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 wish posters would stop telling the OP about the lack of variety being unhealthy - she's talking about only 2 of her 3 meals in the day.....

We've no idea what the third is nor what her snacks her - she could be eating plenty of fruit and veg in those!

Well, to be fair, 98% of the easy shit that's sold in the UK contains gluten, oats and/or dairy, so I'm not really in the position to chow down on the biscuits or crisps/anything sold in the canteen at all (their 'oh, of course we can accommodate' means something with fake meat and a list of ingredients which invariably includes barley at the end) or the corner shop that is the only other place selling food within 45 minutes' walk. The rest of the day consists of shit black coffee, usually drunk cold.

If it were easier to get myself fed, I'd be scarfing down cheese and onion pasties and things like hoisin duck wraps because I wouldn't have issues with nutrient absorption - or a gut of doom.

I know a number of people who do this. Ds1 also often eats the same things when he caters.

I couldn't stand it, I need variety, not just for breakfast but for lunch and dinner as well . I do believe it's important to get different nutrients aswell, broccoli, spinach, carrots, etc.

For breakfast I have so many things, toast and pate, youghurt and fruit, a pink grapefruit, eggs, etc.

oh, I wasn’t being snarky - sorry! Just impressed by your choices as I’m someone with a far from impressive diet. Agree with you on the poor choices available for anyone with GF diets or coeliacs and so on - it doesn’t really feel like a priority sadly for many workplaces.

I don't understand how fruit for breakfast wouldn't leave you starving by 10am.

Your other food sounds really nice OP. The fact you vary your evening meals makes it all the more normal. I'm still obsessed with skate wing and capers. Had 2 pieces last night. I'm craving it again...
Going to have to try pease pudding with roast chicken soon!

I know someone who has exactly the same thing for dinner every night. I can't think of anything worse, even if it was my favourite food! But each to their own, its not affecting anyone else. My only thought was if the chicken is still ok by the Friday!

What do you have please - would love some ideas

Could you please tell us what you have

If you enjoy it, then go for it. I don't mind eating the same thing over and over, either. If your meals are nutritious, and your lunch, at least, certainly is, don't give it another thought.

I'm sorry, but I am at a loss to understand how you can possibly know what my profession is? I'd much rather you just disagree with what I said than to assume I don't belong to any of the professions you've just listed. It may take longer to eat a salad but it certainly doesn't take so long that it can use up a whole lunch break.
if there's no lunch break or there has to be eating on the hoof, it's understandable, but otherwise, my original observation still stands.

Egg sandwich for breakfast, corned beef sandwich for lunch. Every day since 2008.

Oats raise ypur blood sugar first thing in the morning and are not good For you either though.

I would disagree with this. Oats are low on the glycemic index which means they take longer to digest so don't result in a blood sugar spike (unless you are buying the super-processed version which has been "predigested").

I buy the same clothes too and people must wonder if I only have one or two outfits! Same with shoes, though they are sometimes different colours. Have bought two lovely identical cotton jumpers this year which will last for ages.

Me too. Not interested in clothes and saves any decision making every day😊

Definitely this

What are you on about? What’s this thing about demonising oats???

Same here.
Breakfast on weekdays is always:
Greek yoghurt
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Flax seed
Pumpkin, chia and sunflower seeds
Goji berries
Turmeric

Weekday lunches are always:
Green salad
Beetroot
Radishes
Hard boiled egg
Tinned sardines or mackerel
Cherry tomatoes
A pear or apple.

Dinners always different, mostly a hellofresh/Gousto type meal always cooked from scratch.

I'm 54 and trying to eat as healthier as I can whilst still enjoying my food.

I usually manage the 30 different plant-based foods in a week.

At the weekends things definitely start to slide.....

I find keeping to a standard set of breakfasts and lunches during the week with minimal seasonal variation really helps me keep off the weight I worked so hard to lose a couple of years ago. It means I know my calorie intake for the day and then can use the evening meal which is shared with my family and weekends for variety.

@NorthernGirlie sounds like a great way to stay full & not lose time making decisions or having faffy food prep to me!

It would be relatively easy to up the content to cover a good 25 or so different fruit & veg options a week with little 'extras' if you wanted to though.

For example, you could do 5 different jars of the 'trail mix' you add & have different mixes of dried fruit/nuts/seeds in each to make it easy to add different items each day into your core oats pot (cranberries/apricots/prunes/dates/raisins/mango/cherries/walnuts/almonds/ hazelnuts/pecans/sunflower/ pumpkin/linseed/pine nuts etc)

And with lunch just adding a bit of sliced red pepper, or mushrooms, or cucumber, or jarred beetroot, or a spoonful of kimchi, or a handful of cherry tomatoes to your sandwich would help your gut biome out still further.

Add in an apple/pear/satsuma/banana/ handful of grapes on rotation & you've got 7 fruit & veg a day (variety, not portion size ;) before you've even hit dinner!

You spread it, like soft cheese.

It's really nice!

But despite the rhyme, it's probably best not to keep it for 9 days.

Damn right!

RESPECT THE PORRIDGE!!! 😡

Not weird. I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday because, for me, they are purely functional meals (bit like watering a plant to keep going really), and like you say, one less thing to think about, whereas my evening meals are the pleasurable ones that vary a lot.