Variety to me, doesn't actually enhance my enjoyment or experience of meals or workouts. It simply stresses me out. You see, I am somewhat of a type-A, overly-structured, hyper-organized person. I also have the good fortune (in my opinion) of not getting bored easily. My taste buds simply don't saturate after a month of eating the same turkey sandwich for lunch, or having the same granola bar as a snack. In a similar way, in the gym, I don't get tired of doing the same programs week after week. In my experience this is both a good thing and a bad thing.
Why variety can be good in a workout:
The body is an amazing machine which has evolved the powerful tool of adaptation. This adaptation is supposed to make us stronger as a species, and for the most part, it does. However, if your goal is to build muscle or run faster, the body will also adapt to your training techniques. We all know that lifting tears the muscle which causes the body to repair it. When it does this, the muscle grows a bit to "be ready" for the next time such a traumatic thing may happen. However, the body is efficient as well. Eventually, the effects of shocking your body and damaging it when you lift will decrease if you do the same things day after day. The body simply gets used to it and puts in less and less work to repair itself.
So variety is key. It's key because it's important to keep the body guessing so that muscles can grow and not plateau. The dreaded plateau that many lifters as well as runners will experience as their body simply gets used to the constant training technique is a result of lack of variety in training. So keep your body guessing. Change up your routine. Be a little spontaneous.
A very experienced lifter once told me that it's good to go into the weight room with a plan, but if you hit a lift and it feels really good, hit it again. Take advantage of the groove you're in with that specific lift and train it hard. Have a plan, but be flexible and incorporate some variety.
Why variety can be harmful in a workout:
On the flip side, a lot of variety may also keep you from reaching certain training goals. For example, I have set a *goal* that I want to squat and deadlift (DL) 1.5x my bodyweight. Now if I have so much variety in my routine, that I'm only squatting or DLing every 2 or 3 weeks, then I am probably not going to hit my goals as quickly as I would if I did those hard lifts every week
I know there are certain circles (namely Crossfit) that have a different WOD (workout of the day) every day and highly recommend keeping your body guessing every day. Again, overall fitness is different from having a specific lifting goal. If my goal were to be a faster runner my weekly split would not work like this:
Sunday -- Run
Monday -- Bike
Tuesday -- Swim
Wednesday -- Elliptical
Thursday -- Rowing Machine
Friday -- Stairmaster/Stadium Stairs
Saturday -- Off
That routine might be great for overall cardio fitness, but if I want to decrease my 5k time, probably not the most efficient way to do it.
Why variety is good for your diet:
This one may seem obvious. Of course getting a variety of food means you will probably be more likely to cover your bases in terms of nutrition, vitamins, and minerals. But I would argue that eating a balanced diet with a limited variety can be just as beneficial Namely, if your diet is balanced well, you may be getting all the vitamins, protein, and essential nutrients you need...and then it just becomes a personal preference.
Variety in diets is very often seen as good because a lot of people will get tired of eating the same food (I am not one of these people clearly!) and may give up on a "diet" simply because they find it bland or boring to eat the same foods. In this case, I agree that for the majority of people, having variety in the diet is important to get balance and fend off boredom.
Why variety can be harmful for your
One of the things that I find most beneficial about liking many of the same foods is that it saves me both time and money.
1) It saves me money because instead of buying a plethora of different foods, eating them once or twice, getting tired of them, and then inevitably throwing a large portion away, I get foods that will last me the week, and then don't mind using leftovers.
2) It saves me time because instead of having to cook a different meal every night and plan a different lunch for the next day, I cook food in bulk, separate it into portions for the week (or sometimes half week) and then I am always ready to go!
In terms of diet, I believe that unless variety is somehow stopping you from eating a nutritionally balanced diet, then it can't hurt.
To summarize, I may be different in the sense that I have eaten the same breakfast every day for the last six months (will post my delicious breakfast recipe at a later time!), but the point is that people are different, and as long as you are not at the extreme of one or the other, your fitness and health shouldn't suffer from a little more or a little less variety.
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