I hate pretty much all food, what do I do?

verdancyhime

I am NOT a health professional, and I can't speak with any certainty, but have you ever considered talking to a psychologist about this? The length and specificity of your lists of likes and dislikes, and the extreme sense of disgust you describe... it doesn't sound like normal "picky eating" to me. Counselors can be good at helping people to get over phobias and aversions, too. Maybe there is one who can help get to the root of why you have such a difficult relationship with food?

I have to agree with this and the other similar posts. Your list of "dislikes" goes far beyond normal food dislikes. It's seems to me that there is some deep down issue that is making you have such aversions to food. My opinion would be to see some type of professional that can help figure out why you have such reactions to food and work on a balanced meal plan that starts to slowing incorporate some essential foods that are on your "dislike" list. Good luck!

This. Also, I would purchase a food processor. Put things with textures you don't like into it and make yourself smoothies.

MsLilly200

I'm not sure if I skipped over it by reading too fast or if you just forgot to write it, but it looks like you didn't mention boiling vegetables.
That's one of my favorite ways to cook most vegetables, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower...

You might wanna try it... You can boil them without salt and add some if you don't like the flavour without, and depending on how long you boil them the texture will change dramatically.
If you still don't like something with or without salt you can but it in the fridge and try it cold later for yet another flavour.

apocalypsepwnie

Yep get some help.
In the mean time though.... I have a processor and it's honestly the best purchase I have made in a long time. My step kids have some of the food issues you have so I just puree the veg thry hate into meals. Seems by what youve said though the only thing you may be able to do it with is meat patties. Buy your own meat and blend with veg. If they cant taste them, you probably wont either. Mushroom, spinach, carrot and zucchini are good to start with

upgetupgetup

+ 1 psychologist.

Bit late in the game for it to work in any simple or direct way, but, wondering how much your dental and chewing problems might have contributed to developing this response... what are your options for improving your teeth? It might help make (probably marginal) changes in how things feel in your mouth. Has everything physical been excluded? You don't have GERD, allergies, or anything like that?

Blending veg into the meat sounds reasonable to me.

Also: have you had the opportunity to travel much? What have you done in those situations, if so? Not that it would just 'fix' things, but often, it's easier to do things you'd ordinarily think are off-putting or frightening in a totally different context.

Actually, this: "Having it touch my tongue or other teeth causes an immediate and visceral gagging reaction as if my body is screaming at the top of it's voice "THIS ISN'T FOOD, STOP TRYING TO EAT IT!" ... is making me wonder if part of it might be a nerve sensitivity thing... have you been seen by a neurologist, or had a doctor suggest there might be reason to?

boroko

I agree with all the posters who suggest that you seek professional help to overcome your food aversions. The fact that you are aware and concerned about your issues is a great start.

You listed soups as one of your dislikes, but if you can handle smoothies perhaps you could cope with very smoothly blended soups. A great way for you is to start varying your diet is to manage to eat soups as you can make them as smooth and mild as you need and still include a wide range of nutritious foods. Start with something fairly dilute using the foods you like (chicken, onions and rice works) and as you progress you can make them thicker and more varied in texture and ingredients. If you are cooking and blending them yourselves you have total control over the soup. Remember also that soup doesn't have to be eaten hot so you can do chilled or at room temperature if you find that more palatable. I have helped a number of children with food texture issues using soups and they have made massive progress. You may be able to progress to more varied textures but even if you only ever get as far as soup you will be able to improve your diet enormously.

Good luck. Small steps lead a long way. The health benefits will be so worth all your hard work and angst.

taso42

Eat the foods you do like. Stay within your calories. Do your best to hit your macros.

halleymw

Some of the "texture" problems seem psychological, BUT in addition to the people recommending psychiatry I would add to look into whether you are a "supertaster". You can do a home test with blue dye to get a sense of the number of taste buds you have, or order special supertester test strips at Amazon for a definitive test.
Mike

dillydally123

i heard a woman on the radio recently with very similar food phobias and she was "cured" in and hour or two by a nuroliguistic programmer . now as a disclaimer, i did just google that and wikipedia calls it a discredited discipline and listening to him and her talking about it sounded quite a bit like he had done some hypnosis with her.
but whatever it was she was eating normally after very little time with somebody who specialises in phobias, so i do think this is a fixable problem.

Miss_Aurora

V8 juice?

I used to only every like raw carrots, cooked potato and lettuce.

Visiting friends I'd force peas down with water (unless I had pockets to stuff them in!!).

My father took me to visit a very poor family and told me I had to eat EVERYTHING I was given .... cucumber sandwiches!! And I discovered how much I liked them.

After that I started to try more and more ... I would gag anytime I ate a cooked carrot .. but like you my mother overcooked everything so they were watery (and usually cold) and almost tasteless.

I started with steamed vegetables .. and OH MY LORD ... carrots are just so yummy! And sweat potato is amazing too.

Now I even love the veggies that others hate like brussle sprouts & brocolli (oh this is probably my favourite veg after sweet potato).

I took eating to be an adventure, sometimes I'd have to put lemon on it and take small nibbles but I soon learnt that flavours weren't as bad as I'd let my brain tell me.

Today I still hate raw tomato .. I've tried many times to eat it .. but I understand what you say about textures. It's the texture not the flavour I hate .. I can eat semi dried tomatoes and cherry tomatoes that are cooked .. other tomatoes I want sort of hidden.

Beetroot ... I managed to eat some of the grated beetroot I got in my salad the other day ... I knew I'd hate it and I was right, but I tried it just incase my taste for it has changed.

Peas though ... I can eat them because they are so common with so many meals ...... but I'd much prefer to stuff them in my pockets than in my mouth!

Miss_Aurora

i heard a woman on the radio recently with very similar food phobias and she was "cured" in and hour or two by a nuroliguistic programmer . now as a disclaimer, i did just google that and wikipedia calls it a discredited discipline and listening to him and her talking about it sounded quite a bit like he had done some hypnosis with her.
but whatever it was she was eating normally after very little time with somebody who specialises in phobias, so i do think this is a fixable problem.

Actually I watched the SUPER NANNY a few days ago and it was about a young girl that would only eat sweet foods.

Nanny & the mum had her eating whole meals and veggies within a few days by using distraction tactics. The family talked to her while she ate about the things she could see around her (they started with a picnic in the park) ...

So perhaps something to take your mind off what your eating could work too? Maybe watching TV or listening to music through some headphones.

mideon_696

cant help you re texture issues...but for protein...perhaps start making some shakes.
you can add olive oil(or whatever) to them for your fats as you dont taste it.

as for the veges...just farkin eat em. you will change.

Hbazzell

When pregnant moms get "morning sickness" that is the body telling them not to eat certain foods to protect the baby's sensitive system. Broccoli for example has high sulfur content and is too harsh when it goes into baby's blood stream so the body tells mom that all broccoli type foods are going to make her sick. It is actually a defense mechanism. (Citation: A few human bio classes in college lol)

With that said I almost wonder if the sensitivity babies have in utero has traveled with you to adult hood and your ability to comfortable digest certain foods never developed. Do you get sick at all when you eat these foods or is it completely mental? If you aren’t getting sick at all here are my humble suggestions:

1. Get over it. I don’t mean to sound harsh at all but the reality is a lot of people would rather only drink chocolate milk or Pepsi because they don’t like water, but if you really want to lose the weight you have to suck it up and drink water while cutting out excessive goodies.
2. Try Hypnotism. I don't know if that stuff works but I think that is your other option.

CassieReannan

I used to be just like you! No seriously, I didnt even try half the vegetables I eat now when I was 15.. I was brought up on junk and I hated the thought of eating anything but it. There are still some vegetables I won't eat or try because I'm not comfortable with it.

Then I came to realize how horrible I felt and sucked it up and ate more vegetables. I'm so glad I did because I would never go back... Try to find vegetables you like. You will be surprised how many you actually like but said you didn't because you didn't try them.

spamantha57

Reading what you wrote reminded me soooooooo much of how I used to eat when I was younger. I was the pickiest eater. I hated my mom's cooking. I still do lol. Her pasta sauce, bread, practically all vegetables... I think I ate hot dogs & grilled cheese at least half the time growing up. I didn't like anything. But I did like eating. And cheese.

I will say there can definitely be a light at the end of the tunnel though. I now eat better than anyone in my family, & eat things I'm sure no one could imagine me eating when I was younger. When I'd go out & eat something, say pasta or a sandwich, once in awhile I'd leave something in there I normally didn't like. I hated garlic. I hated zucchini. But something would pop up & I'd actually like it. I now have garlic & zucchini always in my fridge. Just an example. I also make my own pasta sauce - I never buy canned. I also make super yummy broccoli - I don't like how it's cooked anywhere else.

I definitely suggest talking to a therapist as many have already mentioned to help you start out, but I wanted to say I understand where you're coming from & share some things that helped me along my eating-better journey. Try something different every once in awhile, & experiment at home. I'm not going to say force yourself to eat something, because I don't think that is a positive, helpful, or productive way to go about it. But if you try something different every once in awhile, experiment at home, and talk with a professional about how you feel about certain foods, I think you'll be on a good & better path.

Dauntlessness

I have to admit I didn't read your all of your post cause its super long...haha. Just judging by what you are eating in the first bit of it, it reminded me of something. I saw a show on someone who couldn't eat most foods because it would make them really nauseous and I cant remember what the disorder was called but essentially their taste buds were messed up. Most people have a certain amount of active taste buds but some people have more than they should which makes them gravitate towards blander foods. Especially pasta, potatoes, and bread. Also, there could be something else going on where your eating something that you shouldn't. Like a gluten allergy for example. Go see a nutritionist and try to figure it out. Life is too short for bad food.

Firefox7275

Seek counselling/ cognitive behavioural therapy/ hypnotherapy or other treatment for your food aversions.

Secondly get a pedometer and find out how active you really are, you should be doing 10,000 steps every day for heath which is far more than just walking to and from a bus stop it is several miles. What you describe is classed as activities of daily living, not exercise. Thirdly start weighing your food and log it as you eat (not at the end of the day) and get your body fat tested so you know what calories should be going in and out, and what are going in and out.

For the most part people who are overweight and obese have the same or higher metabolisms as slim people, they simply overestimate how active they are and underestimate what they eat. Often with whole families who are overweight it's simply poor food choices, overly large mouthfuls/ eating fast/ inappropriate serving sizes, learned behaviours not genetics. Get recommended serving sizes and numbers from government websites not the packaging. Remember than many processed foods have added fats or added sugars so should really fall into the maximum 10% of daily calories category not the meat or grains category.

DavPul

Good grief that post was too long. Just make a diet comprised of whatever you listed under things you like. But your calorie fish and you'll be fine. You don't get fat by eating fat so eat your meat. I lost my weight by eating fast food for 75% of my meals. As long as you hit your calorie you'll lose weight. As you lose weight all of your vitals and labs will improve.

Stop making excuses about what you can and can't do and forth a plan based around positive actions