Diet/Eating Routines & Ruts

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Why can't I eat something different for lunch every once in a while?!?

I'm OK with breakfast, because it seems "normal" to eat the same thing every day. Not so many options and it's often just a quickie.

And someone else makes my dinner, so I get variety there -- even if I don't want it. (Frozen burrito or pancakes every night would *not* go over in my household.)

It's lunch. Every damn day the same thing:

1. Grilled cheese sandwich (swiss on rye)
2. Pretzels
3. "Spicy Hot" V8 juice
4. Strawberry yogurt
5. Two butter cookies
6. Raisins
7. Hot tea with milk

If the place I get these items at every day is out of something, I'll scour the neighborhood looking for them. Sometimes I have to construct my lunch from a few different places depending on which place is out of what. The thought of substituting potato chips, for example (even though I love them!), for pretzels just doesn't work at all in the context of "the chosen lunch."

Every day, I'm like "let's try something new today! How about sushi? That sounds pretty exciting, actually." And every day, back to my desk with the same half dozen carefully chosen items, which have been thoroughly vetted over time. It's the "perfect lunch" -- not to be messed with.

Anyone else have the same type of eating habits, routines, compulsions???

P.S. I kinda feel like a jerk in a way bringing this up. This is a luxury problem, right? There are loads of people not getting remotely enough to eat, let alone exactly what they want every day. That is by no means lost on me...

Not really but I eat the same stuff because it's easier than having to decide. I always buy the same stuff when we go grocery shopping and I don't ever get tired of eating the same stuff.

I can eat different stuff when I see it like when I go over to my aunt and uncles for Thanksgiving, I eat what I think is yummy. Stuffing is my favorite. I used to eat lot of it as a kid every Thanksgiving.

I think this may have a lot to do with it, actually. I just take it (like everything else) to extremes. Making decisions is pretty far from my strong suit -- even decisions as simple-sounding as this.

If it makes you happy and calm and helps with anxiety, just stick to it. I find it very tough to get to eat the same things for lunch every day these days and it's rather discomforting.

Absolutely. It's not even restricted to lunch. I'm usually eating the same ton or two things for months on end.'

Right now, I eat this:

One Creamy Chicken Ramen packet
One Roast Chicken Ramen packet
One canned mixed vegetables
Soy Sauce
Red Wine Vinegar
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder

Eaten with saltine crackers. I'll eat it two to three meals a day.

And eventually I will find another thing. Although I really, really seem stuck on this one.

When I started reading that sentence, I thought it was going to end with "times a week." That's commitment! Not that it sounds bad...

I see no reason not to have the same things for lunch daily if that routine comforts you. If you're set on adding variety, I'd suggest trying to add a new item rather than removing or substituting one. Then you'll still have your same comforting lunch but the option of having something new also. If that turns out to be too much food you might not finish eating everything you brought. But chances are if you successfully introduce something new it'll become part of a new identical lunch each day rather than herald a new era of diverse lunches, so I see no real purpose to it.

I find that the more socially stressed I am the more I tend to have the same thing at the same time. Work is socially stressful for me, so it makes sense that I try to calm myself by removing all surprises from the only meal I eat at work. For me it used to always be exactly two chocolate chip muffins from the same bakery. If they were out of them that day, I wouldn't eat lunch at all and go hungry. This didn't make sense because I can normally eat any sort of muffin and not only chocolate chip. But for *lunch* at *work*, it had to be two chocolate chip muffins from *that* bakery, or nothing. It was almost like a religion with me.

I find that too- at uni, I tend to eat the same most of the time (porridge for breakfast and lunch, sometimes for dinner as well and if not it's rice and veg), but at home I eat different food but still similar (always porridge for breakfast/lunch, but for dinner it can be some form of protein eg fish/Quorn with potatoes and veg). The more people there are, the more it stays the same.

I am very much into routine when it comes to breakfast and lunch, and I think it has a lot to do with not having to decide. It makes me anxious when I can't figure out what to eat, so I naturally gravitate to the same thing. . . over and over and over again.

When I was a child, my mother loved to eat sweets and fast food. As a result, I got into some very bad eating habits that I have not yet been able to break. I have to leave my money at home; otherwise, I will go to my favorite fast food eating establishment and order my favorite thing(s) off the menu, and eat them on the spot. I always order the same thing(s) at each restaurant I visit. If I go to Subway, for example, I always order a footlong Subway Club on wheat bread with low-fat mayonnaise, lots of mustard, lots of lettuce, a little vinegar and oil and a few spinach leaves, and please wrap each half separately. Anytime I go to any restaurant, I will always order the same thing I always order at that restaurant, without exception.

Now, here is an interesting habit of mine. I always pay cash for food items. I can take credit cards anywhere, and I will never even think of using them to buy food. I even have to go to an ATM to get money before I visit a grocery store, even if that store accepts credit cards. But if I carry money with me at any time, the urge to go to a restaurant for food is irresistable, even if I am stuffed from a meal I just ate.

When I am without money or at home, I generally select from the limited supply of foods I keep at home. I always buy the same foods, and I willl always replace consumed foods with exact duplicates, even down to the brand names. If my chosen brand is suddenly no longer available, I will very reluctantly change the brand I buy, but I will still buy the same thing in that different brand.

I do not care for strong-tasting vegetables or fruits, and there are many other things I absolutely will not eat. I am a very finicky eater. Before I try any unfamiliar food, I must know every ingredient that goes into it, and if it contains even trace amounts of an ingredient I know I don't care for, I will refuse to so much as taste it. - LJS

Yes, my mum says I am really 'funny' about things like food.
I don't have breakfast. I may complain that I'm starving, but I just got into a routine of not eating breakfast when I was about 10, and never got out of it. For lunch, it is always-
A sausage roll or two, chocolate bar and a packet of crisps.
Spaghetti hoops, and a chocolate bar.
or heinz tomato soup with bread, then crisps.
It's the only food I will have for lunch, unless of course I'm out. But the food HAS to be hot. I HATE cold food.
For dinner, theres no fruit/veg at all, no salt, pepper, sauces, herbs, sides, it's just plain food. Like:
Battered cod and chips.
Pizza fingers, waffles and beans.
Pasta and chicken.
Turkey nuggets and potato wedges.

Those meals are completely plain! I would like to try other foods and routines, but I just can't adjust like that!

I like eating the same thing over and over. I don't like trying new things, and even when I do I usually just revert, or I start eating the new thing every day so it's still repetitious.

If my college coffee shop is out of the kind of drink or muffin that I usually get, I have to call my mom and ask her what I should get, especially if I'm hungry because that makes it harder (or impossible) to make decisions.

My cat is the same way. He only likes one kind of food. Which makes it easy for me to buy his food.

I eat really plain food, too. I'll just eat a tomato and some lettuce leaves or something because I don't see the point in making a salad when I hate dressing and it's just going to be the same ingredients anyway. They will get mixed together in my stomach so why bother mixing them sooner?

We used to laugh at mum when we were growing up because she always ordered the same thing when we were out. She would scour the menu trying to make up her mind but would always order the exact same thing.

Now I think 'so what?'. After all, if it's what you like, enjoy it.

I do the same thing. I've had the same two or three things for lunch for three years. I've had the same breakfast of blueberries and waffles for, about 14 months now. Before that i had other foods I'd do the same thing with. Cereal I had for about 15 years, every single day. For a long time it was what i had for breakfast and dinner, with a pastry for lunch. As a teenager I had my own cabinet in the kitchen with all my cereal supplies in it. My diet was so out of balance I'd get spectacular nosebleeds.

I know people say "if it makes you happy" and I think that's fine to a point, but for me it can be a real problem that can effect my health. I've heard of food therapy but I have no idea how to even start.

If I eat out, it is almost always the exact same thing every time. Wawa and Subway, I'll get a meatball sandwich with cheese.
McDonalds, I'll get the AngusBurger with Swiss cheese and mushrooms.
Restaurants, I'll get the chicken fingers and cheese fries.
Interestingly I almost never seem to get tired of it, even though I've had it many times in a row.

It will be the same thing with meals. There are times I will have the exact same thing for about a week, and then if something differant shows up, I'll have that for the next week. Maybe it's an Aspie thing.