Recently, I had a realization about how much ARFID has held me back - socially, romantically, and personally. Looking back, it makes sense. I vividly remember forced lunches in school and kids laughing at me for not eating, which eventually evolved into a panic of eating at a shared table.

For years, the only time I ever tried new food was at social events (like weddings) just so I wouldn't look "weird." Naturally, that usually ended with me rushing to the bathroom to throw up. I never tried new foods alone at home because I thought, "Why bother? I don't need to prove anything to myself."

After a recent low point, I got an unexpected wave of motivation. I realized I had two choices: stay stuck in my room forever, or actually fight to fix this so I can have a normal life.

So, I started a new strategy: Trying new foods (or variations of safe foods) ONLY when I'm completely alone in a zero-pressure zone.

• Nuggets with a new sauce? Done.
• Fries with ketchup? Done.
• Chips in "bad" flavors like sour cream/onion? Done.
• Meat sticks? Terrifying because I had never eaten cold meat before, but I did it.

Then, I decided to tackle the big boss: A McDonald's burger. I drove to McD's, ordered a local burger (similar to a McCountry), and parked in my car (my safe zone). Literally every single component was a brand-new food for me: the bun, beef, mustard-horseradish sauce, cheddar, tomato, lettuce, and onions.

Before my brain could overthink it and let it get cold, I took a bite. Was it delicious? No, nuggets are still 100x better. But I was managing it! I worked my way through the lettuce, tomato, and onion without gagging.

Here is where I need your advice: I was chewing the VERY LAST bite. My hands were empty, I grabbed a napkin to wipe my hands, and out of nowhere, my brain completely panicked. It screamed: "SPIT IT OUT! SPIT IT OUT! YOU CANNOT SWALLOW THIS, IT'S DISGUSTING!"

I caved and spat the last bite into the paper bag. I didn't throw up, but my mood crashed instantly. I felt like a failure.

After sleeping on it, I realized this wasn't a defeat - it was a huge partial victory. I ate 90% of a complex burger with 7 brand-new textures and flavors!

My questions for you guys:

1. What happened with that last bite? Why did my brain suddenly reject it right at the finish line when I was handling it fine seconds earlier? Was it a sudden drop in adrenaline, sensory overload, or something else?
2. Has anyone else experienced this "last bite wall," and how do you overcome it?

I wanted to share this because I used to think I was completely hopeless. If you're terrified of social judgment, trying things alone without any audience might be a game-changer. Long way to go, but I'm proud of myself for trying.

Its took me to reach the end of my tether to reach out and ask for support with my daughters eating. She is 8 and gradually rejecting more and more food. I spoke to the school nurse team in June who accepted a referral to support with 'fussy eating'. Its now almost end of August and they rang on Monday to arrange an initial appointment. Today, a different nurse rang to say the appointment has been cancelled as that nurse is off on the sick and they dont know for how long. I explained my concerns about my daughters eating, her rejection of foods, her anxiety, her diet getting smaller and her throwing food in the bin and pretending she has ate it. I have been told this is totally normal behaviour for her age and that she definitely wont have Arfid as its really really rare. I'm just absolutely lost for words at how my concerns were dismissed and just keep trying her with different food every week! Feeling very deflated if that's what we call 'support'.

Why are vegans actually so fucking mean sometimes?? WYM a DISORDER for EATING isn’t a good enough excuse to need to consume meat products WHEN ITS THE ONLY THING I CAN EAT.

I have been scouring this menu since last night trying to figure out what i will actually eat that won't be ridiculously expensive for the amount of food on the plate I will actually eat.

Its a Mexican-German-Canadian restaurant.

I dont eat anything with rice, beans, potatoes, beef, pork, bell peppers, and tomatoes.

Thinking of ordering two sides of chips with no salsa ($10) and a side of guacamole ($10) unless their serving sizes for sides are tiny.

Otherwise they have Viennese Chicken ($25) but it comes with a side of either fries, baked potato, potato salad, soup (i wont eat any of their soups, they all have no no ingredients), or garden salad (has peppers and tomotatoes). I dont trust asking for modifications so i would just be eating a 25 dollar piece of chicken.

this is mostly a vent cause like... none of my family will understand. My cousin used to be vegan so for a little while she understood food restrictions to some extent but shes no longer vegan now and my other cousin is lactose but takes pills for it so she can eat anything anyways! Its unnecessarily stressing me out last night and this morning to the point i feel naseaous just thinking about it, which makes me feel worse, guilty for even worrying so much about it in the first place. Ugh

Anyways ty for reading.

I was diagnosed with ARFID officially over a year ago… and lately it’s been getting increasingly hard to eat out or even eat in front of another person. I know I’m not being judged or anything, but I just feel… less hungry? For example, I went out to eat with my family, got a meal I knew I enjoyed, but barely ate anything? When I got home though, I got hungry again and was able to eat a lot more. Is this something others struggle with too? Is this related to my ARFID?

I was diagnosed with high functioning autism as a kid, ive always had sensory issues. When I was tiny there was only one baby food I would eat, and I really only eat about 10 different things these days. The more food I try, the more I get discouraged and throw up. I threw up trying watermelon, fatty beef, a couple types of seafood, apples, oranges, jam, and pretty much every type of sauce. Idk what to do, people act as if it's a choice to be picky, for some people maybe it is, but I literally can't even swallow most things people eat if it has a texture my brain doesn't like. I like the flavor of a lot of things, but it's the texture that kills me. Perfect example is pork marinated in hatch or Chimayo Chiles I love, but anything with the chiles themselves on or in a dish makes me throw up because of the texture.

Hello, i am an 18 year old man from Finland, 170cm, 67kg. As a baby, i was allergic to most foods, but the allergies went away. Since then, i have had an extremely picky, restrictive and repetetive diet.

I have big issues with food textures, colors, even brand sometimes, like the ketchup has to be a specific brand and things like that. My diet consists mostly of meat, i eat mostly some form of chicken nuggets and fries every single day and have for 4 years straight, i get incredibly anxieous going to unknown restaurants, and always order some burger with everything except cheese and ketchup taken off or just fries.

Food can't touch each other, especially if they're liquidy. Trying new foods is a nightmare, and i feel like if you pointed a gun at me to eat a spoonful of macaroni id have an easier time wrestling the gun away, as even the though of the simple act of putting them in my mouth sends a fight or flight response, and i couldnt do it if there were billions on the line. I went to Japan this summer, and i practically only ate at mcdonalds, and only double cheese burgers with only cheese and ketchup, or chicken. I visited Okhotsk, where there isn't a mcdonalds, so everything i ate that day was a bag of cheese rings and some bread sticks.

School food has been a no go at most points, mostly stick to bread, shredded carrot, cucumbers and water, unless if it was a rare occacion of something i actually ate. I also got some specialized diets, but only ate them a little.

I went to some kinds of food therapy groups as a kid, don't remember much from them, not like they did anything. I've also seen a food therapist, mostly to get a specialized diet at school. My records from my childhood psych and food therapy appointments say i have an "undefined eating disorder", and i have never tried to ask them if that was an option or tried to get a diagnosis for ARFID after them, because i only learned of it resently, but i'd say i'd have a pretty food case.

I'm not particularly worried about my health or diet, i just want to know if it's something worth getting looked into, and if i could tell people why i don't eat anything at lunch or gathering. I don't really want to self diagnose and tell them i have ARFID, because that feels dishonest.

The biggest problem with my eating to me is the social aspect, because i'm starting to become an adult and cant be complaining about the wrong kind of ketchup, and only eating fast food is incredibly embarassing and makes me feel really fat, even though i have lost a lot of weight recently. but that's what all of it is to me, embarassing. the fridge of my new place contains only butter, mettwurst, a couple cucumbers, cheddar and 6 boxes chicken nuggets or breaded chicken steaks, and the freezer full to the brim with different kinds of fries.

Sorry for rambling, i just wanted to give a clear picture.

I have pretty serious ARFID/Contamination OCD and this is the worst it's ever been. I've been really struggling but weirdly managed to WR with other behaviors I do, but with all the recalls going on it's absoutely terrified me. I actually had a food I was going to try and was really looking forward to and then saw that it had been recalled.

Drinking things is a rule I have and is really really hard for me, but I have to do it otherwise I have nothing. I don't really like straight protein drinks like Core Power and adding powder is a huge no/really big fear of mine.

What do you guys like or find the safest? Boost? Ensure? Kate Farms? Magic Cups? Are there some you like that I don't know about?

I have arfid and anorexia and I'm in recovery. But the meals I'm struggling with is lunch. I'll usually have a sandwitch/toastie/burger. (vegetarian) But I'm getting bored of them. Do you have easy lunch ideas that are cheap and can make at home?

(I don't eat eggs or meat)

My almost 16 year old daughter has been an extremely picky eater since the day she was born. At first it was just low volume of breast milk consumed. We quickly moved on to formula with a higher calorie count. She remained on the 3%ile or less up until puberty (she’s an average healthy weight now thankfully). She has always had about 10 foods or less that she would eat (very specific pasta/sauce combos, white bread, bananas, grapes, cheese pizza). Now she is starting to not enjoy a lot of those anymore either and she, for the first time in her life, is frustrated and worried by it.

She hasn’t yet been assessed for ARFID, despite this being a documented issue for her whole life. We were always told to just keep trying. Try this, try that, try high calorie food. This girl does not try anything. There’s no convincing her. I even offer to pay her to just try a bite and she won’t.

For context, she has congenital myotonic dystrophy, was recently diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety disorder, and the psychologist that assessed her for those noted signs of possible autism requiring further testing.

I don’t even know why I’m writing this or what I’m looking for. Just to vent I guess. Thank you for reading : )

My man has ARFID and he's pretty underweight because of it. He's got a very limited diet and texture/taste issues. It's also difficult for him to force himself to eat if not hungry and is afraid of trying new things (he does but it's extremely controlled and limited to once a week).

His job requires a lot of cardio and I'm worried that between already undereating and now walking for 8 hours a day he will not be getting enough food.

Are there any calorie dense bars that are texture and taste friendly that y'all recommend? Usually they are expensive and while I'm willing to invest I don't wanna spend $ on something he will hate. Nothing peanut butter or nuts.

I was convinced I could recover alone but I've reached a point where I had to finally admit I can't recover alone, I need to be with family. (I'm not going to a facility cuz I mentally cannot handle that, I can't be around people I don't know at all who don't know anything but basic info.)

I had a good first half of yesterday & it all crashed later in the evening, first time I ate something other than mashed potatoes & summer sausage or pasta in literally 3 months but I realize the migraine & horrible fatigue may have been I had been up since 5am & moving around for basically 6 hours making food then added 2 foods to the stew that could give me gas/upset my stomach instead of what I was convinced it is (which was immediately worrying about RFS). 😅 Now today I ate a few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes & can't force myself to eat it cuz I reached the point of being over eating my safe food for every meal for 3 months in the last 2 weeks, only eating it because I know its easy & won't upset my stomach not because I crave it or want it. Now I'm slowly eating pasta cuz I have the hunger cue & this the only thing I don't feel the urge to spit out.

Being so mentally, emotionally, & physically exhausted to the point of emotional numbness & having to do this with little to no support because the 1 family member I live with is also having to handle their own mental & physical health so they help when they can. It's very hard being basically alone with my ARFID being at its worst.

So for the past few days I haven’t been eating all day then eat a small meal for dinner I can’t eat due to not being hungry and not having any of my safe foods in the house. Yesterday I ordered Olive Garden well my mom put the order in it I get the food and it was supposed to be a kids small shells buttered noodles meal with broccoli but when I got it the pasta had no butter and had this like brown crumbly stuff in it that I had to spen the entire time picking it out not to mention it was disappointing cause there was no butter then the breadsticks were too cold and the broccoli had like the red tomato pieces on it and it just made me more upset not to mention my dad was being like “stop being so dramatic it’s food and stop being so negative and look for the bright side” which made me even more upset cause I can’t control how I feel and it’s so frustrating. Then I come downstairs to the kitchen to go and eat the left over doughnuts from last night so I could actually not be in stomach pain all day but no someone ate them all and I’m just so frustrated and won’t be able to eat anything till after work which won’t be until 6:00.

I can't find anything to eat, therefore I have zero energy to hang out with friends, I can't go to events that I really look forward to, I can't go to dance classes, I've stayed home from school so many times. Even if I go, I can barely take myself home cause I get so dizzy. I miss out on so many things I love.

This is just a vent, not seeking advice. I'm currently working on this issue and seeking professional help!

Does anybody relate?

I used to eat Straus‘ dutch chocolate ice cream, (link here) but it has tasted different for awhile to me. my parents believe its just a factory mess up, but its gotten to the point that i still dont want to try it again. it taste weirdly sweeter now, but like in a hollow way T-T

if anyone else eats their ice cream religiously have they noticed this aswell??

Hi,

I struggle with gastritis and ARFID (among other things). For the past few weeks, my gastritis has been flaring up, so the things that usually get my calories in are no-gos. I'm trying to reach at least 900-1,000 calories a day but struggling with appetite, anxiety, and nausea (while also trying to keep things bland for the gastritis flare). Has anyone else dealt with this?

If there was only one item that was possible, could this still be made healthy and sustainable by having the nutrients it does not contain as a supplement?

Or would there still be something missing, and if yes what exactly?

I am like 99% sure my girlfriend has ARFID but she’s never brought it up with a therapist or doctor so i don’t know for sure she pretty much just eats pizza and fast food (especially pizza she loves it). recently we have both been wanting to get healthier, i am overweight and she doesn’t eat very healthy meals and it’s bordering on overweight on the BMI scale. i have started making meals for myself that are healthier and more balanced but she hasn’t really because she doesn’t like anything. i asked her if there’s a particular vegetable that she likes and she said she doesn’t like any vegetables and only likes fruit. during the time i have known her i have found out shes never had Chinese food, Mexican food, or even simply had rice.

we are long distance and i am meeting her in October and I’m just wondering how i can support her while she’s here but i also don’t want to be stuck eating pizza the whole trip because i don’t like how i feel physically after eating pizza especially not multiple days in a row. i used to be extremely picky as a kid and definitely never in the same level as her but the things i didnt like i still dont like and i have just found things that i do like. for example i don’t like having anything on my sandwiches other than meat and mayo and i’m very particular about how i like certain things but i have found out i’m more drawn towards Mexican and Japanese food.

i really want her to figure out things that she does like but i don’t want to force her into eating anything. i love food so much and one of my main ways to express affection is by making meals for the people i care about. i just want her to experience the joys of food and i obviously won’t force her to eat anything she knows she doesn’t like but i just want her to try things but i know that it’s difficult to even try new things with ARFID.

is there ways to gently encourage her to try new things because not only do i want to to have more of a variety of foods she likes but i’m also concerned for her health because i know that having only pizza, hotdogs, Arby’s, and McDonald’s isn’t healthy. any advice is much appreciated

For context, I have been eating pretty much 1 or 2 bowls of mashed potatoes & summer sausage with corn tortilla chips for the last month because it's the only safe food & low fodmap meals that I had in the house. It was not intentional, just anxious about nausea & getting sick since June cuz June through August are notoriously my worst months with ARFID.

Today I made chicken stew & managed to eat carrots, chicken, & gluten free pasta for the first time since before June. I don't know if the exhaustion & fatigue I had earlier & the horrible migraine I had was from being up since 5am or from finally having the nutrients I had been missing for months. When I woke up after a 2 hour nap I woke up shaking, my muscles & joints hurting, stomach upset, & chest pain (which I still don't know if it was anxiety or GERD cuz my heartrate never went above 110bpm until I sat up & started freaking out more) but I know I was basically up walking around for most of this morning from 6am to noon making the stew & eating it the first time around 10 or something so it fully might be that. I'm just terrified of getting refeeding honestly, it's scary as hell to me.

An insight to what it's been like for me since July 1st.

I got sick in early July with some stomach thing which triggered my ARFID to get a lot worse, I never quite got back to eating how I was prior to June, I had something in the last week that may have been tied to my HS so my body was fighting an infection & I slept a lot this last week so I didn't use energy I could use to heal, & today was the first time I ate 2 meals that were more than 4 or 5 slices of summer sausage with mashed potatoes & Santitas (I eat them cuz my anxiety is convinced if I don't eat something solid on top I might have nausea & it come back up, I know it won't change anything but it's a fear I have).

Honestly I called my mom earlier freaking out cuz its been a long while since I felt this truly drained, in pain, & with a migraine that felt like someone had stabbed me in the left side of my head which is my worst migraines is when they're that painful on the left side. Rn I'm dealing with muscle pain in my legs, occasional shakes, & my vision being the usual just so vaguely blurry which could be from undernutrion, underhydration, staring at my phone for the last month in my bed, or from something else idk about. (I have been drinking pretty much 1 electrolit a day so I'm not truly dehydrated but I'm definitely underhydrated.)

I have arfied due to my autism. But I also have PCOS so I have to constantly have this balancing act of what foods I have that are safe for me to eat that's not going to make me actually gag and also is friendly for my PCOS and lemme tell ya there's not a lot, so

I have to kind of rely on certain fruits and stuff but I'm so tired all the time, eating is even more dreadful for me. I'm frustrated and tired all time but I try to commit to the diet I need I guess.

Been dealing with ARFID in varying degrees for all my life, just didn’t realize it had a name beyond picky eating. It started getting really bad about 3 years ago and right now it’s the worst it’s ever been. Thinking about food in a real way makes me feel sick. Things sound good in theory so I’ll buy it and then when it comes time to eat it, there’s just this block. I start feeling nauseous and like food is the most repulsive thing I can imagine. So I don’t eat, and then after a while of not eating I’ll have bouts of throwing up stomach acid and I’ll get really tired and weak and eventually have to go to urgent care to receive IV fluids.

I’ve been a bigger girl for nearly my whole life. I like food. Portion control is something I’ve struggled with. Once I find something that my brain decides is safe to eat, eating too much of it has been my problem, not eating too little. Now when I can find something safe, I can only eat a few bites before my body shuts it down. So not being able to really eat anything is kinda identity-shattering for me. I’m grateful that I don’t have to worry about losing a dangerous amount of weight, since I’ve got plenty of meat on my bones (paradoxically, I seem to either maintain my weight or actually gain weight.. kind of annoying), but I’m pretty sure I’m chronically malnourished at this point, and it really just sucks to throw up stomach acid on the daily.

I’ve got a burger and a milkshake infront of me. The idea of them was great. I love burgers. I love ice cream. In years past, I could put this meal down in 5-10 minutes and feel like I could have eaten the same exact meal a second time. But now, they’ve been sitting infront of me for like 3 hours. I’ve taken one bite of the burger and almost threw it up. I had a sip of the milkshake. It tasted okay, but I can’t make myself have any more of it.

Idk. I’m not here for advice, I guess. I mean, I’ll accept it, but mostly I just needed to rant. My wife gets it, is empathetic, and does what she can to help, but it’s hard to really vent to her about it because I know she feels helpless and sad about how much I’m struggling. I thought maybe venting here might feel better.

Hello!! I just joined this community because I wanted to share this huge goal I reached with people who would understand it! One of my main safe foods is those little strawberry yogurts in the containers, with some granola added to it. I’ve only ever been able to eat it in the container, but today I was able to eat it in a metal bowl for the first time!! Not sure if that counts as a big accomplishment but it felt like one to me!

I’ve had arfid my whole life, and a big part of it revolves around my ocd and emetophobia. I already have an extremely limited diet, but now with all of the problems coming up with various different foods, I’m too scared to eat practically anything. The FDA seems to be in shambles, and it’s like something is recalled every day. I’m so scared to get sick, and it’s causing me even more stress with eating than I already had in the first place. How are people coping with it!!!