question

Does anyone here have Selective Eating Disorder or also called Avoident or Restrictive Food Intake Disorder?

I cannot speak from experience but there are some posts and articles about Selective Eating Disorder.
Psych Central - Search results for Selective eating disorder

Thanks. I have a lot of research. I was just hoping for a similar person to talk with. but, I understand.

Hello dear Faerie_moon_x and yup, I'm afraid I do def suffer with extreme restrictive eating disorder. I cut out whole major food groups at any given time, or cut out food altogether if I can muster the self will. I also am/have been anorexic/bulimic/binge/purge type. I've also been ''Ortharexic'' which is taking healthy eating to the absolute extreme, very must like restrictive or otherwise known as selective ED.

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Hi waggie dog,

So, my issue is that I have SED which most people will call "picky eating" by most people who don't understand, and I don't like to share about it because it carries a lot of stigma. I tend to tell people I have allergies instead to avoid having to explain it. But I do have emotional eating to a degree with my safe foods, especially candy, and especially when I'm depressed because I have bipolar.

My issue is that food doesn't feel safe. I have a very limited number of safe foods, although I'm not actually as some research I've seen. There are maybe 50 foods that are safe and I can mix some of them (like cheese pizza is good example since it has 3 things with bread, cheese, and sauce.) But, really, if I see someone eating a hamburger with cheese and lettuce and mayo and all of that, to me it's like watching someone eat bugs dipped in mud (or worse gross things, I don't want to gross anyone out.) I guess it's like saying if I watch the Food Network it's like watching Fear Factor where they make people eat gross things.

I can't even touch certain types of food (like mayo or gravy,) without feeling like I'm being contaminated. And, food touching is sometimes an issue, because of contamination. But, some foods can touch if they are both safe foods, for example mashed potatoes can touch like peas or carrots or corn because those are all safe foods. But let's say someone uses a knife to cut a sandwich that had ketchup in it, that knife is contaminated until it's fully washed off. (It can also be contaminated by the type of meat, etc. especially greasy meat like pepperoni.)

Food gives me very high anxiety. If I don't know how a food was made it's hard for me to eat. I don't eat mixed foods very well. I eat everything plain. Plain hamburger, plain cheese pizza, chicken strips, mac and cheese, etc. I don't like most sauce. There are 3 sauces I eat: spaghetti/pizza type sauce, alfredo sauce, and not spicy BBQ sauce. I don't eat salad dressings. I don't eat condiments. I don't eat casseroles or lunch meat.

I also have issues with food texture and smell.

The difference for me is that because most of the food I eat is high calorie density, I've gained a lot of weight. I also may have some health problems that are causing this as well, but my doctor has given up on trying to figure out what's going on and just told me I have no self control and I need to "suffer" to lose weight. About a year ago I was on a diet of very few calories and exercise every day and I was gaining some weight per week. I had all these tests done but everything came back normal, despite the fact at the same time my legs were swelling up like balloons. I got really discouraged and stopped counting my calories, and I was having issues with my bipolar and paranoia, so I stopped carring what I ate for months. Then, suddenly, I lost a few pounds and my weight stayed the same from August until just last month and now I've gained over double what I had lost in about 3 weeks, which now makes me a lot over what I need to be healthy.

The thing is, despite all this, I'm not unhappy with the foods I like, that's not my concern. I don't want to add sauces or things because it doesn't interest me. That's not the issue. The issue is I'm just looking for a person who has SED who has had to lose weight. Because weight loss books and support groups are for all of the people who eat everything. All of their tips are for people who eat dressing and sauces and add extra and everything. I know I need to cut down on calories, and I'm fine with that, I'm already doing that again. But, I just feel like I don't have anyone to talk to who gets that I can't replace this food with that food necessarily, so what is another way to lower the calories.

And I can't afford therapy for my eating, I can't even afford it for my bipolar. And I work with dietitians as my job for 7 years, so I know a lot about food and fiber and protein and all of that. I guess I just feel like an outsider as usual. So I feel like I have good resources in that area. But all of the recipes we give out are just so gross to me.

And, the other thing is it's hard to cut some things out, because I only have so many foods. So, I get anxiety because it limits my choices. At the same time, my dad died of a heart attack about a year and a half ago, and I'm scared that will be me. Because I'm a lot like him metabolically speaking. So, I know I have to overcome the anxiety and figure out how to do this so I can handle it both with my bipolar and my physical health.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the long post.