Do you plan out your menu each day or figure it out as you go along?

AriesGal329

I'm finding if I plan my daily menu first thing in the morning it helps me stay on track. I work from home, so this is pretty easy for me. The only challenge is when I join friends for lunch or dinner. Any tips?? Does anyone actually plan their menu weekly?

janejellyroll

I make a general plan for the week and then decide the specifics the night before. It works really well for me.

merbear787

I plan it weekly! I usually pick 2 or 3 recipes for lunch and dinner that I know what the calories are and that are homemade. I make them a day or two ahead, and then plan ahead for a treat meal on the weekend with friends. It helps me a lot!

sianlr87

I plan my meals weekly so it makes it easier for me to do my shopping. If it's not on the list I don't buy it. I usually plan at least a week in advance, but the meals are interchangeable so easy to swap/change if needed.

nordlead2005

I plan out breakfast (typically none or a small snack) and lunch (typically pizza or a wrap). Dinner and everything else are just whatever my wife makes and what I have calories for. If I know dinner ahead of time I might eat a snack earlier in the day.

Not knowing what will be for dinner isn't a big deal. I always have ~800 calories for it, and eat whatever fits in that amount.

bisky

Hi, Recently my small group planned a week's worth of meals in advance. Then we got together and chopped, cooked and froze stuff. It was my best week ever on this diet. I tapped the menu to the fridge and checked off meals as we went along and had a ready answer for hubby when he asked what was for dinner. It was a really good experience. As for joining friends for lunch, know in advance where you are going and visualize yourself ordering healthy food. Know that the fun part is not the food as much as enjoying their company. Also plan a treat afterwards. Mine is a cappuccino with no sugar and sugar free godiva dark chocolate bar. Pricey but keeps me from feeling deprived.

JodehFoster

Generally, we plan daily, our tastes & cravings change too often to plan beyond that. We often try to plan the weekends just to stay on track, but that tends to change as well. I'll shop on my lunch hour if need be for dinner.

spzjlb

I have a general idea of what I am going to eat a few days beforehand. I like to log before I eat, if possible. I am relaxing more as I try to maintain (i.e. not re-gain!).

ki4eld

I plan, pre-log, and adjust throughout the day to account for what I actually ate or unexpected changes in the meal.

Lounmoun

I pre-log my whole day every morning. I plan dinners for the month but do not log them until the day I have them.
If I'm going to eat out at a restaurant then I try to figure out what I will have before I go.

Kimberly_Harper

lauragreenbaum148 wrote: »

I'm finding if I plan my daily menu first thing in the morning it helps me stay on track. I work from home, so this is pretty easy for me. The only challenge is when I join friends for lunch or dinner. Any tips?? Does anyone actually plan their menu weekly?

This is the way I have adopted as well. I make my breakfast (its the same thing every day for now, because I love it) and while I am eating it I plan out my day's food based on what I have on hand.

gramarye

janejellyroll wrote: »

I make a general plan for the week and then decide the specifics the night before. It works really well for me.

This is generally what I do. I have a small planner stuck to the fridge that I write out the dinner plans on, and I tend to eat the same few things for breakfast and lunch. I don't plan it all down to the wire, but I have general guidelines I prefer to work around. (I try to keep at least half of my calories for evening dinner/snacking, and I tend not to eat breakfast, but have yogurt or something around 10am when I get hungry, etc.)

JodehFoster wrote: »

Generally, we plan daily, our tastes & cravings change too often to plan beyond that. We often try to plan the weekends just to stay on track, but that tends to change as well. I'll shop on my lunch hour if need be for dinner.

Also, this. I live by a grocery story and often run in on my way home from work to grab one or two things for dinner.

kshama2001

I don't need to prelog if I am eating exclusively my food. But when I am cooking for others or going out to eat, it's easy for me to go over my calories unless I pre-log.

bigbodybake

I find myself eating pretty much the same thing everyday, with small changes to change up taste/texture. Makes it easy and cheaper

erinc5

M-F, I usually eat the same things for breakfast and lunch. Some combination of: coffee, yogurt, apples, eggs, tomato soup, cheese, and popcorn... Sometimes I will eat a frozen meal or leftovers for lunch. In the morning I decide what I'm gonna have for dinner (usually my main/biggest meal of the day) and then I just fill in the rest of my calories with what I listed above + chocolate and whiskey.

QueenofHearts023

I plan my eating plan a week ahead. I only go to town once a week so I need to plan meals anyway, to ensure I buy all the necessary groceries. So, since I know what I will eat a week ahead I might as well log it ahead too.

Being organized makes weight loss a lot easier for me.

missjones513

I try to plan my meals for the week and try to do my cooking over the weekend. Then I have options for throughout the week.

amusedmonkey

Sometimes I plan sometimes I don't. When I know I will be having a high calorie meal I usually plan around it, otherwise I just eat whatever I feel like for the day. I do make "soft" plans in the morning to know what to buy.

ilex70

The only challenge is when I join friends for lunch or dinner. Any tips??

If you can figure out what would be a good choice on the menu before you go and be the first one to order. Less pressure that way vs. if your friends all order cheeseburgers and then you chime in with a grilled chicken salad/dressing on the side.

YalithKBK

I cook my dinners for the week on Sunday. Lunch for me is currently a "usual" as I am busy at work and just keep something simple and fast. For breakfast, I give myself options and then pick 2-3 things in the morning to fill my breakfast calories.

I do usually log all of my planned food for the day in the morning. It does help keep me on track.

RAinWA

I do all the food shopping, prepping and cooking at our house so I need to be super organized. Since I have to make a weekly schedule of meals anyway, makes sense to do it on MFP where I can see the calories, etc. I just print out the whole week, make notes on what I'm adding/changing for my husband and post it on the fridge. Makes things much easier.

It helps that we eat a lot of the same things during the week. I get more creative on the weekends.

SonyaCele

95% of the time i eat the same thing every day, i'll have about 5% variety that i just decide as i go.

AnnPT77

I never pre-plan eating. Occasionally, if I know I have a special event (with celebratory food) coming up, I may reduce my calorie budget for a few days in order to cover part of the special day, but that's the extent of planning. I like being able to eat what I feel like at the moment (within reason), and it works fine for me when I have healthy food in the house, and know some healthy eating-out options. But I live alone, which makes this approach easier.

missblondi2u

Wow! Lots of pre-planners here! I have a distinct, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach.

I usually don't eat breakfast, but lunch is whatever my husband feels like making or we grab something quick, and dinner is whatever we have in the fridge that I have the calories for. I then use any leftover calories for evening snacking/drinking. However, if I have a really yummy dessert I want to eat later, I may pre-log that just so I make sure to save room.

strong_curves

I usually plan out breakfast & lunch for the week.

amgreenwell

Yes, I plan weekly and daily. Logging in the morning helps me see what I'm eating that day, what I have room for and what exercise I need to get to stay within my calories. By logging in the morning I keep myself way more accountable. yes, I have to add during the day if I have a snack or something unplanned.
Weekly planning not only keeps me sane but also lets my husband know what we are having and he can either help out or suggestion things before we grocery shop.

gothchiq

sort of plan. I buy mix and match type foods... various vegetables, lean meats, and simple carbs, and combine them however appeals to me at the moment. chicken or beef? rice or potatoes? cooked spinach or salad? stuff like that.

sbrooks0387

i usually have a menu plan for the week. but i log my stuff the night before or the morning of. that way i know what cals i have and if i need to add a snack or take something out to hit my calories. now i'm getting it down so i have the main meals i prefer and i know the cals for each one.

Need2Exerc1se

Figure it as I go along. We keep our pantry, freezers, fridge and root cellar well stocked at all times so always lots of options to choose from.

guinevere96

I used to plan but I found that it caused me too much anxiety when i would go out to eat or other people would cook. Now since the beginning of the new year I stopped planning and ive managed to stick with my calories a lot better. For some people it works, for others it doesnt

Francl27

I loosely plan weekly, in the sense that I do groceries for 3/4 days and the food got to get eaten.

Other than that, no. A meal will satisfy me more if I get to eat something I want right now and not what I had planned 4 days ago. So I typically know what I'll make for dinner in the morning, and I log that, and my lunch (when I know what I'm having for lunch, obviously), then if I get hungry and need a snack I can plan around my calories and macros. And even then, sometimes I end up changing my dinner plans because I got really hungry in the day and have less calories for dinner.

But yeah, spur of the moment outings typically end up messing things up because it's rare that I have over 450 calories for dinner, and finding filling restaurant food for that amount of calories is very difficult. I wish I was one of the people who is not hungry during the day but unfortunately it's the other way around for me - hungry during the day and small dinners.