How to help Picky Eaters

Can we take a moment to mention how often picky eaters are pushed down upon? I’m tired of being bullied for not liking many things.

I personally do not eat very often - not because I don’t want to but because I don’t have access to foods I like all the time. That makes me really skinny (I’m 104lbs, 5’3 and turning 21 next month) and because of my size/age, and I know I should eat more.

I googled the other night “how to help picky eaters” and before I could even finish typing, it said “gain weight” “how to trick picky eaters” and NEITHER of these are the way to go. Picky eaters do NOT always need to gain weight. And you will lose trust from that person if you trick them into eating stuff.

My mom likes to always sneak different things in our food dishes and wonders why I always elected myself to be the cook of the house.

My own grandma tells me I’m anorexic, which that is NOT true at all. I don’t force myself to not eat. I don’t force myself to throw it up. In fact, she’ll complain about it while I’m eating:

3 bowls of spaghetti

A line of Oreos

A WHOLE pickle jar

ALL IN ONE SITTING. IN FRONT OF HER.

** If you have a picky eater in your life, FIND OUT the stuff they do like and try combining a dish from there.** Make sure to take note of whether or not they only like a specific thing (like tomatoes) by themselves, not mixed with other foods. For example, one could like carrots but not like them mixed in foods, let alone some people do like carrots in food but not cooked carrots.

Here is how to REALLY get a picky eater to eat more food/more often:

Have them help you cook. Or even elect them to be the cook for a night and see what they create, maybe you will like it and eveyrone can have a single dish they enjoy.

BE HONEST about what’s in the food. Do not go around trying to tell someone that a piece of food is chicken and have them try it, only for them to find out it’s fish. WE ARE PICKY. We know what chicken is supposed to taste like.

Don’t pressure them into new things. If you know someone doesn’t like a food, why harass them to try a bite of it when they already know they don’t like it? How would you feel if someone shoved a food in your face that everyone knows you don’t enjoy?

ITS NOT HARD To compromise with a person‘s food choices. We cannot force ourselves to like a food, that is entirely up to our bodies.

Being picky is also NOT an eating disorder. It’s just a limited list of things you like to eat. It’s your taste buds. It’s your preference. Being picky is NOT a mental illness. Stop calling is sick just because I don’t like the taste of cheese.

Personally:

I just happen to be psychologically damaged because my dad used foods as punishment. He’d try tricking me into eating fish, which I very well know is fish and WILL spit it out. He’d force me to eat and swallow it without problems and no ugly faces, otherwise we’re going home and a WHOLE bottle of mustard is being shoved down my throat. I don’t like mustard.

That being said, I don’t like when people cook for me, I don’t like going to new restaurants, and I WILL cry if you pressure me into eating a new food. There is nothing wrong with your friend or family member, they are not anorexic, they are not mentally ill. They just have different taste buds than you. Compromise with your loved ones.