i am neurotic.

I have to eat with the smallest forks we have in our house. My parents bought a new silverware set, and it’s MASSIVE. I can’t stand using the forks especially because it feels like I’m going to stab myself in the back of the throat. I have to use the little forks, and it they’re all dirty then I’ll wash one just to eat with it.

Eating in order – Every time I eat a snack out of a bowl–say mini pretzels–I have to eat them in order from least tasty to tastiest. In the case of pretzels, this would mean I have to eat them in order from least salty to most salty. Touching a pretzel also immediately decreases its tastiness value, and the last two must be eaten one after the other.

Every time I order a hamburger, I get ketchup and pickles. Every time. I then proceed to check under the bun and rearrange the pickles to my liking. After that’s done, I eat all the edges of the bun off. Then, I eat around all the pickles. Finally, when that’s complete, I eat the hamburger, eating the bites with the smallest pickles first and the biggest ones last.

When I shake something, like salt or pepper, I randomly come up with a number of times I’m going to shake it and rhythmically count up to that. Like if the number that pops into my head is 7, I’ll shake it “1-2-3-4-5-6-7″ times. But if I decide that particular number of shakes isn’t enough, I won’t just change my mind on the fly and continue up to a higher number, like “…8-9-10.” I’ll start over again at 1 and count up to 7 again. I’ll repeat the pattern until it’s enough.

Every time I eat a gummy candy, I try to keep it in my mouth with out chewing it. If I do bite it, I lose.

Whenever I chop or dice produce (especially vegetables), each piece must be the same size. I will sit there chopping for as long as it takes to make sure they look the same.

I can’t stand yogurt with any fruit or chunks of something in it or on the bottom. The texture is just wrong and my step-mother always seems to buy them. !!! So, when she isn’t there, I will eat the yogurt but I have to use a fork to eat it so that I can put all of the fruit particles on the “pre-licked” cover to the yogurt in a little pile in the exact middle of the cover. I will not eat any of the pieces and I will spit it out onto the pile if I missed a chunk. Fruit in yogurt just disgusts me!

I can only eat eggs which yolks and egg whites are mixed up; scramble eggs, omelette, or finely chopped boiled egg.

I have a system for putting my food in order. For example, if dinner is veggies, potatoes, and chicken, I will eat ALL of the veggies, then the potatoes. Not until that’s done can I eat the chicken. If it’s soup or stew the process is the same. Cereal is complicated. If it’s something muti-colored I have to eat the pieces in order of color, worst to best. I will not eat a wrong-colored piece until I finish the color I’m working on. Lucky Charms are easier. I just have to make sure all the cereal bits are done before I eat the marshmallows. If i don’t eat things this way, I will feel like I’ve cheated. And it will bother me for the rest of the meal.

When ever i take a new piece of bread from the packet i always have to take the third slice down from the top, new loaf of bread or not, i just can’t stand the thought of anyone else having touched the same slice and then me eating the same piece they’ve touched.