Food is a funny thing. We all need it to live. We eat to live.
But when it's not about survival, many people take food to a level of obsession.
There are just some items that don't belong on a menu.
Be creative as you want to be as a chef, but certain things, like poisonous fish and reptiles?
Maybe just let them keep roaming their habitats.
Why would I pay $150 a plate to maybe die?
What happened to an adventurous fettuccini alfredo?
Redditor trajop wanted hear about which items on the menu are not acceptable, by asking:
"Non-picky eaters, what’s a food you just cannot do?"
Snails. Liver. No. No to all of that. Why would you eat a snail? Don't tell me!
Grape Only!
happy bread GIF by ThreadlessGiphy"Non-Fussy Slav here : Aspic or any other form of Meat-tasting Jelly... just... no, thank you." ~ BlimeyChaps
Pu-NO!!
"Silkworm pupae that is boiled or steamed. I tried it once and that’s it. I don’t like the taste, how it looks, and the smell! I get nauseous whenever I smell it. And they also sell it in a can!! 😭" ~ Casmekju20
"If I ever get a whiff of a street Beondaegi seller, I have to cross the street to the other side. Or just turn back. Forget it, wherever I was going, it was not as important as avoiding that smell. Tried the canned one once, since it had little smell and it was basically a dare. It tastes like it smells." ~ heliumneon
Cut through the Piss...
"Fermented fish." ~ LangMildInteressant
"My mom buys it every time she’s in Sweden on her monthly food shopping trip, and will text me when she has some so I know not to come by on visit for 2-3 days until that horrible smell is 100% gone!" ~ RowAcceptable4715
"I'm not Swedish but I once had a tiny tiny amount with some onions and sour cream on a piece of bread and it was honestly great. It kind of tasted like sauerkraut soaked in thai fish sauce with a hint of pee. The onions really cut out the pee taste though." ~ Colonel_Fart-Face
No, just no!!
"For me it's brains. I don't care if they're from a cow, a pig, a sheep or some other unfortunate creature. Doesn't matter if they're baked, poached, breaded then deep-fried. No, just no!! Not to mention that if the animal that supplied them was infected with the kind of prions that causes Mad Cow Disease."
"And other related ailments, brains would probably give a person a super-sized dose of the stuff. Eating brains is an item that I'd never put on my bucket list and if I die without ever having taken a bite of some, I won't have any regrets." ~ NoodlesrTuff1256
Only Deviled or Boiled...
Egg GIFGiphy"Balut. Just something about a partially developed chicken egg that I just... can't... do." ~ adamchid
"How nice it is to learn that my egg eating nightmare scenario is an actual food people intentionally make in some parts of the world." ~ Hotshot2k4
I love eggs. I've tried them many ways. First rule no matter what... COOKED!
Look Away
bbc one fish GIF by BBCGiphy"I draw the line at fish eyes... one and done thank you." ~ hats4bats22
Flavoring
"Imitation coconut is the one thing I just can't seem to like." ~ Setsuna85
"Somewhat the opposite for me. I’m not super bothered by real coconut, but I’m not a huge fan of the texture (the little strings). I love the flavor though! So if something has coconut flavoring but without the strings, it’s a plus for me." ~ MonsiuerGeneral
"Imitation mango. It's the worst." ~ getthatbreadmyfriend
Failure
"I had Natto once. Once. Maybe it's 'healthy' but if your Wikipedia page describes it as an 'acquired taste' due to the odor and texture ... yeah it looks, smells, and tastes like snot goblins. Different culinary history, but also, if you need to ferment seafood in lye, I believe the appropriate words are 'failure to plan for winter' rather than 'delicacy.' ~ InannasPocket
Fishy Issues
"Tuna. When I was pregnant with my twins, I had horrible morning sickness the entire time. But my body just craaaaved Tuna Helper one night. Made a box, ate it all myself. Pretty easy to know where this goes. I threw up so hard and so long that I was throwing up just burning stomach acid when I stopped. I also peed my pants. I can't even look at a can of tuna at the store without feeling sour." ~ orangestar17
Run Away
poop GIFGiphy"That fake crab that tastes like plastic, and tangerines cause they give me the runs." ~ Hwil33
From the Body
"Any kind of brains. Do you want a prion disease? Because that's how you get a prion disease." ~ flyover_liberal
"I'm pretty adventurous with organ meats, I've had various lungs, hearts, livers, tongues, blood sausages, etc, but I draw the line at nervous tissue lol." ~ REDDIT
"I agree. Born in Africa. Raised in America. Dated a Canadian girl that craved water buffalo brains we we went to Nepal. I refuse to eat organ and she gave me so much sh*t. My 3rd word brain trumps my adventurous 1st world brain." ~ Hayabusasteve
This and That
"Add on question, are you a picky eater if you’ll eat most foods, but they have to be prepared a certain way? I will only eat carrots if they are raw or in carrot cake or curry. Little things like that for example." ~ jecama
"I’ll eat anything plant-based from any cuisine but can NOT do raw broccoli. I keep trying it with different dips and sauces but it’s gross unless cooked." ~ TheWildTofuHunter
"Green peppers are only ok in gumbo." ~ i_said_no_mayonnaise
Choices
"I made a deliberate choice to not eat octopus. Honestly, I used to love them!" ~ MBeebeCIII
"Octopi are wonderful creatures! Of course, so are all animals in their own ways. Subs like r/happycowgifs and r/pigifs make me happy I left eating animals behind." ~ pmvegetables
"I love it but seeing how inhumanely they are treated, I no longer order them. If a law was passed that bans cooking them alive and similar things (like in UK recently), I'll probably return to eating them. They may be smart but so are pigs, it would be hypocritical for me to exclude one." ~ REDDIT
Substitutes
coffee sugar GIFGiphy"Fake sugar, like aspartame, sucralose, stevia, etc. I'll eat (or would try) everything else in this thread, but I just can't stand the taste of sugar substitutes." ~ 40percentsafe
Texture Issues
"Natto. I try it every few years just in case anything's changed with my taste buds or texture preferences, but it's just as bad or worse every single time I give it another go. The slimy, stringy texture is the primary offender." ~ bufori
"There's a supermarket where I live that sells super small bean natto (just natto but beans are smaller) with mustard and soy sauce. That tastes ok." ~ thesadmarshmallow
"I can’t eat it alone. In a sushi roll? Mixed with rice and egg? Yeah it’s great. Not by itself though… It’s so healthy for you though, I really should eat more." ~ savwatson13
Calories. Calories.
"Shark Fin. Such a cruel process to obtain and flavorless from what I heard. I'll eat pretty much anything else, or try it once." ~ SleepyPrince
"Imitation Shark Fin soup is great tho. It's the thick and heavy broth that makes the whole thing taste amazing. Not the fin." ~ TearyEyeBurning
"FaceMy dude, I appreciate the thoughts on cruelty to sharks in making that dish, but there are many fuc*ed up cruel things done to animals in the making of other dishes as well. There are seven billion of us calorie dependent creatures that average out to 60kg of water and other stuff… that's a lot of food needed." ~ Steamwells
From Hell
"Aspic. 🤮" ~ HistoricalMarzipan
"I cannot agree with this more. There are a few things here I don't particularly like, but can stomach, like lima beans.
"Aspic however is the food from hell. Will refuse it every time, which fortunately is rare. The only other thing I cannot stomach beyond that is Vietnamese coriander. Supposed to be used as a substitute for people who think cilantro tastes like soap, yet it tastes like soap mixed with cleaning products." ~ BigSwedenMan
Teeth Popping
"Indonesian mother of a friend of mine once made a squid dish, flavorwise it was amazing, but eating entire minisquids just gave me a texture difference overload. Had to tap out once I got too much into my head." ~ albokun
"Had mini squids at a sushi restaurant once. Didn’t taste offensive at all, but biting down I could distinctly feel my teeth popping through the various membranes and organs. I really didn’t like the sensation." ~ SonOfMcGee
I thought I might be picky but I see I'm more normal than most. Don't die for food.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.