Hi, I'm Sophie, I'm 18 years old, and I've always been a "picky eater." It's a struggle but I'm used to it. I'd have to say that the worst part for me is definitely the embarrassment of it, e.g. eating in restaurants. My daily diet consists of some sort of bread-type food (such as plain croissants or dry toast - no butter) for breakfast, light snacks such as crisps or a bread roll to last me through lunch time, and then some variance of chicken nuggets and chips for dinner (no sauce). I'm also heavily addicted to chocolate and sugary sweets. When I was younger I apparently used to eat an array of different fruits and vegetables, however I can't ever remember putting a vegetable in my mouth so I must've been very young at the time. I eat the occasional apple (Pink Ladies only), but other than that I have no fruit or vegetable intake at all. Part of my struggle is the fact that I don't even eat regular "picky eater" foods such as pizza or burgers. The thought of pizza revolts me (the idea of lots of foods mushed together makes me feel sick) and I don't like any of the ingredients in pizza anyway so have never wanted to try it. I'm fine to eat chicken burgers (with or without coating) but it must come completely plain with no sauce or salad touching it whatsoever. I've never tried a beef burger though. I used to eat bacon but have gone off the taste over the last few years - I would still eat it but just not out of choice particularly. I've never wanted to try pasta either, or anything like that. I often find that certain smells set me off; for example, on Christmas Day I can't stand being forced to eat at a large table where a variety of different foods are constantly being passed about - I won't even touch the bowls/plates. The smell so much as makes me feel sick whilst I'm eating, not to mention the fact that I can't look at foods that I don't like whilst eating my own food. Simply watching someone opposite me putting spoonfuls of something I think looks "gross" whilst I'm also eating puts me off my food. I have tried multiple things to "cure" this disorder, my most recent being a trip to a doctor about 5 years ago (if not longer ago) which didn't help at all. She tried to encourage me to try a mix of bland as well as more bold foods such as green beans, curry, carrots and pasta. She also encouraged me to keep a daily diary of my food intake. I kept the diary up for about 2 weeks but never once tried a new food. This resulted in her making me feel embarrassed and guilty more than anything else. As I was fairly young at the time, my mum had come in the doctors room with me, and all I remember is sitting there looking at my mum with tears in my eyes because I didn't know what else I could possibly say other than "I couldn't make myself try it." The doctor (of a different ethnic background) insinuated that I was just being fussy and that I was being childish about the matter. Needless to say I've never considered seeing a specialist of any sort again. My mother is also suffers from picky eating, however over time her diet has become wider. As a child, she was similar to myself with the foods she ate (bland, basic "kids food") however she has ketchup on absolutely everything - for every meal. I can't stand ketchup or any sauce for that matter - not that I've ever tried any. My grandfather (my mum's father) was a picky eater when he was younger too. His diet would consist of mainly dairy products or plain meat. He has got much better with time though. The thing that always strikes my friends is that I am of healthy weight and body size (quite slim and tall for a girl) considering the amount of trash that I eat. Almost everything I eat is considered unhealthy, so I dread to think the impact it will one day have on my body. To give an idea, I probably consume over 5 times more chocolate than I should in a week, and regularly have fast food. Even with fast food and restaurants I am limited to only places which do some equivalent of chicken nuggets. One good thing about me is that I only tend to drink still/mineral/tap water. I can't stand fizzy drinks (soda), nor tea or coffee. I would drink chocolate milkshakes or hot chocolate but no other drinks such as smoothies, other flavors of milkshakes or slushies. Having just turned 18 (the legal drinking age in my country) I've been out maybe once or twice and tried spirits such as vodka - which surprisingly I was able to tolerate. Yet, I think what partly helped was not being able to see what I was drinking due to the dark atmosphere in the club, and the fact that most of the drinks I had were shots so they were over quickly. Is it normal to be a picky drinker as well as a picky eater or is that just me? I'm lucky to have a supportive family however at times I don't feel like my friends or boyfriend understand what it's like for me. My boyfriend and I have been together for over 2 years now and luckily he's picky too - just not as picky. In fact, I make him look like he eats normally! He eats anything plain-ish such as pizza, chicken, steak, burgers, chips, etc, but is much more open to trying new foods - something I can't bring myself to do! This is particularly frustrating as he doesn't understand how hard it is for me to try to convince myself to physically put something new in my mouth. The other day, for example, he took me out for a lovely meal at a restaurant I knew I liked, and he was trying to encourage me to try a tiny piece of his steak as he thought I'd like it. I was feeling really motivated to try it but as soon as I looked at it I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. Immediately he said "I knew you wouldn't try it really" and was disappointed, which in turn made me feel so embarrassed. My last thing; I'm hoping to start university in September which means moving away from home into shared accommodation in a new place. Although I will have my own bedroom, I will have to use a shared kitchen (consisting of around 9 other people my age) and I'm absolutely terrified about the food situation. To make matters worse, I currently can't even cook my own food - my mum cooks almost everything I eat. I've seen other people I know go off to university and sit down at meal times with their flat mates, however this is a real problem for me as I know that 99.9% of the time I will not eat what others will. I would do anything to change how I am with food in time for moving away from home but I am even more scared of trying new methods of "getting over it."