I saw somebody make fun of picky eaters on Twitter, and I felt compelled to write about my own experiences.

I was like this myself (picky eater) until I enlisted in the army and had no choice but to eat unfamiliar food or starve. Then I decided to teach myself how to food, and it was a very intimate and personal journey. I have a lot of sympathy for picky eaters. It isn’t easy.

Real talk, I was skinny as hell until I taught myself how to eat, and it wasn’t easy. 60kg/130lbs in the first pic, 85kg/190lbs now. Wow I used to look almost like I might’ve had an eating disorder. Maybe you could call it an eating… dysfunction…? It was sad, on retrospect.

I can’t speak for everyone, but “grow the fuck up” is kinda rough. I didn’t want to be a picky eater. I was just scared by food at a subconscious level. Feeling of physical disgust. Would be kinder to invite your friend to help prep food in a non-judgemental environment.

As a picky eater I had no experience in the kitchen. I didn’t know how to crack an egg 😂 I steeled myself by watching lots of beginner cooking vids on YouTube. Those strangers changed my life. It’s the little things. What do you do with your hands…? How do you hold a knife…?

I started by helping my wife cut vegetables. Then I made eggs. Then chicken, and spaghetti, and salmon. I have some “cook’s intuition” now, and can experiment and improvise. Cooking and feeding people is fun! And intimate! And sexy! But I was scared as fuck for 25 years

My shitty relationship with food was also tied up with my anxiety-induced loss of appetite (which was a problem I didn’t even realize had) – and I self-medicated my low blood sugar symptoms with cigarettes (many smokers do this unknowingly) and all of this took YEARS to fix

This thread makes me realize that AGAIN I owe something important in my life to the kindness of Internet strangers, and it only strengthens my conviction that I am going to share all of the things that I wish someone had shared with me

If you’re a picky eater I recommend watching vids about the history of food, about different cultures, about even say individual spices, coffee, tea, etc. I also recommend Somebody Feed Phil for a sense of the wholesome promise of good food and friends.