This is an introduction to my Picky Eater series. Head on over here for more up to date information and stories.

What happens when I try to eat.

My picky eater stories are real. I share my real and long life experience as a picky eater. But please let me explain first. For me, the term picky eater does not even begin to describe what it is like.  It does not simply prefer one food over another. I don’t just dislike certain foods; I can’t eat them.

For example, I love how a salad smells and looks, but my physical reactions can be quite scary when I eat any of it.  When gag reflex takes over, it does not matter how much I try to eat, and I can not get past it.

Somedays, I don’t want to eat at all.  My picky pallet can be very boring, and I wish there were another way.  I will eat crackers or munch on cheerios, or when I am feeling really reckless. I have a hand full of potato chips and a glass of soda and declare that to be a meal.

Picky eaters are not the same.

I have learned that picky eater like myself are all different.  While I (hate) correction dislike most veggies and some fruit, another picky eater may dislike most meat and starches and eat only veggies and fruit.

My diet has been minimal in my 55 plus years, which has an emotional toll that is impossible to navigate.  It affects you in every way.  You feel a social disconnect, health and well being becomes difficult to manage.  And your weight can either be too high or too low, depending on the severity of your picky eaters’ diet.

I have been part of a Facebook group where there are thousands like myself all around the world.  There is even a fairly new medical term ARFID Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.  More information about this eating disorder can be found on the national eating disorders website, and it goes into criteria for diagnosis, Risk Factors, Warning Signs, and consequences. 

Aging as a picky eater.

Find out how it has affected my life and the adjustments and changes I had to make it bearable.  I am worried about my future.  I have made it to my mid-fifties with this disorder, but what if I am lucky enough to make it past my 70’s.  Concerned that if my picky eater diet does not eventually end my life, then the medical consequences will definitely have a bad impact on my senior years’ quality of life.

This disease is getting noticed very slowly. By sharing and learning, we hope to find a stepping stone to a better future for all who have it and those who do not yet know.  Find more of my stories by clicking on this link, Picky Eating, or click on the photo below of my beautiful granddaughter having her first solid food.