As stated above. I can go months without eating an egg, for example, and suddenly crave eggs benedict for breakfast everyday.
Good thing is my dietitian is aware of this executive dysfunction/quirk/habit and works closely with me to help me out planning meals in a way that works me.
Right now I am on a soup kick: Soup, soup, soup everyday, all day.
ETA A word
Every week or month. My solution is to keep less food and buy whatever I want at the time.
I would love to be able to do that, like just get up in a whim and get whatever I fancy.
I don’t find it worthwhile to spend mental energy thinking about food, so I eat the same things constantly (though I occasionally change the menu). My wife doesn’t like eating the same thing more than a couple of times in a row, so she always wants to make something different, but is constantly stressing about what to plan for meals. She reinforces my view that food planning is not worth mental energy.
I sympathise! Meal planning, buying ingredients, realising you messed up and now half your vegetables have rotten, etc is a nightmare. I do envy people who can just get into a routine and eat the same stuff. But I defintely crave variety, and I feel like what I eat each day is probably two thirds of the joy I experience. I’d defintely go without hobbies, activities or possessions to eat slightly nicer food. Eating a nice meal with people you love feels like the pinacle of life experiences for me, and luckily it’s one you can do multiple times a day!
Learn to improvise. Make something with what you have in the fridge so it doesn’t rot. You don’t need to plan every meal exactly.
Oh I improvise, and I never really plan meals beyond grabbing stuff at the shop. I try to use stuff up before it goes off, and am willing to eat stuff even when it’s past it’s best. When I have time I try to make stuff even just to freeze for later, but that’s hard with a packed schedule.
But it’s not easy, and sometimes I’m jealous of people who are satisfied with eating things repeatedly and eating to a routine. Since I love food, and love eating different things, I need to buy a good variety of fresh ingredients. But I’m disorganised and not good at going to market, visiting the butcher, etc. So we end up running out of food and just eating the same old things or stuff from the freezer. Or I buy too much when I go out, and then a week later the reblochon is stinking up the fridge, but I can’t make tartiflette until we eat the salmon which is now kinda out of date but I don’t have time to make a proper shellfish stock til the weekend…
Balancing “tasty food” + “limited waste” is easy if you work out a clear plan and stick to it. But either you have to do that once and give up on variety, or plan and organise every week and that’s well above my executive function level.
Doing smaller shopping trips but more often can help, but i know that isn’t practical for many people.
I do relate to the problem. I wish there was a magic fridge that would remind me what’s in it and needing to get used up soon.
I like that you call it “feeding” like you’re an agricultural animal that your dietitian cares for.
Yeah basically lol. Sometimes I feel like just eating “ingredients”, sometimes I feel like ordering something and sometimes I can cook and eat a proper meal. Just keeping it real.
I can totally relate to just eating ingredients. I was just talking with coworkers about eating deconstructed sandwiches, so basically just slices of deli meat, cheese and some toast. You might want to look into getting some unflavored/unsweetened Huel? I get a bag every few months and when I feel like I’ve slacked on nutrition I’ll make a shake of it since its got all the micronutrients I’m probably missing. Always makes me feel better. Best of luck!
Will look into that. Thanks!
“dysfunction”?
Our bodies tell us what we need. Not all cravings are signs of something necessary missing, like aa craving for candy or cigarettes or coffee. But a craving for candy could be a sign of just body needing carbohydrates of some form (and just thinking of the easiest way to get them), or a craving for stimulants being a need for sleep, but us consciously knowing we can’t so brain turns to alternatives.
The two common reasons for craving eggs are underlying vitamin B-12 or vitamin D deficiencies.
Do you notice that these cravings happen in the winter (less sun = less vitamin D) perhaps? And perhaps during the summer months, less so?
Growing up with an eating disorder fucks up hunger cues among other things, then add food insecurity to the mix and it gets complicated. Intuitive eating doesn’t work for some people.
Yes but getting cravings, in general, does not a dysfunction make.
Especially if there’s an easily fixable underlying issue. Like how many people reading this recognise themselves to have a weird thing about chewing ice? At least on occasion?
It’s pretty common and an indicator of possible anemia.
I agree with you that craving something is not a dysfunction. I was makig a reference to my own executive dysfunction and how it interferes with meals/feeding but I think I didn’t do it properly. Language barrier and what not.
By “executive dysfunction”, do you mean sometimes craving eggs?
Are you getting enough vitamin D?
Good thing is my dietitian is aware of this executive dysfunction/quirk/habit and works closely with me to help me out planning meals in a way that works me.
This is like a reverse image of How the Other Half Lives but I’m the poor person.
Yeah, “easy solution, just hire a dietician!” Okay let me just scrape up some coins from between the couch cussions and I’ll be good. …what do you mean that’s not enough?
What you can’t afford truffles and chanterelles?
If you’re not having Eggs Woodhouse every day, are you even trying?
I’m a beans and rice kind of person right now haha. I’m trying to find as many ways to make cheap rice edible and nutritious as I can. Tomorrow I’m going to try to make onigiri and freeze a bunch for the whole week/month.
