This might sound stupid....

Needachange84
Needachange84 Posts: 310 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone ever eat the same meals everyday? Is it bad for you? Is this something that people who meal prep may do? My schedule isn't the easiest with 3 boys so I'm looking for something to make it a bit more simple. Looking for all opinions as everything helps.
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Replies

  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Needachange84 wrote: »
    Does anyone ever eat the same meals everyday? Is it bad for you? Is this something that people who meal prep may do? My schedule isn't the easiest with 3 boys so I'm looking for something to make it a bit more simple. Looking for all opinions as everything helps.

    My breakfast and lunch are pretty much the same on weekdays. Dinner is were I get variety.

    Just make sure the food groups are all included.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
    Definitely nothing wrong with eating the same thing every day, so long as whatever it is meets your nutritional needs. It tends to be easier to "accidentally" hit all your nutritional needs with a varied diet, but thet doesn't mean you can't be perfectly healthy with repetition.

    I meal prep lunches and have the same thing every day. When I do eat breakfast (which I'm currently not), it's the same too. It does change from week to week. Even dinners are generally similar, especially during the week - lean meat, some sort of carb and veggies or salad.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
    Many folks who meal prep might make a week's worth of lunches on Sunday and eat them through the next week. Or they might batch cook 4 different dishes to divide up and freeze to be used for the next month. I wouldn't eat the same thing day in and day out just for variety sake and because that would make it very difficult to meet all your nutritional needs. However, I don't see anything wrong with having the same lunch 5 days in a row if you don't get bored easily and eat an overall varied diet.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    I tend to eat the same few meals in something of a cycle. The only real concern is that if your meals are too restricted you might miss out on some nutrient, but that's not a problem for most people. Eat a varied diet and do what you need to simplify your life :flowerforyou:
  • BalenciaLynn
    BalenciaLynn Posts: 411 Member
    I eat the same thing every day throughout the week, I like routine. I do change it every week for dinner and lunch but its generally like 5 recipes I rotate through,
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Depending on what you mean by the same meals every day, I think it's potentially harmful, both mentally and physically. Not just for you, the children need good food too. You can eat varied meals if you simplify and plan. Have a weekly dinner plan where you rotate components: 1) protein 2) starch 3) veg. Breakfasts could be cereal and various fruit, lunches could be various sandwiches.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Depending on what you mean by the same meals every day, I think it's potentially harmful, both mentally and physically. Not just for you, the children need good food too. You can eat varied meals if you simplify and plan. Have a weekly dinner plan where you rotate components: 1) protein 2) starch 3) veg. Breakfasts could be cereal and various fruit, lunches could be various sandwiches.

    Hmm, I did miss the kids bit - I don't think feeding the kids the same thing day in and day out is good for them - it might be nutritionally sound, but kids need variety in order to expand their pallets and ensure they're open to new things..
  • YogiJear
    YogiJear Posts: 118 Member
    If you meal plan with nutritious food where you're hitting your caloric goal, getting all your micro nutrients, getting enough fiber and protein, and you find it sustainable rather than a bore, then that shouldn't be a problem.

    It can become a problem if you have nutritional gaps in your meal planning and you eat the same thing everyday. Then you'll slowly get deficient in that nutrient/vitamin which may cause some symptoms in the long run.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    Most of us, whether we are trying to lose weight or not, have a limited selection of foods we use for our nutrition.

    My father, for instance, had the same thing for breakfast every day and never varied. Two slices of bacon, 2 eggs fried in the bacon drippings, and 2 slices of white bread, toasted. In his slim years, that's what he had. In his overweight years, that's what he had. In his slim years again that's what he had.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,970 Member
    My breakfast is the same on weekdays (my post workout shake with some fruit). Some differing flavors, but that's about the only difference.

    I just can't eat the same thing day in and day out, although it may be a good way for me to lose weight because if I didn't have a choice I'd be put off by the same thing over and over again LOL.

    That being said, I like to cook extra sometimes and freeze it in pre-measured "bento" containers and freeze them as easy grab-and-go meals. Just enough extra for one or two meals, and do that a couple/few times a week and you have a little bit of variety.
  • getalife9353
    getalife9353 Posts: 100 Member
    I don't eat exactly the same thing everyday, but I do follow a very simple meal plan for lunch and dinner.
    1 meat (chicken, pork loin, tuna steak, occasionally beef)
    1 starch (potato, sweet potato, rice)
    2 vegetables (any 2 vegetables)
    You can vary the portion size of the meat or starch to meet your calorie goals. You can bake several potatos or sweet potatos ahead and re-warm in the microwave. Lunch is whatever I had the night before, reheated in the microwave.
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    Needachange84 wrote: »
    Does anyone ever eat the same meals everyday? Is it bad for you? Is this something that people who meal prep may do? My schedule isn't the easiest with 3 boys so I'm looking for something to make it a bit more simple. Looking for all opinions as everything helps.

    I usually eat the same thing over and over until I get sick of it, and move on to something else.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    My husband eats exactly the same thing every day, with occasional variety on the weekends. He has a BMI of 22, his cholesterol doesn't register on the quick test they do for screenings and he rarely gets ill.

    He has always done this, as he can't be bothered to think about eating, but I made him include more veggies when we got together.
  • dlionsmane
    dlionsmane Posts: 672 Member
    We eat pretty much the same things everyday. I cook a batch or two on Sunday and we eat it alternately for lunch or dinner. Breakfast is oatmeal with protein powder and a fruit, ground turkey 'scramble' made on Sunday (Turkey, spinach, tomato, onion) or an occasional omelet w veggies. Lunch and dinner consists of meat, starch and veggies. Each week they vary, but same components. I can't see how it would be 'harmful', but taking into consideration the kids, you may get some objections. My SO enjoys it also as it make meal time quick, I am not spending every evening in the kitchen for an hour or more cooking.
  • GOT_Obsessed
    GOT_Obsessed Posts: 817 Member
    I have done it in the past and it made shopping and meal prep a breeze. It was long before My Fitness Pal logging but I imagine logging your food would be really easy since you can just copy to the next day.

    Hmmm once I get rid of lots of what is currently in my fridge I may need to do it too.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited February 2018
    dlionsmane wrote: »
    We eat pretty much the same things everyday. I cook a batch or two on Sunday and we eat it alternately for lunch or dinner. Breakfast is oatmeal with protein powder and a fruit, ground turkey 'scramble' made on Sunday (Turkey, spinach, tomato, onion) or an occasional omelet w veggies. Lunch and dinner consists of meat, starch and veggies. Each week they vary, but same components. I can't see how it would be 'harmful', but taking into consideration the kids, you may get some objections. My SO enjoys it also as it make meal time quick, I am not spending every evening in the kitchen for an hour or more cooking.
    Nobody can see how anything would have any effect if they don't have a definition for it. I should have given mine at once instead of assuming that people understood. You are describing a varied diet. A varied diet has lots of different species, not necessarily lots of different, time consuming and elaborate preparations.

    I wonder if people think that buying 2 kilos of oranges every week is less labor intensive and takes less planning, than buying 2 kilos of fruit every week.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    Why don't you do a rotation? One week with the same things and then change it up for the next week? That would give you simplification and would also change your nutrients week to week. You could at least try it and see how it goes.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,130 Member
    I eat the same breakfast Mon-Fri every week, Weetabix with fruit, I change the fruit up occasionally. On weekends I have some variation of eggs for brunch but change it up to keep it from getting boring, might have poached eggs/savoury omelette/sweet omelette/scrambled eggs/soft boiled eggs.

    I usually make soup/pasta/salad for lunch but wouldn't eat the same thing every day, so would make a batch of soup and freeze half for the following week and then make pasta or salad for the days in between.

    For dinner I make one batch of something and freeze a couple of portions so I can mix it up week to week, that way I have a couple of random meals to choose from in the freezer that can quickly be reheated. Normally make a fakeaway on a Friday.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    I have the same breakfast weekdays - granola with milk - but sometimes have something different (like a toasted muffin). My sandwiches don't vary much - laughing cow light with marmite or smoked salmon, sometimes in Vogel bread sometimes in a thin bagel. Dinners are always varied.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,831 Member
    What I eat until dinner is pretty much the same each day.

    There might be a bit of variety when it comes to my fruit choices and flavours of yogurt, and about once or twice a month, I might do something different with lunch, but other than that, it's pretty much the same.

    Dinner, however, changes.

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