# Do any other foodies sometimes just get tired of food?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 28, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098 "2012-09-28T03:21:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 16\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/1 "2012-09-28T03:21:27Z")

</div>

I was curious if this is normal. Usually I love food, I spend a decent portion of my budget on it, and put a fair amount of effort into finding good food. Often unrelated conversations of only 5 minutes or so will make different ideas of restaurants I would like to go, or things I would like to make.

But like two three times a year for 4 or 5 days or a week the whole idea of food just seems tedious. There is just nothing in the realm of food that seems the slightest bit interesting or satisfying.

Pretty much since Monday I’ve been in one of those moods. I have no real desire to eat, and even less to put any effort at all into obtaining some. I have close to normal appetite, considering the lack of enthusiasm for the subject, So i doubt it’s medical. I’ll notice I’m pretty hungry and slap together some man-chow\*, and eat it , and go right back to not caring.  
It doesn’t seem correlated to general depression, or colds messing up my taste buds, just random times food doesn’t interest me.

Now part of it may be that living alone I don’t have to fake hurting anyone’s feelings, or playing along with a dinner trip to because someone else is looking forward to it etc so I just go along with it until It eventually passes and thing go back to normal for me. Anybody else do this?

- For me It’s PB&J sandwiches on home pride wheat bread. Ten seconds of assembly time, the stuff keeps forever so I have it around. Everyday since Monday I have had one at lunch, One when I get home from work, and one eveningish. I’ve had 15 PB&Js this week and nothing else because I never put a second of thought into it. That thought is what inspired this thread I realized I need to eat something different for health, even if it is insipid and joyless.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/2 "2012-09-28T03:59:15Z")

</div>

I get like that too. PB&J, boxed mac-n-cheese, plain pasta with some kind of jarred sauce. I love interesting food but some days I just feel lazy!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/3 "2012-09-28T12:54:25Z")

</div>

Sometimes there’s nothing better than bratwurst and zebra cakes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/4 "2012-09-28T13:58:06Z")

</div>

Yeah, all the time. I love food. I love cooking. I love eating. But at least several times a week, I just get lazy, throw in a Lean Cuisine, or put together a toast and bologna sandwich. Actually, that’s pretty much my breakfast and lunch every single day. I don’t bother with anything special or interesting. That’s just fuel time for me. Dinner is when I’ll generally cook–and cooking relaxes me–but if I’m having a particularly busy day, I’ll just throw in a frozen pizza and continue.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/5 "2012-09-28T17:42:05Z")

</div>

I get bored with food too, and will go for stretches like you do where it seems like a monumental effort to prepare anything or even go out. PB & J, cheese and/or lunch meat sandwiches, yogurt, even cheese and crackers. I keep some frozen dinners around. To get in some vegis and fruit I try to put romaine lettuce and tomatoes on any non-PB sandwich. Bananas. I cut up an apple, a pear and/or another fruit and put them in a baggie to grab all day. I do the same with baby carrots and celery. But sometimes even that seems like too much work.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/6 "2012-09-28T19:20:14Z")

</div>

I get bored with cooking sometimes, and I lose my appetite sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve had an appetite and been uninterested in _eating_ good food.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/7 "2012-09-28T19:25:28Z")

</div>

I get “sick of eating” alot. Sometimes nothing sounds good and you hate to have to worry about it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/8 "2012-09-28T19:54:09Z")

</div>

Yup. Somedays, it’s all I can do to throw a fropi in the cooking thing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/9 "2012-10-01T20:43:47Z")

</div>

This happens to me. I used to think it was related to bouts of mild depression, and while that does seem to explain some of it for me, there are other times where I just get sick of thinking about food. Then I eat popcorn, cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, and peanut butter toast. And then I think about how dang cheap it would be if I ate like that all the time. But I get sick of it pretty quickly.

I also get on kicks where I eat one thing almost exclusively. Cucumber tomato salad. Persimmons. Pasta salad. Tea and toast with jam. English muffins with brie and apples. Some type of food that feels absolutely perfect for the season and my sustained mood.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/10 "2012-10-01T21:01:36Z")

</div>

I don’t get tired of food so much as I get tired of putting a lot of effort into food. Most nights I come home and cook dinner and really try to make it great, but I worry so much that I’ll screw it up and it won’t be good that it’s kind of stressful. Sometimes I just can’t deal with that and we end up ordering Chinese.

I also get tired of making decisions about food. I loved this bit from Michael Lewis’s profile of the President in Vanity Fair:

> [@](#):
>
> You also need to remove from your life the day-to-day problems that absorb most people for meaningful parts of their day. “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions. It’s why shopping is so exhausting. “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.”

I find this to be true. When I win the lottery I’ll still do most of my own cooking, but I want a personal chef on standby for when I get exhausted of making decisions and just want someone to put some food in front of me.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/11 "2012-10-02T06:58:07Z")

</div>

I sometimes get tired of cooking, but there’s nearly always good cheese, crackers and pickles in the house, or a tin of sardines and bread for toasting - so I just go back to basics.

Most of my firm favourite foods are really simple anyway. If I get bored of food/cooking, it often means I’ve been trying too hard.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/12 "2012-10-02T07:16:14Z")

</div>

I have a daughter who does not eat meat, another one who is mildly lactose intolerant and I have discovered I can actually lose a little weight on a high protein, low carb diet. I stand in the grocery store some days and have absolutely no idea what to cook for dinner short of making a separate meal for each of us.

I LOVE food tho, good well made with fresh ingredients food. So I find that having all these restrictions and having tonthink about everything I put in my mouth takes all the fun out of it for me.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/13 "2012-10-02T09:04:19Z")

</div>

Famous working chefs, arguably some of the biggest foodies, eat Kraft mac n cheese and Oscar Mayer hotdogs sometimes. They’re not rolling out of bed after a killer shift and [frying a locally sourced egg over a wood fire](http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4867019n). I’d wager Cap’n Crunch is more likely.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/14 "2012-10-02T11:56:04Z")

</div>

Now that I have the deli, food is just part of my job. I rarely eat something that I’m craving. I just eat a lot of half sandwiches and cookies.

I keep hoping things will change when the heat goes away and I can enjoy a good stew. But for now, yeah, food is just fuel and work.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/15 "2012-10-02T12:20:59Z")

</div>

I’ve had many a cereal dinner. I’ll skip lunch if nothing inspires me.

I work with food. Sometimes I just get sick of looking at it, prepping it, cooking/baking it. Sometimes I get even sicker of the notion of eating it.

I go through this several times every year. There’s no rhyme nor reason to it. It never lasts longer than a couple of weeks, then snap back to business as usual until the next time.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-foodies-sometimes-just-get-tired-of-food/636098/16 "2012-10-03T01:34:54Z")

</div>

Not really actually. I spend most of my day cooking at work, and then come home and cook dinner for the kid. On my days off I tinker with beer, bread, or ice cream recipes. I’ll order pizza every now and again from a local place, but that’s more from lack of energy than being tired of it.

Now being too tired for food? That happens a lot. I’ll get so worn out after a shift that I eat just enough to satiate. Then the exhaustion takes over and it’s time for tea and some serious slacking.
