The list of what I CAN eat is far shorter than the list of what I CANNOT eat. I also tend to eat the same things over and over again. Gotta branch out and add more diversity and variety. I'm dragging my kids along with me. I'm giving them a penny for every new food they try, and a penny for each day they eat at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies.
Here is a link to a blog I had going where I was trying a new food every single day. This was seriously stressful for me ... like anxiety to the max ... you have no idea.
This is the blog: http://300tries.blogspot.com/ and more on my disorder is written here: http://www.healthyhabitgal.com/My_Disorder.html
But anyway - I was aiming for 300 new foods - - and I somewhat failed. I think I got to 226. I was thinking about this today because tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and that was when I started the new foods challenge last year. It made me sad that I didn't finish the challenge. Frustrated with myself. I've also gained weight lately, and realize I am sliding down a slippery slope and heading in the wrong direction. I've been lazier with exercise and not tracking my food at all, and not trying anything new.
No worries - picking myself up ... dusting off ... and starting again. I do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and so I need to find ways to get them into this body, one way or another - - via smoothies or juicing or whatever. I bought a great new juicer I have yet to try out. Heck, it is still in the box.
I also have been lax in the water drinking. I had completely given up diet coke for months, and it crept back into my life. UGH - I hate that. SO, no more. Bye Bye Diet Coke ... and now that I know it's like crack, I will treat it as alcohol and pretend I'm an alcoholic and just seriously never touch the stuff again, not even once, so that I can't ever go back.
So follow along with me as I put myself through the ringer.
Hi! This is POOKASLUAGH from the SA Spark team and I came out to tell you that I know exactly where you're coming from!! I've never been diagnosed, but I have the exact same issues with texture, taste, and smell. Things that I don't like literally made me throw up all my life. I can't eat things that smell terrible - I'll throw up before it even reaches my mouth. And I can taste things soooo strongly. If iceberg lettuce has ever touched something that goes in my mouth, even if it's nto there anymore, I can taste it. And gag. Ugh. It's been a problem because the only veggies I could eat for years were cooked onions chopped small, some cooked carrots in roast or in tomato-sauce-based stews, and baby spinach. That's it. Fruits were bad too. I could barely eat clementines and strawberries, and that was it.
ReplyDeleteMy second son was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder when he was very young, about 2 years old. It's a nervous disorder that causes sensory problems with regards to taste, texture, temperature, and other sense-related things. He couldn't eat anything without a smooth temperature, or that was hot. With occupational therapy, we were able to help him, and now he can eat anything. If SID is caught young enough, you can retrain the nervous system. Unfortunately, I'm sure that's what I had as a kid and what led to my lifelong issues with food, and also unfortunately, once you're past a certain age, your nervous system can't really get retrained, as it's finished growing. Regardless, I have worked really hard over the last 16 months to "fix" this issue of mine.
It started with a simple goal: to eat one fruit and one vegetable every day six days per week. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I started at the beginning of 2011, and I didn't always succeed. For six months, this pretty much meant eating baby spinach and some strawberries or a clementine every day. But slowly, something changed, and I was able to start eating more. I tried new fruits/veggies when we were in Wisconsin, especially out of my mother-in-law's garden. I trained my mouth to stop reacting to texture, smell, and taste so much. It took a really long time and it's still not perfect, but I'm up to about 3-4 freggies daily, and I can now say I like more than I dislike, which is something I couldn't say for the first 32 years of my life!!
I hope this journey eventually leads you to the same place!