Question: Planning Your Daily Intake VS Not Planning?

entwife

I wing it but I try to eat roughly 3x400 cal meals + 300 for fruit, treats etc. I tend to rotate the same meals so I just keep the portion size around the 400 mark. I find this pretty easy to do, I've fallen off the wagon before because I got so sick of weighing and measuring and planning. Plus I love the 'frequently paired with' feature of the MFP app, as I rotate the same stuff it means I can log on the run in seconds. Love it!

rankinsect

I prelog. I'll probably always do that. I find it really helps me stay on track - I don't have to make any decisions about food while I'm hungry. It also helps form good habits in the early part of a diet - studies have shown that making a specific decision and plan in advance is about as good at getting people to do the right thing as a habit of doing the right thing.

sayyestohealthy

I couldn't pre log because i have no idea what I'll be craving that day

pstegman888

I guess you could say I'm a casual planner. I usually have a vague idea of what I want to have, as in "Let's see, for dinner, I'll have some kinda chicken dish with whatever veggies are in the fridge and if I have plenty of calories left, maybe I'll throw some cheese on." I usually just make sure I have a variety of acceptable foods on hand and put something together based on my appetite. If I go out, I look up options ahead of time so I know which choices will fit my calories. I always save a few hundred cals for late night snacks. I watch my portions and log immediately afterwards.

fishshark

i pre log but a good amount of the time dinner will change if we go out or want something else. dinner is my favorite meal so I pre log to get the most calories out of it esp so i can have some booze.

AnnPT77

Not a planner, rather a wing-it-izer, and have been since the beginning. But at this point I have a pretty good handle on the calorie count in things I like to eat, so it isn't difficult.

I don't like things to be all planned out (in general, not just food), but rather more spontaneous. I don't like to commit to specific dinners (especially) ahead of time. I don't know what will sound tasty at dinner time. Also, some of my exercise, especially in summer, is weather dependent, so I'm not always sure whether it can happen or not, and I need to accommodate that in my calorie budget.

I have more day-to-day repetition in breakfast & lunch, and dinner is where I make the major adjustments - bigger if I have lots of calories left, smaller otherwise. Biggest challenge is getting enough protein in on fewer calories, especially if the outdoor exercise fell through at the last minute (I'm vegetarian, BTW).

I mostly cook from scratch, and I live alone, so I have complete control over the calories when I eat at home, so winging it works fine.

eliza8897

I pre-log during the week. I basically eat the same lunch everyday and vary the dinner by salads or veggies. Not much variance during the week. I only have a "free" day one day a week. I live an active lifestyle so losing the weight has been relatively easy soon as I started using MFP. Good luck everyone!

scolaris

Another pre-logger here. I generally log in the breakfast, lunch & any snack I know I'll be having, then adjust my dinner around how much exercise I've gotten. If my deficit is big enough I'll add a little sumpin sumpin after my evening dog walk, like frozen banana 'fauxlato' or some dark chocolate or a glass of red wine.

Ashtoretet

I never pre log but I usually have a good idea about what I'll eat since I tend to eat the same things a lot.

IanRS

No pre planning for me.

I allow 700 calories for dinner in my thinking - sometimes it is over (generally I do not cook it), but not often - usually I have to top it up with fruit or something. I eat nothing until 1pm and then see what protein I can find and eat that together with fruits/vegetables.

It would drive me nuts to have to plan it all out in advance - especially for the week.

If I am going to an event (party, family gathering etc.) I will think about what might be there and pre-think what I am going to choose and how I will behave with respect to food. Sometimes I will drop an extra hundred or two each day for a few days ahead to give me more wiggle room. Mostly this works out but sometimes I will go off-piste :-)

Sugar_Cloud

DeguelloTex wrote: »

"The only thing I'm not sure about is the flavor of ice cream I'll be having."

Now THIS is a principle to live by!!!

jennifer_417

I generally prefer pre-logging, but it doesn't work for me right now. I'm planning to get back to it eventually.

nyponbell

I plan out my meals for weekdays (and even pre-log certain things). That doesn't mean that I always follow the plan, but I like having one. That way I know that if I want to add something, if I can or not with my already planned meals or remove a meal (or part of one) on purpose. Otherwise I might grab a treat during the day and then come home and realise that I've not got "enough calories" for my dinner.

The problem I have are weekends; since I find it difficult to plan when my schedule is so different (not just from weekdays but from weekend to weekend) though I try to plan, I don't really follow it. And that often puts me over my goal - not necessarily because I eat a lot of treats, but because I don't plan ahead and I eat when I'm hungry. I also tend to not eat as many proper meals on weekends (like breakfast; on weekdays I have oatmeal with banana and an egg, but on weekends I might eat and egg and some nuts before heading out the door) which makes it even more likely that I will go over because I'm hungry more often, and generally not as active.

melbmeg

Wow, I'm surprised how many people pre-log and also eat similar meals every day. I have no idea what I will eat from one day to the next. I am very lucky that I live near good food shops so I can just pop out and buy whatever I fancy eating. I eat what I want during the day and then eat a small dinner if I don't have many calories left. I hate being hungry during the day or eating boring lunches, so this works for me. Going to bed a bit peckish is no problem for me. Also, I don't count my calories very accurately because I eat out a fair bit and cook complex meals which would be a nightmare to measure and count exactly.

My weight loss is slow as a result of this sloppy approach - 30lbs in a year, with another 15 to go - but it hasn't felt like a 'diet' at all because I'm still eating fairly much as I always have, but with less mindless snacking, smaller evening meals and less booze.

I think my approach works well for a certain type of person (patient, disorganised, experimental) but I can see how it would be a disaster for other personalities. But that's the key to success: finding what works for you and what you can sustain for a lifetime.

Marcus_2015

I only pre plan if I am going out to dinner and or know that I will be having a big meal during the day. Then I plan my other meals and snacks around it to get close to my target.

R

Sued0nim

I've discovered I'm a creature of habit and I'm ok with that

So I have a breakfast I enjoy and I have it almost every day for a long while

So it used to be porridge and honey, sometimes added banana or berries and coffee

Now it's scrambled egg whites, spinach,mushroom on white toast, scrambled with either cheese or ham and coffee

And I batch cook at the weekend ...a couple of different things ( this week it's turkey chilli and rice, and butternut squash risotto) plus have grab and go pots that I eat over salad leaves. I always have Greek yogurt and berries

Snacks are normally chips, biscuits, ice cream bars or something on toast

I may grab a pizza instead of a meal or go out on a whim

So generally I prepare but I don't prelog

MarcyKirkton

I preplan when I'm going out to eat, since invariably, that meal will be the high calorie meal of the day. That means, to stay on track, I better find something low-cal but nutritious for other meals. The pre-logging can help with that a lot.

It's a useful tool to get a bead on what I'm wanting to eat will cost me, calorie-wise. Often it helps me decide on a better choice.

rainbow198

I use to wing it and it usually got me into trouble. Standing in front of the fridge or search through cupboards looking for food made me eat more and before I knew it I'm out of calories for the day.

Now I'm a planner. I plan out dinners with my guy one week in advance on grocery shopping day. Then I plan the rest of my own meals for the next day the night before. I keep a written food/exercise journal and jot it down at the bottom of the day's page.

Of course things may get switched or something else may come up, but having a plan keeps me sane.

I don't eat a lot of the same things very often so I find planning my meals helps me to fit treats in, space out my macros, it keeps me honest, balanced, it saves me time and no there's no stressing like before.

Once I made this switch it has made my life easier when I was in weight loss mode and even still while maintaining my weight.