AIO about my partner's reaction to nail-biting

Some background: I've been biting my fingernails for as long as I can remember. Also, I don't stop at biting a piece off; I continue to break that piece down until it's pretty much nothing. It's the snapping sensation, I think, that appeals to me. Lastly, I don't spit it out, because I guess I always thought that was more gross than swallowing it. Spitting it out felt like littering and I thought it drew more attention from others. I don't know if it's a response to anxiety or not, although I am being treated for anxiety.

To the point of the post: I've been dating my girlfriend for a little over a year. We've been intimate. One day she noticed my habit and said it was gross that I "eat" my fingernails. As I said, I've been doing this all my life and she's the first person to tell me that. I doubt that no one else in my whole life has noticed. I didn't argue, but I never considered it "eating" since that wasn't the purpose, but I'll admit I am ingesting it, so that's fair. I've tried to stop and I think I've made progress. So much so that I actually need to clip my finger nails, now (I don't eat the clippings...). Sometimes I gnaw on them but I stop myself before actually biting a piece off. For the past couple months we haven't been intimate. We haven't really so much as cuddled. We talked about why that is and she said that she's realize the nail eating is a turn-off for her. I rhought I had made enough strides, but se said I was eating my fingernails the other day while driving. I don't rememebr it, but it could've been involuntary. She didn't explicitly give me an ultimatum, but I think there is one there between the lines. I started looking into seeing a therapist and shopping for that gross-tasting nail polish.

Then all of a sudden I got really defensive about all of it. I feel like I'm really trying to fix this. Is it really that disgusting? To be clear, she doesn't owe me anything, but is this so disgusting that we can't even cuddle? Is this really the issue or is it something else? AIO?