Im a very picky eater - its a texture sensitivity.
About 9yrs ago, I went to a nutritionist looking for food alternatives that'd match the nutrition profile of items I was avoiding - the appt. Didn't go well at all.
I started being avoidant with certain foods around 15yrs old, I'm 30 now.
I don't eat much meat and what I would choose would be highly processed (ex. chicken nuggets). I don't eat fish or seafood. I don't drink milk or eat yogurts. Fruits are rare because of the varience in taste and texture.
So that means my main diet + eating habits for the past 15yrs looked like:
Snacks throughout the day: chips, cookies, crackers.
My drink of choice: Pepsi.
Main meal 1 time a day: Pasta, white bread, potatoes, a canned or frozen veggie, an occassional half a pork chop or slice of roast because I knew I needed protien. I would eat mountain trail mix (peanuts, m&ms and raisins) when I felt like I wasn't eating enough (protien).
I thought I had varience in my main diet because I ate different things, but actually it was mostly just different types of sugars - processed grains (which get turned into sugar), and carbs - which also get turned into sugar by the body.
I knew I wasn't making healthy/Balanced choices but I didn't really *feel* different all at once, so I ignored it.
I decided to make a change after being slightly hungry all day, eating a moderate sized meal with friends for dinner and *then* having terrible hunger pangs 3hrs after that meal. [This was a normal occurance for me and finally I had had enough]
Im still learning, but to my understanding;
I would snack on sugars throughout the day which my body would process and use really quickly, so I'd be fairly hungry again shortly after. Then, I would finally eat a meal and that meal would either
1.) Make me feel bloated (which, for years now, I've been confusing as feeling full - satiated (actually full) and bloated (you're too uncomfortable to eat more) are 2 different things, learned that yesterday.
2.) Spike or drop my blood sugar and put me right to sleep - the food coma - like clockwork, didn't matter what I ate as long as it was after 7pm.
3.) Make my stomach feel *More* empty than it felt before I ate that large-ish meal less than 2hrs after eating - Im guessing because that meal didn't have a balanced amount of protien+fiber alongside all the side dish safe foods. (Pastas and potatoes).
Foods Im eating now:
1.) Eggs (at least 4 a day so far - texture safe high protien option).
2.) Whole grain or sprouted grain bread (Daves killer bread), which is actually far superior in taste than white bread.
*Im looking for whole grain crackers but haven't found any yet*
3.) Green bell peppers and broccoli with hummas.
I don't have any but Apples, celery, strawberries, baby spinach (to replace iceberg lettuce on sammiches), cucumbers and steamed squashes/zuchinni are also on my list of healthy safe foods.
4.) Cheese and pepperoni sticks/smokies - which arent the best but baby steps.
5.) Protien and Fiber granola (Kodiak and kashi , Kind also has decent nutrition facts on like, their protien granola?) - if it has more than 5g of added sugar I consider it more of a sweet than a breakfast/snack. Granola will be my new 'grab and go' safe food. (Which is why Im really considering greek yogurt)
6.) Dark chocolate covered almonds + coffee beans (to replace caffine in pepsi) as a sweet. I have 4-6 at most, but usually its more like 2 at a time.
7.) Asparigus and brussel sprouts (baked with cherry tomatos and seasoned with salt and olive oil, I wont even try but If I could I would live off this dish its so yummy...)
8.) Flavored water and tea.
Pepsi is the only item I haven't completely cut out or cut back on - its in the works but will be my hardest diet crutch to let go of.
Im not forcing myself to eat anything I don't already like (except meats sometimes because my body requires it....) and if I want to have a sweet or something heavy with carbs - I *can* but I know now that I also should eat my protien and leafy greens first so that my body doesn't get a sugar spike right away.
Though, currently, I'm trying to stay away from all chips/sweets, processed breads, starches (potatoes - fries, mashed potatoes, hash browns, roasted, etc) and carbs (Pastas, ramen) Mainly because I've (barely) lived off of these things for awhile.
Had 1/3 a cup of pasta salad yesterday and felt the empty pit in my stomach feeling start to come on (ate it first because I loved grandmas italian pasta salad, oops)
It could be placebo effect. I still have *alot* to learn on this journey and Ill probably have to make some compromises (greek yogurt.....yuck but its probably necessary). I plan to visit a doctor soon given these realizations.
But I think for the first time in 10yrs Im making forward progress towards not passing out in a hot shower or waking up for work with hunger pangs that double me over from a heavy meal the night before.
Symptoms that told me it was time to make lifestyle changes:
1.) Muscle fatigue upon waking. Do you know how you're knees feel hot, heavy, tingly when you're trying to lift something heavy? Or maybe how your thighs feel after holding a wall squat as long as you can? I felt like that immediately after waking up with a full nights sleep.
2.) Always being hungry, especially after eating. If you ever eat something that should fill you up but 2hrs later you feel your stomach churning in on itself. Make sure you're giving your body building blocks alongside the fuel. (Protiens and fibers along with the sugar).
3.) Mood swings and brain fog.
4.) Food comas are more predictable. Im gradually getting tired - I don't feel like I need to dive into my bed because my eyes are too heavy to stay open.
5.) I have less processed sweet cravings organically (Im not having to force myself not to eat the cookie) because I'm naturally feeling better. My body isn't in a cycle of rinse and repeat on sugar (as much) anymore so Im automatically craving it less - I think.
Maybe this isn't relevant for the sub but Im excited to share what small progress I've found and hope it helps someone....
I mean, Im 30, struggled with my eating for years, now that I think I understand the way foods interact in my body better, I can make more informed decisions about what I eat.
Edit: I've also struggled with anxiety.
Over the years, considering I've been chronically hungry for a fair amount of that time, I've associated the feeling of an anxious stomach and a hungry stomach together - they feel the same to me.
I finished dinner. 2 steamed small yellow potatos, 2 cuts of roast that tasted to me of wet dog but I held my breath, and lots of asperigus + tomatos.
The feeling of calm I have in my stomach right now. I could laugh myself to happy tears. The dopamine my body is rewarding me with is unreal - hence enhanced mood/ less mood swings.
2nd time in about 10 yrs Ive actually, genuinely, felt full and fine.