Ok so first I wanted to start out with giving you an idea what some of the new foods were that I have tried in the past. When I started college my Freshman year, believe it or not, I was even pickier than I am right now. For a normal eater the foods I am about to describe below won’t seem like much but for me they were something new and were an accomplishment. My plan for expanding my diet is to start out with foods that I already know the texture but would have a different taste or vice versa foods that I may somehow gotten an idea for what they would taste like but do not know the texture.
For example, one of the first ways I tried to expand my diet was with ice cream. I used to only eat vanilla ice cream. Since I already knew the texture of ice cream I decided to start trying new flavors that I had never had before starting with chocolate and working up to pretty much any ice cream flavor. Now my favorite ice cream is Cookies and Cream Ice Cream!!!
I also did a similar thing with chips. I used to only have Lay’s Potato Chips or Tostitos. During college I eventually started grabbing a couple of the other chip bags in the dining halls and then try them later back in the privacy of my dorm room. It was the same idea here as with the ice cream, I already knew the texture but was just experimenting with new tastes. I now like to have Cheetos, Doritos, Sun Chips, Cheddar Sun Chips, Fritos, Pringles. I also tried Salt and Vinegar but still don’t like those very much.
Now I realize that so far these have been expansions in junk food but at least I started to get used to the idea that I may be able to eventually try new things again.
Next I decided to try new bagels and along with that try cream cheese. Up until that point the only bagels that I would eat were plain bagels with butter on them. The different bagels I tried went fairly well after trying each of them a few times on different occasions and I can now say that I also prefer to have sesame seed bagels and cinnamon raisin bagels. The cream cheese was harder though. The first few times I tried cream cheese did not go over well and I gagged several times. It wasn’t until I had it about 10 times that 1) I could tolerate the texture and eat it and 2) actually form an opinion on whether or not I liked the taste. I am glad to say that I can now incorporate cream cheese on my bagels whenever I have them and enjoy it!
The other food group I have worked on are different cheeses. I would always have American cheese and still prefer it to any other but have managed to at least try some of the other ones. I have tried cheddar cheese, mozzarella, and brie. This helps because a lot of restaurants that have grilled cheese or quesadillas usually use cheddar cheese or mozzarella so now I can usually order a grilled cheese or a quesadilla at a restaurant and have something to eat. I have also even tried some of the queso that is at Mexican restaurants as long as there is nothing else in it besides the melted cheese. I am going to keep working to try several other different types of cheese .
Let me know if you are a picky eater and have had any similar accomplishments!
Love the idea for your blog! I am also a picky eater and have been for as long as I can remember. My biggest issue is the anxiety of trying new foods so I give you a lot of credit. I look forward to seeing what you try and maybe getting inspired to try something new myself.
Thanks! I get really anxious when trying new foods as well so I do hope I will be able to succeed in trying a few new things!
This is awesome. I can relate to buying things and then waiting til I’m alone to try them. I am also a picky eater since I was very young and have been able to successfully incorporate new foods into my diet as an adult. It’s easier for me because I’m not an extreme picky eater, but harder because I have IBS so I have to avoid many things I used to love that are triggers for IBS attacks. Good luck with this and I hope you post more soon!