It's so easy to fall into an eating rut. Having the same breakfast, lunch,or dinner day in and day out offers convenience and comfort: No need to thinkabout what to eat or where to find it. There are no surprises when you pouryourself a bowl of the same old cereal for breakfast day after day.

The foods people get hooked on range from the ordinary -- burger and fries,chips and soda -- to the unusual -- pepperoni slices with mayo, popcorn, andchocolate, even processed cheese squirted from the can.

Rarely do you hear of anyone stuck on broccoli for days or months. Thatdoesn't mean that eating the same thing again and again has to be unhealthy.One person who made an eating rut work to his advantage was Jared Fogel ofSubway fame. In less than a year, he says, he lost 235 pounds on a diet ofcoffee for breakfast; a 6-inch low-fat turkey sub with extra veggies, bakedchips, and diet soda for lunch; and a 12-inch veggie sub for dinner.

Still, many of us would be bored stiff by such repetitive repasts. Theanswer to whether you can happily stick to such a routine lies in your ownpersonality.

Are You Stuck in a Rut?

You're probably the best judge of whether you're in an eating rut.Definitions vary. To one nutritionist, it's eating the same thing three days ina row. To another, it's not a rut until you've eaten the same food for at least30 days.

"The subject hasn't been studied," says Barbara J. Rolls, PhD, theGuthrie Chair in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University and co-author ofThe VolumetricsWeight Control Plan. "I think a lot of people eatthe same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. As long as they're eatinggood things and getting a balance of nutrients, it works fine."

Patrick O'Neil, PhD, director of the Weight Management Center at the MedicalUniversity of South Carolina and spokesman for the North American Associationfor the Study of Obesity, agrees that eating ruts are probably very common --and not necessarily a bad thing, as long as your diet includes items from allthe major food groups.

"If someone is satisfied eating the same breakfast every day and it'spart of an overall healthful eating plan, I don't think it's a big deal,"he says. "Most people don't have a lot of time to spare in the morning, andat lunchtime, people don't have much time and may not have many options. Theissue is, how healthy is your rut?"

Both Rolls and O'Neil say personality may be a factor in determining whethersomeone is likely to get into an eating rut.

"People vary in their boredom threshold," says O'Neil. "I thinkpeople need to become aware of their level of sensation seeking. Some people dothe same thing every day after work and the same thing every weekend, andthey're quite content. Others have to do something different every day orthey're very unhappy."