Just Eat The &*%#$! Food!!!

[Crazyredhead]

which meds is he on?

Methylphenid, which is basically Ritilin.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I was so NOT a picky eater, my parents began to fear that I had no taste buds. So they gave me a lemon.

I screwed up my face, winced, and ate it.

My sister, on the other hand, was totally picky and it was a constant battle. I think it was a control thing. She did other things to suggest this.

The choice in our house was this: Take it or leave it.

The rules were this: If it's on the menu you don't have to eat it, but you must at least taste it. You will not be forced to eat food you do not like, but you must eat something that's got some nutrition or no desert.

I am interested in how many of these Ritalin kids are eating a lot of sugar. I have my own theories (I am not a doctor or a nutritionist, but nutrition and metabolic processes are a special interest of mine. ) regarding sugar, grain products, and things like hyperactivity and such.

[purplecat41877]

Could anyone explain what Ritalin is? Is it some sort of medication or is it something else?

[NightAngel]

I have been told that eating out with me is like eating with Sally (Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally). Yes, I'll have the salad with Ranch but I need that on the side. "On the side" is a big thing for me.

My youngest son is also an extremely picky eater. I'm glad he likes PB&J (no crust! ack!) because the PB part is good for him- he does eat it every single day for lunch. I'd be sick of it but he never, ever tires of it.
He gags (literally) at the mere offer of a new food. It doesn't really bother me much- many of the things he likes are actually quite good for him. I just rotate the foods he does like and combine them in different orders to make different dishes so he's getting what he needs.

Oh, and he would NEVER have touched the mac and cheese dish either. He hates pasta of any kind.

[Rubystars]

Ritalin is a stimulant medication which helps ADD kids focus

[Kiwi]

I was an hyper active child I dont have ADD or anything but because of my kidney problems my sugar levels spike and I literally go insane

I was the child that was being observed when they coined the saying "bouncing off the walls"

Thats why I wasnt allowed red, orange or yellow food colouring and still can only have diet soda, the amount of sugar in regular soda is just to much for my kidney to handle.

As a kid I freaked out, it was like someone shoved a fire cracker in me and lit the fuse. As a teenager and an adult it creates some of the worst moodswings Ive ever experanced. In NZ we have a softdrink called "justjuicebubbles" and I become incredabily angry if I drink it. Angry as in rage filled. Took my family 4 bottles until they made the connection and I cant/wont drink it now.

Food and sugar have such a profound effect on us, its a shame that more people dont make the connection. Strangely as a kid I LOVED my veges (still do) but my mum struggled to get me to eat fruit, bananas, plums and strawberries were all I would touch.

[Broomjockey]

I was a hugely picky eater as a child, I lived on pb&j sandwiches, hot dogs, steak and potatoes, and such. I wouldn't touch most veggies except for corn and potatoes. Fresh fruit was out if it had even one spot on it, even if it was a place you wouldn't eat (peels of bananas for example). No pasta, nothing spicy (later found out I'm allergic to peppers of any kind), cycled on milk, some months yes, some no. My parents went insane trying to find stuff I would eat. And this went on until I was 16, when they kinda gave up after expanding my food horizons a little.

I'm only now getting over most of it. Last month I stopped picking tomatoes off my burgers, a bit before that I stopped picking pickles off my food, I'm willing to try new things at least once (shocked my parents when I told them I had sushi, and liked it) but I still hate mushrooms (except in Cream of Mushroom soup) and pasta of any kind.

[we'vegotawinner]

my cousin is 13 and will not eat at any family dinner. ANY. he'll go hungry and complain later that he couldn't eat anything. you name it, thanksgiving, christmas, he basically sits at the table with a hot dog (if they remember to bring one). no turkey/ham/other good things like that. when he was little, all he ate was bologna sandwiches. when he was ten he got a hot dog maker for christmas. TEN YEARS OLD AND HE GETS A HOT DOG MAKER. wtf?

[AFpheonix]

I believe there are studies that show that children have a more acute sense of taste than adults do, which probably explains why children are more averse to wierd foods than adults are in general.

I was not an overly picky child, but I noticed that as my mom got older and her sense of smell and taste went away, her ability to cook decently did, too. Ugh. She wasn't a tremendously good cook to begin with, either.
(The only woman I know who could burn the bottom out of a pot making top ramen, and then attempt to superglue the bottom of said pot back on. God, the kitchen smelled poisonous for a long time after that....)

I've always been more of a texture person. Things like ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, tapioca, etc have always grossed me out more than strong flavored foods. I know, I'm wierd that way...

[Pagan]

I also eat food in a particular way...it takes me ten minutes to eat a swiss cake roll because I have to bite the surface chocolate off both ends, then off the bottom, then I have to peel it off the rest of the roll, then I eat as much of the cake as I can, then the filling...you get the idea. But at my age I can definitely attribute it to being Asperger's.

I thought I was the only one who did that! And I don't have Asperger's. I used to be picky. Doctor told my mom that as long as I didn't start getting anemic, don't worry, I'd eat when I got hungry. I still do that, I eat when I get hungry. Pretty much grew out of the picky thing, but there's still a category of meat that I won't eat (organ, eew). And don't get me started on haggis or menudo. Ick, blech, pitooey.

[Mixed Bag]

I've always been more of a texture person. Things like ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, tapioca, etc have always grossed me out more than strong flavored foods. I know, I'm wierd that way...

I think texture is the main reason I don't like guac, PB, bananas, cooked beans, nuts--not that I care for all their flavours and odours, but hard to tell when I can't get past the cream or the pulp.

I eat creamy sauces sparingly, 99% of the time preferring garlic butter sauce to alfredo, for example. And mayo better be damn thinly spread. Preferring oily foods even growing up, I learned quickly to avoid the margarines that claimed to taste like butter and be creamy, but that could be because they didn't melt--ever notice its the expensive restaurants that serve bricks of butter for the unheated bread? I always ask for the bread that's so hot that they'd usually not serve it out of fear of a McDonald's coffee lawsuit.

Ditto for dressings, but I know most disagree, hence I ALWAYS have to wait for the server to recite the four creamy dressings BEFORE getting to the good ones.

[fizzgig]

my youngest isn't a picky eater, the only times she'll really eat is when she's growing. gets rather irritating. you can make her favorite dish and if she's not growing she'll only eat a little bit of it. on the otherhand, if she's growing, she'll eaat you out of house and home.


fizzy

[SongsOfDragons]

The big change was when I went to camp when I was nie or ten. They had a rule: You had to have everything we were serving on the plate, and you had to eat it all. You could have them in varying amounts, but everything that they were serving, you had to eat.

That's harsh. Maybe it cured pickiness, but GOD!! I'm fussy myself but not as fussy as I was a decade or so ago; i.e. I eat enough healthy stuff that's okay. But I'd have just told those people to sod off and let me eat the amount I wish.

Besides, what would they do? Force-feed you?

[NightAngel]

my youngest isn't a picky eater, the only times she'll really eat is when she's growing. gets rather irritating.

My oldest was like that. He wasn't picky but he ate so little when he wasn't on a growth spurt that sometimes I'd wonder how he survived! The doctor told me not to force him to eat more- he'd eat how much he needed. He was always healthy as he could be but I was always worried he pass out or something. How anyone can live on 6 bites of food a day is beyond me.

So, I'd only serve him a very small plate of food (less waste) and make sure to tell him he could have seconds if he wanted more. Which he almost never did.

Of course, NOW he's a teenager and he eats like a cow.

Besides, what would they do? Force-feed you?

One time when I was a kid I spent the night at a friend's house. Her Mom made us sandwiches on wheat bread, which made me gag. (I still hate wheat bread but it doesn't make me sick any more.) I choked down the sandwich because I was a polite child but I left the crust because the flavor in the crust is stronger.

The Mom made me stand in a corner until I agreed to eat the crust. I think I stood there for about two hours before I gave in and that was only because I had to pee so bad I couldn't stand it anymore.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Anybody here a "supertaster?" That's someone with waaay more tastebuds than the average person. Food tastes extremely "loud" to supertasters. I have a friend who has this problem, and when we all go out camping or something, we have to either keep the food very bland or fix a non-seasoned portion aside for her.

Yeah, she's a picky eater, understandably. I wonder how many "picky" kids have this problem? I do not know if it's a rare thing or not.