[NoobWithMoobs]

I'm going to an event tonight where everyone from my school year will be there. It's the last time I'll see a lot of them, so I decided to go.

Problem is, its a three course meal. Now, for most that is not an issue. I however am one of those freaky eaters who doesn't eat a great variety of foods and even when I do, they have to be prepared in a certain way. Basically, if I'm the one deciding what I eat (ie at home) then its fine and I eat a pretty healthy balanced diet, but I just can't dine out, there's nothing I can enjoy.

There's no way in hell I am going to be even able to touch the majority of the courses; I don't know what will be served but I know it will be something I cannot eat, with the exception of the pudding which I'm hoping I will be able to eat. Anyway, that leaves two courses, starter and main where I'll just be sitting there, and my friends like to attack me for my eating habits. I don't think there's anything anyone on here can say advice wise, but I guess really I'm using this as a medium to vent my anxiety for tonight. I just want a way of being able to enjoy the evening without embarrassing myself in front of friends and staff and even worse; in front of those little acquaintances who I only just about know, but not well enough to know I'm a freaky eater.

Anyone crazy like me and have experience of this kinda stuff and got any ways of saving my ass?

[madders94]

I'm like this, I'm a ridiculously fussy eater and rarely find things that I like on the menu. You'll probably get a lot of people saying "suck it up", "just eat it, it's rude if you don't" but to be honest it's more rude to force it down and throw it up in front of everybody IMO! Is it a posh restaurant, and do you get a choice of what you eat or is it a set menu? Either way, many restaurants are very understanding and if there is something that looks even vaguely appealing but the side dish looks ick, for example you're alright with cod but hate the garlic new potatoes they serve it with (I have been in that situation ), ask if there's any way they can serve it with a side you like e.g chips/mash potatoes/whatever you enjoy. That way, even if you don't eat the main, you can eat what they serve on the side of it - many restaurants are happy to oblige.

Or you can tell your friends you're not feeling too well and don't really want too much to eat, you're saving space for pudding etc - make a joke out of it, and that way although it's really hard, even if on the inside you feel uncomfortable, on the outside you're not showing people, you're not letting it get to you and it could just make the evening a little bit more bearable.

I feel your pain - I will only eat really simple foods, I can't stand anything with a sauce on it unless it's ketchup or bbq, vegetables apart from peas and sweetcorn are an absolute no and I feel physically sick if any other vegetables touch the ones I like before I eat them, I have no idea why but it is a pain in the bum, I'm fussy on colours and textures as well as taste, and when we go to places that do posh food I find myself wishing I could have something off the kids' menu, but when you're 17 and not with your family it's not really an option

Good luck! I hope you manage to enjoy the event

[NoobWithMoobs]

Thanks, turned out not to be too bad. I managed to handle 2 of the three courses (albeit the one I didn't touch was the main) still, I decided I didn't care what people thought. A few of my friends liked to point it out, but they know about it already, I just shrugged it off and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

[HARRY PUTAH]

Are you a fat kid with an eating disorder?

WOnt they be doing Doritos as your staple diet?

[RollerBall]

(Original post by madders94)
I'm like this, I'm a ridiculously fussy eater and rarely find things that I like on the menu. You'll probably get a lot of people saying "suck it up", "just eat it, it's rude if you don't" but to be honest it's more rude to force it down and throw it up in front of everybody IMO! Is it a posh restaurant, and do you get a choice of what you eat or is it a set menu? Either way, many restaurants are very understanding and if there is something that looks even vaguely appealing but the side dish looks ick, for example you're alright with cod but hate the garlic new potatoes they serve it with (I have been in that situation ), ask if there's any way they can serve it with a side you like e.g chips/mash potatoes/whatever you enjoy. That way, even if you don't eat the main, you can eat what they serve on the side of it - many restaurants are happy to oblige.

Or you can tell your friends you're not feeling too well and don't really want too much to eat, you're saving space for pudding etc - make a joke out of it, and that way although it's really hard, even if on the inside you feel uncomfortable, on the outside you're not showing people, you're not letting it get to you and it could just make the evening a little bit more bearable.

I feel your pain - I will only eat really simple foods, I can't stand anything with a sauce on it unless it's ketchup or bbq, vegetables apart from peas and sweetcorn are an absolute no and I feel physically sick if any other vegetables touch the ones I like before I eat them, I have no idea why but it is a pain in the bum, I'm fussy on colours and textures as well as taste, and when we go to places that do posh food I find myself wishing I could have something off the kids' menu, but when you're 17 and not with your family it's not really an option

Good luck! I hope you manage to enjoy the event

Jesus wept, you'd swear you were 8. This is behaviour I expect from my little brother which my parents quite rightfully stamped out a few years ago.

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by madders94)
I feel physically sick if any other vegetables touch the ones I like before I eat them

I'll go one better: I don't like any food touching. Even two foods that I'm going to eat, I do not like it when they cross. This doesn't just include food that should never cross, it also includes things like lasagne where I don't like the pasta touching the meat (if I'm eating at home, I pull them apart. I just don't order it when I'm out.) The two exceptions are pasta - I'm ok with the sauce touching the pasta - and paprika chicken - again, I'm ok with the sauce touching the chicken (although I don't eat it with the cous cous it's served with, I eat that first and then eat the chicken.) Curry is odd, because I have it served with the chicken in the sauce ... but I don't actually eat it with the sauce, I eat rice (served on a separate place, preferably) with the sauce and the chicken by itself.

(Original post by RollerBall)
Jesus wept, you'd swear you were 8. This is behaviour I expect from my little brother which my parents quite rightfully stamped out a few years ago.

I'm not saying Madders94 is, but it's not uncommon to see it autistic and autistic-like people. Most of it is to do with order - things have their place and it's confusing if they're mixed up. Some of it is to do with physical senses; some autistic people end up extremely sensitive to certain tastes.

Besides, it's not like it hurts anyone. If I had a kid, I can't say it's a behaviour I'd be particularly bothered by and have to stamp out.

[Rarrgh]

Ask to go into the kitchen and make your own food? Or just try and get something which you may like possibly and just ask for them to do it in a certain way. Though you are very weird... I considered myself fussy but this is on a whole new level.

[CSM1996]

I'm going to my cousins wedding and she has a choice of two things per course, I can't eat any of the 6 options. So I will be the same at that

[TheSownRose]

Connundrums like this are the reason I don't do set meals at anything I arrange and I select places that are happy to substitute. It's not particularly for my own pickiness (after all, I would be arranging the food, I would obviously pick things I like ) but I don't think it's fair to not even give people a chance of having a decent meal rather than picking at what they can choke down.

[Steerforth]

am i the only one here



who will eat what they are given?

[hollo]

Box it up and send it to me, I'll happily eat anything.

[Add!ction]

This concept is so foreign to me, I come from a family who don't mind if the food has been on the floor.

[Hopple]

(Original post by NoobWithMoobs)
I'm going to an event tonight where everyone from my school year will be there. It's the last time I'll see a lot of them, so I decided to go.

Problem is, its a three course meal. Now, for most that is not an issue. I however am one of those freaky eaters who doesn't eat a great variety of foods and even when I do, they have to be prepared in a certain way. Basically, if I'm the one deciding what I eat (ie at home) then its fine and I eat a pretty healthy balanced diet, but I just can't dine out, there's nothing I can enjoy.

There's no way in hell I am going to be even able to touch the majority of the courses; I don't know what will be served but I know it will be something I cannot eat, with the exception of the pudding which I'm hoping I will be able to eat. Anyway, that leaves two courses, starter and main where I'll just be sitting there, and my friends like to attack me for my eating habits. I don't think there's anything anyone on here can say advice wise, but I guess really I'm using this as a medium to vent my anxiety for tonight. I just want a way of being able to enjoy the evening without embarrassing myself in front of friends and staff and even worse; in front of those little acquaintances who I only just about know, but not well enough to know I'm a freaky eater.

Anyone crazy like me and have experience of this kinda stuff and got any ways of saving my ass?

Next time, don't eat anything for a week prior to the meal. As if by magic, you'll find yourself able to wolf down not just everything in front of you, but also second and even third helpings.

[lothiriel]

I don't like to judge people, and I do have a good friend who is extremely fussy about the food he eats. I've been raised to eat the food I am given, especially if it's in a public place like a restaurant or a friend's house. My parents were raised in post-war Germany and the attitude imposed on them by my grandparents has been imposed on me as well. There are certain foods that I won't eat because I am allergic, but that's it.

Like I said, my friend didn't eat sauces or strawberries if other people cut them. He also only ate tomatoes if they're cut in a certain way. And no cheese or potatoes, ever. Everyone's different.

[vickie89]

i feel for you. i have the same problem and going out for meals is awful - unless its somewhere iv been before, set meals just arent an option. i have avoided nights out because i refuse to pay the set menu price when i cant eat any of it, just to be with friends, and often if im going to a course for uni i will take my own food in case i dont like what they offer.

i have a very long list of food rules - i got bored one night when i couldnt sleep and wrote them all down - it actually filled a side of a4 lined paper. i also cant have foods touch each other, especially if i dont like one of them as that food is then tainted with the ones i dont like and i dont do sauces either, so a lot of my foods are quite plain (i went on holiday to italy and literally ate bread rolls and plain pasta without any sauces or anything on it for the entire week as there was nothing else i could eat). a lot has to do with textures of the foods as well - nothing mushy, mashed up, slimey, creamy and nothing with pulp/seeds/bits in it and i always get called weird and receive strange or pitying looks when i eat cereal on its own as i cant do milk. if i eat something i dont like then i will literally be sick, so eating out or at other peoples houses fills me with dread and fear.

i usually just make a joke about it and laugh it off as a quirk and just something that makes me me. luckily a lot of my friends and family are used to it by now though and have just accepted i wont change, so apart from a bit of mocking its not too bad. with set menus that i cant get out of with family its usually the starter and pudding i have problems with, so if theres a choice ill order something that my mum/sister/other family member likes and pass it along to one of those, since if its paid for anyway someone may as well eat it, and theres often bread cobs i can eat if all else fails. plus just cos they are all eating i can still normally have conversations with them anyway so its not too bad providing i eat before i go out.

though on the plus side - my sister is getting married next year and looking at the food for it. she's gonna make me look over the menu because that way if i can eat something on it then at least she knows everyone else she invites to it will be fine as well, so my fussyness does pay off i suppose.lol.

[Popular-reject-x]

I've always thought being a fussy eater must be really boring.

I had a friend from school who only ate fast food. Literally, everything with chips. Her mum used to love her having friends round just so she could cook something different.

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by Popular-reject-x)
I've always thought being a fussy eater must be really boring.

I had a friend from school who only ate fast food. Literally, everything with chips. Her mum used to love her having friends round just so she could cook something different.

Some people like consistency.

Besides, being a fussy eater isn't necessarily the same as eating the exact same meal day after day.

[Popular-reject-x]

(Original post by TheSownRose)
Some people like consistency.

Besides, being a fussy eater isn't necessarily the same as eating the exact same meal day after day.

I know, but if you only like say 2 vegetables and no sauces like one of the above posters said then things will get repetitive.

[Mutedmirth]

I just can't understand how food touching ruins it and people can't eat it. If it's two vegetables, it's not like they're going to swap tastes or suddenly get a virus. I think a fussy eater would frustrate the hell out of me and I'm vegetarian who gets criticized for not liking mushrooms or peas. (as if they're the only veg in the world to eat)

If anything, most food tastes much better when mixed up.

I guess it's one of those things I'll never understand.

[PhoenixFortune]

I am only picky about meals I choose when I eat out because I have IBS. I can't eat foods that contain lots of spice, cream, cocoa powder, or alcohol as each of these will set off my stomach cramps (or make me feel awful later).