I don’t think there’s much of a choice to it. When my brain rejects a food (usually based only on smell) there literally isn’t anything I can do about it. Even if I do push through and take a bite, it will always taste horrible.

My own picky eating is also in large part fuelled by some sort of authorexia tbh. This definitely isn’t the norm for picky eaters though. It’s just when I was a kid I was slightly averse to fish but my parents snuck some into my food anyways. When I realized I had a meltdown so large that I still can’t even eat anything that even remotely smells like fish. Not even seaweed or vegan fish replacements. But it’s even more that I can’t allow anyone to have any control over what I eat. So I’m pretty particular about enforcing that I don’t want olives, or mayonnaise, or other mundane stuff just to make sure I actually have a say in what I eat.

Going vegan was actually really awesome for that reason. I get constant assurance that my food choices are respected, and it’s a ruleset that people are more willing to respect.

I wouldn’t call myself a “picky” eater per se, but my peanut/tree nut allergy makes me apprehensive to try new food. Especially if there aren’t clear labels for things like peanut oil and cross contamination.

I’m not interested in going out of my way to try new food cause I just view eating as something I have to do to survive, not something I enjoy doing. My anxiety prevents me from outright refusing food from someone, but often if it’s one of the many things I know I don’t like I’ll just say I’m full and deal with it. I most likely ate enough the rest of the day to survive till tomorrow anyway.

Some foods taste like litteral dirt. It’s a genetic quirk some people have. Beets, carrots, mushrooms, grapes, all taste like mud. I can’t taste the “sweetness” at all. Nuts also have a chalky flavor, but I couldn’t tell you why (strangely seeds, legumes, and beans are tasty af). Parsley tastes like soap. Licorice tastes like old socks. People like to attribute pickiness to the foods I don’t like, but why should I force myself to eat dirt and soap? That doesn’t stop me trying new things. Eel is delicious. Shrimp heads are meh. Dirty rice is great. Conch is fantastic. Lobster is bleh. Ostrich is gamey. Gator is good. Fennel heads are amazing. I’m always trying new foods, but when I turn my nose up at “normal” food with carrots, or nuts, or mushrooms I’m called “picky” because people are quick to throw out that word.

If the texture/flavor triggers my gag reflex and I can’t physically swallow, the question is not “why am I limiting myself?” but rather, “why would I attempt to abuse myself?”

Trying new food can be risky, its not cheap and if you cant eat it you just wasted your money and the food. Food also takes time to prepare which you may not have the time to make or order something else which then can snowball into larger issues. Not to mention the social pressure/judgment to finish a meal you wish you could force down your throat and getting accused of being dramatic and wasteful.

I like to try new foods here and there but I need to be able to get a small portion to avoid waste and know theres a back up I can eat to avoid skipping a meal altogether. It also needs to be with a crowd that I feel safe enough with not to get shat on if I cant eat it.

That being said I can only imagine making a blanket statement that I’d never try something if I already know it’s very similar to something else that I can’t eat.

Autism.

Textures & temperatures are problematic. I stay with what I know so minimise the chance of freaking out.

wHy LiMiT yOuRsElF

You think I want to live like this? That I’m choosing to? Bewildering.

I’m a picky eater, but I will try things and do like a lot of different foods, but once I try something and don’t like it, it gets added to the “nah” list, and there’s a bunch on that list and some is “normal” stuff. For example, fuck green bell peppers, red bell gang all day.

I’ll eat my own cum but won’t touch ranch dressing. Do with that what you will.

Growing up, my family has always accused me of being a picky eater, and it comes up every time we’re eating together. Every family get-together, it’s always a big deal whether I’m going to eat the prepared meal or not. My sister especially likes to offer to make a separate meal just for me because I’m “sooo picky!”

I can’t get it through their skulls that I’m less of a picky eater than they are - I’m just vocal about the very few specific foods I decided I don’t like. Which happens to be in a lot of recipes my extended family makes.

I spent 20 years traveling the world with the US military and I made it a point to try local cuisine everywhere I went. I became a bit of a foodie, and some of my favorite foods are from foreign countries. Every time family members came to visit me in other countries, I’d spend half of their visit just introducing them to amazing cuisine in the local area.

We’d eat out practically every day to give them a taste of the local culture. And surprisingly, most of them didn’t care for it. They wanted their “American food” instead. They weren’t very adventurous when it came to trying new things. There’s nothing worse than going to a ramen shop in Japan or a döner shop in Germany and having your family ask if we can go find a McDonald’s instead.

But sure, I’m a picky eater because I’ve hated squash since I was a child, and that’s apparently a staple of every family banquet.

I wouldn’t eat coconut for years because when I was 7 I was eating a bag of coconut shavings and my dad and uncle convinced me they were toenail clippings.

Autism, at least for me. If my brain decides to reject it there’s little I can do. I once ordered filet mignon in a fancy steak house, then couldn’t eat a bite of it because my brain decided it’s not good.

For me, personally, ADHD plays a part in my food. I crave routine.

Slimey vegetables make me gag.

I’m a picky eater, but it’s mostly because of texture-related issues. (However, I am also picky about flavors.) Wrong textures make me want to gag. I don’t actually gag, because I’ve learned to suppress it.

I have no problem trying new things. I just often immediately hate the new things. However, I will try it again after enough time had passed. Sometimes, it will be prepared differently enough to be appetizing. Other times, I will start to like a flavor that I once hated. I have never had my texture preferences change.

Which texture do I hate? I call it the “wrong kind of mushy.” It’s hard to explain, because I do like some mushy foods. Mashed, baked, or boiled potatoes? Almost always gag inducing. Oatmeal? Wonderful. Hiding small amount of wrong mushy foods among foods with a better texture sometimes helps, but only if I like the flavor despite the mush.

Edit to add: I hate onions with a burning passion. Every way except powdered. Onions induce the strongest gag reflex, and many people think I’m weird for hating onions. I’ve come to hate the flavor of (anything but powdered) onion by association, so I often can’t eat foods that once had onion in them even after being completely removed.