Picky Eating for Dummies

I've been a picky eater my whole life. Did I choose this? No. Do I want this? No. I was watching a home video of myself from when I was 3 yesterday. In it, tiny Paige is stuck at the dinner table until she eats her peas. I make the most pained faces and look deep in concentration over the spoonful of veggies. 18 years later, it still gave me anxiety.

Food has always been a stress for me. If a boy asks me on out, I panic until I can find the menu of the restaurant online. When organizations have bonding dates, I get worked up about how much money I'll end up spending that could be saved. Food is just not terribly important to me. When we go to my grandmother's every Sunday I just can't work up the same level of enthusiasm, because while everyone else is excited for turkey or ham or meatloaf, I'm just silently dreading it. Food is supposed to bring a community together, I'm told, but it usually just leaves me feeling alienated.

But this year, I promised myself I would try a different outlook on food. I'll eat things I don't like, with some exceptions. I'm willing to try a taste. But I want to go beyond tolerating things, and see if I can't enjoy them. So with that being said, here are a few things that I've found helpful.

1. Do what you can Manage- When I first tried sushi, I knew I hated it. But I took little bite after little bite to try and get it over with (my roommates were holding a new pair of boots hostage). Little bites I could swallow, like a pill, and tolerate. But when I tried to take a big bite like my roommates showed me, I couldn't do it (there's also a really flattering video of me throwing up. proud moments.). Don't try to rush through it and gag yourself in the process.

2. Relax- Most of the time, my issue is the anxiety that makes me nauseated before I even get anything on the fork. I'm not sick from the smell or the taste; I'm making myself sick out of worry. Be aware of the ways you sabotage yourself.

3. Find one way to eat it- I hate veggies. But when I tried strawberry-banana-kale smoothies, I loved it. First I got it with just one leaf of lettuce, now I'm up to 4. Once I learned to like the taste in my smoothies, I tried Kale chips, and I didn't hate those either! Now I'm a huge fan of kale, but it took baby steps to get there.

4. Take your Wins- I hate greek yogurt. I want to love it. But I just find it absolutely horrifying, after my first experience was so gross. But what I don't hate is Chobani Raspberry greek yogurt. That, I will eat, and I'm even starting to like. So would I say I like greek yogurt? No. I won't have any other flavor, or any other brand. But I can keep eating my raspberry and reap just as many benefits as someone that will eat all the flavors.

5. Choose the Lesser of two Evils- the only thing that gives me more anxiety than food is the idea that I will accidentally disappoint someone. I will never, ever expect someone to make me a different meal (my mother would strike me down), and I will never admit to not liking food someone has made for me (with the exception of my mother, because she already knows everything I don't like and just rolls her eyes at me). It is remarkable how many times I was caught at a friend's house saying "I don't care, I'm not picky!" when their parent asked what we wanted for dinner (all my friends knew this was not true, and usually called me out on it). I do my best to not be a high maintenance guest, and that requires me to choose between eating the food, or offending my host. I usually eat the food.

6. Distract yourself- When I eat my greek yogurt, I do either a wall sit or a warrior pose or some other statuesque muscle maker. Then, I tell myself I can't get out of the position until I eat the yogurt. It is remarkable how much quicker I get through it when there's another goal to reach, and usually after a while I'm not focussed on the food, anyway. Bonus points for getting in some exercise.

So, to you picky eaters of the world, go forth! Learn to cook what you like, and to find better things to fear! Contrary to what my parents told me, your veggies will not remember that you didn't like them.