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People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

theatlantic.com

211–220 of 350 posts

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#211

My view on food is relatively simple: Life is way too short for boring food. I could not imagine eating the same thing every day. That's not to say I eat a completely new-to-me meal every day. When I was single, I would cook and then eat the same meal 3-4 days in a row, but I would change it up every week. Now, what we (my girlfriend and I) usually do is cook and bake on Sundays, then freeze about half and eat the re…

Just curious as to why you say bread with 'minimal yeast', particularly after listing sourdough?

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#212
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a ton of sugar and carbs to me with barely any protein...

Nuts & cheese contain protein. And whole pineapple chunks is not "just sugar", I thought it was pretty well established that whole fruit is not comparable to soda. Although I guess in fairness depending on the can you buy, some have a fair amount of added sugar in the form of juices & syrups.

canned fruit can have a lot of added sugar though

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#213
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to chose to eat things I don't want. Is that what your are saying? cuz I want sugar.

I think you are the one trying to say something but I can't figure out exactly what.

I don't choose what I want, I choose what I do. And I do it in spite of what I want (sugar).

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#214
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meta-variety is a novel concept. Perhaps we should look out for that more in our lives.

I believe the statisticians would call this heteroscedasticity. But meta-variety certainly easier to remember ;)

Meta-variety is like the variance of variances.

Heteroscedasticity is like changing variance.

Nice! I hadn't thought about that.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#215
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an aside, I save ~$1300 a year by bringing in lunch, and ~$550 per year in breakfast, in addition to controlling portions and nutrition. If I had been doing that for the past 10 years I could buy a new car by now, or put a pretty decent chunk into retirement. I now find it absolutely bizarre how many people at work go out for lunch.

I wondered the same thing (how do so many people buy lunch daily) but concluded - at the time and the context I was observing it - that there were two main factors. Number 1 was social. People went out for lunch in groups, and it was an "enforced" break in the day. It's a cultural issue that can be hard to replicate for "lunch bringers" in some places. Not so fun to eat alone in a drab lunch room if your friends and…

Number 3 might be exercise. If you live in a cold weather city, you can't eat outside all year (i.e. bringing lunch and walk to a park and eating). Walking to and from lunch might be 3,000 steps.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#216
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So this actually increased the meta-variety of my eating Wait... did you just take the second derivative of your lunch?

Keep taking derivatives and you'll end up with rice krispies...

Turtle soup all the way down...

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#217
I did the same thing for a year before I got married. I ate my lunch and dinner at a Panera bread next to work place - 5 days a week. I ate half a cup of tomato soup, half a vegetarian sandwich and an apple. I lost nearly 20 pounds over a 1 year period. Infact the team at Panera knew me personally so many times, by the time i paid for my meal it was ready for me to eat. I had a fixed workout/running and meal routine.

My wife hates the monotony but i love the daily structure. I have put on 35 pounds.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#218
post #202

When my daughter was born during the recession, my wife and I went through a stretch where money was pretty tight. One obvious expense to cut was eating out for lunch every weekday. So I switched to bringing in lunch. For several months, I brought the same thing: granola, yogurt, and chopped melon. I love food and love variety, so I was really surprised to discover that I simply didn't get tired of it or resentful. E…

> One obvious expense to cut > was eating out for lunch > every weekday Honestly amazed this is the default position for anyone. What situation of living prompts this?

Cooking quickly becomes a bad time/value proposition when you're cooking for one, so that's part of the equation. And some of us value the enjoyment of many good meals over say, having a newer car. I planned to include daily lunches in my budget before I even left college (couldn't afford it at the time). I don't regret it one bit.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#219
post #115

When my daughter was born during the recession, my wife and I went through a stretch where money was pretty tight. One obvious expense to cut was eating out for lunch every weekday. So I switched to bringing in lunch. For several months, I brought the same thing: granola, yogurt, and chopped melon. I love food and love variety, so I was really surprised to discover that I simply didn't get tired of it or resentful. E…

Meta-variety is a novel concept. Perhaps we should look out for that more in our lives.

Perhaps it shares a root with serendipity?

Both seem related to a kind of intelligent mindfulness.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#220
post #210
post #22

Article doesn't mention it, but I suspect one benefit is weight control. If you eat something different every day, it's hard to be mindful of consuming too many calories. Especially given the high levels of fructose corn syrup in just about everything. You can go broke even with a high paying job if you don't manage expenses. You can also get fat eating all the right foods but in too much quantity.

In "The 4-Hour Body" Tim Ferriss recommends eating the same meal [from Chipolte!] every day as part of his "slow carb" diet. I have no idea how long he sticks to his own advice though.

Approximately until it stops selling.
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