Anyone have luck recording foods in advance

ForeverSunshine09

I prelog 2 weeks at a time. It helps with my cal goal, sodium levels and most of all grocery budget. Things may get moved around but, it makes things easier.

rosebarnalice

Since I pack lunch at the same time I make breakfast, I log both at the same time. Then I lig dinner when I eat it.

mylittlerainbow

I log the whole day first thing in the morning. It helps me know if I have enough calories for a treat, how many I can reserve if I'm going out for lunch or dinner that day, and things of that nature. The only thing I don't pre-log is exercise, since that shows up right away on your home page. I wait till the end of the day and log all of that then.

Frappleberry

I log my meals for the day ahead each night. I find I do stick to it and I waste a lot less food this way. It also helps me work out the exercise I need to do too and I'm less likely to cheat or change my plans. I don't know why it works for me this way, it just does!

srecupid

I'll log a beer or so so I can factor it in. Or I'll record my dinner as 1g just to save time. I'll weigh out snacks and put them in zip lock bags and log in advance bit not too far

RAinWA

I pre-log weekdays at least a week in advance. I have to make up a meal plan anyway, might as well do it here. I need to be organized during the week so I actually print out my days and just make notes on it for what needs to be added/changed for my husband so I have a plan for his breakfast and lunch to set up before I leave the house in the morning - I'm not all that awake in the a.m., need to have it written down.

animalldy

I meal plan on Sundays and log everything that's "locked in" - like breakfasts, snacks, leftover lunches, dinners, etc. mostly to make sure I hit my macros. Sometimes things change, like if I need a treat then I have to reorganize bit, but I have a rough plan and try to stick with it, especially if I am trying to maintain a deficit.

Francl27

No, I want to be able to be flexible. A meal is more satisfying for me if it's something I really want to eat right now and not something I planned days ago.

lizetrombley

I log the night before :-). It makes it easier fpr me to stay on track . My husband tracks meal to meal, that works best for him :-)

BurnWithBarn2015

I rather enjoy my pre-logging. Made it a bit of a ritual it seems lol

Every night after dinner, and cleaning up the kitchen, dishes etc i sit down with a big mug of coffee and pre-log the next day or days.
The day itself i tweak when needed ( the amounts most of the time)
I leave some room of a couple hundred calories. This for "extra's and snacks". And most meals are pretty basic and i only have to copy and paste them over.
I even pre-log my exercise...helps with keeping me honest. I log much lower for those too. Every calorie higher is nice.

When i go out or know i go out i pre-log as much as i can when not no big deal. And special dinners i can pre-log weeks ahead when i know.
also i use a lot the recipe builder so i can log something and see if it "fits" in the day.

So yes i pre-log and plan.

Alatariel75

For me, it's been one of my most valuable tools. Sure, I often change it up halfway through the day, but knowing what I have logged and what I have to play with really keeps me on track. I log my food in the morning, or as soon as I have worked out what I'm having. It also helps take a lot of the fretting about what to make out of it, I tend to get a bit obsessive over picking foods for dinner (not from a calorie point of view, just from a loving to cook and change things up point of view).

Plus, it's no good logging after the fact and finding out something was a lot more than you expected!

needstobefit15

I perlog my meals for a few days ahead. Sometimes I have to change some stuff but overall I stick to what I have logged. It has been helping me a lot.

Mezzie1024

I prelog right before my weekly grocery trip. It also helps me make a shopping list.

I'm still flexible with my meals, but I've got a basic framework to work with. For example, on my originally logged plan, I was going to have pasta tonight, but then my husband surprised me with carnitas tacos. No problem -- I knew they were going to be made at some point this week, so I'd logged them for this Saturday. I swapped tonight's dinner with Saturday's, and all is good. I did go over a few hundred today because I'd also planned for a dessert which I wasn't about to skip, but I'll be under now on Saturday, so for the entire week I'm still on track. I find it much easier to focus on my weekly intake than to try and be perfect every day.

604ImpaLa

i try to pre log the night before but not right down to the gram. always leave some wiggle room

GemimaFitzTed

arditarose wrote: »

Yep. I prelog everything. Usually everything is input for the day by lunch time.

I do the same. Hubby and I usually have discussed/decided on dinner by lunch time, so I prelog.

kaysday wrote: »

I do this most days. tends to keep me on track.

This too...It keeps me accountable

I also prelog exercise - my workout routines are such that I usually can guess how much I will burn. If it comes in less/more, I'll change it then

fidangul

I don't regularly prelog. But when I do prelog, it's mainly because I'm probably going out for dinner. By prelogging I more or less know how many calories I would need to save in order for me to enjoy my night. (There has been an occasion where I have prelogged a week in advance.) I always go back after the night to make adjustments if necessary.

toe1226

pre-log, sometimes for days. It shifts and changes a bit, but it is more about reducing food waste than controlling calories- if I do a big shop, prelogging helps me make sure I stay in calorie goals AND use up the food I need to use. Winnnn.

utahmomof10

jacksonpt wrote: »

I've been at this long enough that I don't need to pre-log for calorie purposes, but it does help me balance my macros. Plus, it lets me swap different foods in and out so I can find the best balance of taste/enjoyment and calorie/macro needs.

^^ This exactly for me.

kissedbythesunshine

I prelog my dinner a day in advanced everyday. I have had much success this way because I love to eat large dinners. I always prelog my big dinner then work around that on that day as far as other meals go. If I don't prelog/preplan for my dinner I'll end up going over my calories every time.

Rabidrunner

I love pre logging the night before. Then when I get hungry I go to my list of pre-approved snacks and make my choice. Danger for me is that moment of 'hmmmm, I'm hungry, what do I feel like eating?' and instead makes me think 'hmmmm, I'm hungry, what would be a good choice for right now?'

Actually, I often find myself removing items the end of the day as I just didn't have the appetite to finish everything l had planned out. Always a rewarding feeling!

ChristerHaugsoen

I only do this before a meal. I'll figure out what I want to eat and log it then go eat. That way I don't go overboard. But I'm still really new to this. I can see how logging a whole day would be advantageous. I think this will be a goal of mine. Thanks OP!

rankinsect

Always. I've been extremely successful with this method - in six months, apart from five days of special events (birthdays, holidays) where I had no goal, I actually only missed my goal on one day and it was due to misreading the plan and measuring out too much of one item.

It also makes it so much easier to plan shopping trips, as well as making logging a cinch.

Orphia

Never, unless you call on the day "pre-logging".

I couldn't stand the stupid messages saying I haven't logged my meal even though I did it the night before.

duddysdad

I have always, since the beginning, logged my meals in advance. I've tried not doing it when I hit maintenance, but it was much harder to stick to my calorie goals. I accredit the pre-logging to most of my success. If I know what I can eat, I am more likely to stick with just eating what I logged. If I just add it as I go along, I end up with no calories or dinner and have to go over.

crb426

I pre-log every single morning for the day. Sometimes the night before. Then I know what to bring to work for lunch, snacks, etc. And in terms of dinner I usually know what I'm going to cook, but if not, then I'll log in a calorie guess, "600 calories", and edit it once I know what we're eating. It helps to keep me in line during the day.

ransaka

Lounmoun wrote: »

I usually log the night before or in the morning.

This. I find it way easier to stay on track this way. I plan out breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks on work days so I know exactly where I am if I get peckish at work and nip to the canteen for a snack or something. When I don't pre-log I find I rarely hit my protein goal, usually go over my carbs and am lucky if I hit or just stray over my calorie target.
I've tried logging as I go but for me it doesn't work, if I have log before I stuff something in my face or start cooking it annoys me for some reason, it's okay now and again but if I did it constantly I'd go mad. Horses for courses I guess

melonaulait

I have actually found myself pretty successful with pre-logging. I'm just too lazy/unimaginative to do it too often, but when I do it, I find it very easy to stick to the day's calories. The meals might change up a bit, but the calorie count stays the same. Like magic!

oolou

My meals don't vary too much from week to week so I tend to prelog the day in the morning, then adjust the weights or meals as I go along. I find the routine of doing this to be helpful as it keeps me on track more than if I only log afterwards. I don't always stick to what I've prelogged, but it helps me to have an initial plan of what the day's food may look like.

natboosh69

Yep I log a week in advance, if I'm going out for food/drink at any point I'll just quick add an overestimated amount of cals and then adjust accordingly.

scfarrant

Since I find food planning really helps me avoid the bad stuff, I prelog all my meals and snacks for the day by lunchtime. If anything changes, I can delete and add before the day's submit. Also -- I find prelogging exercise that morning really does help me to actually go and do it. I see how it will help me with my calories goals, and think "I said I would do it so I better had". So far, so good...