The Grievances Of A Picky Eater

Do you ever feel like you are running out of things to eat? I do – I am so bored with food.

I admit that I have never been a “foodie.” I really could care less about eating meals, do not eat a lot, and do not eat on schedule. The main problem is that I do get hungry three times a day, though the times are random and unpredictable. So my hunger does compel me to have some sort of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Breakfast is easy. I either have cold cereal or hot cereal. Lunch is a royal pain in the neck. Today I ate a sleeve of whole grain Ritz crackers. Tonight’s dinner is taken care of. My husband and I are meeting friends at a restaurant. I love when that happens—no pre-planning, no cooking, and no dishes.

The main problem I have with food is that my diet is limited. I am a “pescetarian,” a vegetarian who eats fish, though I prefer a vegan diet. I do not like eating anything that has eyes or parents. It upsets me to think about taking the life of any of God’s beautiful living creatures whether fish, fowl, or mammal. Eggs are out of the question. They totally disgust me.

Vegetarian food has come a long way in the thirty-five years that I have been on this diet. Plenty of meat and chicken substitutes are available for those who want to change their diet but do not want to compromise their taste. But I don’t like the taste of the real thing so the quasi versions are useless to me. Every time I have tried them I ended up nauseated.

I do like dairy products, though I do not eat them because they upset my stomach. If I was sentenced to death and got to choose my last meal it would be a huge bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream. In that case I would not be around long enough to suffer the after effects.

I have tried many dairy substitutes. Lactose-free foods and lactose intolerant supplements have proven ineffective remedies. The only substitutes I tolerate are almond-derived foods. I particularly like almond milk—the rest of the almond-based “dairy” products aren’t worth buying or eating in my opinion.

And one more thing—I have a considerable amount of food sensitivities. Many foods leave me feeling tired and headachy after I eat them. I recently had a full-panel allergy test done to pin down the culprits.

The results—mold and certain grasses. Not one single food was identified.

Vegetarian food preparation is annoyingly time consuming. Every meal requires the cutting, chopping, and mincing of a variety of vegetables. It would be much easier to slap a burger on the grill, bake a chicken, or pop a macaroni and cheese casserole in the oven, but that is not an option for me.

Cooking is really not my passion anyway. That certainly should not come as a surprise given my attitude about eating. I know my way around a kitchen pretty well and am a good cook—I just find it boring. And in case I have not gotten my point across (though I am pretty sure I have) I am running out of ideas of what to make.

My mother was a great cook—she had a three course dinner on the table every night of the week. I was not a picky eater back then. I ate everything. The thought of eating meat and chicken always bothered me, but it was all I knew and the only option I had so I ate it. When I started living on my own in my young adulthood I made different choices.

My husband and my two children are “pescetarians” as well. When I first met my husband he ate everything. Within the first few months of dating I noticed that he had stopped eating meat and chicken. I never asked him to change his diet—he just liked the food I cooked and made the switch on his own. Not so with my first husband. He liked his meaty meals. I used to put on latex dishwashing gloves to prepare his food so I wouldn’t have to touch it. Life is so much easier now…in so many ways.

When my kids were younger I cooked fairly often, though it was a lot of work. They were finicky eaters so I often found myself making my husband and I one thing, and each of my two children something else. Over the years their diets have branched out considerably. They are both good eaters now. Better than I am.

With my attitude toward food one would think that I was considerably under weight. I wish that was true, but it is not. For most of my life it was easy to for me to maintain a body that was on the slimmer side. There were times when I was thinner than others, but weight was never an issue for me. Now with middle-age spread I don’t believe I will ever see “too thin” again. I love carbs but they do not love me. The problem is that if I give them up I would probably starve. They are my main sustenance.

I am clearly not an easy dinner guest so save your invitations. Just invite me over for dessert or take me out to a restaurant where I can pick and choose. A lunch date is good—I can always get a salad of some sort.

Maybe in the future we will just pop food pills like the Jetson’s did. And I presume that as a soul in the afterlife eating will probably not be necessary. That is one aspect of the hereafter I do look forward to. But don’t get me wrong, there is so much more living I want to do—so much more I want to share. So for now I will grin and bear the eating thing. I will muddle through somehow, as long as I can throw a few desserts in there along the way—non-dairy of course.

Photo Credits

Vegetarian food has come a long way  – From Vegan and Vegetarian Quotes Facebook.com

“SHOPPING LIST” (thumbnail) © Miluxian | Dreamstime.com    

“WOMAN HOLDING A RAW FISH”  © Rtimages | Dreamstime.com  

“Jessie and Mike–She looks….Hmmmm…..not sure how she looks”   – Lizzys Life On Flickr – some rights reserved

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