I know a fair amount of adult people on a spectrum from hating and refusing to eat any leftovers to not liking eating something more than a few times form the same batch. If you are on this spectrum, what is it about eating leftovers that bothers you?
For context, I like eating new foods and trying new dishes, but I can eat the same things repetitively for a long time (at least a few months at a time). I make fresh batches, but I could make a week’s worth of food, eat it over that week, then make it again, and not have any issue with it. What reason, logical or not, do people have for disliking doing that?
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No idea if this is true or not, but my lived experience says:
People who cook: Will eat same thing a few days in a row, freeze and bust out later in the week, reuse the same protein in three different meals
People who don’t cook: Won’t eat leftovers multiple days in a row. Want a whole fresh meal prepared for their poor, helpless self constantly.
My answer (outside of people with medical conditions) is entitlement and privilege.
For me, it really comes down to variety and texture. Eating the same meal repeatedly can get pretty dull, especially when the flavors start to blend or feel “stale” after a few days.
I also find that leftovers can sometimes lose their initial charm, and the texture can change in a way that just doesn’t seem appetizing. like when food gets soggy or overcooked. It’s not that I have anything against leftovers, but I really crave that sense of novelty and freshness to keep my meals exciting.
I like to cook and usually make enough for myself and my wife to have two meals. We’ll obviously eat meal 1 on day 1. Then I’ll make something else day 2. Then finish meal 1 day 3.
It’s not that I don’t like eating the same food 2 days in a row, I just like some variety.
Pizza is an exception. I will eat pizza breakfast, lunch, and dinner until it’s all gone 🤣
I love variety, but I hate wasting food and will eat any and all leftovers as long as they are still edible. I still can’t bring myself to food-prep though for the week, even though I KNOW I should because I hate cooking, and I should just bang out 4-5 meals on a Sunday and throw it in the fridge.
I just need a girl in my life to hit me in the head and force me to do it lol (ideally do it together, with music…and wine, and other things)
I just get bored of it. After 1-2 of the same meal, I look at the leftovers and just feel no desire to eat them.
There was a point in my life where, whilst working 3 jobs I was only eating 1 meal a day and that meal was the same for about a full year – two egg sandwhiches, 2 eggs each, mayo, ketchup, cheese and hot sauce on toasted Italian bread.
Filling, nutritious, long-lasting energy.
Everyone around me thought I was crazy but I swear by it.
“how can you eat the same thing every day and not get tired of it?” was a question I heard an awful lot. Short answer is because it was fucking good, fairly cheap, very nutritious provided you can burn off the excess, and I just didn’t have the time for much else.
That’s what I used to do. I’d cook up a weeks worth of dinner, say 5 or 6 steaks, some veggies & whatever else on Sunday, then come home from work, toss that nights dinner in the microwave to heat up.
I’ve eaten lettuce, grilled chicken, onions and feta for the past 5 weeks. Haven’t developed a single ab, but I’m getting used to it.
I just get bored of it. I definitely have foods I eat on a weekly basis, but I can’t eat something more than 2-3 days in a row, depending on what it is.
ADHD here with good sensory issues.
I can’t eat the same thing for days, the mouth feel of the food feels funny and will make me feel sick. If the leftovers aren’t frozen immediately then they need to be eaten the next day, at latest the following because I get worried about food poisoning.
So basically it makes me feel sick is the answer and makes me want to vomit or never eat again so I stop before getting that far
I am not on the spectrum, but I do have ADHD, and whether or not I can eat leftovers seems to be completely random. There are some things that I can easily eat over and over, like if I had a large Chinese meal, I might split it up into three days worth of food. But then there are other times where I might order the same exact dish, and then the moment I’m done eating the first portion (like literally within minutes of being full) just the SMELL of the meal I was just eating makes my stomach clutch like I might vomit.
I have no understanding of why sometimes its fine and why sometimes it’s not, but I suspect that it may have something to do with where I am in my menstrual cycle. It’s not like I want to waste food – and luckily I have a husband that will eat my left overs for me. It also seems to be more of a problem with food with strong flavors, such as garlic and onion and heavy spices. It’s like it’s just too much, and the thought of eating more of it makes me physically ill.
It physically repels me.
I usually don’t like eating the same food for more than 2, maybe 3 days in a row – with very few exceptions. It makes me feel sick. There are also some foods I don’t like eating as leftovers, like for example boiled meat, especially if it’s on the bone – it just tastes funky.
It gets boring to the point of nauseating. I can’t even drive the same way every day because I get sick of it
Leftovers taste different and have a different enough texture. I can do leftover pizza but not much else.
Also, leftovers often have more histamines, which autists can be more sensitive to. (I promise this is a real thing- google it.)
That said, I probably eat repeats far more than the average person- I like predictable food. Just not if it’s been refrigerated and reheated.
I don’t really get sick of the same meals over and over but it’s best for your health to eat a variety so I make that for the family. However one cooking hack I use all the time is always make more than the family can eat so another of the meals goes in the freezer. My future self will be so grateful on busy days that I can take out and thaw a previously baked lasagna or pan of enchiladas
For me it is usually breakfast, lunch, and dinner if i have left overs. If it is in my fridge for 2-3 days still it is going in the freezer or trash at that point. Due to it about to go bad or i am tired of eating it and want something else assuming i have the option for something else if not i am eating it.
Single and no kids. I definitely buy the exact same thing every week at the store. I eat once a day. Same meal everyday. It’s just food. I eat it and I’m good to go. Just need a bit of substance.
Picky eater here. They don’t taste the same and sometimes reheating foods change the texture too. And it gets boring after 2 same meals.
Was talking about this the other day and our half baked think tank came to a conclusion that these people that cannot stand eating the same meal are those who “eat to eat” not for sustenance but rather the conditioned ritual.
My broke upbringing has me with a smile ready to eat tuna fish sandwiches until the mercury turns my pale ass into a thermometer. All the while my well off friend wont reheat pasta because the sauce don’t sauce the same. what ever that means.
Comes down to access in my book. My flair for flavor was what bread are we using for sandwiches. White Wonder Bread or Don’t Wonder we have no bread
I can eat the same thing for months on end, but I can also totally see how other people would get bored with that and want something different.
I like to eat freshly made food.
I don’t like leftovers at all. Especially, meat being reheated. It has a weird taste to it.
I can do leftovers 3 days max! I like variety in some way. Like I could do chicken for a week but would need 2 different flavors! I like to eat for satisfaction as well as sustenance….i guess this has more to do with the former…
I don’t mind the concept of leftovers at all, but I do struggle with eating the EXACT same leftovers more than once or twice. For me, there are a few reasons:
1.) Reheating and refrigeration can change the texture, making it a less-good version of the thing you’re kinda expecting.
2.) Fridge smell/taste getting into the food, if it hasn’t been stored in something airtight. Worst!
3.) After three-ish days, I start to get paranoid about food safety. Yes, I know it’s PROBABLY fine. But what if—
4.) Just regular ol’ boredom. There’s really nothing thrilling about something you’ve eaten for the past two days. Champagne problems, but sometimes, the effort of heating it up just doesn’t feel worth it, so I just won’t eat. If there’s something easy I can do to mix it up, then maybe. But otherwise? Meh.
This isn’t prison or some sort of test. The whole thing with life is it’s a mix and one day I’ll eat some eggs, the next day overnight oats.
I cannot predict what Thursday me wants to eat and I certainly don’t want to eat the same dinner all week.
I will however keep some options in the house.
So let’s say I’ll make a nice Sunday pot roast. On Tuesday I’m going use that leftover meat and make tacos with some fresh rice.
If I make salmon then I’ll make sushi bake with the leftovers.
It’s still frugal but I’m not eating 5 of the same thing.
Eating the rainbow over the week is the goal right? Several cups of vegetables every single day? Our bodies need a variety of nutrients yeah? It’s nonsensical to eat the same thing every day.
I agree with the comment that food changes over many days, some things like soup lending to longer use life but most things are best only for a few days.