What are you eating ?

dlhopkins67
dlhopkins67 Posts: 20 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hiya been doing MFP for a few weeks now and I’m starting to get stuck eating same things, just because it’s easier! Need some good ideas, lunch and breakfast . How do you change it up each day?

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I have a meal plan with "slots" for each component - fruit, munch veg, others for breakfast and lunch, and protein, starch, veg for dinner, I rotate dinner themes through the week - soup/casserole, white meat, leftovers, fish, whatever/new recipe, breakfast for dinner, red meat. I keep a running inventory of fridge, freezer and pantry, so I know what I have. Part of the planning is to look through flyers from the various grocery chains and decide what to look for. I buy whatever looks delicious, which often is the cheapest, because "season"; I aim to buy just what I can eat of perishables until next shopping trip, so I make package sizes and perishability dictate how often I will buy groceries. I stock up on dry goods, canned foods, frozen, whenever it's cheap.

    I recommend starting where you are - take into consideration your schedule, skills, family and work situation, preferences, aversions, allergies etc - and making it easy, but don't be afraid to try some different things - I have found quite a few shortcuts and tricks through the years, so I'm not using the same strategies as when I started out; decide, for instance, if meal prep and fixed shopping days is helpful for you, or if it isn't, and how many meals you want to eat per day.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I make a list of 28 dinners to have each month. For 28 days I am having something different for dinners.
    Breakfast, lunch or snacks for me are often repeats of the same 3-4 things... or might be dinner leftovers.
    I shop once a week for groceries and only eat out one meal a week so my food choices are limited to what I have in my home mostly.
    I prelog my food for the day in the morning before eating to help me make better choices and not have to deal with it all day. I log dinner first, then lunch, breakfast and lastly snacks. I tend to eat the same amount of calories per meal. Dinner is generally 500ish calories, lunch is 400, breakfast is 100-300, snacks are 100-300. If for some reason my meal choice does not work later I can change it for something with a similar calorie count.

    The more things you log the faster and easier it will get even if you eat a lot of different foods. Use the recipe builder if you cook. Save things as a meal to quickly log them again. It is not terrible to have a limited rotating menu plan if you are content with that. I recommend not totally changing your diet right away but logging what you normally eat and making smaller changes over time to make your weight loss (and eventual maintenance) more realistic, less restrictive and the most sustainable you can.

  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited September 2018
    I eat basically the same thing every day except dinner. (So, breakfast lunch and snacks are the same every day) and I like it like that. I will eat that way until either something goes out of season or I get tired of it, and switch to something else.

    Late breakfast is a protein shake

    lunch is a sandwich, and a plate of cut up cherry tomatoes and cucumber with cottage cheese (I will have to figure out another vegetable since it's not summer anymore)

    fruit for my afternoon snack

    Dinner is what changes day to day. I do keep a list of common meals that we like so when I'm having trouble thinking of something I can refer to the list.
  • cguevarra
    cguevarra Posts: 86 Member
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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Tuna and asparagus?
  • dlhopkins67
    dlhopkins67 Posts: 20 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Tuna and asparagus?
    Looks amazing!
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  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited September 2018
    Breakfast is my most varied meal, sometimes it's nothing other times it's whatever I want to try (not necessarily breakfast foods). Morning is my highest energy time, and I usually have free time available because I don't start working until noon, so that's when I'm most willing to cook or experiment.
    Lunch is my main meal and is usually whatever the family cooks, or rarely, orders in. More often than not, it includes rice and/or potatoes so it's very satisfying to me which makes me not very hungry for dinner.
    Dinner is my smallest meal and is usually some kind of sandwich (or anything plus bread) or some kind of porridge. It needs to be something carby.
    Munching on random raw vegetables and fruits throughout the day is a given.
    On more active days, I usually have more calories to play with so it's either larger portions or an extra snack (sometimes store bought like chips or chocolate, other times some more fruits and vegetables).

    Basically, I do eat roughly the same things. When I want something different, breakfast is when it happens. I know I'm not much help if you're looking for specific ideas, but have you tried opening a cookbook to a random page and making that for whatever meal you have most time for? That's how I do some of my experimenting if I don't have something specific in mind.

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