No variety in my diet
 

As some of you may know from my previous posts, I began a 1200 calorie diet a week ago. For the last week, I've found im eating the same foods over and over, but I'm ok with it because its food that is low calorie and I can have alot of it and feel full without feeling like i overate. I eat alot of salad consisting only of lettuce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, one chopped up hard boiled egg and low fat ranch. I love pork chops seasoned with lemon pepper which are low in calories and i often eat them with green beans which are only 20 cals per serving, so i make that meal for dinner ALOT. On occasion, I'll do baked chicken but i prefer pork chops. Usually for work, i take a lite progresso soup of some kind which is anywhere from 160-200 calories for the whole can (2 servings). If i stick to those few things, i know i wont go over my calories and i typically have enough cals left over at the end of the day to have some orange sherbet for dessert. Im curious if anyone else sort of eats the same things and what it is.

Lately I have been making cooked cabbage with Kielbasa. My main go-to snack is greek yogurt with blueberries and granola.

Other weeks I make things like stuffed bell peppers with brown rice and ground turkey. Various types of baked chicken. Salads a few times a week for lunch or dinner. I usually skip Breakfast.

Then after a while I say "screw it" and wind up at Chipotle after work. I gotta live a little once in a while.

I should mention I get a lot of my recipe ideas from Pinterest. I tweak a lot of them for the better but there's TONS of great stuff on there.

I'd fancy up your salad a little more with lots of variety. It can be done with almost all the colors of the rainbow and with little calorie impact. Instead of lettuce, do spinach sometimes. Add colored peppers (red, green, yellow, orange), red onion, broccoli florets, mushrooms, shredded carrots, celery, black olives (limited for salt content), maybe small chunks of cheese or some feta.

Salads are so important for filling us up, you don't want to get bored with the same ol', same ol'.

If you find your weight loss stalling, check out the sodium on those cans of soup you are eating. You might be better off making your own in the crockpot over the weekend and bringing it to work that way. Plus homemade is so much better!

Thanks for the ideas! I love cabbage and smoked sausage (i get eckridge) but the sausage is high calorie. As for dressing up my salads, i can do that pretty easy except for the peppers and onion but mushrooms and carrots are an excellent idea! I think ill check out pinterest and see what i can come up with there. This is why i put off dieting for so long. It requires thought and being a single mom with a full time job, i just wanted to make whatever was quick and easy, regardless of the fat content. Im so ready this time though!!

We are currently experimenting with a lot of recipes simply because both boyfriend and I are really picky eaters. That being said we are repetitive eaters at heart. We're looking for a solid 7-10 that we can just cycle through when we feel like it..and then we'll be set. I could literally eat the same thing every day and be fine, he's a tiny bit more diverse. We were that way prior to lifestyle change though too.

I don't know that there's anything wrong with eating the same stuff. I've read mixed stuff about it causing plateaus later on down the line. Personally if it works for you, and you're truly okay doing it, I don't see anything wrong with eating the same thing.

Right now the stuff we repeat fairly often (our winner recipes) are

Baked Buffalo Chicken Nuggets

BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizza

Thai Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce

Creamy Italian Chicken (This one has a -lot- of sodium)

Ohhh, the baked buffalo chicken nuggets look awesome! I love buffalo anything! Thanks for the recipe!!

I have a go-to menu that I use 3-4 days a week:

Breakfast: fried egg and two buttered toasts (made with artisanal bread)
Lunch: Large tortilla pizza with mozzarella, tomatoes, onions and cilantro
Dinner: Chicken, shrimp or tofu stir-fry (with mountains of veggies)

These are foods that I love so I don't get tired of them, even though I'm an adventurous eater who enjoys strong and exotic flavours.

F.

I eat the same things every day but vary my protein sources (which is always fish).

Since there are so many types of fish, my diet is actually now more varied than before I started my weightloss effort where I trended towards similar foods every day anyway.

Turkey sausage. ;)

Well, I lean more towards intuitive eating, but these are some options I really like in case you want to try them out!

- wraps (there's this place we discovered that has bread made with spinach and carrots and they put in a lot of salad with chicken - even if you don't have a restaurant option, it's a great healthy meal/snack for when you're on the go!)
- omelettes (I never liked eggs but if you throw in enough stuff like tomatoes, oregano, turkey breast, it tastes really different!)
- the 2 ingredient pancakes (I believe they're paleo pancakes?)
- hummus (with carrots or onions or whole wheat crackers)
- Nesfit cereal (it's a whole wheat cereal) with raisins or dried cranberries
- banana with oat flakes
- regular brazilian lunch (rice, beans, meat of some sort) with tons of veggies (beets, chayote, tomatoes) and maybe brazilian vinaigrette

That's all I can think of for now, but good luck!

I'm a repetitive eater too but I like to mix things up. I have a few options for each meal.

Breakfast
- 1 or 2 eggs with a slice of (english muffin or toast) and grilled (mushrooms or veggies)
- yogurt with honey/flaxseeds/fruit/almonds

Lunch
- Salad with variety of toppings (grated carrot, peppers, peas or black beans, avocado, cucumber, grilled chicken, shrimp or ham.
- Sandwich with tuna or ham plus lettuce

Those 2 meals are solitary but when it comes to dinner I'm cooking for my whole family so I'll eat whatever I cook which may be pasta, stew, a roast, I don't limit myself in what I eat. But your pork and green beans sounds a little boring after a while. For your protein try grilled chicken, shrimp skewers, turkey sausage, meatballs, roast chicken, salmon, meatloaf, fresh turkey breast, roast beef, steak. For your veggies try steamed broccoli, cauliflower, salad, asparagus, stuffed mushrooms or peppers, or cut up various veggies and toss with herbs and olive oil and roast - perfect every time.

For your starch try quinoa, barley, farro, pasta, wild rice, black rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes.

I am also a repetitive eater. Some of my favorites:

I like Ezekiel toast with mashed avocado (or prepared guacamole) with salt and pepper on top for breakfast. If you've got a great looking tomato, add a slice to it. Perfect.

I eat a huge black bean burrito almost every day, with smashed black beans, and then raw red cabbage, zucchini, onions, green/red bell pepper, baby spinach, tomatoes, lots of Sriracha sauce, and guacamole. Sometimes I use white beans, kidney beans, chick peas, or pinto beans (or a mix of those) instead. Though my favorite is black beans. I generally alternate between a traditional white flour tortilla and a whole wheat tortilla, both are good.

I roast big pans of veg with olive oil and garlic salt to have with salads and soups. My favorite roasting vegetables are fresh broccoli, fresh green beans, fresh asparagus, and fresh brussels sprouts. Sometimes I do 'em Cajun flavor, or African Smoke, or whatever spice mix looks good. Sometimes add a bit of lemon. Always delicious. Chunks of sweet potato are good this way, too.

I eat 1200 a day too and I know how you feel! Here are some of my ideas- may you find inspiration!

Breakfast
-protein powder, frozen banana and frozen fruit smoothie (It's like frozen yogurt but so filling and anywhere from 250 to 400 calories, depending on what you like!)
-Scrambled eggs with extra virgin olive oil

Lunch
-Cottage cheese, babybel cheese, yogurt, chicken skewers, apple, diced fruit (can you tell I never eat veggies?), hummus and quinoa

Dinner
-something with salsa so I get veggies- lol could be refried bean tortilla, diced chicken and pepper stirfry, oh, and copious amounts of hot sauce on EVERYTHING


Hopefully this helps! OH and every Friday, I have a Dairy Milk chocolate bar :D

If I eat the same things every day for too long, I start to lose appetite, plateau, feel sluggish... I guess my body is just wired to crave variety for whatever reason. Three days in a row seems to be the magic number.

That said, I do have a small serving of nuts every day (about a handful or so). I find that if I have some nuts about an hour before my worst snack craving times, it really curbs my hunger pangs and stops me from having something I'll regret later. My favorites are wasabi-dusted almonds, curry cashews and plain ol' pistachios. Also, I find that even on my diet, I don't eat a lot of meat, so it's good to have that protein.