Meal Recording vs. Meal Planning, & How do you choose?

lemurcat12

kommodevaran wrote: »

I have to adjust to what's available at any time (what's in season, or what's in the freezer) - this forces me to be creative. (I can't just combine anything, I feel some foods go better together than others.)

Oh, I agree with this (that some stuff goes better than others), I just approach it differently. I like to plan what I'm having during the day, based on my mood -- in fact when I first started if I got in the mood to eat during the afternoon I'd channel it into planning dinner.

I force myself to work with what I have, but I tend to have enough available to be able to make choices on the fly and restraints (use what you have) tend to make me more creative -- I'm a much better cook since I started forcing myself to work with my CSA box, for example.

Queenmunchy

Lounmoun wrote: »

I have planned meals for years. It helps me work with a tight budget. I have 28 different dinners planned in advance. It is normal for me to live like this. I have found it suprising that others don't have any idea what they want to eat for the next 8 hours or so.
I prelog my whole day the night before or in the morning. I find it helpful for choosing things that will fit my calorie goal as well as getting more protein foods. I've noticed that I tend to eat the same amount of calories for each meal naturally so I try to plan meals that fit that pattern of calorie distribution.
If I change my mind during the day or plans shift, I don't find it difficult to make changes in my food diary. It happens. Having a plan doesn't mean you can't be flexible as well.
If I want to change a meal or snack the easiest thing to do is to find something with about the same amount of calories as what I had planned. I kind of know the calories count of some foods fairly well after doing this for awhile.

Ditto. My breakfast, lunches, and dinners tend to be in the same range, and I have them portioned and frozen. If I don't want to eat one, I just swap it for another one or something else that fits in. Sometimes I get home and my husband has started cooking so I modify. Dinner is the one meal that gets changed the most - my breakfasts and lunches are always pre-logged.

lulucitron

I eat the same breakfast every day, so I just copy the previous day. Weekends are tougher to log but during the week I pre-log

callsitlikeiseeit

i prelog as best i can and fine tune actual amounts or changes as they come.

hubby really hates it when i ask him at 6 am what he wants for lunch or dinner....

oh well.

mbaker566

i have a list of weighed foods for breakfast and lunch. i log them as i eat them. dinner i log after/during

Need2Exerc1se

I am not a meal planner. I'm not much of planner when it comes to anything. But then I'm not much of a logger either.

It's 4:16 p.m. and I don't even know what I'm having for dinner tonight.

47Jacqueline

I only log what I eat. I never log a pre-plan although I might have a general idea of what I'm going to eat for the day.

JoRocka

I don't understand why this is an either or situation honestly?

I cook on Sunday or Saturday and eat that food for the rest of the week for lunches- I have standardized snacks and then I have eggs for dinner.

I prelog what I am going to eat for the day and then I adjust as I eat/add/don't eat.

Duchy82

I prelog the"bare bones" of my day the night before, mainly my lunch and mid morning snack and my dinner because i make my packed lunch the night before and take the meat i want to cook out of the freezer the night before. Breakfast and any extra snacks will depend on how much time i have in the morning and how many calories i have left.

Saying that sometimes i change it all around and end up eating a completely different dinner than planned as i decided i didn't fancy what I'd planned in and the morning snack sometimes changes too (the canteen sells lovely cakes my downfall, especially when hungry).

So i suppose I do a bit of both, i find if i log as i go along I'm more likely to go over my daily calorie goal.

Florida_Superstar

My diet goes through long phases where I eat the same things most of the time, so I generally know what I eat without prelogging. I tend to prelog when I'm going out for a meal just to see how everything is going to add up. Honestly, just do what works the best for you. Neither one is wrong.

WinoGelato

JoRocka wrote: »

I don't understand why this is an either or situation honestly?

Same. OP did you mean to say Pre-Logging vs Logging As You Go (ie after you have weighed and consumed your food?). Because I don't see Meal Planning and Pre-Logging to be the same thing, nor do I see either of those as being concrete, written in stone, unalterable entries that force someone into eating that item, only that item, and only a specific amount of an item.

I find that Meal Planning is helpful for me, not only for my weight management, but for my crazy busy lifestyle. However, because of the crazy busy lifestyle (working mom with two boys involved in activities and a husband that travels for work a couple nights a week), I need flexibility because plans change fairly often.

My breakfasts are usually simple and fairly small, and don't change dramatically - greek yogurt and coffee, or a frozen breakfast sandwich and coffee, or a bowl of cereal and coffee. I could pre-log those but I don't usually.
My lunches are usually leftovers from previous nights dinners, or a frozen meal with some extra protein or a salad from our work cafeteria, or about once/week we go out to Chipotle or a local wrap place. Same as above, I suppose I could pre-log but I don't.
My dinners have the most variability - I try to have some ideas in mind for how many meals I'm going to cook from scratch during the week, how many we will be eating something quick at home like grilled cheese or breakfast for dinner, and how many we may need to pick something up. Then I go to the store and try really hard not to buy too much that might go bad if our plans change. When I cook I try to make enough for at least one extra meal for a lunch leftover, or something that can be turned into a second meal later (crockpot roast beef becomes bbq beef sandwiches later in the week).

But I rarely pre-log any of my meals sooner than the morning, and most of the time I am pre-logging just before I eat the meal, and if I eat more, or less than I logged, I just go in and change the amounts.

lemurcat12

WinoGelato wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

I don't understand why this is an either or situation honestly?

Same. OP did you mean to say Pre-Logging vs Logging As You Go (ie after you have weighed and consumed your food?).

This is what I assumed was meant.

Because I don't see Meal Planning and Pre-Logging to be the same thing, nor do I see either of those as being concrete, written in stone, unalterable entries that force someone into eating that item, only that item, and only a specific amount of an item.

This is a really good point.

I meal plan, but I usually don't bother pre-logging except immediately before a meal (well, except that I'm having to do it for a challenge and find it annoying). Pre logging works really well for some, and doing that can be a way of meal planning.

JoRocka

WinoGelato wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

I don't understand why this is an either or situation honestly?

Same. OP did you mean to say Pre-Logging vs Logging As You Go (ie after you have weighed and consumed your food?). Because I don't see Meal Planning and Pre-Logging to be the same thing, nor do I see either of those as being concrete, written in stone, unalterable entries that force someone into eating that item, only that item, and only a specific amount of an item.

I find that Meal Planning is helpful for me, not only for my weight management, but for my crazy busy lifestyle. However, because of the crazy busy lifestyle (working mom with two boys involved in activities and a husband that travels for work a couple nights a week), I need flexibility because plans change fairly often.

ding ding ding ding- exactly- I have a very similar set up- super busy- having a food plan saves my bacon every day.
But if Ish hits the fan and changes- I'm willing and ready and able to make a change of plans.

rosebette

I meal plan, but I don't pre-log. I actual have two diet meal plan books I use to plan breakfast and lunch (one is a diabetic meal plan book because hubby is diabetic). I plan lunch most days because I have to bring my own lunch. I also plan snacks. Dinner I tend to plan a bit less -- I may make a larger or smaller dinner depending on how many calories I have left during the day due to exercise or lack thereof.