do you plan your day ahead or just wing it?

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  • pstegman888
    pstegman888 Posts: 286 Member
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    I don't pre-log, but have a pretty good mental plan of what I'm going to eat a day ahead so I can meet my calories and macros. If anything changes - for instance, if I don't make it home at dinnertime and have to eat out - I have a mental list of restaurants/meals that are acceptable and stick with those (often bringing home half for another meal). I keep healthy snacks on hand in the car & around the house. I log right after each meal.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Both. I prelog as I'm waking up in bed thinking about everything I have. But then through the day things change so at night I will fix my log.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    I prelog what I know I'll have for meals and base my snacks around them to meet my macros (and obviously adjust quantities as I go if my piece of chicken is a bit bigger or whatever).

    In reality I have to adjust my dinner a lot because I often don't have enough calories for what I had planned.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    I plan every meal except dinner. Unless I know before we are going out to eat, or ordering in (pretty rare). I am always budgeting about 800 cals for dinner and late night snack so I got some breathing room if any surprises happen.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,652 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Wing it; but midnight snack is used for balancing.

    So depending on what is needed (protein, fiber, low cal, more cal) I go with a theme (sweet or savoury, yoghurt, or chocolate)... and log some stuff/play around to see how I can get close to zero Cal AND end above my protein and fiber targets.

    Then I implement and go back and adjust with final weights.
  • karyabc
    karyabc Posts: 830 Member
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    Def go with the flow here
  • alanahp93
    alanahp93 Posts: 56 Member
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    Wing it! Eat what you want when you want lol
    However if I have a family event the next day I usually look up the menu and pre log then to save going overboard
  • celinend
    celinend Posts: 30 Member
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    A bit of both. I plan out dinners for the week on Sunday and eat a lot of leftovers or homemade salads for lunch, so it's easy to pre-log quite a bit when I feel like it. Breakfast I completely wing, but I log everything before going for a snack.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
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    I sometimes pre log my bed time snack to make sure I have room for it in my calorie allowance. I keep a calorie range in mind for meals. I plan my protein source, for lunch I eat nuts or beans and have a weekly plan for my dinner meat. I work other foods in to reach my micros.
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
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    I like to plan ahead, so I will prelog a day in advance. Then during the day or at the end, I adjust according to the weights I've recorded. Sometimes that's cool, in that for example I've planned for a certain amount of chicken but ended up having less. Sometimes it goes the other way ... ^^
  • Tigg_er
    Tigg_er Posts: 22,001 Member
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    Sometimes I wing it, sometimes I plan it and sometimes my plans turn into winging it !
  • orchidbutterflies
    orchidbutterflies Posts: 59 Member
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    I pre-log my food before I go to bed the night before. I decide what I want for breakfast and my lunch is dependent on that (if I eat toast for breakfast, I don't have a sandwich at lunch because that's 4 slices of bread). I do almost all the cooking between my parents & I, but we typically don't figure out dinner until the day of. I log what I think we will have, but I'm flexible that it could change. Typically dinner is around 450-650.
    I pretty much eat the same things on rotation, so pre-logging is that much easier.

    If I didn't pre-log I would overeat and spend my whole day thinking about food and what I can eat next.
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
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    I pre log every evening the next day ( i dont log on MFP)
    But i enjoy to sit down with a hot mug of coffee after dinner and plan the next day. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

    The evening snack of popcorn is also always pre-logged. Any calories left over are for any "extra's" or ice cream :)
    or anything else i want to have.
    I fit everything in and make it fit if i need or want to.

    the next day i adjust the right weight.

    And yes, sometimes when life happens, i do something else. But not often.

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  • scorpcookie
    scorpcookie Posts: 113 Member
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    I pre-log during the work week as my breakfast and lunch are pretty much set. Dinner is usually the one meal of the day that is iffy depending on if I decide to exercise either when I get right home or later in the evening.
  • Stop1510
    Stop1510 Posts: 26 Member
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    I have been winging it and being very unsuccessful, after reading these posts I see that most people pre-log so I am going to start pre-logging and spacing out my calorie intake during the day so it is more even.
  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
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    I agree with one of the comments above - spontaneity is not my friend in this process. I have just started MFP 20 days ago and have lost 8 lbs so far... target is to lose 30. For me, pre-logging breakfast and lunch is easy as I like a specific range of foods and therefore it is very predictable. Then I 'tweak' supper. Also I usually work out an hour a day or walk an hour or more almost every day so staying below the prescribed limit is (so far at least) no problem. Little concerned about holidays coming up... have to have a good plan!

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