Variety vs Routine

marypresent
marypresent Posts: 39 Member
in Food and Nutrition
When the goal is to lose pounds, do you find that variety is the way to go when choosing foods to eat or do you tend to eat the same foods? Just wondering if you have found more success with one particular way of eating.
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Replies

  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    If you feel deprived then variety.. if you're like me you could eat hamburgers everyday and no care.. then routine.

    It's all preference.
  • donnat238
    donnat238 Posts: 309 Member
    I have better results when I have similar meals every day. The more I think about it and try to add variety, that is when I slip up. I usually throw something in the crock pot on Sunday afternoon. That goes into individual servings, so I know what I'll be having for lunch each day. Breakfast is always the same. Dinner I will have a couple of different options, but it works for me!
  • 365andstillalive
    365andstillalive Posts: 663 Member
    I think for me, it's a mixture. I have a lot of base foods that you'll find in my diary every week: eggs, whole wheat bread, peanut butter, the zucchini muffins I keep making because they make me not want timbits etc.
    But my fruits and veggies tend to change from week to week, as does how I prepare my eggs and that's how I keep my need for variety satiated, and round out the nutrients I need.
    The only issue I have with people using a complete routine to lose weight where they're eating almost the same thing every day is that if your macros aren't perfect, you're depriving yourself of something your body needs long term.
    So basically, if it fits my macros, I eat it.
  • tsimblist
    tsimblist Posts: 206 Member
    For me it is routine. I don't have to make choices and research the calorie counts of new food. I have my basic routine items that make logging easier for me. I also plan my meals by logging them for the day before I eat. Helps me to say no to the office snacks.
  • TXGirl78028
    TXGirl78028 Posts: 37
    Mostly routine with a little variety thrown in for spice. I find that if I get to much variety I go overboard, but if I have the same types of things most of the time and have a little something different from time to time I'm more apt to stay where I need to be calorie/weight wise.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Routine makes it easier and more convenient, but variety makes it more fun. Do a little of both...
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    I love to cook and I love food. Eating the same thing everyday would not be realistic for me. That being said I do eat similar foods most days for breakfast when I'm too tired to care what I'm eating. Lunch and dinner are vastly different every day. Not sure how long you are looking to sustain this diet which probably makes a difference. I could eat the sames things for a week, maybe, if I had to.
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,896 Member
    My husband eats the EXACT same thing for breakfast and lunch monday to friday and it weirds me out, but after 14+ years I am used to it. Cheerios(no milk) and OJ for breakfast, two ham and cheese sandwiches with mustard on wheat bread, a banana and a handful of baby carrots and a diet dew for lunch.

    I got bored one day and inputted his diet into my diary, lol. Holy carb monkey. However, he is 6' and 180lbs so it works for him :explode:
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,008 Member
    For me, variety helps me be consistent with my routine...
  • spiralated
    spiralated Posts: 150 Member
    I do a mixture. For breakfast and lunch its usually one of three options which i do for a few weeks (until supplies are gone) then I buy a different option, eat til gone, etc. So its a routine for the length of the supplies and variety depending on whats good in the grocery.

    Dinner I keep a medium sized list of "good meals," and a short list of special meals we choose from.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I need variety! Although I eat a lot of the same things (chicken breast, Greek yogurt), I change the way I eat them.
  • marypresent
    marypresent Posts: 39 Member
    I think, for me, one of the biggest obstacles I face is dinner. I like to have variety but it's difficult to limit portions so that I'm not overeating, especially with foods that I love. I'm thinking about limiting my dinner options to a few that I like (and easy to calculate calories for.)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I need variety and would quit if I couldn't have it, but within that there's a lot of routine, which is what makes it easy. For example, I need to be able to change up breakfast on occasion, but I have a vegetable omelet more often than not. It's just what I put in it and what I have on the side (some kind of fruit, some kind of dairy or other protein) change constantly. The same is basically true with my other meals.
  • essjay76
    essjay76 Posts: 465 Member
    I love food. All kinds. I need variety. So much good food out there.
  • Soggynode
    Soggynode Posts: 1,179 Member
    I'm far too lazy for variety. I would probably eat bacon flavored pellets for every meal if I could find them. I would have made someone a great hamster.
  • maroonmango211
    maroonmango211 Posts: 908 Member
    I keep a variety IN my routine. Usually for lunch I have fruit and greek yogurt, the variety is in what type of fresh fruit and possibly what flavour I add to the yogurt. For supper we always have family favourites, new recipes and some easy fast ones thrown in for busy days to keep us from getting bored but when we go grocery shopping I make a two week list of the meals available and have all the ingredients and recipes in check so that we can pick and schedule them when we need/want.
  • nam985
    nam985 Posts: 140 Member
    I absolutely love all sorts of foods, and in a perfect world would constantly switch things up. However, with a very hectic schedule in the lab (averaging 70-90 hours per week) eating similar things most days makes meal prep and planning simple. It makes keeping track of kcal and macros easier, since I have a good idea of what combination of foods will meet my goals and it makes logging quick. I also live alone, and always seem to end up with plenty of leftovers which is great since i can just reheat and eat when I get home.
  • Peloton73
    Peloton73 Posts: 148 Member
    I keep the same breakfast because I like it and it's safe. For lunch and dinner I rotate from 3 entrees for each meal.
  • andreavarangu
    andreavarangu Posts: 78 Member
    I like food too much to want to eat the same things all the time. So lots of variety! That said I now eat a healthier variety than I used to....with way more vegetables and way less cake :smile:
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i'm a picky eater so i like routine. i also dont mind eating the same thing over and over as long as it's delicious.

    besides that i have too many other things to think about than trying to worry about what i'm going to at and how to make it different than what i ate before.
  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
    My variety now is cooking 2-3 new healthy recipes on the wkend to test whether they will work long term. Made Ann Burrells ricotta spinach gnocchi last wkend. Will definitely make them again tho half a recipe yields a huge quantity. Zucchini tots, fried egg plant and Brazilian cheese puffs have been our latest successful experiments. During the week my meals are all very similar and convenient.
  • twl900
    twl900 Posts: 122 Member
    Breakfast and lunch are usually the same every day for me during the week. I'll have something different on the weekend (if I'm not feeling lazy, that is haha). Dinners are usually different unless I'm having leftovers.
  • joanna_82
    joanna_82 Posts: 151 Member
    I also have variety within my routine, for example I keep a number of different breakfast options at home that all roughly count the same, and I mix them up depending on what I fancy. Lunch is usually pretty standard although i try and buy different sandwich fillings and different snacks each week to keep it interesting. Dinner is a variety of different proteins, carbs and veggies depending on what I bought for the week. Each week i go shopping I try and add something different to my basket just to ensure that I get as much variety as possible.

    I also build in treats to my routine, for example always have a coffee and a pastry on a Friday and really enjoy that. And often have a chocolate bar or something similar on one of the weekend days. I look forward to these and so them being part of my routine works.
  • ewhip17
    ewhip17 Posts: 515 Member
    I fall VERY firmly into the "routine" camp, but that applies to all aspects of my life. Routine keeps me sane. However, with that said, one of the reasons MFP has really worked for me is that if I fall out of that routine with food I still have options and can make it work. I still don't like it though... haha.
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
    As a general rule I like to vary my routine :-p
  • ingeborgv
    ingeborgv Posts: 175 Member
    I love food. All kinds. I need variety. So much good food out there.

    This!!
  • Beckboo0912
    Beckboo0912 Posts: 447 Member
    I do both actually. During the school year my breakfasts and lunches are very routine, I know what works and it keeps me from eating the cakes and such that people bring to work. But my afternoon snack and dinner vary because they can and I like the variety. It's really just what works for you.
  • farfromthetree
    farfromthetree Posts: 982 Member
    I'm far too lazy for variety. I would probably eat bacon flavored pellets for every meal if I could find them. I would have made someone a great hamster.



    Lol!!
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
    My personality type doesn't like "surprises" so basically routine always works better for me.

    There are variations built into my routines, but generally for lunch I'll have the same thing for a week then move to something different and for dinners we have certain days, like Wednesday we eat pasta and Saturday is pizza night.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    I tend to eat the same things, with a little variety involved. For example, breakfast tends to be the same every morning, and I like knowing what I shall have without having to even think. Dinner tends to mostly be some meat/ fish with some vegetables and starches, but what that meat or fish is, or what the vegetables or starches are vary meal to meal. Lunch is the meal with the most variety for me, although I will frequently have something with eggs, like a frittata or spanish-style omelette and side salad. Also, snacks tend to be the same sorts of things.

    So, more of a template, rather than actually identical foods at each meal every day. I find that helps me most, and do take care to rotate foods a little before I get bored of them. For example, I can eat eggs every day for a week or two, but then not be able to eat them again for another week or two. I try to avoid that happening as much as possible, while at the same time enjoying the benefits that similar types of food most days offers.

    I think whichever way you go, it helps a lot to have go-to meal options for when you need them, and might otherwise fall off the wagon if you were very hungry and had no options at hand.

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