Committing Your Food

briegirl28

Does anyone here write what they will eat in their food diary and then stick to it, or do you record only what you eat?

I've heard that planning out your meals in advance can help to remove the decision making process that, during hunger or stress, could result in a person choosing less healthy, more convenient foods.

I did that in the past with another person, and I feel like that may help to remove some of the constantly having to consider how eating this or that will affect my calorie and carb count for the day.

But sticking to it is also an issue, especially if I don't adequately prepare.

What works best for you in terms of sticking with your diet?

TheLittleRedHairedGirl

I pre-log every morning. It helps me see where my calories are going and to help structure my day. I also meal prep so that meals become easier to stick to. The only 'variable' for me is dinner where I need to figure out what I'm making my husband and I for dinner. But by pre-logging I can see how many calories I can 'play' with. So if I decide to eat a higher calorie mid-morning meal I know that my dinner will be less in calories. Or if I eat light all day I can have a higher calorie dinner. More often than not though, I try to balance out my calories and macros throughout the day so that I can stay satisfied. I also pre-log my snacks. Usually the only tine I have to make adjustments to my daily food log is if I swap out a fruit for another one or if I didn't eat something.

MommyL2015

I only commit my food when it's been acting crazy. LOL J/K. I do commit to my diary if I pre-plan. Sometimes I log as I go, but I kind of treat my calories like money. I have to make them stretch as far as I can.

cross2bear

I do plan weekly menus, so I have a general idea of what to expect during the week, but I dont pre log on a daily basis. But I do log everything I eat.

jyvonne27

I meal prep my breakfast and lunches on Sundays and I plan out my dinners for the week as well. It helps me save money and calories. I feel like planning my meals helps me even more than tracking them, honestly.

I pre log the night before and then adjust if something changes. I'm still flexible, just bc it's there doesn't mean it's set in stone but it does help me stick to plan.

I tend to make bad decisions when I don't plan in advance what I'm going to eat. I make the worst decisions when I'm already hungry.

jgnatca

Yeah, my willpower is strongest in the morning and declines as the day wears on. I pack a lunch daily, so that helps portion things out. I must pack enough so that I'm not running through all my snackies before the afternoon slump. To control dinner, I'll put out the meat packet to thaw in the morning or put on a slow cooker meal to be ready when I get home. Hubby has developed several strategies to sabotage dinner efforts.

kommodevaran

I'm not quite sure why and how it works, but it does! I plan all my meals, and do the things needed to follow it. That means grocery shopping, dishwashing, time management. The outlines of the meals are decided long in advance, the finer details can change up until last minute. I am learning what can and should be planned, and what must be improvised.

kshama2001

I generally chose between a few varieties of staple breakfasts, lunch, and snacks, and don't feel the need to prelog these.

When I make a new recipe or meal, I often look at it for calories and macros before eating and tweak as needed, generally to bring calories down or protein up.

callsitlikeiseeit

i very loosely preplan (daily), and it often changes however, it does give me a guideline to work with/ around.

Cynsonya

I do it both ways depending on the day. I've already logged completely for today, tomorrow, and Saturday's breakfast. If I don't eat something I'll remove it. But when I do it this way I rarely eat anything not already logged.

louubelle16

I plan my meals and my shopping list before I do my weekly food shopping, and then I only buy the ingredients I need for those meals. This means I have to stick to it - I have no other food in the house!

cwolfman13

When I logged, I always pre-logged...I never really understood just winging it and logging after the fact and hoping for the best...

Not that nothing ever changed, but I went into every day with a plan...I no longer log, but I still go into every day with a plan...winging it is a recipe for meh....

briegirl28

Thank you, Everybody! I am beginning to think I should pre-log as much as possible, that way I will not want to go back and have to undo entries. I do need to do more weekend cooking so that I am more able to actually stick to what I pre-log.

BrandyGanus

jyvonne27 wrote: »

I meal prep my breakfast and lunches on Sundays and I plan out my dinners for the week as well. It helps me save money and calories. I feel like planning my meals helps me even more than tracking them, honestly.

I pre log the night before and then adjust if something changes. I'm still flexible, just bc it's there doesn't mean it's set in stone but it does help me stick to plan.

I tend to make bad decisions when I don't plan in advance what I'm going to eat. I make the worst decisions when I'm already hungry.

I pre-log the night before as well. I'm okay with switching things up, but this gives me an idea of where my calories are coming from and what to eat when I get hungry (I have bad cases of hangry if I let myself get too hungry and then I can't even think or make decisions).

Shells918

I log as I go. I only have certain foods in my house so I'm limited as to what I can eat anyway. Even when I'm out I'm usually too rushed to stop for anything more than an occasional coffee, and I hate going over my calories or macros.

michelleg85

I definitely pre-log! I make meals for work (2 of my 3 meals) and pre-log them as I make them and pack them in my bag. Then, if I have something I wasn't expecting (like a coworker offering me a few carrot sticks), then I just add that as I go. For supper, and evening snacks, I know how much I have left and cook accordingly. Works like a charm!
Also, if I didn't stick to my plan and ate something bigger that I wasn't planning (coworker offering me a donut - ugh!) then I can add it and take something else that was pre-logged off (and just save it to eat tomorrow).
Pre-logging is such a good way to know what you have in store, and if you really can afford something here or there. I swear by it!

stealthq

I pre log when I can, but I'll deviate when I feel like it. Having the plan already set out lets me see if it's worth it to me to change things around - and what choices would be good substitutions.

seska422

Spontaneity is important to me. I would feel too constrained (and feel like I was on a diet) if I pre-logged my days.

I do pre-log immediately before I eat something. That lets me see if the amount that I want fits into my calories and macro goals so that I can make adjustments or change my mind before I've eaten. I watch my macro percentages and see where I might be lagging behind and eat some more of that macro the next time I eat.

glow_worm_eyes

louubelle16 wrote: »

I plan my meals and my shopping list before I do my weekly food shopping, and then I only buy the ingredients I need for those meals. This means I have to stick to it - I have no other food in the house!

Me too. It all starts with my grocery list. I buy healthy things like eggs, chicken, Greek yogurt, and tuna - all things I can use to prepare and bring for lunch and breakfast. This helps me to avoid the fast food that my husband brings home at night

Lounmoun

I pre-log my day of food every morning. It helps me stick to my calorie goal, get enough protein, and figure out portion sizes. If I want to change something I know I can find something with the same calories for that meal and not really mess up my plan.
I'm eating food from home almost always so I have a limited selection of food so easy to decide what to eat. I have dinners planned and cook every day so it is easy to log that in advance.

ktekc

For work days i try to prelog the night before. I write everything down in the kitchen when i'm packing and weighing everything. For dinner i tend to log what it is and leave it at 1gram then adjust later. If im making overnight oats i try to do 2-3 days at a time and log all of em in advance. ( and try to eat them in the order i logged them lol)

rstarnes65

Good Morning! I'm new to this message board thing and have never really participated on any site. I was reading the posts looking for motivation and thought I would chime in. I do attempt to pre-log my foods if I have a plan for the day. I prep my breakfasts and snacks on Sundays and try to plan dinners for the week, which is sometimes difficult if you're not the person cooking the meals (my husband cooks and I prep). Would love to hear what works for people.

DebDesautels

I log what I'm planning for the day in the morning. I used to wait and log what I had so far in the day in the late afternoon and often found out I either was way over or way under, which made dinner complicated. Worse yet was waiting to log everything at the end of the day - disaster. At least if you have a plan, you have the info to make some informed adjustments as the day goes on. Say you were planning to have an afternoon snack but it never happened, you can adjust your dinner to accommodate a few more calories to keep you where you want to be. That's what works for me at least!

DanSTL82

I just make sure each meal is less than 400 calories, and I eat 4 times a day. So the only decision-making I do is deciding which ingredients to limit in order to stay under 400 for each meal as I prepare it.

fishshark

When I am making us breakfast (usually the same thing everyday) I will plan out our lunch and dinner and pre log it. This is mainly because I keep all meat in the freezer so I gotta thaw it during the day for dinner. When I shop I get things for specific meals as well. On the weekends we go out.

no_day_but_2day

I have to pre-log. I love it. It makes me excited for each day of cooking/eating. The only thing I don't prelog is exercise because well.. for obvious reasons.
But, I've pre-logged for multiple days before. I rush around a lot throughout the day so the less I have to think about what I'm eating, the better. I normally wake up in the morning in a fog and then look at my diary to see what I scheduled to eat for breakfast and then I make it. The less I have to think in the morning, the better. haha

briegirl28

Thank you everybody for all of your suggestions and great ideas.

I find that making sure I don't have tempting foods in my house is one of the most important things I do. It's like that joke by Chris Rock about being only as faithful of your options. If I have a box of cookies in my house, I may not eat them for a long time, but eventually I will. Or I could feel a certain way one day and eat the whole box over the spans of a few hours.

I like pre-logging, but then I dislike when I don't stick to it. I do like how I can see how what I plan to eat either helps me or hurts me in my goal of sticking to my calorie limit.

I find that I have to be honest with myself that calories are only one issue --- I like the idea of having 4 meals under 400 calories, but I know that if those meals are too high in carbs, I'll get extremely hungry and most likely overeat due to insulin issues. I'm really trying to avoid grains and things with added sugar. Currently, I'm still eating too much sugar due to some juices and smoothies, raisins, and dairy/whey in my no sugar added hot cocoa. But that is better than I used to eat, that's for sure.

krissyrey

AWESOME THREAD!!! LOVED READING THE POSTS ON HERE!!!!

briegirl28

briegirl28

krissyrey wrote: »

AWESOME THREAD!!! LOVED READING THE POSTS ON HERE!!!!

I like writing down what I ate when I was eating a healthier diet --- I was able to see that despite eating a large volume of food, it was still around like 1200 calories . )

MommyMeggo

Im an OCD prelogger. I love to be able to see every thing I can eat the next day (sometimes two). And I pre-log big "splurges" of calories if I know that its coming up or just because I want a treat - then I get to play with fitting in the rest of my foods to hit goal...kind of like a puzzle.