Eating the same foods everyday?
 

I count calories. I don't know if this will matter or not regarding my question.

I eat basically the same thing everyday for breakfest, snack, and lunch. Dinner is always different. I tend to switch it up every couple of weeks when the food gets boring.

My question is, does your body get used to the same foods? Do they lose nutritional value if you consume them daily? Does your body get immune to them the same way it does when you do the same exercise for an extended period of time?

Is it okay to do this or will it effect my overall health and weight loss? So far it has worked...

Thanks!

~April

I eat a lot of the same foods everyday, it works for me!

That's good to know!! Thanks!

I am VERY, VERY repetitive with my foods. I've found foods that I LOVE and have no problem repeating them over and over and over again.

Hasn't harmed my weight loss one bit, in fact I believe that it's a big factor in the success that I've had thus far and my health, thank G-d is top notch.

I have a lot of go to meals for breakfast and lunch. Even really for dinner. Although the go to dinners are in the 12 or 13 different ones, I still tend to eat the same meals for a while, until I'm tired of them. I tend to batch cook/prep stuff and it makes putting together a meal plan for the next day a quick and easy thing.

For me, it's made losing weight easier.

I'm on Weight Watchers, not technically a calorie counter, but I do the exact same thing, and it's been working out fine. It's just easier than trying to be too creative every day!

Hi!:) Do ya'll mind sharing what breakfast, lunch & snack has worked so well for you? I am always interested in knowing what combo of food that is satifying and equals weight loss.

I pretty much stick with fruit for breakfast, lunch is usually a sandwich or a lean cuisine OR a huge romaine & spinach salad w/turkey, sunflower seeds, and cheese... snack is fruit, or yogurt, dinner is usually chicken or salmon w/ veggies and beans. I usually have whole-grain pasta once a week night and eat out on Sat. & Sun.

I eat more or less the same thing too.

Breakfast-granola
Lunch-smartones or pb sandwich or uhm.....slimfast bar if I'm running around
Dinner-Fish or veggie dumplings or pb sandwich with some veggie or other, lately it's been all about sweet pototoes.

There is also an Indian microwavable meal that I love that I'll have for lunch or dinner from time to time. And I snack on fruit with almost every lunch and dinner and if I am home and have the calories, I have rye crackers and an ounce of cheese and some hummus for a pm snack. Sooo yummy! And chocolate soy milk when I'm craving chocolate or when I have the calories to spare.

Wow, I am really boring! Oh well, it's all food I like so I'm happy!

Sure.

Favorite Breakfasts - seriously, one of these almost every morning for 4 years

* 1/4 cup eggbeaters (scrambled in microwave), 1 whole wheat tortilla, tons of salsa, spinach leaves (200 calories)
* 1/2 cup oatmeal dry (made with water), 2 tbs of organic apple butter (200 calories)
* Small container of fat free yogurt (I like Trader Joe's fat free greek yogurt with honey), sliced strawberries (200 calories)
* 1/2 cup oatmeal dry (made with water), 1/4 cup dried blueberries (300 calories)
* 1/2 cup Nature's Path pumpkin flax granola, Trader Joe's fat free Greek yogurt with honey (350 calories)
* 2 pieces of whole grain toast (or whole grain waffles) 1 with natural peanut butter, one with jam (400 calories)

Favorite Lunches

* Sandwich on whole grain bread, lots of tomato/spinach leaves, with honey mustard or spicy mustard (Sliced turkey is a big favorite)
* I also like to make salmon salad with a can of wild caught red salmon (watch the bones!), a little bit of low fat mayo, chopped red onion and pickles. I like to stick it in a low fat whole grain pita with freshly sliced heirloom tomatoes
* 1/2 sandwich, cup of non cream based soup (what I normally get at my building's cafeteria, I'm sure the bread isn't whole grain, but they usually have a nice lentil or vegetarian chili soup)
* Salad - I love salads, I bring a salad to work almost everyday. I usually top them with grilled chicken. I make a killer Asian salad with: spinach, grape tomatoes, a few edamame, sliced water chestnuts, mandarin oranges, grilled chicken, Trader Joe's spicy peanut vinaigrette and a very few crunchy wonton salad toppers
* I like to make a big pan of roasted vegetables (roma tomatoes, can of chickpeas, onion, garlic, baby carrots, red pepper, zucchini, beet, sweet potato) and then I like to have some for lunch over a serving of whole wheat couscous. I usually drizzle a little spicy stir fry sauce over the top.

Favorite Dinners - I have about 10 favorite things I switch up. I do like to try new things, but they have to be pretty awesome to make it in to the regular rotation

* Stir fry over brown rice (I switch up the proteins - chicken/shrimp/tofu, and the veggies are usually augmented by whatever I need to finish up in the crisper)
* home made pizza - I get this great organic whole grain crust and then I add spicy marinara sauce, garlic, chopped red onion, a few kalamata olives, pepperocini, sun dried tomatoes, spinach leaves a little low fat feta
* Quesadillas - Love them. I make a great spinach quesadilla, bbq chicken quesadilla, sweet potato/black bean quesadilla
* Home made pasta sauce (I love mine more than most restaurant versions), usually with ground turkey, canned tomatoes, fresh basil, crimini mushrooms, sun dried tomato, red pepper flakes, oregano, splash of red wine, over a measured serving of whole grain pasta
* Mandalinn's chicken parmesan over spaghetti squash, almost always with broccoli (don't know why)
* The protein + whole grain + veggie combo - usually it's maple glazed salmon over brown rice with broccoli, but this week I'm doing a small steak, new potatoes and steamed zucchini
* Home made soup (I love my chickpea/leek/spinach/tomato), I also like making chili
* Something in the crock pot - usually chicken with some sort of store-bought simmer sauce over rice/pasta with a vegetable

Favorite Snacks

Okay, here's where I am a real freak, I've eaten the same snacks at the same time, almost every day since I started

* Midmorning snack - berries

* afternoon snack - fresh fruit (tangelos when they are in season - I also like nectarines, mangos, pomegranates, watermelon, apples are okay, kinda meh)

* afternoon snack - non fat latte (or sugar free hot cocoa)

* afternoon snack - cut up veggies

* afternoon snack - cheese string/dill pickles

I also like: Trader Joe's freeze dried mango, beef jerkey, Cliff Dark Chocolate nectar bars, dried mango, measured serving of nuts (easy for me to personally overdo)

You need some variety for good nutrition, but your body doesn't "get used to" foods and they don't lose nutritional value. And having variety doesn't have to mean extreme variety. I think your plan is great. It's not too different from what I've been doing. I aim over time to increase the variety. But without a doubt, it's better to stick with what you know you can manage, than to expect way too much of yourself and not keep it up. And like you said, you already change it up from time to time.

Yup.

I also tend to have the same "go to" foods for long periods of time. I crave variety eventually and eventually I get bored and have to mix it up, but I also get stuck on favorites.

I tend to cycle between two favorite breakfasts:
homemade yogurt with frozen blueberries
steel cut oats with cheese (yeah, I don't like sweet stuff in the morning)

I also tend to cycle between a few favorite lunches:
veggie soup (make a big batch on sunday and eat off of it all week)
tuna on wasa crackers
1/2 peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread / apple

But snacks and dinner I tend to mix it up. I do love to cook and to experiment and to try new things, so I really let loose with dinners (with variety, not necc with calories).

.

Put me down as another person who eats pretty much the same thing for weeks on end, then changes it and eats THAT plan for weeks on end.

Works fine for me.

I only shop once a month really, so whatever I'm craving on the sunday at the beginning of any given month I am stuck with till the next month.

Right now I've got a lot of tofu goin on, it was on sale for twenty five cents a lbs...how can a girl pass that up? I like it in a stir fry with peanut sauce over brown rice. I also found a whole grain pasta that I like so I've been rockin that with homemade super veggie marinara.

I have the same thing for breakfast every day. I cannot give up my latte's and since they are calorific I've given up eating breakfast and just made it a liquid meal. I mean...carmel lattes...yummie. Can't wake up without it. I can't live without it.

fruit for a snack, always...but different fruits, anything exotic.

Lean cuisines, soup or salads for lunch.

Me too. I can go literally months with the only change being whether I put tuna or chicken in my fav lunch salad.

I also don't have a problem eating the same foods for weeks or even months on end, especially breakfast food. I do get a little burned out on salads, so I will remove the lettuce for a while and just have the other veggies with red cabbage. I usually need to "detox" for a month or so and then I crave my salads again :) My diet is more varied now, which probably contributed to these 10 pounds I'm always fighting ;)