to eat the same breakfast and lunch every single day?

[NorthernGirlie]

I didn't realise it was weird until a colleague pointed it out. Disclaimer - the colleague is a friend, we were just chatting - she wasn't criticising!

Every week I pot up 5 lots of overnight oats (literally just oats and a spoon of trail mix) and have 1 a day for breakfast

I cook a chicken on a Sunday and have a chicken, pease pudding and stuffing sandwich every day for lunch.

I use the rest of the chicken in a family meal, sometimes dh will make himself a sandwich with it.

I've been doing this for about 2 years straight. Every single work day - never given it a thought!

How weird am I?

I have the same breakfast and lunch everyday, sometime I swap them so have the usual breakfast for lunch, and the lunch for breakfast. Have a different dinner though, and mix up my fruit and snacks. Easy and I don’t have to think about it when I’m prepping my breakfast and lunch which I take to work and eat there

It's delicious, and very easy to make - I often make my own.

It's fab in a sandwich with ham, or fried, or just in it's "raw state" - and it makes a wonderful thickener for soup.

As you say, was once a common foodstuff for the less, immortalised in the old rhyme

Pease porridge hot
Pease porridge cold
Pease porridge in the pot
Nine days old.

Some like it hot
Some like it cold
Some like it in the pot
Nine days old.

😂

I think a lot of people do this, especially people with better things to think about 😏 it sounds good money wise as well and you’re having different evening meals

I am extremely lazy when it comes to food so yes I do the same.

Although I am less imaginative than you if that is possible. For example, if I get hungry for lunch, if there were leftovers of things I would eat them straight out of the fridge.

At uni I ate a bowl of bran flakes with skim milk and banana for breakfast, and a cheese pickle and tomato sandwich for lunch with an apple every day for three years.

If you want to optimise your health then diversity of fruit and vegetables in your diet is very important. I cant imagine eating the same thing every day but each to their own. Not the healthiest way to live but there are worse things.

If I went on a date with someone and they casually mentioned that they'd eaten the same breakfast and the same lunch every day for the past two years it's the kind of thing I'd report back to the group chat. For some reason I'd assume they were a bit of a scaredy stick-in-the-mud.

But if it brings you joy etc.

Do whatever suits you. Personally, I couldn’t imagine eating a chicken on Friday that I cooked on Sunday,

your routine eliminates decision fatigue so I can see why you do it, if it works for you, great

Its a bit like Steve Jobs who used to wear a black turtle neck and jeans every day ( maybe he varied in the summer), wearing the same thing freed up his mind to focus on more important decisions

My combined breakfast/lunch is the same every workday, pretty much - chilli salmon, rice, tamari, sesame seeds and any variety is in what salad veg comes with it. ?Occasionally DP gets a bit bored and I end up opening my bento box to find smoked mackerel or tuna/GF pasta and he surpassed himself this week by adding a second layer full of prawn and avocado maki. And I've got shiro miso and seaweed sachets at work if I want something warm.

The evening meal, though - that has to be different every time.

I have the same breakfast every day I’m working - blueberries, grapes and natural yogurt (yeo valley Greek yogurt to be precise).

Lunch is always leftovers - from one of the two precious nights. Everyone I work with eats leftovers for lunch so I assume that is what most people do?

I absolutely love food - and cooking! Ds and I just made a gorgeous pasta dish we saw on tiktok (roasted tomatoes and garlic in the airfryer, blended it with basil... served with chicken and salad)

Yesterday dh cooked steak and we had that with piles of mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli.

It's just become a habit. I potted up 5 lots of oats without even thinking about it earlier while the air fryer was on 🙈

I've decided to only use the chicken up till Thursday though. Even though I've been doing the Friday thing for ages I'm a bit nervous now!

I've prepped a veg and lentil soup for 2m night so I'll throw the spare chicken in there.

I did think about having salad or coleslaw in with my sandwiches this week but then the pease pudding and stuffing would go off before I used it all! 🙈

Awesome!

You’re not weird, but spare a thought for your poor gut biome! By having such a limited range of food you are effectively decreasing the efficacy of your own body to protect and heal itself, so mix it up even if you’re fine with the same food most days for your own health. Leafy greens like spinach and kale, berries and legumes all a must!

Not weird at all, I’d eat that.

My elderly DF eats and drinks exactly the same food every day. He is on the spectrum, and if he can't manage to have the same food every day, it's a really big deal.

So much less thought required if you do this, which I do, with a seasonal variation.
Winter: No breakfast, soup followed with fruit. Apple and grapes.
Spring/Autumn: No breakfast, bagel or thin with ham and philly followed by fruit.
Summer: No breakfast, lunchbox of ham salad made with a spoonful of coleslaw for dressing, followed by fruit.

I make my lunches either once for the full week on a Sunday or twice (Sun and Wed) to save time.

I bought the same jumper 3 times (2 different sizes off Vinted, such a bargain). Thanks for mentioning this, I thought it was just me with some weird OCD stuff going on.
Love my jumpers.

Pease pudding? When I google it looks like some weird porridge thing, how does that go in a sandwich?! I’m confused!
sounds boring every single day but you’re the one eating it!

Good you are mixing it up and ditching extended use of the chicken (but if cooked on Sunday wouldn't be eating it after Tuesday at the latest!)

It's a lot of meat, what about some veggie days? Oily fish?

If you’re weird. that makes me weird too!! Could start a club🤣😂

what bread are you using for your sandwich?

Check the ingredients and it has emulsifiers, you have done bad to your health these two years… If not, if you like it, no reason to change it! Not a perfect diet as there is not variety but it could be worse too.

I mean I get it’s easy but it’s not how most people eat and it’s not that healthy to have so little variation in your diet.

It's fine. When I worked in a nearby city I had a caramel bar and coffee on the train for breakfast (yes, I know....) and a tuna and cucumber baguette from the canteen for lunch.

Now I work flexibly and mainly from home. Breakfast is Special K red berries. Lunch can vary - if it's cold I might make a cheese toastie or ravioli on toast, otherwise a bought tuna and cucumber baguette is my favourite. If pushed I can make a tuna sandwich but it is extra effort.

We like what we like. Why would we need to change it?

I aspire to your level of workplace snacking. Shiro miso and seaweed sachets for something warm? Well, I was congratulating myself on remembering to bring in my own teabags.