Variety ?

tufntender

Hi all. I've been here a few months now and I am always trying to gain inspiration from my MFP friends, including checking out their diaries to maybe discover some new and neat things to eat. However, I have noticed that a majority seems to eat the same thing(s) over and over. Same thing for breakfast and /or lunch for weeks. Is this sustainable? It may work for now I think, but is this something someone can do all through weight loss , maintenance and pretty much forever. I, myself, need variety. So, I wonder, how many of you stick to somewhat of a routine vs, different things daily.

lynn_glenmont

People are different. Some really value variety in their food, but others seem content to eat the same thing until they get tired of it, and still others can eat the same thing basically forever and not get tired of it.

For some people, it's not entirely a matter of choice. Maybe time and financial constraints make batch cooking an ideal solution, but they don't have freezer space or budget flexibility to make and store a variety of meals so they can switch it up during the week, so they make one or two recipes and eat those until they're gone.

I like variety, but most of the time I'm cooking for one, and food that you use to cook from scratch, which I prefer, often comes in amounts too large for one person to consume in one meal, so if you looked at my diary you would see some repetition until I finished something.

endlessfall16

It's pretty sad that I'm also eating the same rotation of foods. Consciously I want to have variety but ....it's a very hard thing to do in practice.

I'm hanging out with the same people, eating at the same 3, 5 restaurants. Today, two guys in the group got excited that we decided to eat at Kor BBQ instead of the usual pizza, but it's the same place we've been to 3 weeks ago.

At home the wife rotates between a dozen veggies, + 3, 4 types of meats + rice, noodle, bread.

My co-worker's situation is even sadder. He comes home every lunchtime to eat naan. The only thing his wife makes but he's quite happy about it. Like a puppy.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Sometimes it's just a personality thing. I exist in comfort zones. A small variety of food gives me confidence. Sometimes I'll get tired of a particular thing and swap it with something else, but my menu stays small.

amusedmonkey

If you think of your diet before dieting, what did you eat? For many people there is a limited number of items that are rotated either daily or every few days. It's just more convenient that way. We tend to want variety on a diet because limiting calories is a mental hurdle that pushes us to want to compensate by introducing more variety. After a while when the dieting novelty wears off, we go back to what's convenient (less variety).

It's pretty individual, though. Some people still value variety in all dieting stages, while others value not having to make too many food decisions. I fall somewhere in the middle. I would eat familiar foods, sometimes exactly the same thing every day for a certain meal for a few days, other times 2-3 kinds of dishes on a random rotation for breakfast, for example, but every once in awhile I would crave something specific or be curious about a certain recipe, then back to my old rotation. It's more of a convenience than anything else. I eat what I have available and only buy extra new stuff when I feel like having them. Mostly laziness driven than anything else. I would rather cook in advance for 2-3 days than every day.

ETA: another example is foods that are only in season for a short while. I'm currently basically living off of green almonds and green chickpeas because they are only in season for 2-3 weeks every year so I keep eating them daily while I can. Sorrel is only available early spring then it starts getting bitter, so sorrel soup (which I absolutely love) becomes a daily staple for a few weeks too.

paigele

I like to watch the forums, like this one, to give me ideas. I saw a post recently about someone who accepted a challenge to "eat the rainbow" every day, for example. (Many different colored fruits and vegetables offer different health benefits from their vitamin content.)
Because I watch my macros, I generally plan food for a day in advance.
For variety, I research recipes from others and select those that are most likely to fit into my budget (for nutritional content as well as time and financial) and can be prepped in advance. I like to have things in the cupboard and fridge that are easy to grab since life always seems to happen when I make plans. I prefer not to be heading out the door for a last minute meeting or appointment and have to choose which drive-through restaurant to visit, knowing food choices for me at each one are going to be severely limited.
I do, like the others, however, have some standard go-to items that help me meet my goals. For example, I prefer keeping a high quality protein powder on hand to increase my protein content on days when my menu total shows a deficit there, and I simply mix it into a cup of almond milk.
I have picked up ideas both through this site and at work from my friends on things to try.

MaddMaestro

I eat the same thing for breakfast because it's delicious.

Everything else that's a repeat is because I have an abundance of something that I'm trying to eat before it goes bad XDDDD It's usually the same foods for a week before I try something else.

kommodevaran

That is a difficult one to answer briefly. These ideas are quite new to me, and English isn't my native tongue, so I apologize if something sounds strange:

We all need variety. But we also have favorites, and simplifying basic routines like eating is necessary to be able to get things done. Sticking to a somewhat consistent plan from day to day is a good strategy (but not the only good strategy) to control food intake. Just because a meal plan is consistent, it doesn't mean it can't be flexible, varied and tasty. Controlled doesn't have to mean restrictive. And detailed doesn't have to mean complicated.

A description of something does not convey how it's perceived. What looks simple or strict or complicated to an outsider may be totally different to the one involved. For instance, "fruit" to you can mean one thing, and 25 different things to me. My meals will probably sound boring to most people, and my routines complicated to people who don't organize their routines the way I do or don't mentally map the world like I do.

I'm much like Lynn describes, I buy and eat until it's gone, and then buy something else. Some foods are difficult for me to prepare, or even impossible to store, at home, so that will be my first choice when going out to eat.

This means that I also rotate my meals, like endless fall describes. But unlike him, I don't think it's sad at all. I rotate my favorites, and they are spaced out enough to avoid boredom. A good meal plan (and I think mine is good, for me) "forces" variety. Without a plan, I'll resort to the same three meals.

Or maybe there is a short answer: Variety is defined both by the number of ingredients that are available and the number of ways to combine them. The first is limited, and the latter is indefinite. Which one is really variety?

Machka9

tufntender wrote: »

Hi all. I've been here a few months now and I am always trying to gain inspiration from my MFP friends, including checking out their diaries to maybe discover some new and neat things to eat. However, I have noticed that a majority seems to eat the same thing(s) over and over. Same thing for breakfast and /or lunch for weeks. Is this sustainable? It may work for now I think, but is this something someone can do all through weight loss , maintenance and pretty much forever. I, myself, need variety. So, I wonder, how many of you stick to somewhat of a routine vs, different things daily.

I've been eating almost the same thing from the time I start eating in the morning until I get home from work the whole time I've been with MFP (a little over 2 years) and also several years before starting with MFP. It works for me.

10:30 am - crackers & cheese
12:30 pm - banana
2:00 pm - chicken, rice, and mixed veggies
3:30 pm - yogurt
4:30 pm - another piece of fruit

The only thing I changed from pre-MFP was to drop a handful of cashews I used to have in the afternoon. I was planning to drop the cashews anyway because they weren't sitting well with me.

After I get home from work ... things did change. Pre-MFP I was eating chips and chocolate. Post-MFP I eat cottage cheese, cucumbers, and whole wheat crackers ... and I've done that for 2 years.

I can eat this way because I like these foods. I look forward to them. I even crave them sometimes! And occasionally, if I want something else, I'll have something else. After all, when I started with MFP, I also decided to eat only foods I like.


Dinner, however, has changed and now there's more variety than there was before.

JeromeBarry1

I've been having the same thing for breakfast and/or lunch for weeks most of my life. Breakfast and lunch wasn't making me obese. My obesity was maintained by the great abundance and variety of stuff I ate in the evenings after returning home from work. Using mfp let me get control of my evenings. That's the part of the day where I get the most of my variety now.

ashleighs148

I eat the same things all the time, but that's not because I'm counting calories, it's just what I've always done. I don't like a large variety of food, I'm picky and I know what I enjoy so I stick to that. The most variety I get is granary to white bread every now and again, and after eating cornflakes for breakfast for months I've recently bought a box of cheerios! I have around 8 dinners I'll eat and that's it. If it weren't for me living with my boyfriend, it'd probably be only 4 dinners to rotate with. It's very much sustainable for me because it's what I'm comfortable with, I like familiar food and don't like much change.

JaydedMiss

i took the time to find foods i love, My body love, They love and treat me right. Why mess with what works all my macros are met and im left satisfied...and its cheaper to use the same few ingredients for multiple meals (tuna potatoes, Greek yogurt taco tuna dip, Yogurt parfaits) multiple uses for same things is a benefit to me so it works well im a cheap *kitten*

comeonnow142857

I need to eat the same (or slowly changing) array of core foods for the basis of my diet because a) I'm on very low cals b) I'm in work 60 hours a week and just prefer to minimise my time and energy and maximise convenience w/nutrition with non-social eating.

I eat plenty of variety but it's mostly social enjoyment with food on top of the core nutrient dense plan, which is your basic lean protein/green veg/fish fat/a lil dairy thing.

If work or social events get on top of me I don't have to worry about my diet. It's all ready to go (but I've flexibility whenever the opportunities to try out something delicious pop up).

livingleanlivingclean

During the week I eat the same thing every day. For every meal.

I have variety across the day though, so foods from different groups, and a range of sources for each macro.

Ive been eating the same thing for about 2 months. Before that, I ate the same food for about 2 months. I change it periodically but have no issue keeping a "meal plan" going for weeks on end.

It helps with food prep, saves waste, means we can buy in bulk etc.

Weekends are more flexible as we have more time to cook, and our schedule is different.

tufntender

This has been very interesting for me to read, thank you for your replies, I can relate to everything that was said

crazyycatlady1

tufntender wrote: »

Hi all. I've been here a few months now and I am always trying to gain inspiration from my MFP friends, including checking out their diaries to maybe discover some new and neat things to eat. However, I have noticed that a majority seems to eat the same thing(s) over and over. Same thing for breakfast and /or lunch for weeks. Is this sustainable? It may work for now I think, but is this something someone can do all through weight loss , maintenance and pretty much forever. I, myself, need variety. So, I wonder, how many of you stick to somewhat of a routine vs, different things daily.

In the 5ish years I've been at this whole thing my food preferences/menus have been all over the place, but day to day/week to week you would think I eat very repetitively. Looking at the long term picture though and you can see the differences

I'm also a seasonal eater, which means my winter menu looks one way vs my spring menu, vs my summer one etc. And then I'm also a very frugal grocery shopper so the store sales will also dictate what I eat, to an extent. For example-the past few weeks green beans have been really cheap (like under $1 per lb). So I've been eating a lot of green beans. Asparagus is one of the first things that grows in my area in the spring, so very shortly I'll be eating (cheap) asparagus almost daily. And then it will be strawberries, then cherries etc etc.

SummerSkier

late to the thread, but I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I think variety is critical to our diets. If only because who really can trust all of the nutrient labels on food these days? If I ate the same thing every day for months and thought it was 80 cal and in reality it was 200 (like a lot of those faux trendy ice cream replacements imho) I would probably be very frustrated at not losing weight. Plus I think it also can err the other way. I have found just the past month using MFP that I tend to prepare and weigh more of my own meals, and that I actually HAVE a bigger variety of foods than when I was just junking it out and eating whatever i wanted. There HAVE been times in my life where I ate the exact same thing for breakfast for years at a time (lazy mostly) or rotated thru a same lunchtime or dinner time menu all the time. But part of the reason I decided to start logging again WAS boredom with meals.

HeidiCooksSupper

I'm a retiree who loves to cook. I spend hours reading about food, food history, recipes, etc. I make something different most nights. Last night was a sweet potato/cauliflower/chicken massaman curry. Another night might be a frozen patty, veg & oven fries. Feel free to watch my diary and if you ever see a list of ingredients and wonder what the heck we had for supper, message me.

I'm also a lazy, imprecise cook with a bad back so most of what I make is pretty darn easy, e.g. a curry just requires you put lots of stuff in the pot NOT that you have to precisely cut the veg into equal julienne. LOL

Brendaflores114

I love variety. Each diet that I have failed at is because I stick to the same foods the same way. I can maintain that way of eating for about 4-5 weeks. Then, I get fed up and choose less healthy options.
I have been purposefully looking for a variety of recipes and foods to eat. So far, it has been working. Thank you to everyone for sharing their ideas.

kshama2001

Within seasons, I eat pretty much the same things for breakfast and lunch and satisfy my need for variety and creativity with dinner.

Last month I was snacking on strawberries from my garden - this month it's peas. Yum!

richardgavel

Breakfast, lunch and snacks tend to be a fairly small rotation. This partly due to prep time and the ability to reheat at work. There's more variety at dinner.

I find sometimes it's just a matter of habit because I don't think of other options. One thing I do is make a list of options to go back to sometimes so I can say something like "oh yeah, I haven't had xx in a while".

musicfan68

tufntender wrote: »

Hi all. I've been here a few months now and I am always trying to gain inspiration from my MFP friends, including checking out their diaries to maybe discover some new and neat things to eat. However, I have noticed that a majority seems to eat the same thing(s) over and over. Same thing for breakfast and /or lunch for weeks. Is this sustainable? It may work for now I think, but is this something someone can do all through weight loss , maintenance and pretty much forever. I, myself, need variety. So, I wonder, how many of you stick to somewhat of a routine vs, different things daily.

I tend to do this because it's easier, and I'm less likely to overeat if I always eat basically the same things. For me, too much variety makes me overeat. I also stick with foods that I don't hate or love, just like. If I love a food, I over eat it. If I like it, I can eat a reasonable amount and leave it.