Dinner, food aversion and other randomness

jcavanna2

Hi there!

Has anyone experienced a food rut especially at dinner? For the last two months or so I come home from work and don't really eat dinner - I am
Ashamed to admit that some days I literally grab a few wheat thins and that is my meal. Just not up for a meal. Also not sure if this is because I have had a ton of stress between stuff with my daughter at school and going through real estate stuff (bought a house and had to sell my other one..2 mortgages and sets of bills is very stressful though should be coming to an end soon!)

Also, I feel like I have had a bit of food aversion. The idea of grilled chicken turns me off but bread it lightly and bake it and that is way more appealing. Also feeling that way with eggs. I made myself a matzo brei for breakfast this morning and did okay though couldn't finish it all (eggs, matzo with a light sprinkle of sugar on top once cooked). I am hoping to have eggs mixed with Swiss/gruyere and a sausage link I made from Devin Alexander's book that I plan to crumble up into it. Hoping I can eat that...

Looking forward to hearing back!

StevenGarrigus

Haven't really experienced a "rut" yet or any particular food aversion, but I'm getting kinda tired of these protein shakes. LOL.

I do the same thing as you sometimes. There are days where I just don't feel like eating dinner, so I just get a half-cup of cottage cheese and a few Doritos and call it a day.

Ktp82016

I haven't really had any aversions, but have definitely experienced the dinner rut. There are many nights that it ends up being pretzel thins and hummus. I need to work on my prep work so that there are better choices to grab during the week.

jcavanna2

Thank you both! Glad to know I am not alone. I wish I made better choices though - wheat thins and snack packs of chips deluxe and other garbage are not great choices. I commute 1 1/2 hours and for the 1 1/2 hours left before bed I have to take care of my daughter's homework and the dogs, pack my gym bag and lunch and breakfast for the next day. Feels like there is no time for anything. I have come too far to go back. Maybe I will buy a few ready to drink shakes so I have that as an option or maybe prep some other stuff so I can just grab it.

chubby_checkers

I get bored with having the same things all the time, so I try to mix it up a little. I try to keep things quick and easy, or easy to prep in advance so I can just assemble and go. For example, these are two of my favorites because they're easy to prep in advance. I just have to put the parts together:

http://www.briana-thomas.com/single-serve-lasagna-in-a-bowl/ (pre cook the meat and any veggies--I added peppers and onions. I stored all of the components in bowls in the fridge and then just assembled and heated when I was ready to eat)

http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/main-course-casseroles/hamburger-sausage-broccoli-alfredo-low-carb.html?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share (pre cook the meat and chop the broccoli--my recommendation is to double or triple the amount of broccoli called for. Assemble and bake when ready to eat it). This one is not really low calorie, but it is low carb and a small portion will fill you up.

I'm not sure if you eat beef and sausage, but they are nice to break up the monotony of chicken. You can use ground turkey or turkey sausage too, but I generally don't do both. I'll go beef and turkey sausage or ground turkey and pork sausage. Just for better flavor.

Lizakabibbis

I try to constantly change dinner meals so I don't get in a rut. My food during the day is always the same because it's so easy but at night I eat what my family eats minus the carb. So tonight - we are having burgers. Mine will be 3 oz w/cheese and avocado. I'll have a couple of cucumber slices with it. Tomorrow night I have ground beef already done up for tacos. I'll have one taco in a romaine lettuce leaf w/all the fixings while they have theirs on taco shells. Then, the next night - it's stir fry. I'll pan fry shrimp w/veggies and they eat theirs over rice and I'll have mine over cauliflower rice. Friday night is pizza - I eat mine on a low-carb flat out and dress it the way I like. I try to have a 2-3 week rotation so I don't get bored at night since my days seem to be the same.

I'm still not big on eggs. Seriously, it's just not something I tolerate well because it tends to sit like a brick in my stomach.

garber6th

On another post there was some conversation about grab and go options, and it sounds like those kinds of things would be good for you. I was in the same boat when I was commuting 1 1/2 hours each way for my old job and I wanted things that were truly fast and easy. I really didn't have time or energy to cook. There are a lot of quick high protein options out there. I mentioned that at Costco, they have chicken patties that are frozen, you would just need to heat them up, they also have chicken and turkey sausages that just need to be heated up, things like that. I also do a lot of batch cooking on weekends to make weekdays easier.

Food aversions since surgery are crazy for me. Sometimes I will suddenly have an aversion to something I have been fine with for years, or I will like something I never liked before.

I really do think being tired and stressed affects your choices, it's like at the end of the day you don't even want to think about anything. The good thing is you are aware of what's going on and trying to sort your way through it. You will be just fine :-)

Lizakabibbis

I agree with @garber6th. Batch cooking saves me during the week! I'm up at 4 am for the gym - then work for 10 hours - then my commute - then sports activities for my son - then back to pack all my bags for the next day. It's exhausting! So I know if I don't plan, I don't eat well. Before I started food prepping on Sundays I was eating a handful of mixed nuts and a cheesestick for dinner almost every night. It's so important for me to prep because if I don't prep I spiral and snack on a little of this and a little of that. I get it 100%! It's all things that we figure out in time and have to come up with a plan that works for us and our family.

I bought Tyson grilled chicken nuggets at Costco and I believe for 3oz it's 100 calories. That's something fast and easy that my whole family enjoys!

jcavanna2

@Lizakabibbis - sounds like we have the same kind of schedule! I also get up at 4 for the gym. I need to add dinner prep to my Sunday meal prep routine.

Am waiting for my trainer now - spinning today and going to train tomorrow. Between my real estate stress and work being incredibly stressful the past few weeks (on top of family stress) I definitely let my life get in the way of good choices.

I got on my home scale last night and this morning and it was up 3.5 lbs. glad I checked myself because o haven't been drinking water like I usually do, missed almost 2 weeks of regular workouts and eating crap. Met a friend for lunch yesterday and we had Chinese. Am sure sodium has something to do with this. I am sure my visits to the vending machine didn't help.

Last night I got Pure Protein RTD since I don't like Premier this way I have a quick grab and go option. Could be good for a late afternoon snack to tide me over till dinner because of the high protein (23g). Also got some Atkins snack bars to keep at my desk

Thanks all for our advice!

Lizakabibbis

@jcavanna2 I give you so many props for spin class!! I tried it one time and could not wait to get off that bike. It was the longest 40 minutes of my life! Hopefully the real estate stress goes away soon.

NicoleL874

@jcavanna2 You know what you have to do and how to do it. You really have to make sure you keep your food up right now, especially with all the added stress. But, I don't have to tell you that.

Were you doing IIFYM? Because a little pre-planning would help you allow yourself the triscuits if that's your current go-to.

I'd type more, but like I told you before...fricking crazy day. This window has been open all day. *sigh*

jcavanna2

@Lizakabibbis been spinning for almost 15 years and love it! I think the biggest turnoff when starting spin is that your a** hurts for a couple of days but you quickly adjust

jcavanna2

@NicoleL874 I know what to do and today i feel like I am totally back on track. I did sign up for IIFM but don't really go on it. I have tons of websites I use for healthy meals - just gotta get back on it. As you know the craziness should hopefully subside soon and should hopefully be back to normal (or at least normal for me..lol)

twosons08

What is IIFYM?

NicoleL874

twosons08 wrote: »

What is IIFYM?

If it fits your macros. It's a website that will figure out how many grams of protein, fat and carbs you should be eating. I don't use them, but have used multiple sites to tweak my macros after having them set about a year ago by barifit.com