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
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?
In a similar vain, I’ve heard that if you’re hungry but can’t decide what to eat you’re actually thirsty.
Can be, yeah.
Tangentially related fact: dolphins never drink in the wild (what with the salt in the water), but get all their water from what they eat. When they’re given fresh water though, they will drink it, but this will “confuse” their metabolism and they won’t eat for days.
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?
Could be neurodivergent. I’ve ADHD and it’s an executive dysfunction disorder and I go through periods where I get really into a specific thing for days, I’ve definitely experienced hyperfixation on things like milkshakes or waffles, my current food fixation is cheesy chips because I’ve been unwell and haven’t had any for a long while.
My whole house does this. We’ll make something for dinner and the kids will decide that we should have it more often, and after about 3 weeks of adding it to the weekly rotation, they can’t stand it anymore.
But when it has been a year and then you “rediscover” an old favorite it gets added again and the cycle continues, right?
That’s what happens with me.
Any current favorites you want to share?
I can do that since I love certain foods but my wife absolutely cannot. She’s the exact opposite. She won’t make the same thing within a month. The closest she’ll come is left overs because she doesn’t want it to go to waste. The good thing out of that is that she’s learned to make a massive variety of foods from all over the world so we eat better than average. The downside is that we often have better food at home, it’s rare when a restaurant can out cook her, so we don’t eat out as often. Saves us a ton of money though.
The downside is that we often have better food at home, it’s rare when a restaurant can out cook her, so we don’t eat out as often
“my wife cooks me better food than restaurants, somehow this is a bad thing”
I know how it sounds, but it is kinda frustrating (in a #firstworldproblems way). We have the same issue, and there just soemthing that feels like a nice treat about going out to a restaurant, and it kinda spoils it if you feel “meh, it would be been nicer to just eat at home”. But overall, defintely happy with the situation!
I believe they call that ~ ~ a m b i e n c e ~ ~
Yeah, we’re cheap. Also, our ambiance at home is top notch too so …
You lucky dog!
Her mother was an amazing cook so I can’t say it didn’t help influence my decision to marry her. I am indeed blessed to be with her.
This happens in my house. I love to cook and like variety, different things all the time. When I want something I make it, everyone else is kinda just along for the ride. Like to eat out too but we do that once every couple months. Not entirely sure it’s saving that much money but good food is worth something too.
We have 3 kids. We probably save $50+ every meal by eating at home.
We are down to 2 now (blended family, most we had at home at once was 7, with 4 of those teenagers, who can EAT but can also work part time so cost is offset). You are probably right, I just made a decision to not squinch on groceries, that’s not where we try to save money so it always feels indulgent. I do grow some food, more for health/quality than savings.
But yeah we went out last night (just the two of us) for supper and a drink and it set us back about 4 whole days of groceries, that’s 4 breakfasts, 12 lunches, 16 suppers (not everyone eats every meal, but we all eat supper together usually). So yes. Even with expensive groceries we can feed 4 for the price of 1, same quality food.
No. But that’s probably why you need a dietitian.
Yeah, you are probably right. I just thought more people felt like that. Guess not, and that’s alright.
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.
Oh I hear you. My dietitian plans my meals for me and that can be both a blessing and a curse. I try to find middle ground between sticking to my meal plan and eating soup everyday lol.
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.
