Permission Slip to be a
“Picky Eater”I had never put much thought into how painful it can be to be labeled a “picky eater” until I started noticing two things recently: When people who enjoy a wide variety of foods talk about people who like fewer foods, there can be a judgemental undertone, and an assumption that it is a choice to be more selective. When people share with me that there are a lot of foods they don’t like, they often do so with a lot of embarrassment, shame, and justification. Which makes a lot of sense to me, given #1. But which really hurts my heart.
So here are 3 beliefs I would like to share on the topic - whether you enjoy every food under the sun, or have been labeled a “picky eater”. You cannot will your way into enjoying a foodIf you’ve been on the receiving end of people making you feel like you should be able to snap your fingers and like more foods, I am so sorry.
I believe that we all have incredibly different sensory profiles: some of us are really sensitive to smells, for others noises may feel easily over-stimulating, and still others experiences tastes and textures really intensely.
Do I think our childhood experiences can have a huge bearing on the range of foods we enjoy as adults? Absolutely! Variables like how many foods we were exposed to, whether we were pressured to eat, etc. have impact. But our food environment as kids is something we did not have control over at the time, and which we cannot change as adults.
The number of foods you like does not define you as a personYou can be a really adventurous person who likes few foods. You can be a more cautious person who eats everything. The number of foods you enjoy does not define who you are in any way, shape, or form. I’d encourage you to ask yourself if you’ve received any messages about what being a “picky eater” says about you and how you may have internalized those messages.
To honour your sensory preferences is an awesome way to honour your bodySimilar to how I believe choosing comfy clothes is an amazing way to be attuned to your body, I truly believe that eating in a way that honours what you do and don’t like is a powerful way of saying “hey body, I got you and you can trust me to honour your preferences”.
Does that mean you can never try to grow a liking to new foods if you feel like? Of course not! But if that is not a goal of yours, that is a-okay too.
P.s. Just a quick note to say that if selective eating feels like something that causes you a lot of distress, or that is getting in the way of your day-to-day, that’s a great thing to get the support of a dietitian and therapist with!
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