When an online acquaintance told me for the first time that she eats the same foods over and over and over ... except for special occasions ... I got creeped out.
However, by posting on that nearly perfect day thread, I realise that I've got to that point too. Supper is my only variety meal and even it isn't really all that different from week to week. I'm not bored. I'm not crazy or obsessed. I enjoy the things I do eat and I'm certainly enjoying the results.

How about you? Do you have a base group of routine foods?

That's an interesting question. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to eat the same foods routinely, as long there is a balance of different kinds of foods and those foods are healthy. I definitely have foods that I buy consistently and always have around, soy yogurt and soy milk, Xylitol sweetener, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, tofu, frozen fruits and vegetables, beans and lentils, etc. My basics if you will.

I do like to try new recipes and try new products from time to time and will buy fresh produce at the farmer’s market as it’s in season so there’s some variety in there, but the majority of the food I buy is stuff I buy over and over.

I am trying to get out of my food rut. I always used to have the same thing for breakfast, the same thing for lunch and then a couple of variations for my evening meal. A little over a month ago I decided to try a "vegetarian experiment" which basically consisted of avoiding meat to stop me eating those routine choices and trying at least one new recipe a week. Over a month in I don't think I've cooked the same thing twice (although I have reheated leftovers). I cook a batch of soup and freeze it for lunches, I've tried a long list of things I'd never eaten before, and it's been fantastic in terms of getting me out of a food rut. I still eat the same breakfast every day, but it's almost perfect so I'm not going to give it up I have some staple foods still that I eat a lot, but I'm definitely trying to mix it up a bit more, and it's fantastic.

I vary my foods. Because I've already been down that path of eating the same things so much that I've burned myself out on them and can't even look at them anymore.

Breakfast is something different every day. Sometimes I have cold cereal, sometimes hot cereal, sometimes egg whites and Morningstar Farms sausage patties, sometimes a Lean Pockets breakfast pockets, sometimes a homemade banana muffin or a Slimfast breakfast bar, just whatever I'm in the mood for. Sometimes I'm not in the mood to eat breakfast at all, so I keep canisters of the Slimfast powder around (in different flavors) so I can get some form of nutrition if I just don't feel like eating food. Plus I've recently discovered the South Beach breakfast wraps, those are really good.

The reason I have to vary breakfast, especially, is because I HATE eating breakfast and I have to keep it interesting or I won't eat at all. I went years without eating breakfast and when I began my lifestyle change, that's one of the obstacles I had to overcome - eating in the mornings. I knew the morning nutrition was important and that eating breakfast jumpstarts your metabolism and gets things moving again, so I had to FORCE myself to start eating in the morning. And, like I said, I still have mornings where I can't even look at food. That's when I have the nutrition shakes.

I am definitely someone that could eat the same things for months on end and be satisfied. The only things that vary are the type of cereal that I eat for breakfast, and whatever item I pair up with my cottage cheese.

I tend to stick to the same stuff just because I don't like throwing stuff away. Everyday I have an apple and peanut butter, hummus or salsa with carrots, black beans are a staple, and yogurt, and high fiber waffles. I will vary it, but those are the major things I stick to.