Eating Idiosyncracies

“Eat your greens or you won’t get dessert”
“But I don’t like these!” or “but I’m full up!”
“Fine, no dessert for you.”

I’m sure the above conversation is familiar in some form or other to many of us. On me, all it did was make me dig my heels in and not try anything, ever. I’ve got better at that and will now eat most veg if it appears in my food. I tried a larger variety of foods out of necessity when I was a vegetarian for two years. I actually think most people should try to eat vegetarian for a short while, just to encourage them to try different foods. A big one I only tried because I was vegetarian which I still eat now is tofu. I wouldn’t even have known how much I liked it if I hadn’t been vegetarian for a time. I am glad that I grew out of my picky eater phase, and as a "foodie" can now enjoy a larger variety of meals. Instead of making your child eat everything on the plate, encouraging them to try a bite of everything and allowing them to leave what they don’t want is far more beneficial. Remind them that taste-buds change as they get older, so they might try it again in future.

The other thing I had a lot of in my house was “you’re not eating fast enough, why are you eating so slowly? We’re all waiting on you!” Consequently, I now tend to shovel food in my mouth as if it will disappear if I don’t. If I eat fast, I don’t notice food I dislike as much. If I eat fast, I finish it before I get full. It’s easy to see where that trait comes from. I eat food before I can even taste it, sometimes. As someone who enjoys food, I find it a shame that I can’t slow down and take meals easy.

There is one thing that still turns my stomach, however. I can’t deal with onion in my food. Since onions seem to be in everything, this can be quite the challenge. I’m okay when they are too small to be noticeable. I don’t mind if they’re big enough to avoid. But medium-sized onions are my nemeses. I am trying. I keep trying small slices of onion occasionally, but they still make me almost be literally sick.

Do you have one vegetable you won’t eat? Have you picked up any unusual eating habits over time?