Do you eat the same thing everyday?

[Le Libérer]

I have found I do, I eat the same thing for breakfast for months until I finally get sick of it. I also realized I eat soup for lunch though different flavors, dinner is a free for all.

I started to wonder, if this is healthy and should we use the variety of foods available to us instead. Thoughts?

[Quail]

I go through phases of cooking the same few dishes every week until I find another recipe that I get really into. I pretty much always have either hot chocolate for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch (or some form of cooked "brunch"). I think I get a good balance of nutrients though, so I don't think it really matters that I eat the same things a lot.

[Comrade #138672]

I am doing the exact same thing. It is part of my routine and frees me from thinking too much about what I am going to eat. I tend to do this with many things, including what music I listen to, what books I am reading, etc.

I am not sure how unhealthy it actually is. It may not be so bad as it sounds, although eating a variety of foods would definitely be an improvement. Still, I am not buying into the bourgeois hysteria of what constitutes healthy food and what not, which diets to follow, etc.

[bricolage]

having the same thing for breakfast isn't really a problem, mostly you'll just be eating it in a hurry to get off to work and as long as you have something I don't think it really matters if it is the same as yesterday. I love a good breakfast/brunch but really for most of the week it's not an option.

[Kalinin's Facial Hair]

I've been eating the same thing for six months now.

This can't be healthy.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

It's not unhealthy per se, though if it makes you then want to go and eat crap for variety then it's obviously not that healthy, I guess that depends on the individual.

What i've done is, as my knowledge of nutrition has built up, i've given myself at least 3 or 4 options for each meal-time that I can rotate, so breakfast could be cereal, could be fruita nd yoghurt, or an omelette, and so on.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I don't have a schedule or anything like that, but there are foods which I eat frequently. Roughly in order of frequency, they are:


Pasta, including spaghetti bolognese, carbonara with ham and/or bacon, and tomato-based spicy/peppery pasta sauces.

Fry-ups, including smoked bacon (always included, and never unsmoked), sausages, black pudding, fried eggs, mushy peas, baked beans and tinned tomatoes.

Ramen-style packet noodles (you know, the nice ones that come with sachets of flavoured oil), often with hard-boiled eggs, hotdogs or Polish sausage chopped up and stirred in for bulk and protein. This is usually a midday meal.

Pizza (ones with meaty toppings and extra cheese are the best) and cheesy garlic bread.

Curry and basmati rice. Meat is typically chicken or pork, sauces are usually jalfrezi, dopiaza or occasionally vindaloo.

Chilli con carne with rice topped with grated cheese, the hotter the better. Unfortunately my flatmate doesn't doesn't like it so I don't get to eat this as often as I'd like.

For fast food I usually grab either a burger and fries, or a mixed chicken and lamb doner kebab with a full salad and fries, and if I'm feeling really greedy I'll have chicken nuggets or hot wings as a side dish. Sometimes instead I'll grab a saveloy and chips with garlic mayonnaise from the nearby chippy, and if I'm feeling really hungry I'll have a steak and kidney pie with that as well.


Hmm, looking at that now it doesn't look super healthy as a diet. I wonder what will take me first, heart disease or cancer?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

"What came out of the dumpster this week?"

Eating the "same thing" isn't necessarily bad for you, as long as it's colourful. If you're eating the same thing every day, but it's a veritable rainbow, you're probably fine.

I think it's probably a good bet to throw in a variety of food with particular beneficial/medicinal value - raw garlic, ginger, tumeric, bitter greens of some kind. Eating too many strong medicinal foods on a daily basis is probably not ideal, but every couple days is probably a good way to avoid getting sick.

Since other people are listing their staples, I might as well too . . .

I tend to have simple breakfasts - coffee, toast or oatmeal, and fruit of some kind (a smoothie w/ fortified soy or almond milk if I have money)
Stir fry - usually carrots, broccoli, tofu, tonnes of onions and a bulb of garlic (srsly), and whatever else is on hand, on rice (or quinoa if I have money) with a tahini sauce
Pasta with either pesto (I often make my own with garlic scapes, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and almonds or cashews - pine nuts are too expensive and overrated) or tomato sauce + whatever vegies are on hand, and lots of olives if my partner isn't around.
Curry potatoes - sometimes with a coconut curry if I think to pick up a can of coconut milk in advance.
Lentils when I'm lazy.
Falafel pitas when I'm downtown ($1.30 at Nilufar on Ste-Cats!)

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

My partner and I will make two large dishes on Sunday and eat one for lunch and the other for dinner every day during the week. I generally have a hard boiled egg and a smoothie every day for breakfast. I've been told that it's not healthy to eat the same thing every day but I think it was in the sense of eating the same thing for every meal for a very extended period of time. I think the comment about color is very accurate as well.

I love cooking but work wears me out during the week and I have a habit of letting unfamiliar ingredients rot in my kitchen while trying to decide what to do with them.

[Le Libérer]

I've been eating the same thing for six months now.

This can't be healthy.
Thats how I feel. I eat what I eat because it keeps me full longer more than any other reason.

[Le Libérer]

"What came out of the dumpster this week?"

Eating the "same thing" isn't necessarily bad for you, as long as it's colourful. If you're eating the same thing every day, but it's a veritable rainbow, you're probably fine.

I think it's probably a good bet to throw in a variety of food with particular beneficial/medicinal value - raw garlic, ginger, tumeric, bitter greens of some kind. Eating too many strong medicinal foods on a daily basis is probably not ideal, but every couple days is probably a good way to avoid getting sick.

Since other people are listing their staples, I might as well too . . .

I tend to have simple breakfasts - coffee, toast or oatmeal, and fruit of some kind (a smoothie w/ fortified soy or almond milk if I have money)
Stir fry - usually carrots, broccoli, tofu, tonnes of onions and a bulb of garlic (srsly), and whatever else is on hand, on rice (or quinoa if I have money) with a tahini sauce
Pasta with either pesto (I often make my own with garlic scapes, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and almonds or cashews - pine nuts are too expensive and overrated) or tomato sauce + whatever vegies are on hand, and lots of olives if my partner isn't around.
Curry potatoes - sometimes with a coconut curry if I think to pick up a can of coconut milk in advance.
Lentils when I'm lazy.
Falafel pitas when I'm downtown ($1.30 at Nilufar on Ste-Cats!)
You are more than welcome at my house anytime. :)

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I usually eat the same meals every other day, alterations. I don't have much variety in what I eat.

[Blake's Baby]

I have found I do, I eat the same thing for breakfast for months until I finally get sick of it. I also realized I eat soup for lunch though different flavors, dinner is a free for all.

I started to wonder, if this is healthy and should we use the variety of foods available to us instead. Thoughts?

The last thing I want to do in the morning is think about what I want to eat (answer: nothing) and then go to the effort of making it, so I eat the same thing every day pretty much, because I know I can. I may have a cooked breakfast every once in a while but I pretty much eat toast and marmalade every day (with a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea). The sort of marmalade I like might be down to cycles of boredom though. I ate ginger marmalade for a while, then got sick of it.

EDIT: or, basically, this:


having the same thing for breakfast isn't really a problem, mostly you'll just be eating it in a hurry to get off to work and as long as you have something I don't think it really matters if it is the same as yesterday. I love a good breakfast/brunch but really for most of the week it's not an option.

[Art Vandelay]

Since becoming a vegetarian, I have a large variety in my diet. I cook my little brother the same thing for breakfast every morning though, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and toast with a glass of orange juice.

[skitty]

As We Can Do Better said, I eat the same stuff all the time because the routine simplifies everything: I don't eat for a hobby. I think if you keep it simple and incorporate things that are supposedly good for you you'll be fine, though houseguests won't stick around long:grin:. My breakfast hasn't changed in years-3 or 4 whole grain cereals with raisins(and recently blueberries) in big bowl with skim milk. Banana. Lunch is usually almonds, cheese, fruit, Greek yogurt. For dinner I usually cook something in a big pot or crock pot, freeze some, and eat the rest over several days. Usually involving lean meat, beans, veggies, tomatoe sauce. Then chocolate with >80% cocoa. There have been periods where I eliminated meat; but not religiously. I do admire these guys though:http://freegan.info/

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

You are more than welcome at my house anytime. :)

If I'm ever in your town, I'll happily cook and do the dishes for a couch to crash on.

[Le Libérer]

If I'm ever in your town, I'll happily cook and do the dishes for a couch to crash on.
If you knew my event calender, (writing, acting, doing art, public appearances, traveling across the state organizing for prison reform) you would understand what a great offer that is.

[ellipsis]

"What came out of the dumpster this week?"

This. I'll have a large amount of the same things because i pulled a full case out of the dumpster. I used to eat kale/greens and eggs a lot because i grew the greens and dumpster a large number of eggs.

And when i go to food banks, a lot of the food comes from the USDA so ends up being the same things every month.

[sixdollarchampagne]

Since becoming a vegetarian, I have a large variety in my diet. I cook my little brother the same thing for breakfast every morning though, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and toast with a glass of orange juice.

Gee, his breakfast sounds like an awful lot of fat and meat; isn't that kind of heavy for early in the day? I am guessing that he insists on that breakfast menu, most of the time. (And I know it's none of my business.)

The only thing I know about eating the same thing everyday (and I have a hard time believing that is healthy, but if someone knowledgeable says so, fine) is that the Italian government, a few years back, IIRC, publicly stated that having pasta at every meal (which I can't imagine, though I myself eat way too much bread – I just love grains) is not healthy.

If I thought it were healthy, I would have a cinnamon raisin bagel with veggie cream cheese (I get hungry just typing that) 7 mornings a week (they love me at Dunkin' Donuts), but DD also has oatmeal, sweetened with (get this!) fruit, which I think is a marvelous idea! It would never have occurred to me to use fruit.

Edit: BTW, I was a vegetarian for years, until I got anemia. So now I eat chicken, with a guilty conscience.

[Art Vandelay]

Gee, his breakfast sounds like an awful lot of fat and meat; isn't that kind of heavy for early in the day? I am guessing that he insists on that breakfast menu, most of the time. (And I know it's none of my business.)

In all honesty I really know nothing about nutrition but you are probably right. He does insist on the menu, but maybe I'll start insisting on a fruit bowl and bagel a day or two a week.

[SergeNubret]

I am a weightlifter so I eat the same think for weeks before I need another meal fo fit my daily kcal need or macros.

[Blake's Baby]

... I eat the same stuff all the time because the routine simplifies everything: I don't eat for a hobby...

You should try it - eating for fun is awesome; really, I think it's probably the second-best fun you can have as a human being. But, rarely for breakfast. Then it's more like tactical eating, usually. But dinner, definitely. Enjoy it, is my advice.

[Prisma]

I have found I do, I eat the same thing for breakfast for months until I finally get sick of it. I also realized I eat soup for lunch though different flavors, dinner is a free for all.

I started to wonder, if this is healthy and should we use the variety of foods available to us instead. Thoughts?

I do the same thing, it doesn't start that way, but then you get on to a good thing and you can't stop! Or sometimes its out of necessity, if you find something affordable that is nutritious and dont mind eating it regularly.

I think its perfectly healthy to eat the same sort of things regularly as long as its a balanced diet, and those things aren't horrible processed foods etc. Like if you eat a salad or fruit salad every day with your lunch you're set! I love food and cooking, but I'm also incredibly lazy and unless I'm cooking with someone else, I'm more inclined to go for the easiest thing I can make :P

[SergeNubret]

I have read several studies on this.
So eating the same thing over and over again is not bad for health, unless, it's not macronutrient filled food.
You need enough of each macronutrient to fuction properly, so when you lift weights 3+ times each week you need a bigger dose. (if you want muscle to grow ofc)

If you eat bacon, hamburger or something to much you don't get enough nutrients, so this can be bad for health in a longer run
Eat everything from the food circle each day is probably the best

[Jesus Saves Gretzky Scores]

During the week I eat the same breakfast and lunch.

[Pelarys]

Dammit I just realized I'm a stereotype!
As any proper caricature of a Frenchman basically half of my budget is dedicated to good meat, vegetables and wine that I use for fancy recipes that takes hours of my life everyday to cook.

[Narcissus]

I used to do this when I was at school. I'd eat the same thing for breakfast everyday for months, until one morning I would put it in my mouth again, and realise that I couldn't even chew the thing let alone swallow it. Variety is nice. But so was peanut butter toast (for a while at least!)

[Robespierre]

Just eat vegetables at every meal. A lot of them. If you eat enough vegetables everything else will go down just fine. At least, that's my pseudo-scientific ideal. It's a shame that eating vegetables is so much more expensive than burgers and fries. Most people don't want a cucumber is they could buy 3 cheeseburgers for the same amount.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

I have almost no appetite in the morning so I usually force- feed myself some yogurt in order to have my coffee as quickly as I can without upsetting my stomach. I should probably aim at coming up with a more healthy rutine though. I also eat an apple or some fruit (melons or pear) every day.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

In all honesty I really know nothing about nutrition but you are probably right. He does insist on the menu, but maybe I'll start insisting on a fruit bowl and bagel a day or two a week.
Whatever you eat when you first wake up is most absorbed most easily by the body. Since he's already getting a lot of protein, taking out a meat like Sausage and adding some fruit (something with a lot of Vitamin C, like an Orange) will wake him up better and he'll have more energy.
Whenever I wake up, I can instantly feel the difference within the first hour between eating some greens, dairy, and healthy cereal or a big greasy plate of meat.
(Don't get me wrong, I enjoy eating meat, but I usually save it for later in the day where it won't affect my work performance as much).

[LOLseph Stalin]

Oh no. I would grow tired of food if I ate it every day. I have even grown tired of my favourite foods this way. Sometimes I have no choice though because I'm poor thus can't have much variety in the foods I eat.