Hi there! So glad to finally find something like this with people I. An relate too! But I do definitely need some help.. see I don't tend to eat a lot as my diet mainly consists of cereal( milk for moisture but not for taste?) toast or plain ham sandwiches which I cannot have butter in the bread if it's not toasted, crisps, biscuits, cakes but nothing jam or doughnut based, won't eat seafood, most fruits and vegetables, literally ANY sauce! I can have BBQ sauce if it's cooked fresh on the meat but no dipping or sauce on my bread, just chewing or tasting anything like that is instant gag/puke and I've seen some pretty nasty things! (Not squeamish)
I can eat cheese on very limited foods but never just out of s packet like my eating habits put a massive strain on my relationship which is now over, I literally never go out with any of my mates cause I don't want to be the one to go to prezzos and order a pepperoni pizza and it's genuinely starting to affect my health now. Having been working in months because I'm just too tired and unmotivated due to just lack of eating properly, I could use some serious advice or some form of therapy to help me overcome this like sensory malfunction so I can enjoy different foods! Sorry for the rant hope to hear from someone?

Only recently found out that this is actually a disorder. I’m trying to get figure out how to get better. Cause I can’t diet how I would want to cause I can’t stand any fruit or vegetables. If something smells or looks funny I stay clear of it. I’m always afraid everything I try that I’m not gonna like it and that it’s gonna make me gag.
It’s to the point it’s putting a strain on my relationship because my gf is worried that when she cooks me meals I won’t eat them

Hello. I stumbled across this group while doing a web search "eating healthy for those who can't eat fish or chocken".
I'm 49 years old and my eating pattern started when I was a toddler. At that time, the only meat I would eat was bacon. I ate few veggies but loved fruit. I didn't eat my first pizza until I was a pre teen and my first cheeseburger and hot dog until after I started driving. I developed a taste for a few more veggies later, but I also developed more tastes for red meat. I also developed a taste for fast food..mainly pizzas and burgers. I also cannot have a bag of chips in the house or they'll be gone. I guess my main problems is smell and texture. I've tried to eat chicken breast and ni matter how it's cooked, I can't even chew it. I can't even get fish to my mouth without a gag reflex kicking in. This has been very frustrating and has nit only kept me from social gatherings but has gotten me riddiculed by family and strangers to the point that I try to eat alone. It hss also affected my heslth as I now have heart disease, high bp, doverticulosis and joint issues from being obese. I have always thought my eating hsbits were more than just psychological no doctor has ever taken me seriously. Just knowing there is a group like this if others who don't fit "the norm" makes me not feel as alone in the world.

Hi i would like to thank the people of picky eating adults for some wonderful tips. It helped me a lot into losing weight and i lost about 50lbs in about 5 months time which is really good considering my weight was well over 250 pounds. so thanks!

I read about ARFID around a year ago, and it gave me the most unique feeling to know that what I deal with is a real thing. I'm almost 23, but since a very young age, I've been physically unable to force myself to try new things. I will gag at the idea of any vegetable, and most fruits. Certain textures will give me a panic attack. People have laughed at me and called me a picky eater, but I know it isn't just picky eating. It's a real disorder and I can't help it. I always tell myself I'll start trying one new thing per week or per month and I just can't do it. I eat mainly chicken, burgers (plain), plain tacos with just meat, plain pepperoni or cheese pizza, pb&j, cereal, and other unhealthy junk foods and snacks. I'm really overweight because of this and I need to change. I need serious help and I can't afford any treatment. It genuinely terrifies me that I may be like this forever. I have such a terrible relationship with food, it depresses me endlessly.

I am so happy to find this is a real disorder. I have always been ridiculed about not trying new foods and people can never understand why I won't eat hardly anything. And just recently I found out I'm highly sensitive to casein or milk so that cut back a lot or pretty much everything that I eat besides bread or gluten which is starting to give me issues also. I'm 37 years old and this is starting to cause me stomach issues. I already have leaky gut. The NutriBullet has helped me tremendously because mine is mainly with the texture of food and it pol varizes everything so it's completely smooth and icy... If you use frozen fruit... But I'm bad about using that everyday and I just seem to want granola bars. And I drink way too much coke. Actually that's all I drink. I'm just so glad that this is something that's real and not just behavior I guess

Hi everyone, I’m Hannah and I’m 20 years old. My story is a little different and people just don’t understand it. Neither do I to be honest. Up until the age of 5, I ate everything and anything, I was a chubby child and loved food, healthy and bad! My parents just remember me being the age of 5 when I began to dislike food. I had a fear of fruit and vergetables and would only eat very plain coloured foods. I have learned to like a lot now but I still haven’t been able to eat fruit since 5 years old. I try every year and it just won’t happen. Doctors say I’m still getting the vitamins I need so there’s no need to worry but it’s so hard in everyday life. I’m still quite fussy, very much a children’s menu girl. But I can’t find any help, I don’t know what to do. It’s so restricting, making my social anxiety very difficult. I’m hoping I can find some help or tips on here, and thank any help in advance x

Hi, my name is Rebecca.
I have struggled with ARFID/SED for a very long time. I am 19. I think I started showing symptoms when I was a toddler. I remember being able to happily eat apples and cheese.
I don't know what started my symptoms but it totally turned everything around. Like most of you guys, I am limited to what my friends often tell me is "a 12 year old's birthday party" diet. I often feel lucky that my friends recognize it as something else at all. My whole life I have been totally ridiculed and shunned and blamed for my eating habits. As a kid, I had no idea what was "wrong with me", and constantly tried to find reasons or excuses to eat the way I do. I was often punished by my parents too, some of which I don't remember at all, but I do remember a lot of nights spent alone in my room, crying, because I couldn't eat the Chow Mein my mum cooked. After many doctor visits and seeing a dietitian I took it into my own hands and started doing some digging. That's how I found out about this. Wow. It blew my mind. I always felt so out-cast and alone, but it isn't just me. This stuff is deeply psychological. Deeply. It hurts that other people don't recognize that, for me, at least. It has taken its toll on my mental health (social anxiety, OCD symptoms, feeling depressed, etc) but my most rock bottom was standing in the bathroom and feeling so disgusting and awful and alone and wanting to throw everything up in the toilet and call it a day. I didn't. It's so hard. People need to look beyond the "picky eating" part and dig a little deeper. I don't want pity from the people around me - I want so badly for some acceptance and recognition. I struggle with this a lot too. Friends will often brush off the severity of it, of how I feel especially. Hence a lot of teasing, even light-hearted, it hurts me.

I will say, I've come a very long way. I have been experimenting and trying in tiny baby steps, where-ever I can. It is very slow, but I am relieved to be taking steps in the right direction. I still have a very long way to go. The path ahead is kind of frightening. But I want this more than anything. I have already been to psychiatrists (though I recently moved so I should start searching for a new one, they helped me SO much in facing my eating).
This is just my story. I need a platform to share, especially one where people might take me seriously. Thank you for taking the time to read - and sorry if I got a little dark in there. I'm doin' alright, and it will get better.

Hello! I'm 17 years old, and I've been a picky eater for that long. For years my mom tried to force me to eat all sorts of food, and I'd sit at the dinner table for hours until she let me go to bed. I always thought it was because I was so young, that my tastebuds would develop (is that even a real thing?) and I'd start to like other foods. Unfortunately I've come to the realization that I am completely unable to try new foods. I feel as if I eat a lot; I eat chicken, pizza, mozzarella cheese sticks, bagels, toast, french fries, and a lot of junk food. When it comes to real food, it isn't much. By chicken I mean chicken nuggets, my bagels are plain, french fries with no sauce, etc. I've recently gained so much weight, but I'm extremely active so I completely blame it on my eating habits. I wish so much to be able to eat differently, and reading all of these posts of adults 50+ years old stuck in the same boat as me is terrifying. I'm scared for future relationships, health issues, etc. There is no healthy way for me to lose weight; the first step to being healthy is eating healthy. Lucky me, I decided to be picky and only like the bad foods. I want a way out of this, I don't want to have to fill my stomach up on awful (but great-tasting) foods forever. I hate that there's ways to essentially "fix" or treat anorexia, bulimia, etc., but a picky eater is just called stubborn. None of us would eat off the kids menu if we had another choice. It interferes with everything. Like I said, I'm 17 and active, so team dinners were a weekly thing for me in high school. I either avoided the dinners altogether or wouldn't eat, making up some excuse about being sick. I feel that I do get sick more often because of the unhealthy foods I eat. I KNOW it has to change, and I KNOW there has to be a way. So if you have read all of this, and you know a way out of this, please please please give me some advice. I can't live the rest of my life like this, it's unhealthy. I wish I just knew what steps I could take to fixing this, but it's not as simple as just trying a bunch of random things and eating it until I like it. I feel that will worsen my problem and cause me to hate new foods even more. This has turned into a novel, so I'll end my sob story about needing chicken nuggets 24/7 here. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.