Just yesterday, I realized there's a name for what I go through on a daily basis. I am a college student from the states studying abroad in Bogota and I have been struggling with this since leaving my home after high school. For the first two years in college, I stuck to small amounts of "safe" foods, like fruits, rice, plain noodles, chicken tenders, fries, some vegetables if cooked, mac n cheese, grilled cheese, plain potato chips, french bread and chicken noodle soup. Nothing on a bone EVER. I never try new things, I gag when I don't like a food texture or taste (I can't help it), and I have no appetite most of the time unless it is one of my favorite foods. I have been super picky since high school and rarely eat throughout the day. I didn't realize I had a problem though. I just thought it was my taste palette--that there was nothing I could do about it. Then last night my boyfriend and I were talking about my diet. He was concerned that I get sick a lot (pretty much every week since we started dated a year and a half ago) and he brought up that I need to eat more. I googled "picky eater" and Selective Eating Disorder popped up. After two different websites, all of my symptoms matched: texture fears, choking, gagging, allergies to random foods like avocados (and yes I have had terrible allergic reactions to foods when out at restaurants and had to leave to get Benadryl). I honestly would forget to eat because I just didn't feel hungry. I feel terrible every time I eat because I can never find something I like at any restaurant (then again sometimes that is easier if I only like one thing so I don't have to scour the menu forever)... I can never finish a whole plate of food regardless of the amount. I don't know why, I just physically can't take another bite. The woman I live with in Bogota tries to force feed me foods that I don't like and there's a language barrier too, so that's an issue. She is constantly making me eat all of the proteins (chicken because that's all I will eat) on my plate and I feel so nauseous after and gag. I can never swallow new foods, I always have to spit them out. It's really difficult for me to even take a bite sometimes because I know I won't like it and have the horrible taste in my mouth for a while. This is terrible, but I feel like I starve myself just because I cannot find a single thing that I like to eat. Most of the time, I only eat half of my meal. This is most annoying when other people make the food, such as at an outing or party, because I feel guilty for not finishing it. They ALWAYS say something like "you don't like it?" or "You are so skinny, you need to eat it all." Ugh...not sure how to proceed. Just glad that I know what is going on now and it's not just me being annoyingly picky. If it annoys anyone the most, it's me.