6 Ways to Combat Food Boredom

by Gaby Olguin-Flores, RDN

One of the most underestimated benefits of food freedom has to do with food boredom and food apathy. When one can make peace with most or all foods, neutrality is typically the baseline experience with food since guilt and shame are rarely experienced after eating. This allows people to make their decisions about what food they’ll eat based in satisfaction, emotion, what they have access to, and their own rational thought. Food is no longer decided upon by their nutrition content alone or beliefs rooted in fear or shame. Food freedom naturally decreases intense cravings- remember, a craving is considered a hunger cue- which will be honored within a reasonable time frame for that person. Without intense cravings, food boredom or food apathy may be newer experiences to navigate within food freedom.

Food boredom is a universal human experience that occurs when one is stumped on what to eat because dishes they were using have lost some or most of its appeal from monotony. Food apathy can occur at any moment. This is when food is seen as something to cross off a checklist. Food is neither full of pleasure or full of disdain but more likely feels like a care task that one does not want to invest that much time in. Here are some strategies to consider when it's difficult to decide what to eat because boredom or apathy is the main hurdle.

1)      Use a Random Wheel Picker.

This is a strategy to consider when you know the different dishes you could make, but can’t decide what to pick. Type in what options you have and leave the rest to the tool. Even if you don’t like leaving the decision up to this tool, it may give insight into what you were hoping it would land on or at least help you decide what you definitely do not want to make for yourself.

https://tools-unite.com/tools/random-picker-wheel

2)      Reflect on your favorite foods from childhood.

Have you had any of your favorite foods from childhood in the past month or two? This is a great way to find a value of connection with food and bring some excitement back to a meal or snack. Maybe there was a favorite bakery that served special bread or pastries from when you were growing up. Maybe it was a grandparent’s dish that hit the spot. Even if there is little to no confidence to re-create any of the dishes, this can serve as inspiration to find copy-cat recipes online or seek out restaurants or businesses that can fulfill the task of re-creating that dish.

3)      Consider ordering take-out from a different cuisine you have not had in some time.

 Exploring different flavor combinations can be tricky when you fear they may not taste good. Therefore, consider checking Google or DoorDash reviews of different restaurants in the area to see what the most popular dish recommendation would be and consider ordering that. As added bonus, some take-out options usually provide enough food to have a meal and some leftovers.

4)      Take inventory of what you’re already eating and see if you can benefit from small yet impactful changes.

Here’s an example of this in action: Perhaps sandwiches are the most convenient and satiating option for one of your meals. See if changing up the bread for bakery bread, exploring other cheeses, a new aioli, or different topping combination can be the thing to help combat boredom within that meal time. Changing multiple things at once may feel like a burden, but condensing it to one meal time may be enough to see the value of those changes and give the encouragement to keep trying out different changes.

5)      Take a stroll through the freezer aisle.

Yes, you read that correctly. Processed foods get a bad reputation in mainstream media, however this does not mean we should restrict them or feel guilty for eating them. When fear mongering is centered around a food recommendation, that may be an indicator to heighten your critical thinking lens. If you are struggling to make peace with processed foods, I highly encourage listening to this podcast (it’s less than 20 minutes!) to ignite your curiosity and critical thinking when it comes to this necessary category of food https://christyharrison.com/foodpsych/9/processed-foods-the-food-environment-and-their-effects-on-intuitive-eating.

Nowadays, this aisle may have more cost effective ways than take-out to combat food boredom by providing a new entrée or side item or serve as inspiration. Worst case, you do not find any new entrée or side item that interests you and instead can take home a dessert that has reliably given satisfaction to have as your next snack or part of your next meal. 

6)      Check out some cookbooks from your local library.

I recommend this hack before anyone decides to buy a cookbook because not all of them are shelf-worthy. Most of us first learn so much about food through our eyes. During boredom, we can explore other food options by looking at recipes and the resulting food. If cookbooks aren’t for you, this can easily be transferred to scrolling through Pinterest, TikTok, or YouTube.

Hopefully this list can help the next time you’re experiencing food boredom or apathy. Remember at the end of the day, the best thing you can do in these moments is decide to start eating anyway. When you continue to nourish yourself consistently, your body continues to make the necessary hunger and fullness hormones that help signal when it’s time to start thinking about having food again. Skipping meals or snacks therefore skews those cues and increases food apathy even further. Good luck!