Nausea

23, ARFID, and Me

[my-arfid-experience]

I’ve seen a lot of people on here posting about their experiences with arfid and decided i would like to be able to join in.

I’ve seen so many counselors and doctors and none of them were able to figure out what caused my issues (which makes sense, arfid is a relatively newly recognized eating disorder). I only just came across arfid a month or two ago and, like i’ve seen other people say, i literally cried because i had never been able to find something that explained the issues i had dealt with my whole life. My family likes to tell me that it’s always been my fault, that if i just tried hard enough it wouldn’t be a problem. But you all understand why that’s not true. I mean, i’m 23, do they really think i want to to eat the amount of a toddler?

Anyways, my health did get bad enough that i’ve been working my butt off trying to up my caloric intake in any way i can. I track my calories every day, and on a good week i’m now averaging close to 2,000/day (when i started off struggling for 1,600). On a bad week, however, i struggle to get 1,200.

I don’t really expect anyone to read this, it’s just another classic arfid experience, but it’s still nice to know that there are people out there who understand.

[murderonmars]

Please photosynthesis, I'm begging 😭😭🙏🙏🥺😭🥺🙏🥺🙏😭😭😭🙏😭

[clawessout272]

I've noticed that hating on picky eaters has been on the rise lately, especially on tiktok. I've seen people make fun of picky eaters and then later on say that "oohh this is only about bratty lazy people!!! i'm not actually making fun of people with ARFID and/or autism!!" while they were quite literally mocking and/or hating on symptoms of ARFID/autism.

and videos like those only makes safe spaces for people to be openly ableist. i have come across countless of comments of people telling picky eaters to "just eat".

it infuriates me how so many people can not place themselves in somebody else's shoes. i could go to the comment section of a tiktok post about ARFID right now and i'm sure 80% of the comments are ganna be people saying it isn't real and that picky eaters should just be force fed the foods that they hate.

i've seen people complain about picky eaters more than i have seen picky eaters complain about food. we might just seem like annoying lazyheads who want everyone to do as they say to you, but we live like this every single day. we have to live with people invalidating us and our disorder every single day. so of course we're ganna be angry, of course we're ganna complain aswell. because ya'll apparently don't like it when someone struggles with something that is just so easy to you.

[reeeneeereee]

Anyone else think the motion of chewing is a bit too much ← something that normal people with normal relations to eating thinks about

[starrstruckgoldencanuck]

[i-am-a-fish]

everyday my body wants me to eat food, so I eat food. then the next day my body wants me to eat more food. what in the fuck hell

[hydejoe]

i have arfid and i think some people need to hear the things my dietician taught me earlier this year. forcing someone to eat food that causes them distress is only going to make them more anxious and distrustful. don't trick your loved ones into eating something they don't like when they have arfid dear god. work with a dietician. of course everyone needs the right nutrients, but forcing someone to eat protein by saying "you need to eat this cheese right now or you get nothing" is going to cause distress and in a lot of cases that person will go without food rather than eat something unsafe.

what they did with me was give me protein in forms that i already enjoyed. i like pizza but rarely eat it because i only like one brand. you know what the solution to needing protein was? eat pizza more often. sometimes it is as simple as that. im unfortunate in that i can't stomach the texture of most meat, but testing small amounts when i feel prepared helped me find some i liked. i find that vegan alternatives to meat can sometimes be softer and less chewy, and found a mince brand that i can comfortably eat. i slowly incorporated more mince into my pasta when i felt comfortable doing so and now i eat more nutrients.

for people with arfid that want to try new foods but want to avoid anxiety, i suggest doing what i tried above. also, eating in a safe place makes it much easier. i find it more comfortable to eat new foods in my house alone than out and about surrounded by people. and make sure you have an alternative if you're trying the new food as a meal!! or just try it outside of that in-between meals. if all else fails, coco pop bars are good. get your protein!!! but as long as you r getting enough nutrients to stay healthy and sustain your body, there is no shame in your safe foods being whatever they are. ppl can be really ignorant especially when safe foods are "children's" meals but man if that is keeping you alive then i implore you to eat those chicken nuggets

[its-the-unknowing]

As someone with ARFID, food based holidays are a nightmare.

[my-arfid-experience]

Anyone else with ARFID always have trouble drinking water? I know it doesn’t taste like much, and different waters taste different, but i really dislike the taste of all of them. I basically live off propels instead.

[savawatari]

friendly reminder that if you want fresh baked cookies you don’t have to bake a whole bunch at once. i bake myself two or three cookies most nights because i like them best warm and i’m willing to wait for it

[my-arfid-experience]

Just remembered that once when I was a kid I made fun of my stepdad for eating his pizza with a fork (he has never had issues with food).

Thinking about it now that i’m older and know i have arfid and the finger foods i have to eat with a fork… just, wow.

[peachdoxie]

Arfid food waste guilt vs arfid eating food anxiety fiiiiiiiight

[thoughtsthroughfog]

Having ARFID is like looking at a food and a status effect appears in your mind that goes "that will make me THROW UP" and then you either go "yes and therefore I can't eat it" or "what if we tried it anyway? just a little?" and then you eat it little by little while your mind is going "aaaaany minute now this will make me THROW UP"

[sademopizza-deactivated20260522]

unfortunately the pain of not eating is easier to deal with than the pain of trying to figure out what foods my brain will let me eat

[roachhawthorne]

everyone says "trust your gut" until your gut is saying "dont eat that, youll vomit"

then its all "you have to branch out" "how will you kbow if youve never tried it" "you cant eat the same things forever"

[luxiomahariel]

they should invent a taking care of your own body thats easy

[fellator]

doesn't it piss you off that you have to find something to eat every single day. every one of them. just every day. you gotta eat something