what the hell is a vegetable

A sideblog revolving around ARFID (Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). He/him

[andhumanslovedstories]

There's been a few articles about ARFID in my proximity lately, and they all have comment sections, and I'd say 50 percent of the comments are neutral to good takes that make me feel like I'm recognizing something about myself that I can learn skills to overcome, and the other 50 make me feel so bad about myself that if I'm not careful that becomes my whole afternoon. And to that half, I'd like to say i can go so fuckin long without eating. "omg your kids will eat if they're hungry enough stop coddling them" you cannot imagine the ways throughout my life I have transcended hunger because the available food was a mysterious texture. Dinners were contests of will and I fuckin won. anything is possible when you think the concept of food is at best mid

[semtitulo]

me several times a day

[aropride]

[vexcite]

no i will not try the food again. yes ive tried it before and did not like it. no i will not get used to the taste if i keep trying it. no just because most people like it doesnt mean i have to. i will eat the foods I know i like and stay happy with those

[jayykesley]

actually i think my favorite part of having arfid is the sudden food aversion right in the middle of a meal, especially when it’s a meal you’ve had before without issue. just the immediate experience of “get that food out of your mouth right now, you can’t even look at what’s in your bowl without feeling overwhelming nausea” and then rushing to spit it out. it’s cool, it’s fun, it’s exciting 🫠

[chaotic-queer-disaster]

people are absolutely EVIL about the boundaries of "picky eaters". no, they do not have to try it. yes, they can know they don't like it without having eaten it before. no, they probably have not suddenly grown a taste for the food they've said they hate. no, they probably are not going to like it in the Special Way This One Place Cooks It. yes, you are being a bad friend if you try to "trick" them into eating it anyway

[chaotic-queer-disaster]

#all this being said I’m still going to silently judge my picky eater friends for their weakness

cool, that wasn't necessary to add at all! Just a quick note that people who are picky enough to have a reputation of being a "picky eater" often have undiagnosed Sensory Processing Disorder and severely picky eaters often have Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. SPD is shit to live with (I'd know <3) & ARFID is literally an eating disorder. Even then, totally 100% neurotypical picky eaters are still not harming you in any way.

There is nothing wrong with being a picky eater. Not eating things that you dislike is not a weakness, it's a sensible personal boundary.

[cajunfj40]

Yup, my youngest has ARFID. Pushing things makes it even harder for him to try something, and can destroy the chances of the item being pushed of becoming food, sometimes for years. “Tricking” him into eating something by hiding it in a food he will eat risks that food becoming not-food for him. This stuff is happening below the level of conscious thought, so there’s no reasoning around it once the item is in front of him or he’s tasted it. It’s either food or not-food at that moment.

That said, he’s 15 now and we can actually talk about possible new foods or strategies to find them now, but only when he’s not eating and not otherwise stressed.

[arfid-king]

Wow, who would’ve predicted I’d get tired of eating the same twenty-five foods on loop? /s

[anaalnathrakhs]

the upside of having arfid is that i can eat a piece of the most common vegetables completely unseasoned and experience the same thing foodies feel when they eat gourmet bullshit with 35+ ingredients that costs your life savings + soul to buy or make, just because it’s so new to me.

[anaalnathrakhs]

my_complicated_relationship_with_soup.jpg

[arfid-king]

[icarus-aetius]

ARFID mood of the day

Someone ate the safe food I was saving for dinner and now I have nothing to eat

[arfid-king]

“I DO NOT HAVE AN EATING DISORDER” I holler, as I proceed to avoid eye contact with the pizza roll I have unsuccessfully been trying to force myself to eat for the past hour

[singlerestaurantorder]

Me: *Literally cannot physically bring myself to eat anything new*

Someone: You should just try it!

Me:

[singlerestaurantorder]

*visiting friends for longer than a few hours so you’re still there during a mealtime*

Google search: Did you mean: endless stress and anxiety because you have no idea what them or their parents might serve you and you don’t want to look rude and turn it down or not eat it so you just kind of wait in this mix of horrible anticipation and existential dread?

[coolskeletonmemes]

[recoveryducklings-blog]

oh me me me 

[construction-crane]

i came up with this while making myself a yet another bread sandwich

[morethanpicky]

When I went to the program where they diagnosed me with ARFID they started asking me questions like, did you ever struggle with clothing seams? Or wearing jeans? Or tags on your clothes? Did you ever not like walking on grass as a baby? Were you sensitive to smells? Did you not like your hair being touched? You see, these are all sensory processing issues, which can be coocuring with ARFID. I had all these problems as a kid (and I still struggle with some now) and I never understood why until that moment. For all of you with ARFID and have realized it comes with sensory processing issues too, you are not alone.