Are you a fussy eater?

[Bimgy85]

I can't comprehend adults being fussy eaters. Fussy is for children surely, and at that, children aged up to 14/15

I truly don't understand fussy adults eating habits, I work with a woman who's 26 and she won't eat anything out of the ordinary. Ham sandwich for lunch and crisps, she cringed when I mentioned I was going for sushi for dinner, or even a basic Chinese buffet with vegetables noodles etc.

Are you a fussy eater, and why?

I understood everybody grew out of that

I'm a fussy eater but I have to be as I am lactose intolerant. I won't eat or drink anything that has milk in it because if I do it will make me ill. So I am the person asking about ingredients in restaurants, refusing food & drink at friends houses or reading ingredient lists in Tesco or Asda. I never used to be like this I'd eat most things except sprouts, boiled cauliflower(it's ok in a stew or curry) or solid cheese( it's ok melted on a pizza,burger or lasagne). It really annoys me that I have to be fussy but it's the only way to stay well.

Manic, don’t you think that treatment for food phobias work?

We are stuck with DS2, he does not eat any kind of fruit at all. I thought at 12 he might have grown out of it. He was VERY fussy when younger, he didn’t even like ice cream FGS!!!.

He has trained himself out of the “I’m not trying that!” attitude of his toddlerhood to having a taste of all things savoury and is now not too bad but he will NOT try fruit of any sort. He CAN rationalise at this age. So I guess it’s a phobia of some description. At least he doesn’t gag and look at a nectarine as if they’re about to assassinate him, even though I’m the one eating it. He doesn’t run out of the room the minute you unpeel an orange. So there has been progress on that score but he will NOT put it anywhere near his mouth.

So.....I feel that he will not be like me as a student and start telling himself “it’s only an orange, I bloody like orange juice”. I feel like this is it, as an adult he will be a fruit-refuser and people will think him odd!

I am incredibly fussy - have no idea why and now being in my 70s am unlikely to change. Just a few of the things I won't eat:

Pulses, seeds, garlic, pasta, rice, avocado, courgettes, foreign food incl Indian, Chinese etc, mushrooms, peppers, chilli, rabbit, veal, game, black pudding, olive oil, salad dressing, most sauces, most herbs and spices, the list goes on and on.

My DF was even fussier than me and I wonder if it's hereditary - when he and DM went to France for the weekend one time he took emergency rations of cream crackers and chedar cheese

It's irrelevant if you don't understand, we are what we are.

Teenagers: but this thread is not about food allergies and intolerances!

I’m another very fussy eater. I don’t like anything with sauces, I don’t eat any red meat although that’s due to health reasons, and I’m very scared to try anything new. I have a very sensitive sense of smell to the point that if I’m not keen on a smell of a food, I can’t bring myself to eat it, the smell of bacon makes me gag!

I pretty much eat the same thing over and over unless I go to a restaurant, for breakfast it’s a yogurt and fruit, lunch is a cooked chicken breast from Waitrose and Mediterranean salad (I’ve tried every supermarkets cooked chicken breast and Waitrose’s came on top, and have now formed an unhealthy obsession with Waitrose cooked chicken, god I’m so fussy), then dinner is plain grilled or cooked chicken and either rice or plain pasta with veg or salad. I have an issue with trying new foods in my home, and can only try new foods in restaurants, and this year I’ve tried pizza, oysters, calamari, frog legs and sea bass, which is a huge achievement for me.

I hate being fussy but I have gained such negative food habits that I’m trying to slowly break as I know my diet isn’t overly varied.

Are used to be an extremely fussy eater up until I was about 20 to 21. I would eat maybe 5 to 10 foods and that was it. When I lived in Italy though, I began to eat more things. And then when I move to a sermon, I ate everything. I do go through times where I like certain things and I will eat them every day. I also don't like eating things with bones, so face with bones, chicken with bones, I just don't like it.

I come from a very poor background, where food was scarce. Meat was only available once a week, on a Sunday. I can't imagine being a fussy eater. I ate EVERYTHING! If I didn't, I would go hungry. As an adult I love tasting food, I respect it and I think having a good dinner is a wonderful way of celebrating life. I know it's a huge simplification, but surely those extremely fussy eaters, if faced with starvation if no 'beige' food was available would surely accept food other colours?

at putting oysters and frogs legs in the same bracket as pizza. Jujuq, well done on trying oysters and frogs legs, I never have and I am definitely no longer a fussy eater!

When I was a child a lot of food was ‘snuck’ into other foods to force me to eat it much to the amusement of my family who were very proud of themselves: ‘see, it didn’t kill you did it’. It left me feeling a real sense of disrespect and like my body wasn’t my own - my cheeks would burn and my eyes would water. I felt like my opinion didn’t matter. So perhaps as I got a bit older and gained more control over what I put in MY body, I was probably quite reluctant and stubborn to try more things. I think that s**t backfires.

Things I really can’t stand: any kind of seafood/shellfish except cod (but wouldn’t choose it), raw onion, smelly cheeses (goats, blue etc).

There are a list of other things I would eat to be polite at a dinner party but would really struggle with.

I am fed up of being called fussy at 33 and DH telling me he will ‘get me eating fish’. I’ll damn well eat what I like thanks!

I think the people who are impatient with 'fussy' eaters are the ones who have had to deal with ill-mannered attention-seekers of the type who spoil everyone else's meal by whining, theatrical gagging, rude remarks and the rest of it.
If you have dietary issues (whether that's an allergy, a phobia or a sensory problem) be upfront with your friends and ask to socialise in ways that don't involve meals; have a plan of some sort if eating away from home with acquaintances is going to be unavoidable (a short list of things you can manage and, if your eating issue is something you don't want to discuss at length, a short list of polite excuses for avoiding the meal or not eating much) and basically be ready to make as little fuss as possible.

Monoceros: I know what you mean. I know some kids who suffered extreme neglect as toddlers. Who had to look in their bin for food cos their parents were drug addicts/drunks. They grew up to eat anything and waste nothing. so will eat the “string” on a banana separate to the rest of it if it fell off while being peeled. Or say, if a load of sugar or crumbs from a doughnut or shortbread is left in the container, they wil lick their fingers again and again and dab them into the bottom of the container so that every last crumb or granule of sugar sticks to their finger and they can lick it off. They eat anything and seem to have no dislikes at all. Obviously this is a psychological problem in a different way as they will never turn down food and that can be a massive problem. But it is interesting that there is no sign of fussiness in kids
/teens who literally had nothing to eat when they were younger.

I'm fussy as fuck. Some things i love,some things I like,some things I'll eat if I really have to but I rather not and some things I refuse to even look at. Somehow I do manage to eat out or get invited to other people's houses.
There was a complete twat that insisted over and over again to try her fucking lamb because she'd cure me of my lamb "issues", and "i never had lamb cooked properly before" and "just try a little bit"(i turn green just smelling it ) so I said yes once but she'll have to deal with the fallout. She gave a tinkly laugh,a huuuge smile and "oh you'll just love it"! I promptly puked on her table. Oh well..

It’s comments such as “I’m really freaked out by bread” that has been shaking my head. WTF does that even mean?

Curlyhairedassassin - I'm sure the treatment works some of the time. But by no means always. Some treatments I've had have been effective, especially short term, but nothing has been a total cure. Also, treatment has been far more helpful for my eating disorders than it has for my fussy eating (I think the two are distinct things - I was ridiculously fussy long before I was ill)

I know it's a huge simplification, but surely those extremely fussy eaters, if faced with starvation if no 'beige' food was available would surely accept food other colours?

If you know it's a huge simplification then surely you know the answer would be no for some people. At 5 I had a feeding tube because I wouldn't eat at all - everything became 'unacceptable' to me. As a teenager the fact that I'd starve if there wasn't anything I liked became an added bonus - mix being fussy with an obsession with being thin/an eating disorder and you're going to start using the fussiness, not fighting it. You're certainly not going to eat something you don't like to avoid going hungry!

Why assume all fussy eaters only like beige food anyway?

I like strawberries, raspberries, pepper, oranges, apricots, babycorn, pineapple, mango, broccoli, apples, cucumber, mangetout, blueberries, plums, blackberries and aubergine.

I don't like bread, pasta, chips, crisps, cake, rice, most potatoes, pizza and biscuits

Fussy doesn't = beige.

I was very fussy as a child but grew out of it though I still won’t eat offal or seafood. I’m also a bit fussy about meat and more often than not will have a vegetarian option when eating out unless I really fancy a meat or fish option (I do eat salmon and white fish sometimes).

I'm not too fussy, but equally I see little point trying something new - especially when I am out and paying for a meal - when I can choose something on the menu that I know I like. This makes people think I'm boring/predictable/fussy, but really I just know that there's a greater chance of me not liking the new thing I've ordered than there is of me not liking what I have eaten before.

That being said, I eat a good range of fruit and vegetables, I like carbs, I'm not too picky with meat (can do without it in general, though), have no intolerances or allergies, so when push comes to shove, I'm not too bad.

I'd be really peeved if someone criticised my lunch though. Why's it any of your business whether someone brings a sandwich and some fruit, or whether they bring something "more exciting"? Sandwiches were the bog standard lunch for many decades.

@Monoceros hen little,if not fed the food i liked I happily didn't eat. Plain bread was good enough. But then I had no issues on surviving on small quantities of food as my BM starved herself al throughout her pregnancy and I came out a tiny preemie. Didn't need much milk as a baby,bad enough that I was under consultant care and barely ate as a toddler as well. Being able to cook the meals I likes from a fairly young age also helped. I've been a fussy pain in the butt since forever.

It’s comments such as “I’m really freaked out by bread” that has been shaking my head. WTF does that even mean?

It means that if I have to eat bread my chest gets tight, I have a lump in my throat and have to fight to keep myself from crying. I imagine the gluten swelling up in my stomach, weighing me down and turning into flesh/fat. Insane? Yes. I know that. That's why it's a mental health issue, not a choice.

I know it's a huge simplification, but surely those extremely fussy eaters, if faced with starvation if no 'beige' food was available would surely accept food other colours?

The first food I discovered I hated was milk, at school in the 1950s. At morning break we were given mini bottles of milk which had been sitting out in the sun all morning. The teacher was adamant that I should drink it until after the third day of me projectile vomitting the revolting liquid, she relented. Re the above I would probably probably starve.

It seems non-fussy eaters feel superior about this subject but it's rather rude to suggest my food is 'beige' because it doesn't include the things you eat. I am a good cook, and it's perfectly possible to cook a good variety of tasty meals with the food I do eat.

I see little point trying something new - especially when I am out and paying for a meal

I'm the opposite (except when I am eating out for convenience at the pub or a fast food place).

I see little point in paying someone to prepare a meal for me which I know the taste of and could prepare at home for a lot less money and exactly the way I like it. Ordering something I am already familiar with is more likely to lead to disappointment. If I'm paying a professional to cook me a meal, I want something I have not eaten before.

I'm a fussy eater.
I would give anything to not be so fussy.

For me it's mostly textures, but can be strong smelling/garlicky food too.

I have to sieve the bits (onion and carrot etc) out of sauces.

I love cooking, especially for other people but until recently wouldn't touch garlic and would be near to tears if my partner ate garlic.

Sleeping in the same room as someone who has eaten garlic is torture for me.

I am trying hard to get through the fear and recently cooked with garlic and ate it too. I enjoyed the meal.

I realise it is mostly in my head. The fear is very real though.

It's just I bet in other countries where they don't have as much options as us, there are no 'fussy' eaters.

We are spoiled for choice. So we would rather go hungry than eat a 'food we don't like' we are such selfish creatures nowadays.

I had an ex who was a fussy eater, we're a foodie family. It was never going to work.

I don't mind if people genuinely don't like something but it annoys me when people say they don't like something they've never tried, that's childish. A friend of mine went on a date a couple of years ago (late twenties, date was around thirty) he sent his meal back because he'd asked for no peas and they'd put peas on his plate and a few of them had touched his chips! Regular peas not mushy ones, he had no allergy, just didn't eat any fruit or veg, she didn't go out with him again and we all understood why. I don't choose to eat baked beans, too sweet and slimy, but if someone cooks for me I won't make a fuss, and will eat some of them to be polite. Baked beans and bananas are my only real dislikes, both for mainly textural reasons, oh and tripe, but I can eat them if needed and certainly wouldn't kick up a fuss about it.

What's selfish about not eating something you don't like? Is that food taken from starving children in Africa? Stolen from the hands of the homeless?
There's all this about resources,environment,food supplies etc but somehow we're SELFISH for not eating more things? Or even worse eating a bit and the rest thrown away to be "polite"?