Another picky eater - no lectures please (long post)

Is smell the main problem? Or texture? Or taste?
Once you identify what it is that makes you dislike something, you can find it easier to pick other options (or even retrain yourself to deal with it).

Also remember that your tastes change as you get older. I try mushrooms about once every 3 years, hate them always hated them. Popped them in a lasagna last week and they were fine - I have no idea why, and I'm not going to rush to add them to every dish! But it's a good reminder to re-try foods as some other posters have also suggested.

We also have so many foods available to us these days. When I was growing up I thought I only liked cheddar cheese and those processed cheese slices (taste is similar to american string cheese I think) - but the only other cheeses I'd ever seen were blue cheese and parmesan!
Since I've been introduced to many more types of cheese I have found that I love Grueyre, Gouda, Creamy Harvarti, Massadam, and some brands of Brie.

It is hard being the person who sits with an empty plate in social settings - but it is something you can fix.

You don't really fit the selective feeding/eating disorder. It's wide sweeping, usually based on aromas or textures -- all chicken, not just your husbands grilled chicken. There are several foods you don't like, but enjoy very similar versions of -- homemade hamburgers vs fast food hamburgers. And then there are foods you don't like, but like in other things -- the chicken when it's in curry, the chicken when it's in a burrito, the beef when it's in stirfry or beef with broccoli. I'm wondering if you don't have a flavor problem. Perhaps fast food burgers are more seasoned than however you make homemade burgers. You mentioned you don't like homemade ham sandwiches -- are you buy prepacked or high quality, sliced at the deli like they'd put on your sub sandwich that you like? To me, there's a big texture difference between the two. I never really liked cow all that much until we started buying parts of cows; this year we bought a quarter of a cow. They're grass fed, raised locally, and taste so much better than the standard grocery store fare. I'd suggest buying better quality products and seeing how that goes.

Also, you mentioned you like some of the proteins in your family's recipes. Why not ask for those recipes? You can adapt the recipes to suit your diet needs once you know what flavors they're putting in them that makes them so appealing to you. Maybe your husband REALLY sucks at grilling chicken

My other thought is perhaps this is related to your nausea/morning sickness while you were pregnant. You frequently describe things, particularly stuff at your house where you presumably spent a great deal of time whilst pregnant, as triggering your gag reflex or making you vomit. That's not normal for something you just don't like. Even for a smell you don't like. I'm wondering if these are the foods that made you sick, or made you feel sick, most often during your pregnancy.

And even if you do have the selective feeding disorder, treatment is the same for generally picky kids. You try new foods even though you don't like them, and learn that even if the taste is unpleasant, they won't kill you. And you should try each food five times, five different ways. So, say you don't like asparagus. You taste it on five different occasions grilled. Then five more times steamed, five more times roasted, etc. Experiment. Try it once, you don't like it. Try it twice, realize it didn't kill you. Try it a third time, it didn't make you throw up. Fourth, you didn't mind it so much. Fifth, you can eat it, but its not your favorite. And, now you get to add a new food to your 'don't mind' list.

Because most people eat a few things they enjoy and a lot of things they don't mind and some things they dislike but are good for them.

Oh! And another idea might be to start cooking things that you've never had, so you won't have the pregnancy connection, if that's the case. You like curry, so perhaps start with Indian food. You will have to watch out for the fat content and salt content, but doing it at home makes it easy to make substitutions. If that doesn't work out, try making some other dishes you've never had and would like to try, even if you think you might not like them.

I guess I'm wondering how you can tolerate Taco Bell and fast food so well???

I have tried going vegan and loss almost 40 bls doing so one saver for me was the favored vegan chicken and the vegan ground round makes great chilli. Hope it helps

You refuse to get up early
You refuse to use a crockpot
You don't cook
You have OCD
Therapy/ nutrition counseling asap
Recipes won't help if you refuse to cook
Not being mean but this is beyond being a picky eater

I wanted to chime in and say I have a similar experience.

I've always been a picky eater. For me it was never flavours or smells I objected to, but textures. Certain textures in my mouth created a feeling that I can only describe as panic. I would avoid invitations to friends' homes for dinner out of embarassment. I would go out for meals and do everything I could to disguise the fact that I couldn't eat my meal. In no way was this something I did out of choice or being spoilt as people often think with picky eaters - it was very distressing.

As I got older I have improved a lot, mostly through constant experimentation, gradual exposure to less objectionable foods and finding ways around my issues - like blending things into sauces to get the nutrients without the textures. There are still quite a lot of things I can't stomach - I have never been able to eat a traditional salad and I don't imagine I ever will.

When I was pregnant, suddenly smells started becoming objectionable too. Mostly meats and any sort of chemically stuff. My child is 18 months now and I've only just started feeling better. Some smells, like raw chicken, or browning ground beef, make me retch. I still have days where I cook for the family and then end up eating canned soup because I suddenly can't stomach it.

So, not really advice, but I do know what you are going through. Really all you can do (short of therapy) is just experiment and figure out ways to get around your objections. Can you buy pre-cooked chicken breast so you don't smell it cooking? Or disguise smells with spices? Can you hide things in smoothies or curries?

I read the article you posted and it somewhat describes me too. I cannot stand the texture of "crunchy" in something that's supposed to be smooth (fruit in yogurt, celery in pasta salad). Texture is crippling to me because it takes so many healthy foods out of my reach. I sympathize with you on bananas, I gag if I eat one and then think about the texture. People tell me to get over it all the time, but it's not something I can control. I wish I could point you in a direction but I am almost as lost as you are. One thing I can suggest is Hidden Veggie and Garden Delight pasta by Ronzoni. It has a serving of veggies in each serving of pasta, so it might help some with nutrients you would otherwise avoid.

Add me as a friend if you want to, and let me know if you have gotten any other good advice that I can use.

Good luck, and keep your chin up, we can do this.

Echo

I've been super picky as long as I can remember ... I've never had any ground beef, ever. Or hot dogs, or pizza or salads or smoothies or yogurt. Never had anything with tomatoes. I'm not vegetarian, I love a good steak, chicken, fish. I only like things plain, nothing mixed or spiced or sauced. Joined MFP about a month ago, and at this point I'm just trying to get calories under control, then I'll TRY to move to healthier eating. It is hard with limited options, but I know I have no one to blame but myself.

It isn't taste, it never gets to that. It's sight, smell, anticipation of texture. I just can't bring myself to try things. It made the dating days tough (although I could usually find ONE thing I liked at most restaurants, not Mexican though, nothing for me there). I don't have any problems with OTHER people eating these things. I stock the house for the family, and make meals that I don't eat myself (I make a killer lasagna, or so I'm told).

There's at least half a dozen warm-blooded game animals that could be on that list and aren't. Plus, there's yogurt, cheese, tofu, seitan, nuts galore, and quinoa... plenty of ways to get protein.

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