It wasn't until the other day when I randomly came across an article about basically adult picky eaters. I truly always thought this was just a thing I did all on my own. I never knew there was such a population of individuals like myself out there. I guess I will start by saying I have been a picky eater ever since I was a child. I remember my mom making spaghetti for dinner and then a grilled cheese on the side for me. (I now like spaghetti so long as it is very plain with no obvious chunks of vegetables in it) Anyways, as I got older and older I never thought that my diet of only pepperoni pizza, pb and j sandwiches, frozen assortments of dishes, and ordering completely plain cheeseburgers would be a problem. There were times though I would lie about food when placed in a social eating situation. I would say I had a big breakfast or I am going out later to eat or I am just not hungry because I would never know what was being served or if I would like it. If I try something I do not like I have a tendency to gag horribly. It is very embarrassing. I cannot even eat a salad and I have tried for years to get by with it but I just can't stomach it. School was difficult too. My family was slightly impoverished when it came to money so the school district decided meals would be free for us so that's what we ate. Due to that fact, we couldn't afford to pack a sack lunch everyday for me especially with the few things I would eat so it was school food for me. I hated most of the food and granted it was school food but I couldn't eat the country fried steak, the pizza, chili, soup, meatball subs, the list goes on and on. I could always find something wrong with it. I pretty much spent lunch time giving away food and socializing. I enlisted into the Marines when I was 20 and it was very difficult to manage my eating habits there. It was 3 meals a day and you ate what they served. End of story. I would often hide my vegetables under my drinking cup. It was pretty ridiculous for a 20 year old in bootcamp to utterly refuse to eat vegetables or chicken on the bone or most soups with vegetables in them. I am 29 years old now and still cannot eat anything on a bone. The different layers of meat on them or too much to handle. I love chicken but it is so difficult for me to eat the bits that I like. My wife is often frustrated by my pickiness but does her best to understand but even when she tries her best to prepare meals for me I often will come across a texture in one single bite that will ultimately ruin the rest of the meal for me. Chicken is one of those things where I will bite into something that is just a bit more chewy or tougher than the rest of it and terrible nasty things will race through my mind and I feel sick and the piece has to come out of my mouth and the meal is over for me at that point. I have 2 kids now and my 3 year old is acting like me. She almost never eats and when she does its the kind of foods you don't want them eating for the rest of their lives. I wish there was something that could just get me over this like everyone tells me to do but it doesn't seem likely anytime soon but at least I know there is support out there.