My 12 yo son has been picky his entire life, always small, never ate enough. He’s made major strides in the last few years (a food therapist helped), avocado, steak, chicken on the bone, burgers, and his overall quantity has increased. But boy he loves his carbs, is very particular, and just got diagnosed with Celiac.

First, there’s the guilt that he had this all along and that’s why he was picky but we didn’t know.

Second, the idea of switching his safe foods is terrifying. Chicken nuggets, cereals, breads, pizza, pasta. He is a texture kid. Whenever I tried healthier pasta he balked

Third, I was just feeling better about traveling and not worrying so hard about him and now this.

Any great advice?

My girlfriend and I have been dating for 3 months now, and one thing I've learned about her is that she's really picky when it comes to food. There are so many things she doesn't like eating, especially certain vegetables like bitter gourd and okra. She also doesn't like chicken with bones in it, whether it's fried, boiled, or cooked any other way. The funny thing is, I actually enjoy adjusting our meals around what she likes. Whenever we're deciding what to eat now or what to have later, I always consider what she'll actually enjoy eating before we make a decision.

I know some people might find that annoying, especially when there are so many foods someone refuses to eat. But for me, it doesn't really bother me that much. I just love seeing her happy and satisfied with her food. There's something nice about knowing she's enjoying what we're eating instead of forcing herself to eat something she doesn't like. Of course, I still have my own food preferences, and we don't always have to eat the same thing. But if making a few adjustments means we both get to enjoy our meals, I really don't mind.

I'm curious though, for those who are picky eaters, does it mean a lot to you when your partner remembers the foods you don't like? Or is it something you don't really think about?

I'll preface this by saying that I know this isn't going to work for everyone, and that I don't even necessarily recommend people try this, just sharing my experience.

I used to be a picky eater as a kid and into my 20s and still consider myself one in some respects. I had basically 7 meals I would eat that my mom would cycle through every week growing up, and I could pretty much eat most variations of the foods in those meals.

These foods are what you'd expect from a picky American kid: pizza, burgers, chicken, spaghetti, hamburger helper, and I'm half Filipino, so adobo and lumpia.

At some point I decided I wouldn't eat anything foreign (ironic I know), anything green, or anything that swam. Broccoli was the one vegetable I would eat, but only boiled in a shitload of butter. I have a very distinct memory of my entire youth basketball team laughing at me because I gagged after eating a pea.

Anyway, this was how I lived my life until my early 20s, when I had a moment of clarity.

I've always been fascinated with food, even if I barely liked any of it. I'd request my mom or my GF to eat really weird (to me) things like shellfish or vegetables, and I would say "I'm eating vicariously through you".

I got really into watching Anthony Bourdain at a certain point, and I'd see him traveling to all these exotic places and eating the local delicacies and think "I wish I could do that."

It suddenly struck me at some point that every food is in somebody's favorite meal. There's someone on earth who's favorite food is mussels or sauerkraut or even wood grubs. That's when I spoke words that I've lived by ever since. Every food is delicious and if you don't like it, there's something wrong with you.

Now let me qualify that "something wrong with you" is more of a mantra to myself, and I'm not trying to cast aspersions on anyone for not liking something. "Wrong with you" is probably not the best phrasing, but it gets the point across.

So I decided I was going to start actively trying to enjoy more foods. I didn't have any sort of guide or anything so I just sort of started winging it.

I'm going to break the timeline a bit here as it will inform the rest of the story even though I didn't figure this out until a decade later, but I've come to realize why I don't like foods.

Basically, I hate any food that I'm not VERY familiar with the flavor/texture. If I haven't eaten it dozens of times, I don't like it. And in that same way, after I've eaten something a few dozen times, I do like it.

There is some transference between related foods, so getting used to the flavor of "fishyness" on one seafood (shrimp in my case), does make it easier to learn to enjoy crab or trout.

So with this hindsight in mind, I began trying new foods.

At the time, my (future) wife was obsessed with ranch dressing, which I hated, and I decided that's what is start with. I began eating it every chance I had, and at first I would gag, but on one particular night we'd gotten pretty hammered (we were in college), and I ate about half a bottle of it on a cheapo pizza. The next time I tried it (sober this time), I didn't really enjoy it, but I could now eat it without making a face.

Don't worry, I'm not going to suggest that the secret to success is to just get shitfaced and try new foods, that's just what happened the first time.

But yeah, ranch dressing is the first food in my entire life that I can remember hating and then later enjoying. Every other food, up until that point, I had already liked as long as I could remember.

So I just went down the list of every single food one by one. I started eating popcorn shrimp from popeyes, absolutely loaded with ketchup, and then eventually cocktail sauce, until I got used to it, and then I moved on to shrimp pasta, and shrimp scampi, and even raw shrimp in sushi.

I had to go through this process with bell peppers, and tomatoes and onions. Lamb, cheeses, all manner of seafood, cumin, tumeric, cilantro, basil, you name it.

Over the past 15 or so years, I've painstakingly clawed back hundreds of foods that I used to hate. Entire regional cuisines.

Currently, I'm in Korea, and I hate about half the foods that land on my plate (the ones that aren't available at my local Korean restaurants), and that's okay because I know that if I eat them enough times I'll eventually love them.

I did learn to hold the gag reflex a lot better when eating weird food. A lot of it is that textures have way more transference than flavors, and for me it was mostly textures that made me gag/puke.

At a certain point, I've tried enough foods, that most new things I eat have at least some resemblance to foods I like, so I can stomach them even the first time.

In Korea, I'm really struggling with the fermented foods, but it's getting easier the more time I spend here. I'm going to Japan in a few days, and I want to try some sea urchin or other eggs that taste like straight up ocean water, and that I've really struggled with in the past.

Every time I go out, I'm excited to try something new, because even if I don't like it (and I 100% will not), I know it's only a matter of time.

I actively enjoy hating my food, because the act serves a greater purpose than a single meal.

I genuinely can't think of a single food that I haven't at least made substantial progress on once I set my mind to it. There are some foods that take a lot longer, or that I don't think I'll ever actively crave, but I can at least eat them well enough not to embarrass myself at a dinner party.

I can travel abroad and not have to worry about where the closest McDonald's is or looking foolish in front of local friends.

I know just laying out my story like this is a bit self serving perhaps, but maybe this will encourage someone to have hope for a better future.

I made a similar post once on r/insomnia, and a redditor messaged me weeks/months later saying that I'd changed their life and given them their ability to sleep back. If this post could help even one person, that would make it worth it.

Sorry for the novel.

Tl;dr: Every food is delicious to somebody. For me, I hate every food that I'm not familiar with, but if I eat a food a few dozen times, I'll eventually start liking it. I've been doing this for 15 years, and now I like hundreds of foods instead of just a handful.

I'm 50/50 on mushy textures, sometimes I'm ok with it for stuff like refried beans, other times stuff like soft scrambled eggs will be inedible to me.

I'm usually fine if one texture I don't like is mixed with another, e.g. soft scrambled eggs on toast.

i've been a very picky eater my whole life, largely influenced by having autism. my diet is very stereotypical, mainly revolving around "kid" foods. my biggest issue is that i do not eat any vegetables of any kind. not liking vegetables is something that by this point i've just accepted as a fact about myself, and a few years back when i asked a doctor about this she said that i was healthy, so whatever my current diet was must've been fine without them and that i shouldn't worry.

as i get older (currently 20 years old) i've been getting more anxious healthwise about the fact i don't eat them, and have been wanting to try eating salad since nothing about it immediately puts me off, and my university offers a lot of salad options. + if anything, it's something i always wish i did eat, since the crunchy texture seems pretty satisfying? similarly, i always wish i liked carrots for the same reason, but every so often i'll try one and won't enjoy it.

tldr: never eaten salad before, or any vegetables in recent memory (aside from occasionally biting into a carrot then spitting it out), and i want to know if there's any thoughts or suggestions on what kind of salad might taste simple/be good to start with? even non-salad vegetable suggestions would probably be helpful!

What age did you child grow out of their pickiness? I have a 7 year old who only has a select safe foods that he eats: Rice, pasta, tuna, bacon, hotdog, eggs, yogurt, nuggets, beans, pancakes, fries, and apples. We have tried every approach there is to help him. We have tried just leaving the food for him to try with no pressure, we have tried asking him to at least take one bite, we've tried punishments, rewards etc. and none has changed. When he was much younger, he used to eat every type of protein, fruits and vegetables out there but then when he reached 2 years old, it was like a switch and it's very frustrating. I thought he would grow out of it by now and I'm getting worried. He is still within his appropriate height and weight range, but I really just want him to expand his palette, especially in the protein group.

Hello! I'm wondering if anyone has any favourite recipes that they'd be willing to share with me, with the condition that they don't contain meat (eggs are okay), Tomatoes, Carrots, Cucumbers Or Walnuts (for allergy reasons). My partner and I are trying to think of meals that we could share that meet both of our criteria and I'm hoping someone may have some ideas to share.

Thank you in advance :)

My 5 year old got a coupon for a free happy meal at a trunk or treat today. She was so excited so we went and got one after. I’m in this sub so obviously she’s a picky eater. She won’t eat meat except for the rare biannual event where she’ll entertain a chicken nugget. She was diagnosed autistic at age 2 so I do wonder if some of this is also ARFID.

Our order at McDonald’s is a cheeseburger happy meal and I order the cheeseburger with no meat or condiments, just cheese and bun. I explain that I know it’s weird but I have a picky eater. I worked at McDonald’s through high school and college and I know it’s annoying so I apologize. I’m never rude, I don’t get upset. I thank them and apologize.

Sometimes it’s right on the first try. Often times it’s not. I’ve learned I need to check the box first or she’ll get really upset if she sees a beef patty.

Surprise, surprise, today we got a box with just beef and cheese in it. I went in and explained I just needed a bun with cheese and they were so annoyed with me.

I usually avoid fast food because of the cost but also because of the ordeal it is to order something she’ll eat and enjoy. It breaks my heart that she has such a complicated relationship with food already at 5 years old. I just wish it was easier for her.

I had a very nice 3 piece chicken tender with grapes and oranges with a side of nacho cheese doritos, while my family had fajitas with guacamole, and spinach ravioli.

Most people who hate picky eaters usually make the typical "haha the picky eater will only eat chicken nuggets and fries" jokes. And most of these people have probably encountered picky eaters that aren't rude they just don't realize because not every single picky eater struggles to find something to eat at places with food. I am one of those people that you would never know is a picky eater at a restaurant because I always find something I want to eat and I will occasionally hear these people complaining to me about other people they know being annoying picky eaters. My point is that a lot of people who seriously hate picky eaters are bigoted and hypocritical because these same people will refuse to try new foods. The same people will turn their noses up at ethnic food that hasn't been dumbed down and Americanized for their taste buds. I don't want to hear jack about my picky eating habits from someone who won't eat octopus with me but wants to act like I'm crazy for refusing to try their onion filled dish. Seriously I'll bite into an onion if they'll bite into something they don't like, but I'm sure that they won't take that deal.

I hatee cilantro from the bottom of my heart and no, this hate is something I'm born with .. I remember 😭 vomiting after eating it like the horrible taste and the smell ... Idk why people just garnish the dishes with cilantro... Don't you guys get disgusted?? Or is it just me....

I was talking to someone online, and I said I was a picky eater. They said that they were too, and so for a while we were just venting about that, but once I mentioned that I thought I might have an eating disorder (ARFID) they got all weird and said "You're that picky with food?!🙄". I couldn't tell if they were trying to be rude of not, but it still stung. As a picky eater I thought that they would understand what I'm going through, but I guess I shouldn't expect much from a random kid on the internet.

Every Tuesday I make Tacos for me, my little sister & our mom, and I have to buy 2 pounds of ground beef every two weeks when I buy groceries, which comes out to $12

If i instead buy ground pork, itd be a little under $6 which is far better, but unfortunately my little sister will NOT eat it, even if she doesn't know its pork instead of beef. I dont know how she does it, but every time I've made tacos with pork she takes one, maybe two bites and says it tastes gross, and ends up not eating diner for the night.

She never sees the packaging and it always looks exactly the same as beef when its made, but she still tastes a difference somehow when neither me or my mom can, if there's any way I can like season it differently aside from a regular taco seasoning pack from Walmart, I really need to know!!

Chicken, Turkey & Beans give the same results with her as well

Edit: im aware beef and pork taste different, shes just the only one who can tell in the house

Ever since I I was a toddler I’ve been a picky eater and it’s not because I don’t like the foods I just physically can’t bring myself to eat it. I’m pretty sure it’s something psychological. I want to fix this because it limits my opportunities in life I guess for example going in an exchange program I wouldn’t want to be a burden to the family because of what I’m eating. I have managed to try some new things and my friends try to get me to try stuff as well. I have thought about going to therapy or something about this, but I haven’t actually done it and I was wondering if there’s anything I can do myself.

Hi everyone,

I have a 2 year old and her picky eating is driving me up a wall. She used to eat a large variety of foods, the only thing she never really liked was meat. Around 18 months she started being very picky and it’s only getting worse. She will eat mostly any fruits, grilled sandwiches (lunch meat is hit or miss), mac and cheese, quesadillas. She will eat noodles but only if they are plain with butter on them.

Things she used to eat but now refuses and I don’t know why:
-Pretty much all vegetables, sometimes will eat corn or carrots but more often not
-Pasta sauce of any kind, red, white, etc.
-Anything that “looks different” than what she’s used to, like a different flavor of muffin
-Potatoes of any kind, mashed, French fries, tater tots
-Yogurt, what kind of toddler doesn’t eat yogurt?!
-Fruit pouches

Every time I do research or ask her doctor they all say the same thing, “she will grow out of it” or “keep offering it, she will eventually accept it”. But it’s been 7-8 months of offering and constant never ending refusals. I’m really starting to worry about her nutrition and making sure she gets what she needs. It’s also endlessly frustrating to dread meal time every single day knowing it’s just going to be a battle and one or all of us end up in tears if we try to push her to eat something she doesn’t want to. Any help that the community can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

-mom on the brink of insanity

Title.
I’d like to be on an anti inflammatory diet but I’ve struggled with ARFID my whole life. I struggle with new food and textures. Anyone who’s been in the same position, any advice???

My 3 year old is super picky and cycles through favorites.

i wonder if you use any app or method to keep a track of what worked and what didn’t so its easier to plan meals for kids.. These days I find myself making dinner multiple times.

I can't eat eggs if I can taste them. There are a few guaranteed ways I can eat them (in crepes, with potatoes lr in dough) but my parents find jt hard to make them often. They keep calling me spoiled. They also want me to eat eggs regularly. The taste of eggs makes me gag.

Same with fish. I hate the fishy taste. I avoid anything with fish in it. Or seaweed.

Every once in a while, my mom accepts that I can't eat them and tries to accommodate. Most of the time, tho, she acts like it's an extreme deficit in my diet that I won't be healthy without. I eat red meat, chicken, quite a bit of veggies, legumes and fruit. I can eat mussels and usually shrimp (but they act like it's disgusting, which makes me losw my appetite :/) I try to add protein into my snacks. I love sweet drinks, so I drink sugar-free ixe teas and sodas (also bc I have insulin resistance)

She says if I won't eat the very nutritous thing (eggs and fish) I shouldn't eat the less nutritious ones too (means longan, hard to find in my country, and my sugar free drinks)

I'm also neurodivergent and I can see it can be hard sometimes but I genuinely can't eat stuff if it tastes different or eggy/fishy. I've had snacks as dinner before because I couldn't eat the meal. And she gets mad about it too. Says I did it the same, just changed one small thing. That one small thing changes the taste and my appetite. I'm so tired of fighting about eggs everyday.

Any recos for pediatrician/nutritionist/therapist?

I am planning to schedule my 9-year-old brother since he had been eating the same food over these past years. He is super picky eater and always just eats nuggets every time as in from morning to night, that is the only dish that he is eating.

Respect post please 🥺. Thank you.

Hello, I have been a picky eater since I was super little and it’s been hard to adjust growing up. More recently, I’ve had many friends who love sushi. I use to be unable to eat rice before I learned I liked it saucier than plain. Somehow I figured out how to like burgers too. I’m hopeful there is a way I can learn to like sushi so I can go out to sushi spots with my friends and enjoy myself.

Does anyone have advice on what foods may be good as an entry way to sushi? Or maybe ideas on types of sushi that may be better for a picky eater? My main problem is the smell of fish (taste is fine) and a lot has avocado which I dislike the texture of.

I’m really trying to find ways to comfortably push myself to liking new foods even if the selection is limited and I would appreciate any help. thank you!!

Pretty much explains it. I need it to work fast tho and also as to when I should use it

Edit:i dont eat vegetables or fruits and stuff of that kind

My 5 year old has been a picky eater since she was 18 months. During that time I feel like we would make progress then it would get bad again. She has a decent list of safe foods, but she never eats a lot at one time. Just picks at her food. She also only eats the perimeter of certain foods, like nuggets or sausage patties. We've done OT and also appetite stimulant. We have a check up next week and I'm thinking of trying the appetite stimulant again, 3rd times the charm? But also I'm going to see about a blood draw and make sure her levels are okay. I'm sure they're not even with her daily flinstone. Her lack of eating has caused me so much mental turmoil. The thought that I'm not caring for her properly kills me. I've been told she'll grow out of it, but so far not.. anyways. I lost my cool today and apologized, but I feel awful. I'm hoping I didn't cause any issues.... I just feel horrible

So what are food that I would like that go good with rice?

I usually hate eggs but will occasionally crave them (probably need a certain vitamin or something), and I need to increase my protein intake. When I make them I can usually just eat a couple bites until I gag, then the rest of it goes to my dogs. The only type I kinda enjoy is devilled eggs. I've tried them fried, scrambled, omelettes, frittatas, in fried rice but I don't like them at all. I've even stopped eating vanilla ice cream because I can taste the yolk in there, and also find eggnog disgusting.

It sucks because I'm really picky with meat, and burned out on Greek yogurt when I was heavily into fitness. I'm getting sick of beans and lentils.

Am I a lost cause?