This post is somewhat out of the ordinary. But as my blog subtitle suggests, i may sometimes just want to express my thoughts or opinions, and i hope that some of you get involved and join in with me :)
Images courtesy of weheartit.com
Whilst having a lovely chat with my newest friend Louise, we got onto the subject of food & what we like to eat. I would like to state here, that this post is NOT about eating disorders or other such controversial matters. It’s just infact about food. The one thing we all do is eat. Some are healthy, some not so & some a lot more adventurous than others. Which brings me on to say…
I wish i was more experimental when it came to eating food.
I’m definitely one of those people that sticks to what they know when it comes to eating. I wouldn’t even say i have a very healthy diet…I eat take aways, pizza’s, burgers, chocolate, crisps. My boyfriend says i eat like a 10 year old at a party. Don’t start kicking up a fuss though, i do eat fruit and vegtables too, and i also like to drink lots of water, but i really do wish i liked more food.
I think the problem started when i was around 7-10, the age where i started going to my friends houses for dinner, and having to sit round the table with a family i wasnt overly familiar with, eating food i cant say i’d ever had before, and occasionally being forced to eat whatever it was they had given me.
Two examples i can give you, is one where i went to a primary school friends house for the first time, i was a relatively shy child, and this particular girl was half Indian. Her family were lovely, and so was her home, but the food which was placed in front of me was not something i was used to or had ever eaten, and i didnt like it. I was too shy to say so, and they wanted me to finish everything on my plate. Very uncomfortable situation for a young child i think you’d agree. The second scenario was when i was literally FORCE FED the white of a boiled egg by a friend’s granny. I was simply full and didn’t want it, why force it on me? I remember thinking this old lady was the devil and i cried and never wanted to go back.
I was always brought up to eat whatever i could manage and leave the rest, but it was only when i started eating elsewhere i noticed others had not been brought up the same way. That aside, i don’t agree with force feeding someone else’s child…mean old lady.
After these events it did take me a while to get back the confidence in going to a friends house for dinner. It really had terrified me, I’d always refuse to go, or say i was going home for dinner.
When i was around 10 years old, i attended Brownie Camp (a girl’s club if you like, for those that don’t know) It was in a Nunery, a long way from home. It was supposed to be an adventure, and a good experience, mingling with all the other Brownies from around the County. But actually, it completey destroyed my confidence. There i was, a shy 10 year old, lining up in the dinner que, with only 2 options to choose from. I didnt like either, i was 10, i liked chips and pizza. like all the other 10 year olds. This was a nunery, of course they werent going to serve that. I didn’t even understand what the options were they were so far from what i knew. I picked one, thinking i could try it, and as there was nothing else, i didnt want to go hungry. Sat down, tucked in, only to realise what i was eating was not to my taste at all. I put my knife and fork together and waited for others to finish. One of the nuns then informed me i was not to leave the table until i’d finished. Excuse me? Everyone else started leaving the dinner hall as they were done..and i was stil sat there, nervously biting my nails wandering what on earth to do. In the end i just sat and cried, asking to leave. Obviously the Nun then let me go, but why let a child get like that. Forcing someone to eat, does not make them want to eat it.
I have since seen similar situations on Supernanny (haha) where parents start shouting at their children that they cannot leave until they have eaten all their food. I can see that this may be disiplinary & you just want your child to eat, but it can form a fear of food or eating.
Thankfully, i am not scared to eat food…that would be a whole other issue (of which im sure some of you may have experienced/are experiencing) but i do think those factors have equated in me being a lot less adventurous with food. I just stick to what i know and love. I’ve definitely got better over the years but feel bad when my friends ask me to go out to fancy restaurants when i might not even like what’s on the menu (wagamumas for example…i dont like noodles) or when my boyfriend asks if we can go for a curry (not the biggest fan) and dont even get me started on fish (Sorry Harry Ramsdens ;)) I would also like to point out, the reason i’m petite is not because i refuse to finish all my meals, i eat well thankyou, and i do finish every, if not almost all of my meals (and normal sized portions), however i have an extremely high metabolism. (Wanted to clear that up for any of you that now think i may have an eating disorder. I do not.)
So i guess this topic brings me on to ask, Are you adventurous with food, or are you like me and only stick to what you know and love and feel comfortable eating? Or, have you had to train your tastebuds in order to eat a much a larger variety of foods, and if you have, how?
Thoughts?
♥
I am lucky I love any kind of food (or unlucky – piggy!) My dad used to take us to different restaurants when we were young (chinese, indian, thai) and we were encouraged to try stuff, if we didn't like it fair enough. I remember stabbing my food with a chopstick when I was about 6 after dad took us for our first chinese, 20 years on I still do that at times, but I've got a little better. Saying that my sister is pretty fussy so I guess it's your taste and what you like.
I love seafood, spicy, any veg, and will always try something new.
Love this post.
xxx
Aw the force feeding story was not nice. I think I've actually gotten much less adventurous with food as I've gotten older, apparently when I was little I would eat literally anything and now I'm quite a bit more picky. Those pictures made me hungry though :) xxx
I'm sometimes adventerous but sometimes not, I was a very fussy child and my parents would try to make me eat. My main problems are veg and lots of fat around meat. I do eat a little like a child too lol, except my metabolsim is very slow so I have to try very hard not to put on weight x
I sympathise COMPLETELY, I actually got fussier as I got older and even now there's so much "normal" stuff I've never had (baked beans, mayo…)I DEF agree about the whole making kids sit until they've finished what's on a plate, why cause unnecessary upset? My mum lived by the rule of giving us good sized meals and if we didn't eat it we went hungry simple as.
My bf is such a foodie and cooks amazing things and he's good at bullying me into trying new things but I'm still such a wimp!!!! Loveee your blog Zoe and sooo happy theres more fussy/traumatised girlies out there!! Lau xx
Aw, I hated going to other peoples houses for tea, because I was and still am quite fussy. The thought of pasta bake or lasagne…eugh! And what can you do when you're at someone elses house! The worst of the worst though was being offered anything with BEANS! enough to make me run a mile!
I always say I wish I liked more things, but my mouth just doesnt like it, I do try and taste things, and have recently discovered I actually do like Curry (even though I will only have Chicken tikka masala with garlic naan!).
I saw on a tv program once that scientists thought there was such a thing as "super tasters" who have a more than normal amount of tastebuds on their tongue, which could result in them being fussy eaters. So I decided that this is me (well, its an excuse I like to use!).
I wish I liked salad, I really want to like it, but just can't, it just tastes like a mouthful of wet unpleasantness to me! At least I am not alone!
xxx
http://prettythingsandoldbeans.blogspot.com/
That old lady really did sound mean!
I can be adeventurous sometimes,but other times i have it fixed in my head that i dont like something before iv tried it. I go through different phases with my attitudes too food,sometimes iv felt its a necessity and others its a pleasure. I do tend to stick to what i like but always open to try new things..as long as its not spicey lol xx
My boyfriend is like very similar to you but it's for quite different reasons – his dad is a very very fussy eater and won't eat anything that isn't 'English' – not even pizza!
Whilst he used to eat anything when he was little, his dad's habits obviously influenced him, and he also never got the chance to go out and try different kinds of food as a family.
As I will eat almost anything this made it so tough for me when we first started seeing each other but I soon realised that he was just scared of trying new things in case he didn't like them, especially if we were in a restaurant. So I introduced him to different things slowly and he's starting to really love things he would never have touched a few years ago. Last weekend we went for a curry – the first one in 3 years!
I think the best way to get used to new foods is to try little and often – and start mild and work your way up. Get a takeaway and try lots of little things and start to learn what you love…just don't be scared :)
This has made me feel so hungry! I hate people who force children to eat everything on their plate regardless of whether they are still hungry! Im such a fussy eater im a complete nightmare!! Its easier to list the foods I like than the ones I dislike :( lol xx
omg that sucks with the horrible food stories :(
I like to try most things, but tend to stick to ingredients i know and love that are in a diffrent dish; thats a good way to start trying new things. xx
My mum never forced me to eat all my food, just to eat as much as I'm hungry :) Some people don't eat a lot (especially children) and forcing them to eat the same portion as an adult is wrong to me. Si I understand your point, even though I like trying new food, because I get bored of the things I know :p
I'm quite lucky in the fact that I've always wanted to try new things and broaden your horizons. However, I can understand how difficult it must be for you :/
Those pictures made me hungry lol!
I am a fussy eater and I'm not very adventurous. Like you, I like to stick to what I know and feel comfortable with!!
My parents never forced me to eat what I didn't want but I remember going round to a friends house and being told I wasn't allowed to leave the table till I'd finished all my peas! I didn't even like peas back then (I love them now though lol)!!
:) xxx
I love everything, I just stay clear of things I'm allergic too. I will try most things and love going to restaurants and cooking at home, my bf has a food blog now, cause all we used to do was take pics of our food haha. Xxx
Aw your stories made me feel sad :( I was never force fed or made to finish everything on my plate (although I remember them encouraging it in primary school.) and I love trying new foods. I can still be fussy and I don't like meat anymore, which I use to eat all the time when I was younger. I agree with what Jen said little and often, you will start loving new things :) x
Im very much the same as you, i stick to the food i like. Especially when i go out to restaurants… why spend money on food that you might not like?! My boyfriend tells me that i should 'expand my horizons' but when i do, i instantly regret it. However, there is the odd occasion that i might like something new that is not currently in my diet. But this is very rare. I think people should leave us alone, we eat our fruit and veggies…we are happy and healthy after all :) Great Post! xx
I had the same fear of eating at friends houses, simply because they seemed to give ENORMOUS portions whereas at home I ate much less. I always used to try and finish it because I too was very shy and would never dream of simply saying, 'sorry, I'm full.' So I would make myself feel sick stuffing it down!
And I had a similar experience of an attempt at being force fed at school once. There were these disgusting cheese puff things that were basically melted cheese in pastry and the smell alone made me gag. The dinner lady decided to take it upon herself to make me eat it, but like you, I sat and cried because I couldn't, I would have vomited!
But I'm very adventurous when it comes to food, I'll try anything and one of the things I enjoy most about going abroad is trying their food, even if it is manky looking octopus tentacles! I think my thought process is that it might be amazing and I won't know until I try it, so I do! x
I didn't realise that i was 'picky' until i came to university. Here i could never share cooking with other people. I don't like meat, certain vegetables etc etc etc.
I eat very well and over the years have acquired new tastes i never would have had, like goats cheese, for example. You may well find that happens for you in coming years.
I'm also picky in the sense that i don't like when things are all mushed together and unidentifiable as individual components (casserole for example.. i like the things alone, but not as a whole) and i generally dislike meals that are overall 'brown' because that denotes to me meaty, heavy, rich meals.
So yes, i guess i'm picky! I also dislike the forceful nature of people. I have this dilemma on sunday- a friend's dad wants to take us out for lunch and i have seen the menu and honestly dislike everything :O even each sandwich has a component i dislike. It's treading that fine line between honesty and looking rude..
x
I'm exaclty the same as you when i comes to food. I'm extremely fussy and i dont try new things, can make dinner very hard!
I was also made to eat food that i didnt like at freinds houses so i thin thats a big part of the problem x
I get picked on all the time for eating like a 10 year old too! I stick the the gold old chips, pizza and pasta wherever possible :D
Aw Zoe I'm sorry you were so traumatized as a child haha! Thankfully I can eat anything and everything but being brought up with curry and flavour I find it hard to eat some of the bland food served here. Like chicken and mayo sandwiches? DISGUSTING. It tastes of nothing to me and I HATE that, I always have to have some sort of spice/flavour. Other than that I'm open to trying and eating anything :)
x
i'm not adventurous with food at all, i still eat childish food hehe (:. i hate it when people expect you to eat loads! i tend to eat until the next bite doesn't taste as nice as the one before and then i stop,xxx
When I was little I was forced to eat everything on my plate too. While in kindergarden, we had a nurse that sat with us the whole meal and threaten she will give us shots (we were all, of couse, afraid of needles) if we did not finish everything. So nowadays I'm used to eating almost everything on my plate but it doesn't feel right, especially when visiting and having the hosts feeding you piles of food.
Now I am quite adventurous when it comes to food, I just love eating, haha, and I looooveeeee noodles. :D
I used to be the fussiest eater in the WORLD but then I did the Healthy Skin Diet and because the recipes were literally amazing creations I've completely curbed my fussy ways, and what's more…I now prefer eating healthier food any day of the week. I'll be posting tutorials for recipes on my blog soon sweety, you should definitely get the book I think you'd love it.
xoxo
Oh and ps to answer your question yes I had to totally change my taste buds. In fact, I like you struggled to find things in restaurants, could never go to Wagamamas or get an Indian, but after a year in training I can literally go anywhere. If you want advice you know how to contact me <3. Good luck, it'll be so worth it!
xoxo
I am exactly the same! I am the fussiest eater ever and I don't have what could be termed a 'regular' eating pattern in the respect I don't eat three 'square' meals a day. I tend to eat what I want; when I want!
I used to hate having dinner at nearly all of my friends houses when I was younger because they had to eat everything on their plate or they were not allowed to leave the table — as you can imagine this was a total nightmare for me!! One of my friends though had 3 brothers and sisters so her mum would always do lots and lots of food and there was always something I liked – even better I was allowed to eat as much or as little as I wanted!
I'm definitely not adventurous when it comes to food and I think I get that from my grandad. Whenever presented with something different, I automatically say "oh, I don't like that!" whether I've tried it or not! Taking me out for a meal to a new place is akin to pulling teeth according to some people!
I had a bad experience with fish as a child (not with eating it but watching the preparation – it scarred me for life and I cannot look at or eat fish or any seafood. I'm feeling a little weird at this point btw but for the sake of sharing…) so I was always reluctant to watch dinner being cooked yet I love cooking myself! More recently, I went out for a very fancy three course meal cooked by a very popular television chef — AWFUL experience. I had no idea what I was eating and ended up leaving practically everything which caused everyone else on our table to tut at the girl who won't eat. I WILL eat but not if I dislike something!
I definitely have my comfort zone with food and I wish I was brave enough to try and break out of it but I'm too scared in case I get sick. Wimp!
Aha this has turned into a little food therapy session! If you made it to the end, I'm not strange, promise :)
xoxo
Never been fussy about eating. I was brought up in a multicultural world and was encouraged to try something and if I didn't like it – at least I'd experienced it! I'm the same way now and I find it helps me a lot when it comes to cooking. I've learnt what tastes I like and what goes well together.
As for the force feeding – my parents knew what sized portions were right for me and knew that if I refused to eat it, it wasn't because I didn't like it (they didn't really serve anything I didn't like) or was full, I was just being a brat.
Try branch out by putting new things on your pizza. You might be surprised! Putting things on a pizza is a great way to eat something you never normally would.
I used to always stick to the same things but since I started going out with my boyfriend I've tried loads of different things! Like, I never used to touch anything remotely spicy because I didn't like spicy food but now I'd say that I actually love curry (Rogan Josh – not too spicy and very very tasty). I'm still a bit cautious when it comes to restaurants though, I don't want to order something unless I know for defininte I'm going to like it – I just see it as a waste of money and a pretty dire night out for dinner if I'm not going to completely enjoy the meal. I'm getting better though.
I am the same, I eat what I know! My dad used to make me eat everything and used to tell me about starving kids in Africa if I didn't ever finish my dinner, even when I was full! He still guilt trips me now if i dont finish meals. Its horrible! xx
I am so bad at eating. I stick to things I had as a kid and have never been adventurous. It's all chips, magherita pizza, chicken nuggets, sausages, burgers (no relish!). I'm a plain, boring and simple girl and would rather go hungry than eat something I don't like. Restaurants are a nightmare and eating at friends house is just as bad. You'd think I'd have grown up and grown out of it by 27 wouldn't you? x
I am sort of opposite in a similar way. My mum and friend's mums when forced into those horrible 'going for tea' nights always cooked boring ass meals like chicken nuggets, chips and beans. Now I eat lots of spicy food, couscous all the things that my mum calls 'foreign muck' haha! But sandwiches and chips and boring food- nooooo!
eew, this always used to happen at school too, its like abuse! luckily my mum always told me to leave what i want and i now like trying new things (except seafood, that can fup off). clearly not being pressured as kids = better food relationship!
that pizza pic has made me hungry..
I like to play it safe especially in restaurants as if i'm out for a nice meal with my parents, I don't want to order something that I may not like. Instead I tend to try bits of someones else, like say my dad had venison (first thing that springs to mind), I would try his. I play it safe with most meats and stick to what I know. I love my food, don't get me wrong, but in order to enjoy it, I think I need to stick to what I know.
I also get kind of weird eating in front of people I don't know or large groups….I hate eating like I would normally do at home so instead I tend to eat smaller portions and much more slowly. Strange, I know!
When I was younger, my parents let me leave the table if I was full. To encourage me to finish (if I was being a naughty kid), they used to say no pudding and I'm such a pudding person…but they would never force me to eat it.
I'm not that experimental with food either but I hate when people make you feel bad for refusing to try something you know you most likely won't enjoy.
I also remember a time when I was young when an old lady was dilusional and babysitting me – forcing me to drink a glass of old curdled milk which she thought was fine. I was crying non stop and was sick for a few days. Hence why I now am not a fan or regular milk.
I love your blog!!
XXNancy
Hmm… I didn't start getting adventurous with food until I was in high school and me and my friends would go out for sushi after a long day of shopping. It took me a while to muster up courage to eat raw fish, but now I love sushi and have definitely become more adventurous when I dine out. I think if you do it on your own terms or in a supportive environment, it's more rewarding and less fear-inducing if you were force fed it. I hope you become a little more curious about other types of cuisine 'cause you never know if you don't try! :)
PS: lurve slurping noodles, it's the best part!
Hey
I really like your blog and check often for updates, and you are really pretty =)
I would say I am a picky eater, and i go through phases where i become vegetarian because of all those documentaries I watch (The cooporation? anyone? fast food nation? Supersize me?)
I refuse to eat bugs. period.
tried raw salmon, quite a few times considering its really good for health nope
no squid for me!
no brocholy
Thanks alot! =)
keep up the good work!!
What a great post! I always been adventurous when it comes to food so I never understood when someone simply doesnt like to try something, you have really open my eyes. Although when I was little I did used to have a few stand offs with dinner ladies about eating rice pudding with jam on…as punishment I had to wait till everyone left and then clean down all the tables for not eating, which seems absolutly crazy to put a kid through that when i look back on it!
I am exactly the same!! Glad i'm not the only one, but i too have got better over the years, and in fact my boyfriend has helped with that!
I am beyond fussy! i will discover something new one day, love it. try it again a few weeks later, hate it! hooray for junk food is all i can say!
Oh zoe, I hope you've recovered from this, urgh! I was exactly the same. As a kid I hated, HATED ketchup and beans. Every school dinner came with beans, and I was forced to eat it age 8. Beans. I poured them on the floor in an attempt to hide them after being forced to take them on my tray for what seemed like the 100th time. I didn't want to eat them! I also had a friend who was very forceful with sauces – I still don't like them.
I use the same excuse as 'Small Old Bean' I always tell people that I just have very advanced taste buds because I saw it on a tv programme once. I can also tell the difference between small things like different types of milk and stuff which is really annoying because i only like one brand :/ I absolutely hate being fussy and that would probably be the one thing i would change about myself if i could. I find it horrible going to other peoples houses because I feel bad about being served food and then leaving more than half on the plate if i dont enjoy it. It also has stopped me from going to things like camps and sports tournaments where they force you to eat food. I went on sports tournament and the coach and manager were very healthy people and served food like betrute and all the stuff I hated. The coach forced me to eat a banana and I hate them but I had to eat it. I now dont want to do anything that will involve going away somewhere because of the food and i really really hate it :( also people always comment on how I should eat whats given to me and I wish i would, its not my fault im different to them and dont like it. Everyone is always saying you have to be accepting of people that are different and i think fussy eaters fit into this category. Also people dont understand how much people hate being fussy! Its not our fault we are and we would like to love everything but we dont and you would hate it if you were this way too.
Zozeboo (that is adorable by the way!!) I thought this would be the perfect post to write something to you :] I am a beginner food blogger but I am a loyal follower of yours, you are such a lovely person, it's just so nice to have you talking, doing your silly funny things with Louise, I get distracted all the time from my work because I just can't resist the temptation to watch another of your videos or read another blog post.. You're such a shot of positivity!! I even had a dream about you the other night!! Ok this sounds really creepy now, hhahaha sorry! it was completely innocent :]
Regarding food, I think it's really good that you're trying to be more adventurous with it! It's the first step to take. But I think you shouldn't push yourself too much, if you suddenly make yourself try lots of different things you might get so disappointed it will scare you even more! So I would suggest to go into it slowly and develop your love for food discovery :] just take it at your own pace, baby steps! there are so many amazing things out there, you only live once and it would be a pity to miss out things like… cheesecake and mint chocolate popsicles or something crazy!!!!
Please continue doing what you are oing Zoe, you're a star! You can come visit Durham (go further North than Leeds) and I'll cook something nice for you (not overly adventurous!!) haha!
Good luck you lovely little charm!!
I do feel that when I am at a friends house I should eat everything on the plate because I feel like their family expects me to eat all the food they have served me. But I have many experiences of when the food I was served was not to my liking and every time I ended up spooning food I did not like into my mouth and eating it. Things like tinned chilly beans on rice, mint sauce, tomato soup. I wouldn't say that it has made me more apprehensive about food because before I even touched my mouth to these foods I knew I hated them but I think it defiantly made me more apprehensive about going to friends houses for dinner.
Zoe never ever ever stop blogging you are a beautiful inspiration!
xxxx
I consider myself a food snob. If the food does not taste good I do not eat it. Growing up I was sometimes fortunate to even have food to eat at all. We were very poor and there were days where we ate fried bread ( flour and water mixed and cooked like pancakes). I remember once all we had to eat was over size cans of peanut butter & logs of cheese no bread of crackers and mostly water to drink. I was so hungry from lack of food not by choice but by being so poor we could not afford food. As an adult was when I finally never went without food I ever again since I could but it myself and cook it. The bad thing about this is I did not learn portion control.When ever I had food I would stuff my self, out of fear of not having any food to eat. Which is bad thankfully I was not over weight as a result, I'm a normal healthly weight for my height (5 ft 2 3/4 130 lbs). I dislike eating meat, drinking, milk and not much of a sweets person. I like vegetables, bread and pasta a lot and fruit too. I eat only three times a day and drink a lot of water. I did end up learning so form of some portion control from eating frozen dinners. In the end I eat vegan foods (no dairy or meat), I still do like like to eat cheese sometimes. I like eating vegan foods the most. When I did eat meat and dairy all the time I felt bad health wise. But if there is a food I would like to try I will go for it. I finally got the chance to eat cat fish once since I heard so much about it and let me tell you it was delicious.
My suggestion on wanting to try a new food is when you are out with family and friends just ask that person for a sample of their food that way if you do not like the taste you do not have to eat any more.
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I'm not a picky eater but there are somethings I will never try! (Sprouts i.e. bogey balls)
I'm very glad to say that I like a lot of food. There is also a lot of food I don't like :) My parents always told me, I'd be able to leave the table as soon as I had tried everything on my plate. I haden't got to finish everything and I'm very thankful that my parents tought me that because sometimes, they are these situations – you probably all know – when you shall eat something you didn't ever eat before and you are like "Oh no, that looks disgusting, i really don't like it". I've had these situations a lot and sometimes I tried and I actually liked it. So people: there are lots of foods in this world that don't look very delicious but they are! ;)
I like how now Zoe eats Wagamamas all the time haha!
I agree with the force feeding children thing. In Primary school we couldn’t leave until we’d eaten everything and though i understand they don’t want us to go hungry, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it, simple as that!
That happened to me as well. I saw something I have never eaten before and so I asked for it. When I went to eat it, I realised it was curry. I couldn’t eat anything else as it was covered in the sauce. I was told to finish it and that I couldn’t leave the table until I did. I was sat there forever. I don’t know how I finally got away.
This article is devalued by its horrendous use of spelling and grammar