I got one of those ‘is it most people or just me’ questions.
If you’re eating something you don’t really like, is it fairly easy to push through it, or does it make you feel like you’re going to puke if you keep trying to eat? I kind of assumed this was a normal person thing, but people treat eating food you don’t like as a normal thing, especially in the context of ‘getting used to it’ or ‘learning to like it.’
So, normal or not?
Depends on how much I don’t like it? Some foods just make me gag on sight, or I can’t handle their smell or texture. Some just aren’t tasty, and I can eat them but without enjoyment, and it gets more difficult with every mouthtful.
I was a picky eater as a child (I was known as the ‘bread and cheese’ kid cuz I wouldn’t eat anything else) and still am, and my parents always gave me that ‘learn to like it’ spiel. Never understood that. Why should I learn to like something I don’t like?
Probably so I can eat it without making other people feel bad. But also perhaps because my parents both remember a time when you couldn’t just pick what you liked, you got what was available and made do. No fully stocked supermarkets, no multitude of restaurants to choose from. That was my childhood, too, which doesn’t explain how I turned out to be so picky? but hey.
I dunno, I wondered too if it’s just people accepting this social norm of eating everything because you’re an adult, or if most folks just have an easier time with it physically. It’s cool to discover new tastes but why force yourself?
I’ve always been picky myself. The biggest problem now and the reason I hear ‘try it till you like it’ most is because I don’t like healthy food. I don’t know what it is. Maybe something about growing up on cheap food due to my parents being poor when I was young. Just about any vegetable is gross and anything fancy is generally gross to me too.
There are foods that I find bland and can handle, but if I find it gross—doesn’t matter if it’s because of the taste or the texture—continuing to eat it makes me feel like vomiting.
But one of my sisters today made a comment about having to like something because someone else she really likes liked it, and it just boggled my mind. I can’t just decide to like something. I’ve tried. It just doesn’t work. I’ll just feel like I’m going to vomit. Luckily it hasn’t Actually ever made me vomit, but that doesn’t make the feeling less pleasant. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Glad to know others feel it too though. Haha
Well, tastes change- I eat stuff now that I wouldn’t have touched five years ago, and stuff I used to love makes me gag (and that’s not even the vegetarianism I’m talking about). And you can get used to a certain food. But forcing yourself for no good reason…for the sake of appearances? Pah.
If you do have a good reason- like needing to introduce certain foods into your diet- then the best thing is to try different recipes that alter the food in different ways. I like chunky apple pie, but can’t stand the smooth one. It’s not even just a preference, I love the former but the latter makes me really unhappy.
I’d like to weigh in if I may.
I always thought I was just “a picky eater” and that I was too uptight about it (after all that’s what everyone’s told me all my life). But as it turns out it’s actually a very common thing both with autism and sensory processing disorder (the two are not always present in the same individual, although it is very common).
Certain textures of food make me gag no matter how much I may enjoy the taste. Mushrooms are one such example. I looooove the taste of certain mushrooms, but the texture makes me gag/vomit no matter what I do (shredding them completely has been the only solution thus far).
And I’ve tested it out several times during growing up, it has nothing to do with how hungry I am or what I have available.. certain things I just cannot force down, and my brain just goes completely into lockdown if I try.
As for tastes changing I think it’s only natural.. at least that’s what I’ve heard from the older persons I’ve asked. I used to hate ruccola salads and such, but now I can’t get enough of them..
And jams: I do love my raspberry jam, but strawberry with those big lumps and stuff? na-ah! *shivers*
That’s really fascinating. There are a couple of times when texture will solely cause this sensation, but I can’t really think mine is about texture most of the time. I generally Love spaghetti, but if someone uses a sauce I don’t like and I try to force myself to eat it, I’ll have the same sensation. I have never shown strong signs of either autism or sensory processing disorder though. I’m glad you’re finding some solutions for the texture issue though! I would be very frustrated if I actually found something I liked but couldn’t eat for this reason. 
I kind of wonder if it stems from an incident where a babysitter/family member forced me to sit in my chair without getting up until I finished a meal I thought was gross. It’s so long ago I hardly remember it. It’s the only time I remember someone doing something like this, and I don’t think it happened more than the once, so I doubt it was any sort of cause, but I also doubt it helped. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Thoughtfulfangirling 