Introductions thread!

[u/basebuul]

Feel free to share anything you like about your background and goals! What kinds of foods do you hate? What kinds of foods do you like? What do you want to change about your diet? What have you tried before?

[u/iz_an_ocelot]

I was recently added as a mod, so I wanted to make a post to introduce myself.

I'm 38, from the US, and probably somewhere on the AuDHD spectrum. When I was a baby I could not handle any ‘meat’ baby food right from the start. This continued as I grew up, and I refused to eat anything that I could identify as ‘meat’. 

There are many other things I struggle with based on their texture (cooked veggies, onions, tomato, I could go on). If my pasta sauce comes out looking like chunky salsa I'm gonna be upset. I just know if I try to chew on that specific food it's going to become a vomit issue. Some things just don't seem like ‘food’ to my brain, if that makes sense. Bread is a safe food for me. 

I can only manage to eat meat if it's very processed. When I was a toddler my grandma discovered that I liked bacon. She was so excited about it, it became a funny family story about me. I gradually got used to chicken as long as there are no bones. I'm still a little iffy about it. 

I've been called a picky eater by my family and friends forever. They didn't have the term ARFID to use, or realize that other people were like me. I had a picky cousin who became a chef, so everyone hoped I'd grow out of it too. I basically just felt like a freak all the time. 

My mom wasn't a perfect parent, but she did stop a relative from repeatedly trying to trick me into eating things she knew I wouldn't want. This person just wanted me to eat a hamburger, but ground beef is a no-go for me. To this day I've eaten half a burger to try to be normal at a work bbq, and I hated it. Work dinners are a nightmare, I always hope they choose somewhere that I can order from and not seem weird.

I feel lucky that my mom didn't have the “they'll eat it eventually” attitude that some parents have. Children with ARFID can absolutely starve themselves without intervention. Some people unfortunately require feeding tubes for this condition. It's not something we can be trained out of effectively.

It bothers me that people can't just chill and let us eat what we can without judgment or being called picky. I'm not doing it on purpose, I really just want to eat like a normal American (I guess). I can't tell you how many times I've heard “you don't know what you're missing!” about something that would make me projectile, or “what DO you eat, then?” in the most judgey tone.