For those who’ve never had a problem with potatoes viciously touching the meat on your plate like in Michelangelo’s famous fresco “The Creation Of Adam,” eating is like a walk in the park. When the sun it’s out, it’s fun, and when it’s raining, you just try to get it over with.
But for the gang of picky eaters, having food go into your stomach is something not to be taken light-heartedly. You gotta calibrate, engineer, and foresee the products, tastes, and combinations before they hit the tongue, and even then, there should always be a plan B.
So this time, we’re gonna see what picky eating is all about, as shared by the selective foodies themselves, who seem to have an excellent sense of humor. From having your friend’s mom tell you she’s made food for you to that cursed feeling when seeing the menu in a restaurant feels like you made a mistake, these are some real-life situations but with a humorous twist.
This post may include affiliate links.
Toddler: "I don't eat those seeds on my buns!" Also toddler: "Mmm, rocks."
If you, your family member, or your friend is what is commonly known as a “picky eater,” the chances are it didn’t happen overnight. The term refers to someone who’s selective about their food, unwilling to try new foods, and has very strong food preferences, which makes fussy eating classified as a feeding and, later in life, eating difficulty.
Many of these fussy eating behaviors start appearing in early childhood, and in order to find out what exactly is fussy eating in kids and the tactics to help it, Bored Panda reached out to the baby and child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed. Charlotte is an award-winning author who specializes in positive, evidence-based advice on giving children a healthy start in life.
There are so many reasons why little ones might start being fussy about their food, says Charlotte. “First off, it’s a very natural part of their development, a phase often known as 'neophobia'—a fear of the new.” It turns out, it has to do with an evolutionary response, explains the child nutritionist.
“As soon as babies and toddlers start becoming more independent and moving around more, ultimately, it may protect them from eating something they shouldn’t (but doesn’t stop them from trying to eat pen lids and small toys though… strangely)."
The texture of Mushrooms. Yucky yuck yuck. I like the smell of them cooking, but put them in my mouth? Nope.
I am getting better at this. I do need to remember that just because I didn’t like it as a child doesn’t mean I won’t like it now.
Moreover, Charlotte adds that there is also a genetic element to fussy eating as “some individuals may be more likely to reject more tastes than others. Additionally, research also shows that some children just have more sensitive perceptions of taste (Mennella et al 2005).”
Among many reasons, some fussy eating can be attributed to learning from parent feeding practices and mealtime behaviors.
Having said that, Charlotte has good news and it’s that “you can do something about fussy eating, even if a toddler is genetically predisposed to reject more foods.” The children nutritionist also said that those parents who have a fussy baby/toddler shouldn’t feel like they’re alone in the world.
“I run Fussy Eating Webinars for parents regularly and know it’s a really common and that many parents face fussy eating difficulties every day, especially with children between 18 months and 3 years of age—but it can happen at any time.”
Ever been over friend's house to eat and the food just ain't no good. I mean the macaroni's soggy, the peas all mushy...
One reason why I always eat the same thing at restaurants is because I don’t want to waste money on something I may not like. And also because I know my choice is pretty safe (not always).
Most importantly, there are many strategies and tactics that can help little fussy eaters and broaden the foods they’re eating. Charlotte shared a couple of them.
“Start their weaning journey with VEGGIES—some research actually shows that offering vegetables as baby’s first foods and offering them regularly through the first years of life can increase acceptance of them later on in childhood! I go into detail about how to do this in my new book How to Wean Your Baby.”
Another tactic is what Charlotte calls the “Role Model.” “It might sound simple, but eating similar foods at similar times as your children can really influence their dietary patterns. One specific study even showed that the more often children ate the same food as their parents, the better the quality of the children’s diet.”
The third strategy to try has to do with your own reaction to a fussy eater. Charlotte suggests not taking rejection literally since “there are so many reasons why kids will reject a meal e.g. overtired, over-hungry, over-grumpy, already full, sore teeth, a cold—I could go on and on, but sometimes they just simply don’t feel like eating what is on offer.”
u can hate me if u want but tbh i don't like eating resteraunt soup because I have no idea what's in it and I'm allergic to... a heck load of stuff.
According to the child nutrition expert, “adding foods to a 'rejected' list only goes to limit their diets more.” Instead, she suggests that parents keep trying those foods and keeping their kid's diet varied because “one day, they might eat it.”
Most importantly, Charlotte’s key tip has to with “making mealtimes light, fun, and enjoyable, as much as you can.” Try not to overstress, but enjoy the moment of discovering new foods even if they get rejected at first. “This can make all the difference in the world,” Charlotte concluded.
For more helpful tips on dealing with picky eaters from an early age, visit her website “Sr Nutrition.”
I think this is one of the things why some people can’t stand picky eaters. Everything unhealthy and childish is magically fine. Swap one ingredient for something healthy and it gets disgusting.
Generally, that means those were the foods they ate as a kid. Which isn't their fault, that is what was provided to them. However, as an adult, one really should strive to expand the pallet.
Load More Replies...
They’re trash! Enough to make your teeth hurt.
Load More Replies...
Oh dear God. I'm America and would only maybe eat the toast. Or fries. Maybe. UGH. Does that make me picky, or sane?
I hate I can't edit: That's I'm American. I would hate to be "America", the whole thing. Dang.
Load More Replies...
Okay yes but no. I am a picky eater and I like 2 out of the 7 things here.
I have to laugh because my 14 year old niece is a picky American eater and her pack looks NOTHING like this. She eats mostly produce, hummus, rice, pesto pasta, steak, pork chops, and cheesecake.
Picky eater here, This is so true besides for me I don't like hamburgers or ranch :)
Does this mean someone eats donuts with Ranch dressing? Interesting...
Im not very picky with everything I just don’t eat very much meat I usually only eat pork and chicken no beef, fish, turkey, shrimp, mussels, lobster etc. I’ve been doing this so i can be half vegetarian also I’ve never liked a lot of meat.
To be honest, I've only had those little frosted cookies that you can buy at the store a few times in my LIFETIME (Not gonna tell ya my age but it's more than a decade. Hehe) and always it was a treat. I loved them but my mom wouldn't buy them for me b/c "They're too junky and surgary, ______" (Also not gonna share my real name hehe) so whenever I ate them I always savored it and I just loved the cookies. Now I have my sights on those Costco macamedia&white chocolate cookies but I'd always welcome those store-bought cookies that have hardened frosting anytime. (I know I'm weird and I haven't eaten one of those things since like, 3rd grade.)
those cookies are the greatest things ever i could eat them all day with the exception of a snack (which would probably donuts or something)
okay i am not that picky but that brand of cookie is really amazingly good
I hate those cookies! And a slab of butter on bread? CHEESE ON PIZZA? Just give me a salad. Or rice. Or pasta. Or avocado. Or fruit.
Hey, its called comfort food. I have MAJOR trust issues about food okay. My grandpa was poisoned. And it was IN the food.
People say I'm picky How is just wanting a Good Old Cheeseburger picky?
I don't know...I actually like healthier stuff (hold up, I just realized my favorite food is waffles, my second favorite is pancakes, and third favorite is french toast, so...screw dat), but those cookies are pretty tempting...
I am definitely not a picky eater, but god I love those cookies precisely because they are really really really terrible. They scratch an itch.
I thought this was about me, but I don't eat chicken nuggets or barbecue sauce.
Idk if there’s something wrong with me but I think almost everything I eat is good with ranch.
This is almost my children's entire acceptable menu in one picture
Almost everything here is mild both in flavor and texture, sweet, with a lot of protein/fat. Ranch has lemon and fat, it's got the tart acidity people crave, but it's also sweet. I knew someone who had food neophobia (or ARFID), it's a hard thing to have, and I didn't realize how sad it would make me too, to not be able to share meals with someone.
Another person who knows ARFID! I have a friend with ARFID. I didn’t know at first and was always offering her kabobs and tofu dinners and crazy salads. If she would have told me I would have just made her buttered toast lol. ARFID seems miserable.
Load More Replies...
I think this is more about people having to have ranch dressing on everything than whether the food is healthy or unhealthy. That kind of thing does start young. I hear about how kids will only eat chicken nuggets macaroni and cheese and I do blame the parents. They're the ones who create those habits. My now grown kids can be picky but we didn't just feed them nuggets or anything like that. We also didn't buy a lot of convenience foods because we couldn't really afford them. As they got older if a new food was introduced they had to try a bite. If they really didn't like it, they didn't have to eat it but we would revisit it later on. For them ranch dressing wasn't a universal condiment. It was a salad dressing or a dip for fresh veggies. I've known people the same age as my kids who can't eat anything wothout ranch. My stepdaughter put ranch on beef tops, brown gravy and egg noodles. It was disgusting.
Toast is disgusting? I thought that was a pretty common food.
Load More Replies...
Third fattest (excluding extremely tiny states because everybody knows they are really problematic statistic-wise).
Load More Replies...
Whenever I watch Bear Grylls or I’m a celeb get me outta here, I always think that I would die of starvation coz I couldn’t handle what they eat.
These shrimps look so delicious I cant think of any reason why I would order chicken with fries.
if I have to make it, chance are, I ain't gonna make it therefore: MOOOM, THERE'S NO FOOD!!!
No tomato. 100% agree there. That one fruit that can get the chuff out of here.
I warn everyone I know beforehand that I'm a very picky eater and if I don't eat they don't have to take it personal. Most people now text me with their plans for when I come over and if I will hate it I bring my own food.
Note: this post originally had 66 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.
I feel happy learning from this list that I am not a true picky eater. I’ll go through the trouble of eating the still-warm tomato and pickle slices before eating a burger, instead of throwing them away entirely. Picky eaters must have it hard. Still, I wish restaurants offered sampler sizes of entrees so I could figure out my jam. Mmm, a combo of two new foods and a reliable standby. I miss restaurants. I wonder if they miss me too.
I'm like the opposite of a picky eater. If the food is too boring, I won't eat it. If I've eaten the food too much in the last few months, I don't want it. I can force myself to eat almost anything but boring food is my worst.
I'm the same, my partner calls me a food snob but I just like good tasty food! Bland food is the worst. Always so disappointing when you're looking forward to a meal and it falls way before standard!
Load More Replies... For the picky eaters who don't like certain fruits and vegetables, keep in mind a couple things; not all produce is equal, texture and taste can vary wildy depending on whether it's fresh, frozen, local, seasonal, the variety itself, or if it's ripe/overripe at that moment. Tomatoes get that mushy mealy texture from the fridge, it makes all the difference to keep them out of the cold.
And have a guess what tomatoes most food outlets use: fresh and ripe or cold-stored and unripe? I worked at a fruit/veg market that supplies to most of the restaurants and cafes around here - pretty decently sized area. Most tomatoes they send out are green. Worked in kitchens for more than 15 years, and most places want them like that. They'll sit in the box for a week and ripen up, but they'll usually be being used before that. It's very hard to get tomatoes in bulk on demand and ripe.
Load More Replies...
I have adult restrictive food intake disorder (basically so picky it’s a diagnosis). It would have to literally be life or death for me to eat a lot of things.
Load More Replies...
Picky eaters annoy me, but then I try to remember that certain things (like mussels) make me gag even thinking about them, and I try to understand that for some people there are lots of foods that invoke that response. It would still be a relationship dealbreaker for me though, I think. I know that's very intolerant, but I really think it would be a major compatibility issue. And it would bring out the worst of my judgy side.
They are annoying bur, they aren't picky to be a pain in the ass. Many (not "all") are picky because it's one of the few things they have control over in their lives- what they put in their mouth. Had a friend in high school who was ridiculously picky. I'm talking like her tater tots had to be piled in odd numbers like 5 on the bottom, three on top of those, and 1 on the very top. She also had to have catsup in packets instead of bottles. She was borderline psychotic about it. She went to school on the opposite coast, got on her own feet, and got her career going. She turned into one of the most adventurous eaters I know. Met up with her in Korea and she explained she had zero say in anything growing up. She was told what to wear, what TV show she was allowed to watch, when to go to bed and when to get up. The only thing she had any control over was what went into her mouth. That all changed when she got away from that house.
Load More Replies...
As a picky eater it was a bit upsetting to read this and the comments from people who have these ideas about who you are and why you are. My father for years thought my high dislike of tomatoes was some sort of fad and I was definitely never catered to by him nor my mother. I went through almost a year of elementary school not eating school lunches, hunger be damned. I actually like broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower while my brother the human garbage disposal does not. I am lucky enough that textures don't bother me, so I have tried many foods from all around the world. However, sometimes people are just people and we stick to comfort food. It has never bothered my friends that I love chicken nuggets and french fries and they like me for my personality and not my taste buds. They eat what is on their plate and I eat what is on mine and in the end we still manage to have a good time.
Picky eaters (at least the vocal type) make me angry. I try to not eat with picky eater friends under any circumstances because it costs so much self-control. (People with food allergies are no picky eaters in my book.)
I have several 'hard no' foods. Mushrooms. Broccoli. Cabbage. Brussel sprouts. Swiss cheese (not all cheeses that are Swiss, but the kind with the holes.) Hot dogs. Olives. Otherwise, I'm good. But unfortunately, several of those foods are global staples. It would be much easier if I disliked guava. Or hákarl. Or boudin. Easy to avoid.
Load More Replies...
Okay this is a little dark, but make sure to try to expand your flavor palate. After a while if the food you'll eat keeps decreasing, it can help fuel the start of an eating disorder. Obviously this isn't the case for most people, but it happened to me. I have sense recovered from my ED, but I still have to challenge myself to eat a new food once a week. Recommendation: when trying a new food try to find words to describe it, another food to relate it to, and make sure to take one bite at least. I hope this helps someone but trust me, eventually you'll get it :)
When I was young, I disliked burritos. Made me gag. Had to stay with a friend for a week and her mom made burritos one night. I've loved them ever since. Sometimes how a food is prepared can open your taste buds to things you didn't like before. As long you've tried it and knew you didn't like it.
I can never relate to people who are picky, even when I was a kiddo. Basically ate what my folks put on the plate with no issues. Also their cooking wasn't too bad from what I remember. Love veggies, tofu, mayo, meat. :d
Same here but I think for Americans it helps if you have cultural dishes. Like I grew up eating cultural food from my home country so we never had a chance to be chicken nugget kids. American families who don’t have cultural foods probably have a harder time.
Load More Replies...
I'm a picky eater and have food allergies.....I never go out to eat
Are you "picky" due to your allergies? That's not "picky", that's looking after yourself.
Load More Replies...
I love fruit. I love tacos. I'm not a picky eater. I just dont like tomatoes.
I love tomatoes.But that is ok,you don't have to like every food there is.
Load More Replies...
I used to be insanely picky and just decided not to be one day. My life's improved! I was inspired by my friend's mom asking if I ate mac and cheese. That's literally all I ate for ten years.
Meanwhile, I enjoy all kinds of food, but have to give up so much because of kidney health.... I got much much healthier, but I wish I could be more free and less obligated to calculate.... To all of you who eat the same thing every day -> seriously, be careful. That's a very unhealthy habit. If you don't like particular textures, get a mixer. There's ways to find solutions to make your food tasty and various.
My boyfriend is willing to try everything, but I never saw him more unhappy than that one time I gave him a piece of avocado. He already likes tofu to about 30 % now, unless it is raw or unseasoned. He thinks a bit more fondly of vegetables in general now that he tried some, but he comes from a family where they eat very unhealthily, so of course it is a process...
I hated asparagus until I was forced to eat it on an international flight because I was starving. I love it now. Sometimes tastes change.
Load More Replies...
Note to picky eaters, you may not be picky, you may be a "supertaster". I did the test and it happens I am a supertaster!
Quick story: I'm a picky eater, and I hate babybel cheeses with a burning passion. I'm ALWAYS eager to p**n them off at lunch at school so I don't have to eat them when my mom packs them for me. Awhile back, one of my friends voulenteered to take one of my cheeses, so I gave it to him. This kid then bites THROUGH the plastic wrapper, THROUGH the wax beneath said wrapper, and all the way to the cheese. He then spits it out and yells "THIS CHEESE TASTES DISGUSTING" at the top of his lungs. I can't stop laughing now that I'm writing this.
I do my best to respect and cater to the food preferences of others, but picky eaters can be very hard to deal with if they're not even willing to try even a little bit. My ex boyfriend was an incredibly picky eater. With me being a vegetarian, we had exactly TWO dishes we could eat together. Pasta with blue cheese, but only one specific brand of blue cheese. Pasta with tomato sauce, but only one specific recipe. I once cooked for him as a surprise and he yelled "nooo, you're RUINING it!!!!" because I put a spoonful of TOMATO PASTE in the TOMATO SAUCE. Feels great.
i have 2 friends who are sisters. one only will eat dino nuggets (not regular chicken nuggets even) and buttered noodles and waffles, the other will only eat peanut butter sandwiches with ONE type of bread and ONE type of peanut butter. 🙄
My mother was a picky eater, and the older she got, the worse she got to the point where she even had to have a certain plate and fork to eat with. I would often wonder how she managed to raise three kids who would eat just about anything when she was so picky herself, but then I'd remember Dad's steadfast rules - eat or go hungry and if you complain, you do the cooking.
There was no such thing when I was growing up. Mom made one dish, if you didn’t like it, you didn’t eat. You’ll be surprised what people can eat when they are actually hungry.
Exactly. I spent my childhood hungry so I ate almost everything. Still do today... except Brussels sprouts. I just haven't tried a good tasting plate of them yet.
Load More Replies... 
For any parents of picky eaters, simple solution: Subscribe to Gousto. You choose your meals every week and they turned me from a picky eater to someone who would eat the world!
Special Note to all who eat their steak WELL DONE! As a kid I wanted my Filet Mignon well done.... sacrilege! Then I'd put ketchup on it. Horrors! In my late teens I dated a guy who liked his steak rare. So I tried my steak medium well, then graduated to medium and finally stopped and medium rare. So much better and NO ketchup anymore. You can't go directly... you gotta go in stages.( like a year) You'll be glad you did.
My family always made fun of me for my extreme aversion to certain textures until my nephew was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder and they realized that I may just have the same thing. Love most vegetables, though. I'll eat a head of broccoli whole or a bag of raw green beans in one sitting.
Back when I did Foster care on Maui we had a brother and sister that the brother (he was about 7) wouldn't eat any kind of fish. Yes, really strange for a kid born on Maui. Anytime we had fish, we just told him it was chicken and he would woof it down. It wasn't until years later his sister told him.
I have Adult Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Basically I’m such a picky eater that it’s a diagnosis. I hate it. I can’t order normally in a restaurant or go on a dinner date. I can’t eat over at someone’s house. I hate the judgment that picky eaters get. I don’t want to be like this. It’s awful and embarrassing and frustrating.
does anyone else pick out the things you don't like from a burrito if they didn't specify that the gross stuff was in there? Like I'll pick out the tomatos or those gross green squishy things, or my personal favorite to pick out, onions, as I take small bites. Bite, search for gross things, pick them out. Nibble, search for gross things, pick them out. Repeat until burrito is finished
Haha gross green squishy things, those are green bell peppers, just fyi
Load More Replies...
My whole life I am used to hiding my pickiness from anyone outside my family. Whenever my family ordered pizza they always had it loaded with mushrooms, which I learned just to pick off than cry and make a fool out of myself. It became so habitual for me I didn't even realize I was doing it. So when my son was two and my parents ordered pizza, it never occurred to me my son would be copying me. He will be 20 this year and still hasn't tried a mushroom
I've discovered as an adult that my "pickyness" was really a result to my body reacting to foods. Like boxed potatoes always made me feel icky -turns out I'm sensitive to MSG. Never liked onions - turns out they give me stomach issues. Dislike walnuts - I'm mildly allergic to them.
In third grade, me and my two best friends at the time made a group called the "guilty girls" and the number one rule was that you mustttt be picky. Sadly, we had a falling out involving a snail and the spelling bee
My husband is the yin to my yang and when I don't want to eat something he will happily eat it for me and vice versa.
Idk, when I was a picky eater, I ate vegetables and a lot of them (kale is the best with dressing), and I still hate chicken tenders
I will add myself to the picky list but i dont seem as bad as some people. My food can touch & in most cases i will just pick stuff off. I can def say that the things i dont like have been tried many times & many ways b/c of my European family upbringing. When i say i dont like shellfish i know it for fact. My family has made me try it prepared about 15 different ways to be sure. It helps expand things, especially as a kid. Still not a huge fan of clams BUT love clam chowder, linguine & clams, & baked/stuff clams. Absolutely know i still hate them on pizza or any situation that they're raw...
I have not heard about picky eaters but for children in certain phases. I would have thus guessed that the concept applies to those adultsa who make very concious choices about their food, mabye to a level of extreme, such as separating all different kinds of food on a plate, but usually paying a lof of attention to quality. According to these memes picky eaters merely are those who would not try to eat healthy for inconclusive reasons but "stick" to food that has hardly any nutritional value ("empty calories"). I am puzzled now.
I know a few picky eaters by choice (allergies and autism are not a choice) and they almost all fit the stereotype of the spoiled only child. They got stuck in that children phase because nobody ever helped them to get out because the parents always made their favourite foods. And I think children growing up in extremely strict households are prone to that too. Food shouldn’t be associated with fear or force and it’s a pretty safe way to induce unhealthy eating habits or eating disorders.
Load More Replies... Not only are young children picky eaters, for them it would be real, fear inducing torture if they have to eat something they are not used to eat. My own children were like this, however, they grew out of it when they where in highschool age.
Not all kids are picky eaters at all. My young children are not picky eaters. My son loves food and tries and enjoys pretty much everything even as a baby. My daughter has some common food aversions (like tomato) and has needed more exposure to some foods but she eats and enjoys almost everything. Offer (and keep offering) your children the same healthy food you eat, lead by example and dont turn food into a 'thing'.
Load More Replies...
There's a HUGE difference between being a picky eater and being a useless moron who thinks everyone should understand their rudeness. If you're a picky eater, you learn how to f'ckng cook first, and behave like an educated person when eating at the table. An adult leaving hand-picked food scattered all over their plates is disgusting, and it would certainly get you kicked off of my dining room.
In Greek, the word for picky eater is the same word for miserable.
Picky eaters who won't even try something at all because they THINK it will be awful, are ridiculous. How do you even know? That's how you stay a picky eater. Try new things for crying out loud.
Forcing them to try new things will backfire. Just eat it yourself and show them how you enjoy it. They'll pick up on it.
Load More Replies...
why tho that is saying that you don't value someone's soul it is like if someone said to you oh you listen to popular music ewww get the f**k out of here
Load More Replies... 
I feel happy learning from this list that I am not a true picky eater. I’ll go through the trouble of eating the still-warm tomato and pickle slices before eating a burger, instead of throwing them away entirely. Picky eaters must have it hard. Still, I wish restaurants offered sampler sizes of entrees so I could figure out my jam. Mmm, a combo of two new foods and a reliable standby. I miss restaurants. I wonder if they miss me too.
I'm like the opposite of a picky eater. If the food is too boring, I won't eat it. If I've eaten the food too much in the last few months, I don't want it. I can force myself to eat almost anything but boring food is my worst.
I'm the same, my partner calls me a food snob but I just like good tasty food! Bland food is the worst. Always so disappointing when you're looking forward to a meal and it falls way before standard!
Load More Replies... For the picky eaters who don't like certain fruits and vegetables, keep in mind a couple things; not all produce is equal, texture and taste can vary wildy depending on whether it's fresh, frozen, local, seasonal, the variety itself, or if it's ripe/overripe at that moment. Tomatoes get that mushy mealy texture from the fridge, it makes all the difference to keep them out of the cold.
And have a guess what tomatoes most food outlets use: fresh and ripe or cold-stored and unripe? I worked at a fruit/veg market that supplies to most of the restaurants and cafes around here - pretty decently sized area. Most tomatoes they send out are green. Worked in kitchens for more than 15 years, and most places want them like that. They'll sit in the box for a week and ripen up, but they'll usually be being used before that. It's very hard to get tomatoes in bulk on demand and ripe.
Load More Replies... I have adult restrictive food intake disorder (basically so picky it’s a diagnosis). It would have to literally be life or death for me to eat a lot of things.
Load More Replies... Picky eaters annoy me, but then I try to remember that certain things (like mussels) make me gag even thinking about them, and I try to understand that for some people there are lots of foods that invoke that response. It would still be a relationship dealbreaker for me though, I think. I know that's very intolerant, but I really think it would be a major compatibility issue. And it would bring out the worst of my judgy side.
They are annoying bur, they aren't picky to be a pain in the ass. Many (not "all") are picky because it's one of the few things they have control over in their lives- what they put in their mouth. Had a friend in high school who was ridiculously picky. I'm talking like her tater tots had to be piled in odd numbers like 5 on the bottom, three on top of those, and 1 on the very top. She also had to have catsup in packets instead of bottles. She was borderline psychotic about it. She went to school on the opposite coast, got on her own feet, and got her career going. She turned into one of the most adventurous eaters I know. Met up with her in Korea and she explained she had zero say in anything growing up. She was told what to wear, what TV show she was allowed to watch, when to go to bed and when to get up. The only thing she had any control over was what went into her mouth. That all changed when she got away from that house.
Load More Replies... As a picky eater it was a bit upsetting to read this and the comments from people who have these ideas about who you are and why you are. My father for years thought my high dislike of tomatoes was some sort of fad and I was definitely never catered to by him nor my mother. I went through almost a year of elementary school not eating school lunches, hunger be damned. I actually like broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower while my brother the human garbage disposal does not. I am lucky enough that textures don't bother me, so I have tried many foods from all around the world. However, sometimes people are just people and we stick to comfort food. It has never bothered my friends that I love chicken nuggets and french fries and they like me for my personality and not my taste buds. They eat what is on their plate and I eat what is on mine and in the end we still manage to have a good time.
Picky eaters (at least the vocal type) make me angry. I try to not eat with picky eater friends under any circumstances because it costs so much self-control. (People with food allergies are no picky eaters in my book.)
I have several 'hard no' foods. Mushrooms. Broccoli. Cabbage. Brussel sprouts. Swiss cheese (not all cheeses that are Swiss, but the kind with the holes.) Hot dogs. Olives. Otherwise, I'm good. But unfortunately, several of those foods are global staples. It would be much easier if I disliked guava. Or hákarl. Or boudin. Easy to avoid.
Load More Replies... Okay this is a little dark, but make sure to try to expand your flavor palate. After a while if the food you'll eat keeps decreasing, it can help fuel the start of an eating disorder. Obviously this isn't the case for most people, but it happened to me. I have sense recovered from my ED, but I still have to challenge myself to eat a new food once a week. Recommendation: when trying a new food try to find words to describe it, another food to relate it to, and make sure to take one bite at least. I hope this helps someone but trust me, eventually you'll get it :)
When I was young, I disliked burritos. Made me gag. Had to stay with a friend for a week and her mom made burritos one night. I've loved them ever since. Sometimes how a food is prepared can open your taste buds to things you didn't like before. As long you've tried it and knew you didn't like it.
I can never relate to people who are picky, even when I was a kiddo. Basically ate what my folks put on the plate with no issues. Also their cooking wasn't too bad from what I remember. Love veggies, tofu, mayo, meat. :d
Same here but I think for Americans it helps if you have cultural dishes. Like I grew up eating cultural food from my home country so we never had a chance to be chicken nugget kids. American families who don’t have cultural foods probably have a harder time.
Load More Replies... I'm a picky eater and have food allergies.....I never go out to eat
Are you "picky" due to your allergies? That's not "picky", that's looking after yourself.
Load More Replies... I love fruit. I love tacos. I'm not a picky eater. I just dont like tomatoes.
I love tomatoes.But that is ok,you don't have to like every food there is.
Load More Replies... I used to be insanely picky and just decided not to be one day. My life's improved! I was inspired by my friend's mom asking if I ate mac and cheese. That's literally all I ate for ten years.
Meanwhile, I enjoy all kinds of food, but have to give up so much because of kidney health.... I got much much healthier, but I wish I could be more free and less obligated to calculate.... To all of you who eat the same thing every day -> seriously, be careful. That's a very unhealthy habit. If you don't like particular textures, get a mixer. There's ways to find solutions to make your food tasty and various.
My boyfriend is willing to try everything, but I never saw him more unhappy than that one time I gave him a piece of avocado. He already likes tofu to about 30 % now, unless it is raw or unseasoned. He thinks a bit more fondly of vegetables in general now that he tried some, but he comes from a family where they eat very unhealthily, so of course it is a process...
I hated asparagus until I was forced to eat it on an international flight because I was starving. I love it now. Sometimes tastes change.
Load More Replies... Note to picky eaters, you may not be picky, you may be a "supertaster". I did the test and it happens I am a supertaster!
Quick story: I'm a picky eater, and I hate babybel cheeses with a burning passion. I'm ALWAYS eager to p**n them off at lunch at school so I don't have to eat them when my mom packs them for me. Awhile back, one of my friends voulenteered to take one of my cheeses, so I gave it to him. This kid then bites THROUGH the plastic wrapper, THROUGH the wax beneath said wrapper, and all the way to the cheese. He then spits it out and yells "THIS CHEESE TASTES DISGUSTING" at the top of his lungs. I can't stop laughing now that I'm writing this.
I do my best to respect and cater to the food preferences of others, but picky eaters can be very hard to deal with if they're not even willing to try even a little bit. My ex boyfriend was an incredibly picky eater. With me being a vegetarian, we had exactly TWO dishes we could eat together. Pasta with blue cheese, but only one specific brand of blue cheese. Pasta with tomato sauce, but only one specific recipe. I once cooked for him as a surprise and he yelled "nooo, you're RUINING it!!!!" because I put a spoonful of TOMATO PASTE in the TOMATO SAUCE. Feels great.
i have 2 friends who are sisters. one only will eat dino nuggets (not regular chicken nuggets even) and buttered noodles and waffles, the other will only eat peanut butter sandwiches with ONE type of bread and ONE type of peanut butter. 🙄
My mother was a picky eater, and the older she got, the worse she got to the point where she even had to have a certain plate and fork to eat with. I would often wonder how she managed to raise three kids who would eat just about anything when she was so picky herself, but then I'd remember Dad's steadfast rules - eat or go hungry and if you complain, you do the cooking.
There was no such thing when I was growing up. Mom made one dish, if you didn’t like it, you didn’t eat. You’ll be surprised what people can eat when they are actually hungry.
Exactly. I spent my childhood hungry so I ate almost everything. Still do today... except Brussels sprouts. I just haven't tried a good tasting plate of them yet.
Load More Replies... For any parents of picky eaters, simple solution: Subscribe to Gousto. You choose your meals every week and they turned me from a picky eater to someone who would eat the world!
Special Note to all who eat their steak WELL DONE! As a kid I wanted my Filet Mignon well done.... sacrilege! Then I'd put ketchup on it. Horrors! In my late teens I dated a guy who liked his steak rare. So I tried my steak medium well, then graduated to medium and finally stopped and medium rare. So much better and NO ketchup anymore. You can't go directly... you gotta go in stages.( like a year) You'll be glad you did.
My family always made fun of me for my extreme aversion to certain textures until my nephew was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder and they realized that I may just have the same thing. Love most vegetables, though. I'll eat a head of broccoli whole or a bag of raw green beans in one sitting.
Back when I did Foster care on Maui we had a brother and sister that the brother (he was about 7) wouldn't eat any kind of fish. Yes, really strange for a kid born on Maui. Anytime we had fish, we just told him it was chicken and he would woof it down. It wasn't until years later his sister told him.
I have Adult Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Basically I’m such a picky eater that it’s a diagnosis. I hate it. I can’t order normally in a restaurant or go on a dinner date. I can’t eat over at someone’s house. I hate the judgment that picky eaters get. I don’t want to be like this. It’s awful and embarrassing and frustrating.
does anyone else pick out the things you don't like from a burrito if they didn't specify that the gross stuff was in there? Like I'll pick out the tomatos or those gross green squishy things, or my personal favorite to pick out, onions, as I take small bites. Bite, search for gross things, pick them out. Nibble, search for gross things, pick them out. Repeat until burrito is finished
Haha gross green squishy things, those are green bell peppers, just fyi
Load More Replies... My whole life I am used to hiding my pickiness from anyone outside my family. Whenever my family ordered pizza they always had it loaded with mushrooms, which I learned just to pick off than cry and make a fool out of myself. It became so habitual for me I didn't even realize I was doing it. So when my son was two and my parents ordered pizza, it never occurred to me my son would be copying me. He will be 20 this year and still hasn't tried a mushroom
I've discovered as an adult that my "pickyness" was really a result to my body reacting to foods. Like boxed potatoes always made me feel icky -turns out I'm sensitive to MSG. Never liked onions - turns out they give me stomach issues. Dislike walnuts - I'm mildly allergic to them.
In third grade, me and my two best friends at the time made a group called the "guilty girls" and the number one rule was that you mustttt be picky. Sadly, we had a falling out involving a snail and the spelling bee
My husband is the yin to my yang and when I don't want to eat something he will happily eat it for me and vice versa.
Idk, when I was a picky eater, I ate vegetables and a lot of them (kale is the best with dressing), and I still hate chicken tenders
I will add myself to the picky list but i dont seem as bad as some people. My food can touch & in most cases i will just pick stuff off. I can def say that the things i dont like have been tried many times & many ways b/c of my European family upbringing. When i say i dont like shellfish i know it for fact. My family has made me try it prepared about 15 different ways to be sure. It helps expand things, especially as a kid. Still not a huge fan of clams BUT love clam chowder, linguine & clams, & baked/stuff clams. Absolutely know i still hate them on pizza or any situation that they're raw...
I have not heard about picky eaters but for children in certain phases. I would have thus guessed that the concept applies to those adultsa who make very concious choices about their food, mabye to a level of extreme, such as separating all different kinds of food on a plate, but usually paying a lof of attention to quality. According to these memes picky eaters merely are those who would not try to eat healthy for inconclusive reasons but "stick" to food that has hardly any nutritional value ("empty calories"). I am puzzled now.
I know a few picky eaters by choice (allergies and autism are not a choice) and they almost all fit the stereotype of the spoiled only child. They got stuck in that children phase because nobody ever helped them to get out because the parents always made their favourite foods. And I think children growing up in extremely strict households are prone to that too. Food shouldn’t be associated with fear or force and it’s a pretty safe way to induce unhealthy eating habits or eating disorders.
Load More Replies... Not only are young children picky eaters, for them it would be real, fear inducing torture if they have to eat something they are not used to eat. My own children were like this, however, they grew out of it when they where in highschool age.
Not all kids are picky eaters at all. My young children are not picky eaters. My son loves food and tries and enjoys pretty much everything even as a baby. My daughter has some common food aversions (like tomato) and has needed more exposure to some foods but she eats and enjoys almost everything. Offer (and keep offering) your children the same healthy food you eat, lead by example and dont turn food into a 'thing'.
Load More Replies... There's a HUGE difference between being a picky eater and being a useless moron who thinks everyone should understand their rudeness. If you're a picky eater, you learn how to f'ckng cook first, and behave like an educated person when eating at the table. An adult leaving hand-picked food scattered all over their plates is disgusting, and it would certainly get you kicked off of my dining room.
In Greek, the word for picky eater is the same word for miserable.
Picky eaters who won't even try something at all because they THINK it will be awful, are ridiculous. How do you even know? That's how you stay a picky eater. Try new things for crying out loud.
Forcing them to try new things will backfire. Just eat it yourself and show them how you enjoy it. They'll pick up on it.
Load More Replies... why tho that is saying that you don't value someone's soul it is like if someone said to you oh you listen to popular music ewww get the f**k out of here
Load More Replies... 