It’s only been really recently I’ve realised how much eating has impacted my whole life. I didn’t realise how much shame And pressure could be put around something Without you realising it, it feels like I’m slowly suffocating. I thought having a diagnosis was finally going to give me what I needed to get the help I need but I feel like I’ve been given a life sentence. I wanted so bad for years for people to hear my screams and please for help and now I finally have an answer I just feel so empty. The realisation that there will never be a “normal” for me again has been a lot to come to terms with but I guess we all have to start somewhere.

Hello,

I am 29 going on 30 in 4months, and I have been a picky eater for as long as I can remember. Textures are a big thing for me, I won't eat many, many foods because of this. I won't try new foods for fear the texture will be displeasing and I have an anxiety about not liking food people give me. My diet is basically just carbs and sweets. I'm 5ft2in and weigh almost 200lbs. I've spoken to a therapist about my eating, and we are going to try EMDR therapy to see if a childhood trauma caused my picky eating. I've always thought I was alone with this, or at the few least one of a small group, but it seems this is bigger than I thought. It is awesome to have found this support group. To know that, I am not alone with this.

Please send me the information on the new site. I am 50 years old and have struggled with this disorder since before kindergarten. I have stories to share and definitely need the fellowship on this topic.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I am not the only person to deal with this stuff after finding this site! I'm 30 and I've been extremely picky for my entire life. I feel like I'm pretty good at avoiding judgement but I know for a fact that my pickiness has made me miss professional and romantic opportunities. I desperately want to eat more foods but I just don't know how to start. How do I begin when I've only eaten the same things for my whole life?

I have been an incredibly picky eater for my entire life. Both of my parents were relatively picky as well, and never really pushed me to eat new foods or try new things - if they wouldn't eat it, why would they make me? I'm now 23, and have so much anxiety surrounding food. I've never tried most vegetables. I have never tried any kind of sauce. I hate foods that are watery or soggy. I have never eaten soup. I'm very sensitive to texture, and that puts me off of trying new things. I also have anxiety about how my food is prepared - I want to know exactly what's in it and what it has touched. If I see something I don't like touch food that I am about to eat, I feel physically unable to eat the food. I'm an anxious and high-strung person outside of my eating habits, but my picky eating feels like it's on a completely different level. It frustrates everyone in my life that I refuse to try new things, and I feel guilty because everyone has to cater to my weird eating habits. I would like to branch out and start trying new foods, but I feel like I cannot mentally or physically bring myself to do so. I've lived with my eating habits for my entire life, and I'm accustomed to people reacting strangely to how few things I will eat. But the older I get, the more embarrassed I feel by my pickiness. I wish I could explain to people that I'm not trying to be a brat!

I grew up as a picky eater and threw high school I started to grow out of it. Trying new foods, etc. As a kid it was only made worse by my single father desperately trying to get me to eat anything new. He took me on a roadtrip trip for 2 weeks when I was probably 8 or 9 and would nto let me eat anything unless it was cold green beans or peas out of the can. This made things much worse of course and I was sick from not eating during the trip I was vomiting up bile. Eventually at that point he let me have saltine crackers. Anyway, my picky eating worsened after that but began to get better once the pressure from him was relieved. Then in high school my mother who lived across the country died and I spiraled out of control of my eating again. I would try to eat the new foods I ad begun eating just a few years prior and I would gag and vomit. It got so bad I couldnt eat anything again but the "kids foods" i had been stuck eating my whole life prior. I am not stuck at 23 with not much change. During college I would try to eat different things in the dining hall so people wouldn't look at me weird, but in times of stress I would find myself in that downward spiral. I have always avoided eating with people and I have become an expert and eating just enough and moving food around on my plate to make me look like I enjoyed the food I was served. I now live with my boyfriend of 1 year and it bothers him immensely. I feel at a loss of what to do or how to get back in control of my eating. I can't afford therapy, and I don't even have insurance. I feel so extremely lost and frustrated.

I am 61 years old and have struggled with food as long as I can remember. In each and every person’s story, I see something I can relate to. If I could change one thing about myself, THIS would be it!

I learned about ARFID just a few months ago from the school Psychologist where I work, and I was so relieved and excited that there was finally actually a name for it, and it was being recognized as something more than just “picky eating.” I have spent a lifetime feeling so alone, isolated, freaky, and ashamed due to this.

I am a very social person, so this is very challenging, as so much of our culture, and every culture it seems, is centered around FOOD. I miss out on so much of the fun that I want to partake in, including travel, because of it. I’ve been judged, cajoled, told to “get over it,” pressured, had people get upset with me, get impatient, and even angry. I am left out of invites because I have turned down so many involving food. I have felt extremely uncomfortable in social situations, avoid most functions that involve food, experience incredible shame, have nearly had a panic attack just looking at a menu when I couldn’t see one thing I could eat… I feel nauseous just at the “thought” of some foods. Strong smells bother me, as do textures. Greens taste like dirt! I couldn’t eat take-out pizza until I was in my 20’s because it made me feel like I was choking.

The funny thing is, I love watching cooking shows, but there isn’t anything that they cook that I would eat. I watch other people eat a large variety of healthy foods, like my daughter and 3 year old granddaughter, and I just can’t fathom how they do it! More than anything, I want to find a way to really expand my food repertoire. I want to eat healthy food and actually be able to enjoy it. I want to feel carefree and adventurous when it comes to food. I would like to date again, but ARFID is a huge impediment to doing that with ease.

I’m glad to know I am not alone. I would appreciate being added to the support group.
Thanks!

Hey there,

I am 27 years old and I have struggled with restrictive eating since I was three. It's so great to hear from people like me. Unlike a lot of people here, I enjoy a lot of fruits and vegetables. However, my issue has always been getting enough protein. I don't eat meat, can't stand cheese. I eat a lot of pasta pizza (without the cheese) bread, pb&j and garden salads. I won't eat cooked vegetables, though except for corn on the cob. It gives me so much anxiety when making new friends or trying to pick a place to go for a date (pre- Covid). Is there any hope for us? I would love to be part of the new group if you could send me an invite!

38 going on 8 - - - I had some traumatic experiences when I was a kid because I wouldn't eat fruits or veggies. My aunt & baby sitter would force feed them to me to the point of gagging. So I've had these issues all my life. I've tried to do a small integration of fruits and veggies here and there - but then found that I had issues with textures. (like the seeds in strawberries, or the pulp of oranges) I cannot do fish (traumatic experience having to kill and gut one at an early age) or seafood as a whole - the smell makes me gag. The smell of tomatoes and the texture of cold lettuce on a warm sandwich... the list goes on. It is definitely preventing me from eating a healthy life, even with bariatric surgery, I am over weight of which I mostly contribute to my pickiness. 🙁