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Old 03-17-2007, 04:43 PM   #1  
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Default Eating the same foods every day - problem?

For the last two years, I have eaten the same thing for breakfast every day.
For the last 9 months, I have eaten the same thing for lunch every day.
For the last 3-4 months I have eaten the same thing for dinner every day. (Even for a little while before this, I ate the dinner meal approx 3-4x/wk).

I like the food I'm eating, so it doesn't bother me. I still really look forward to my breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. However, I've noticed that others think it's a little odd. I only eat out about once a month when a special occasion comes up, so my meals are really pretty consistently the same. It seems that the variability between breakfast, lunch, and dinner is enough for me since my food tastes good.

Breakfast: cream of wheat made with skim milk and a multivitamin
Lunch: two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with 100% naturalwhole wheat whole grain bread, natural peanut butter, and all fruit spread
Dinner: two chicken drumsticks and a stir fry-type veggie mix in a curry simmer sauce over rice (at least two cups of veggies are in my serving, and the sauce is also tomato-based)

I don't think I'm missing any major food groups, and I'm far from bored with my food (I love it!) but others seem a bit concerned. Do you guys think I'm a weirdo. Anything wrong with this? Anyone else do the same?

BTW, grocery shopping is a breeze.

Last edited by Tara D; 03-17-2007 at 04:51 PM.
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Old 03-17-2007, 04:52 PM   #2  
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Well, if you are happy, no need to change it - although you'd get a bit more diversity nutrient/phytochemical/antioxidant wise if you mixed it up a little bit. I'm of the "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" camp - and if you are happy with it and it is meeting your goals, then I don't see anything wrong with it. Of course, if it starts getting dull, you'd obviously have to mix it up a bit, and I wouldn't be able to do it (i get easily bored) but more power to you if it works.
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Old 03-17-2007, 05:09 PM   #3  
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OMGosh I'm the same way...at least with my lunch. I usually have a roast beef and swiss on wheat. I leave it in the car and the cheese melts a certain way, really gooey and it's just.... Anyway, I agree with Mandalinn.
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Old 03-17-2007, 05:22 PM   #4  
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Actually, eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch each day is one of the things Dr.Oz recommends in "You On A Diet" - by making those meals "automatic" you eliminate choice and it's supposed to make it easier to stay on track because you don't even need to think about what you want to eat. I think whether that works for you or not is highly individual - I do rotate between a few different choices, but would personally get tired of the exact same things every single day. Plus I like to eat a variety of foods for health reasons. If it works for you, though, there's no reason to worry about it!

I would be tempted to change up at least one meal, though - if only to prevent myself from falling into a "calorie rut", so to speak. Over time, if your daily calorie intake doesn't vary your body will lean more towards a maintenance mode - it can be helpful to mix up your calories a bit, either by purposely zig-zagging or even just making different choices now and again. It keeps your body guessing

What I find is that I have about 3 or 4 breakfast options, and 5 or 6 different lunch and dinner options that I rotate. I do make different things sometimes, but the items in my rotation are things that I like to eat and that my family likes too - I shop to have groceries available for all the options, and then I can just decide what I want to cook on any given day. When I wake up in the morning, I know I can have oatmeal with fruit, or whole grain toast with peanut butter, or an egg white omelet with veggies in a wheat tortilla - it's automated in the sense that I don't really have to think about the food, but I still get to have a choice.
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Old 03-17-2007, 05:50 PM   #5  
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I agree, if it's working for you and you are covering all the food groups, it's good. I do about the same thing, I'll go a week on the same stuff - because that way my grocery bill seems to be smaller -- then the next week I switch to another "set" of meals. I find it helps me stay on track because I know what to expect each meal and I've learned what I need to eat to feel full. I guess I'm just a creature of habit
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Old 03-17-2007, 06:34 PM   #6  
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I have the same breakfast every day (porridge (oatmeal?) with fruit), but I have a few varieties of the other meals. Not too many though. I am finding that I am currently in a 'change' mood and am trying a couple of different things, but that will settle down soon and I will be back to a few choices again.

Even though what you are doing is working for you weight-wise, you are not having the recommended amount of foods that I believe is the best for a 'healthy' body. I'm not sure you are getting enough protein, but perhaps some people need more of that than others. I DO believe that you need more vegetables in your day (perhaps you could snack on vegetables in between meals) and you are getting NO fruit. I was really surprised to see that, because fruit is a common part of any well-balanced diet. Perhaps that is another thing you could snack on. Or add a small piece of fruit to one or two of your meals.

Mind you... this is my my opinion, and I am by NO means an expert. I have just read a LOT about this and spent many hours chatting with my dietitian friend. I sometimes FEEL like an expert, and tend to get on my soapbox about a few things, but I usually manage to step back down when I realise what I am doing. LOL

Zelma
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Old 03-17-2007, 07:32 PM   #7  
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My foods vary daily, but not by much. I have three or four different breakfast selections, but mostly eat only two of them. My lunch and dinner are usually Lean Cuisines, and I vary the choices. I add green salad and sometimes other vegetables. As for snacks, I also have a few different choices. I use different fruits, for example, or different crackers.

The only problem I can see is that you may be lacking some nutrients by always eating the same things. Also, your body may get used to digesting the same things all the time, and anything unsual might be a shock.

Otherwise--why not?

Jay
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Old 03-17-2007, 08:39 PM   #8  
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I think that it is okay to eat SIMILAR foods each day...but not exactly the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. The reason? Because different foods provide different nutrients. I am going to take a stab at an analogy, and use fruit as my example.

All foods contain basic properties such as calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates-you may find that your diet is fine in these basic areas-however, there are other properties such as antioxidants, certain vitamins, and things that they provide that you cannot get from other foods, or from a mulitvitamin.

~Bananas are high in potassium
~Oranges are high in vitamin C
~Pomegranates and blueberries are extremely high in antioxidants
~Cantalaupe is rich in beta-carotene
~Apples are righ in fiber

So, I think it is perfectly fine to eat a serving of fruit for a snack, every single day at 10am, for the rest of your life-BUT-you should vary the fruit to get a variety of nutritional benefits. Make sense?

*BTW-My first change I would make in your diet would be to eat only one PB&J for lunch, and use the calories normally on the second sandwich on a piece of fruit, and a second dairy serving.
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Old 03-17-2007, 09:19 PM   #9  
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I definitely eat a lot of the same things - I am completely addicted to whole grain toast with peanut butter for breakfast, my snack in the morning is almost always some sort of berry, usually with yogurt. My afternoon snacks are always a piece of fruit (usually citrus) and cut up veggies which are almost always baby carrots, sugar snap peas, pepper strips (red/orange or yellow) and grape tomatoes (sometimes I eat the veggies with a dip). I usually rotate between 2-3 lunches (salad with chicken, turkey sandwich and a cup of soup or veggie tacos with 2 crumbled veggie burgers, 3 whole wheat tortillas, salsa and spinach). Occasionally I go wild for lunch and have salmon salad in a pita! I have about 4-5 dinners I rotate around (home made tomato sauce with whole wheat pasta, grilled salmon/sweet potato/broccoli, omelets, curried (or roasted) vegetables over brown rice, home made spinach/tomato/garlic/artichoke pizza with boboli whole wheat crust, stir fry over brown rice, home-made soup).

I think your menu looks pretty limited in the veggie, fruit, protein and healthy fat areas! I usually try to eat a wide range of fruits and vegetables to get as many health benefits possible! For example, following your strict diet - you don't eat any fish, beans or fruit or any nuts besides peanuts (walnuts and almonds are excellent!) Definitely foods worth eating. Your menu would be way too limited for me, but I bet my menu would be too limited for other people, we are all so different.

Is it because planning healthy meals is difficult and it's easier to just eat the same thing every day because it requires little planning? I fall into that sometimes, I have to force myself to search the internet for fun recipes. When I was losing weight, one of my goals was to try a at least 1 new healthy recipe a week, maybe you'd enjoy that?
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Old 03-17-2007, 10:15 PM   #10  
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To answer a few questions...
Glory:
It is somewhat easier to eat the same thing every day, but I don't think it's the real driving force behind why I do it. I really just love the food. I guess I've always had a tendency to eat the same thing over and over again when I find something I really like. In the past, it had been the same cold breakfast cereal for months (done this several times). I also have had stretches where every day for lunch I had the same thing -- once it was marinated tuna, pretzels, and carrots and another time it was a large microwaved sweet potato and soup.

This is the first time I've done all the same meals. I guess I kind of like the routine. I feel my GI tract is happier in some ways b/c of the consistency. Also, I love the food so much that I look forward to every meal. Before I went on this, I was eating fish some nights, veggie past others, and other chicken dishes (fajitas, jerk chicken, or curried chicken) in rotation. Now, I just don't feel the need to eat other things unless I'm going out to eat. I don't really have the desire to vary it up because I still look forward to these meals every day. I don't know quite how to explain it. In the past, my stretches of the same food have ended when one day I just woke up and decided I didn't like that food any more. However, this time I don't see a real end and it's been quite a while. Then again, who knows, it might happentomorrow!

Aphil:
I did the one PBJ with a banana or orange for a while (included in my count of 9 months of PBJ every day). I did like the fruit, but I found that it didn't hold my hunger down as well. With two PBJ on 4 slices of whole wheat bread, I think I get more fiber and protein, and that must be keeping the hunger down. However, I'd feel a little over-full if I ate anything in addition to the 2 sandwiches. I take vitamins, and my veggie mix contains Broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, onions, celery. The sauce contains one fruit...tomatoes. I guess I can't count the 1 1/2 tablespoons of 100% fruit spread as a fruit, huh?

Everyone: I do take a multivitamin and track everything on fitday...at least there it seems like I'm meeting the nutrient demands. Then again, how well do vitamins compare to getting everything from real food? Who knows?!

Gosh, after writing everything above, I'm starting to think that maybe I DO have a PROBLEM!
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Old 03-17-2007, 10:50 PM   #11  
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I think we have some people who have made some really good points here. Although you may love your food, enough to eat the same things every day, you are getting fair amounts nutrients which are in the foods you eat, while getting none of nutrients which are not in your selection of daily foods. Your body needs more nutrients than what your diet is providing, in order to be healthy. Your body needs these other nutrients too. Especially fruits and veggies, dairy and protien. You need all these things to be healthy.

Also, by eating the same foods day in and day out, your body has adjusted to digesting only these foods, which is not really a good thing. So, when you try to eat something different, it could cause your body to reject the foods, and you could end up with nausea and diarrhea, or other stomach ailments, becuase your body may have trouble adjusting to different foods..

It's great that this diet works for your weight management, but I do agree that you need to change it up a bit. Try something different, you may find other things you really like as much as what you are eating now...

As for me, I eat a variety of foods every day, and I mix it up pretty good. What is very consistant in my diet is that I eat alot of boneless skinless chicken, prepared a variety of different ways, and I usually eat this at least once every day, whether it be for lunch or dinner, or both. But, I am always trying new things. The other day, I tried raw spinach in a salad instead of lettuce for the first time, and I found that I really liked it... Sometimes trial and error helps you find things you really like....
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Old 03-18-2007, 03:25 AM   #12  
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I eat pretty much the same foods day in, day out too. I've always been a really fussy eater, so it's not like I had an adventurous palate in the first place which I'm giving up to eat 'diet'-friendly foods. This is my lifestyle.

However, like the others above mentioned, it is important to get the different vitamins and minerals from different fruits & veggies.

So while I might have fruit every day for a mid-morning snack, it does vary. Even if it means strawberries for a few days, bananas the next three, something different the next week... (I shop for myself only, so I generally buy one or two kinds of fruits and eat them till they're gone, since otherwise it's too expensive and stuff goes off fast!) Maybe you could try that, with fruit & varying your veg in the evenings? (if you don't already do that with veggies! )

In my completely non-expert view, it's more important to keep the variety in fruit & veg than it is in say, your carbs or dairy. But maybe someone else can enlighten me.
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Old 03-18-2007, 03:37 AM   #13  
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A daily vitamin should mitigate the vitamin issues with the same healthy foods every day.

I think a varied healthy diet sounds like it would be better, but if the choice is the same healthy stuff every day or a wide variety of less healthy stuff, I'd go for the same healthy stuff all the time. Man didn't evolve in a time with refrigeration, canning, and out-of-season (or out-of-climate) produce availability.
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Old 03-18-2007, 08:27 AM   #14  
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A vitamin can help with vitamins and minerals, but it cannot take the place of certain health properties such as certain anti-aging and cancer preventing properties that are in many fruits and vegetables. Only eating a variety of fruits and vegetables can do that.
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Old 03-18-2007, 09:26 AM   #15  
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Tara D, in some cultures people eat the same things every day, day in and day out, because that's all they've got! Until a festival comes around, maybe.

As long as you're getting enough vitamins/minerals and enough of the basic food groups, I say go ahead on with it. You'll know when you need a change--one day those chicken legs won't look so good... maybe you'll want a chicken breast instead... or goodness me, a steak!!! Just pay attention to what your body is telling you and act accordingly. I wouldn't be happy with so little variation, but other than the lack of some vegetables and fruits, it looks OK to me.

Jay
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