Social impact of severe picky eating

Adult picky eaters struggle around social gatherings involving food. I present to you a lifetime of personal experience in this series.

I step into a restaurant to meet my friends. As we are chatting, the waiter comes with a tray full of salads. I stare at my plate and hope no one notices that I am not eating anything. I even will push around the salad to distract everyone and avoid questions. It is too late. Here come the questions.

The most common questions and comments for adult picky eaters are.

What’s wrong?
Are you ok?
Is there something wrong with the food?
You cant eat it? What do you mean you can’t eat it?
Have you ever tried it?
Maybe you should try it?
Salad is healthy for you.
At least try a bite.

Soon the topic of my dietary habits has taken over. I am now explaining a hundred times about my picky eating. Pleading with my friends to please understand that it is not a choice. I really do want to eat healthily. A picky eater is a sensory problem. The picky eater conversation goes on and on. Now I want the questions to stop, but they keep coming. I try to change the subject, and sometimes I am successful at least till the entrée comes and I start to pick and rearrange my food.

I am alone.

Filled with anxiety and tired of explaining my eating habits. This eating problem makes me feel emotionally exhausted sometimes. I no longer hear anything but the voice in my head telling me to be quiet and go home if I need to. I swear I will never go out to eat with anyone again. No dates. No friends. Never again!!!

I reject all invites that involve gatherings over food. I go to a restaurant I feel alone. My eating habits or lack of have taken over my social life. I know soon they will stop inviting me if I continue to reject invitations, and I do not have the emotional strength to plead with them to understand me. So I stop calling them or answering the phone when they call. I come up with excuse after excuse knowing that inevitably it will end most of all of my friendships.

Feeling alone and defeated, anger sets in. I am angry at being judged and eventually alienated because of my picky eating. Blaming everyone but myself, I wallow in the feeling that it is not my fault.

But how much longer can I go on like that. Not much!

This went on from my 20’s to my mid 40’s. I am in my 50’s I understand why my circle of friends is so small. I know the saying. (If they are real friends, they would understand) but the same goes for me. Even though it took me so long to come to terms. I finally understand, so the work of reclaiming what is left has begun.

In this series, I hope to show those who suffer from the social impact of severe picky eating there is hope. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and developed coping skills.

Every day there is more and more information coming out about picky eating. Jessica Rohrer shares in her book how she suffered 29 years and finally overcame her picky eating. The solution may be different for everyone, but the goal is the same: to eat normally.

I do eat and if you are interested in finding out more about my favorite foods you can check out my food reviews.