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People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

theatlantic.com

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Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#291

Post by barry-cotter »

cosmic_shame wrote: post #68
sureaboutthis wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure about the fish sauce or coconut milk but you need some fat in there to allow the nutrients from all the plants to be carried into the body. You might consider throwing an ounce or two of chicken in there. Otherwise most of it goes to waste.

Coconut milk is extremely fatty.

Even without that when you’re thinking about macronutrients you should be thinking at the level of at least a day, probably closer to a month. Even without the coconut milk the eggs and cheese from breakfast is plenty fat to ward off deficiency diseases.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#292

Post by barry-cotter »

Aramgutang wrote: post #281
hu3 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some time now I've been tempted to start eating eggs on a toast for breakfast daily so I'm curious: has this impacted your bad cholesterol?

The notion that dietary cholesterol affects blood cholesterol is outdated, and is not supported by evidence (with some exceptions, e.g. for diabetics). Modern nutrition advisories no longer recommend limiting cholesterol intake. Not OP, but I've been eating 3-4 eggs (usually hard- or soft-boiled, but occasionally scrambled with bacon or sausage, never with bread/toast though) almost every weekday morning for the past…

Dietary Cholesterol, Serum Lipids, and Heart Disease: Are Eggs Working for or Against You?

However, large-scale epidemiological studies have found only tenuous associations between the intake of eggs and cardiovascular disease risk. Well-controlled, clinical studies show the impact of dietary cholesterol challenges via egg intake on serum lipids is highly variable, with the majority of individuals (~ 2/3 of the population) having only minimal responses, while those with a significant response increase both LDL and HDL-cholesterol, typically with a maintenance of the LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#293

Post by Magi604 »

I've enjoyed reading about other people's quirky eating habits!

As for myself I have eaten the same thing for lunch for the past 2.5 years!

Chick and rice. Cooked in a crockpot in a 2-3 day batch. Before I used to use all kinds of sauces and spices and vegetables in it. These days I just use half a bottle of barbecue sauce. I do mix up the sauce every week though.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#294

Post by RobertRoberts »

elagost wrote: post #162
RobertRoberts wrote: post #98

I lived on the streets for a time as a teen. When I got off and had my first real place to live, I couldn't afford much. I had potatoes, butter (was like heaven) soy sauce and mustard. So that was my dinner for months. My co-workers thought I was crazy when I microwaved a potato and put soy sauce and mustard on it. I simply didn't have anything else. Later I got pickles and cheese (the greatest thing I had ever had u…

Even though it must have been very difficult, living a harder life seems to have given you a super power to transcend the silly little things that everyone else seems to care so much about. Personally I find I get wrapped up in the little things quite often, and only after do I really understand I wasted so much effort on something meaningless. I'm not suggesting trauma tourism, but I am interested in a way to broade…

The problem is that this experience wears off over time. I have to re-evaluate my problems even today. I think that if I hit extreme poverty again and went through this I would get something like a booster/refresher from the experience.

But, I do teach my kids how to appreciate things by simply not giving them too much to begin with. And I also intentionally choose, on a daily basis, to take less than I want (food control), put the music a tiny bit lower than I want (protect my ears), etc...

When I get angry at something, I say to myself, "what is the truth here?" And if I am honest, most of the time the problem is really me. When I see that, I then force myself to evaluate what is really going on, and I look really hard for the feeling I want to have.

One of the first things I did to start this was to remind myself there are people I have met with far less than I have and were happier. Pictures of kids in Africa with toy cars made out of rusty wire. One kid looked 18, and he was posing quite pleased with his creation.

I feel like the biggest battle I face now is complacency. So if you can choose to remove things from your life that give you pleasure, for the express purpose of changing an environment that fights against you making progress, then do it.

A couple weeks ago I quit coffee "again". My thought process is "choose something really, really good, not what your heart wants." I really like coffee, but I over do it and I get sick eventually. But I really enjoy hot chocolate (organic sugar, homemade syrup), and I can drink it all day and not have any bad side effects.

The real super power is built a little at a time, with practice. At first, I just "delayed" having coffee. Then later, I took less coffee than I want. All the while saying "this isn't good for you, you are going to make a better choice". Not lying to myself, but also not making an excuse.

Encourage yourself to always face the truth, that is the start. Then if you say something to yourself, that is a very real action. Eventually you will do something outside your head. Something small, something doable. Keep doing that every day and you can change anything.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#295

Post by RobertRoberts »

peterlk wrote: post #237
elagost wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even though it must have been very difficult, living a harder life seems to have given you a super power to transcend the silly little things that everyone else seems to care so much about. Personally I find I get wrapped up in the little things quite often, and only after do I really understand I wasted so much effort on something meaningless. I'm not suggesting trauma tourism, but I am interested in a way to broade…

To me, this feeling comes from knowing where the bottom is. This is different from person to person. For me, the bottom is being beaten by my drug dealer in a run down building with nowhere to go. I have never visited this place, but I know people who have. The further from the bottom you are, the more you get to live it up.

This is an important lesson, learn from other people's mistakes.

The things I will absolutely not screw up again, ever, are the things I really, really suffered from. But then I could apply this to seeing how other people destroyed their lives, and use the pain I already have to protect me from those mistakes too.

Was it Ben Franklin that said "experience is the worst way to learn"? (I think it's in reference to making bad decisions)

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#296

Post by RobertRoberts »

Qwertystop wrote: post #155
RobertRoberts wrote: post #98

I lived on the streets for a time as a teen. When I got off and had my first real place to live, I couldn't afford much. I had potatoes, butter (was like heaven) soy sauce and mustard. So that was my dinner for months. My co-workers thought I was crazy when I microwaved a potato and put soy sauce and mustard on it. I simply didn't have anything else. Later I got pickles and cheese (the greatest thing I had ever had u…

I've been lucky enough never to be in a situation like yours (not having the money for food that isn't in the vicinity of the cheapest), but since the first time my college dorm had a kitchen I've been making an effort to keep food costs low (with a more recent additional shift away from meat), and I've come to a similar realization. Even when the option for something more is always there, keeping my standard meals s…

Remind yourself of this lesson in the future, as in my experience, these feelings can be dulled over time or through neglect.

I have also spent time cooking a specific meal (the same one) over and over again at home tweaking it to get it to be as good, or better, than the restaurant, so I can have the same experience without the expense.

But also, it's funny how simple foods can be satisfying. I've been around some really rich people that are total food snobs and I feel a little sorry for them. They can't enjoy homemade or simple foods.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#297

Post by RobertRoberts »

thunderbong wrote: post #222
RobertRoberts wrote: post #98

I lived on the streets for a time as a teen. When I got off and had my first real place to live, I couldn't afford much. I had potatoes, butter (was like heaven) soy sauce and mustard. So that was my dinner for months. My co-workers thought I was crazy when I microwaved a potato and put soy sauce and mustard on it. I simply didn't have anything else. Later I got pickles and cheese (the greatest thing I had ever had u…

Thanks for that. It brought back some memories! One point though, looking back at both those phases of my life, I noticed that I became aware of my snobbery only after I could afford everything, not while I was going through the tough times.

Yah, that is my experience as well. And it wasn't right away, it crept up on me slowly, and it was hard to come back from a little. But I knew it was from the old saying "a luxury once tasted becomes a necessity."

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#298

Post by RobertRoberts »

kzrdude wrote: post #167
RobertRoberts wrote: post #98

I lived on the streets for a time as a teen. When I got off and had my first real place to live, I couldn't afford much. I had potatoes, butter (was like heaven) soy sauce and mustard. So that was my dinner for months. My co-workers thought I was crazy when I microwaved a potato and put soy sauce and mustard on it. I simply didn't have anything else. Later I got pickles and cheese (the greatest thing I had ever had u…

Thoughtful! Also thanks for the reminder about microing potatoes, it totally works (and tastes something between boiled and baked).

My pleasure, I do wonder if there's something to be concerned about microwaving food... a concern for another day.

I found too that if I put a bowl/cover over the potato, it steams it as well, and cooks faster and is more moist.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#299

Post by RobertRoberts »

ip26 wrote: post #179
RobertRoberts wrote: post #98

I lived on the streets for a time as a teen. When I got off and had my first real place to live, I couldn't afford much. I had potatoes, butter (was like heaven) soy sauce and mustard. So that was my dinner for months. My co-workers thought I was crazy when I microwaved a potato and put soy sauce and mustard on it. I simply didn't have anything else. Later I got pickles and cheese (the greatest thing I had ever had u…

FWIW humans need more than potato & soy sauce in their diet to be healthy long term, so at least for that part wanting more doesn't seem like snobbery. (You can subsist on potatoes, and you can even do it for a while- but for example young children develop deformities if they lack certain vitamins, which potatoes do not have)

If you haven't ever lived at subsistence level you may not understand what you are facing in reality. Food is food, better to have a deformity than to be dead.

There are tons of greens in everyone's backyard in America right now that you can eat. Half the weeds in your yard are editable and would fill in all the missing nutrients.

Education is the problem here, maybe not so much resources. (unless famine?)

But also, when I eat the same meal every day, I do feel a certain hunger for other things after awhile, so I don't disagree about nutrients.

Re: People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day

#300

Post by RobertRoberts »

dustindiamond wrote: post #174
RobertRoberts wrote: post #98

I lived on the streets for a time as a teen. When I got off and had my first real place to live, I couldn't afford much. I had potatoes, butter (was like heaven) soy sauce and mustard. So that was my dinner for months. My co-workers thought I was crazy when I microwaved a potato and put soy sauce and mustard on it. I simply didn't have anything else. Later I got pickles and cheese (the greatest thing I had ever had u…

One of my favorite meals is a plain hotdog bun with yellow mustard.

Nostalgia from childhood? Or are you currently not doing very well? There's more places to find help than you can imagine.

Let me know if you stuck, and I can post some resources.

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