variety vs. predictability

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  • I don't think anybody else could eat what I eat and not go insane -- most days I eat the exact same thing.

    Breakfast = wheat bagel with strawberry jelly [in total around 425-50 calories].

    Lunch = either small turkey or roast beef sub on wheat bread (with all the veggies, hots, and mustard) and a bag of baked lays chips. [~500 calories].

    Dinner = Usually a middle eastern shwarma wrap and fruit or a lean burrito. [anywhere from 700 - 1000 calories].

    I try to stay under 2000 calories a day without snacking.

    Usually on Sunday I have a big brunch meal that covers the bulk of my calories for that day and then I try to eat a smaller healthy meal (schwarma wrap, etc.).

    I find when I try to mix my diet up and eat different things, that I end up hungry or craving something else. This simplicity seems to work for me and I honestly love the foods I eat and don't get bored.

    I'm just curious if other people find eating the same things helpful to your weight loss efforts? I've always heard the other way around that people need to eat lots of different things, but that just doesn't work for me.
  • You know what Matt... I am a lover of simplicity as well.

    Breakfast is ALWAYS oatmeal and fruit or small bagel with pb and a banana
    Lunch is always either tuna on wasa with veggies and dip or a large garden salad with chicken and dressing
    Afternoon snack is almost always fruits, yogurt and peanut butter
    Dinner is where I change it up every night but it's always around 500 calories...

    it works for me. Clearly!
  • I go on breakfast jags and eat the same thing for breakfast 2-3 weeks in a row. My snacks are often the same for weeks at a time. I do change up dinners within a narrow calorie range, and eat my dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, so those do change, but breakfast and snacks don't have a lot of variety.
  • Count me in. My eating is simple and the same day after day and I enjoy it that way
  • I'm about like mandalinn -
  • My breakfast & lunch are pretty much the same If I want something different then I have it but I like those two meals to be no-brainers lol On the weekends my husband loves to cook (if he's home & not traveling for work) and that's when we experiment with new stuff
  • I always eat the same thing for breakfast (oatmeal and soy bacon--sometimes I'll add fruit). Then I have a few different lunch options, but not many. So the first two meals of my day are pretty regular, because it's easier that way!

    For dinner though, I like to mix it up a bit more. I want to try to make at least one new dinner dish a week (although I've been bad with that). I need different stuff with dinner, or I'd get bored.

    As usual, to each his or her own! (I just had a pretty telling typo--I wrote "eat" instead of "each"!)
  • I eat the same breakfast and lunch everyday with slight change. My lunch includes fruit everyday but I vary the fruit. I have more variety with dinner. I am very happy to eat this way. When I was eating high calorie foods, I did the same thing but just used high calorie fat laden foods.
  • I'm into simplicity, too. Same thing for breakfast and lunch (usually!), and then dinner is different every night. But even with dinner, we have a lot of the same things week in and week out. It's just easier that way!
  • Quote:
    As usual, to each his or her own! (I just had a pretty telling typo--I wrote "eat" instead of "each"!)

    Just say no to cannibalism
  • I guess I'm into simplicity as well. For breakfast, I have two things that I choose from, and pretty much only those two things - either a bowl of oatmeal or a whole grain eng muffin with a scrambled egg and two slices of canadian bacon. For lunch, I either have black beans, onions, peppers and sour cream in a wheat tortilla; or whole grain english muffin with peanut butter and some fruits and veggies.

    Dinner, I do change it up - but even at that, DH and I trade off nights cooking, and each have maybe 10 dishes we cycle through, so there's no surprises there.

    I do snack in the afternoons, and that is where I get my variety in I always have a fruit or veggie and something else - yogurt, fiber one bar, nuts, maybe chocolate. My snack is the most exciting part of the day, and always under 250-300 cals!
  • My food is usually the same.
    Breakfast: eggbeaters with lean ham and salsa
    lunch: salad with fat free turkey, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, ff itailan
    dinner: we eat usually the same 10-15 meals

    snacks: fruit, steamed broccoli, popcorn
    calories average 1200-1300 daily
  • I may be the most boring of all of you. I eat

    • chicken breast w/ mustard or tomato sauce
    • cottage cheese and wheat bran (with cinnamon and equal)
    • popcorn
    • chickpeas w/ tomato sauce
    • broccoli
    • cauliflower
    • carrots
    • triscuits
    • strawberries
    • McD's softserve cone (2/week)
    • Hershey kisses (3/night)
    • Chipotle bowl, very lean (1-2/month)

    That is seriously it. I have one fancy meal a month besides that, and it varies.

    You know what, though? I did this before, too. Except the list was more like:
    • Pizza rolls
    • canned ravioli
    • McD's #2 Meal
    • Tortillas
    • White bread
    • Cheddar cheese
    • Pasta
    • Hot dogs

    So it seems to be my basic personality!
  • I eat the same stuff, I never seem to get tired of it.

    B - either yogurt/fruit OR oatmeal/apple butter - 200 calories for either. Very rarely I have whole grain toast, one slice with natural peanut butter and one slice with jam (maybe 1-2 times per month?)

    L - almost always a salad with protein. I have about 6 favorite salads I rotate through and they are all so yummy. I never get tired of one of my salads (BBQ, asian chicken, taco salad, grilled chicken/goat cheese, meditteranean, ham with dijon dressing)

    S - my favorite snacks - string cheese, non fat latte, fruit (grapes, tangelo, mango, cherries, watermelon)

    D - I have about 10 favorite dinners I cycle through, all around 500 calories.

    On the weekends, we sometimes have Chipotle or Panera for lunch. I also like to go to Stir Fresh for dinner, or Souplanation.

    When I'm maintaining, I have one nice meal per week in a restaurant. Wine, split a dessert, etc.

    It works for me.
  • I'm pretty happy eating the same thing day after day. I've always made soups or casseroles that would last for a week or so. Now I just make healthier things that also last a while. I pretty much always have yogurt for breakfast and then lunch and dinner are some variation of a sandwich, salad, leftovers. Snacks are either fruit or veggies and hummus. I eat what I like, I like what I eat, I don't see any reason to change it up.