It's so nice to read everyone's posts and realize I'm not alone with my picky eating! I have been picky as long as I can remember, although I have expanded my diet in the past 5 years or so...but it has taken a lot of work and I am still very particular about the way foods are prepared. I am 27 years old now. The biggest issues I have are that I don't like any raw veggies or fruit other than bananas. The texture is really what gets me. I do best when foods are soft and not crunchy. I think this is why banans are okay, but I don't like apples, raw carrots, celery, etc. I will eat some cooked veggies now, but they have to be cooked and seasoned in the "right" way. I can now eat zucchini, broccoli, asparagus, corn, potatoes, peppers (only green ones and only if they are grilled well), and green beans (mostly through canned kind). I can eat almost any veggie if it is finely cut and cooked until soft in a soup form. I still really can't handle raw veggies and other fruits although I have tried to get myself to. It takes a lot of mental and emotional energy though...and I have to be alone because I hate for anyone to see my reactions to food I don't like. I've gotten myself to eat raw carrots before but it's such a labor that I don't stick with it. My picky eating has caused me a lot of social anxiety over the years. It was fine when I was younger because a lot of kids are picky, but as an adult it has gotten much harder... especially because eating fruits and veggies is healthy and so many people around me are trying to live these super healthy lifestyles with really strict diets. I think it's doubly hard for me because I have been overweight most of my adolsescence/adulthood and I know when people realize I never eat fruits or vegetables they judge me for it. Obesity runs in my family though and many of my relatives eat very fruit/veggie rich diets so I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make. I get so anxious going to dinner at other peoples houses because I don't want them to notice how picky I am! There have been so many times where someone will notice I'm not eating something and say "you don't like (insert food here)?!! That's so weird!" And then they start asking me a million questions about what else I do and don't like...and I start wishing that I could just disappear 🙁 My husband is thankfully very understanding of my eating habits and doesn't judge me at all, but his family is all very thin and extremely obsessed with eating "healthy" and "pure foods" and it feels like they are always pushing fruits and veggies on me and making comments about how weird it is that I don't like so many foods. It's very hard. I also have had some trauma in my childhood and I wonder if I might have a sensory processing disorder and that could be linked to my picky eating...I don't know!