Living The Lifestyle, Monday, March 20, 2017

88olds

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- 88olds (George)
Tuesday -- spospo1 (Steve)
Wednesday -- minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday -- imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday --Jim376 (Jim)


Today's Topic: Planning

Do you plan?

If not, do you intend to plan but don't? What stops you?

Or are you at a point where you don't need a plan? How'd you get there?

If you plan, how do you do it? By the day? The week?

How detailed is your plan? Is it a whole menu for the week? You do recipes and shopping lists?

88olds

Do you plan?

I'm going to answer a qualified yes. I go mostly on habit now, but my plan is our shopping list. Always have the house stocked with maintenance friendly food. Always looking for new stuff to work in. Current favorite: carrot chips and hummus.

If not, do you intend to plan but don't? What stops you?

N/A

Or are you at a point where you don't need a plan? How'd you get there?

Over the years, habits have taken over mostly. Good habits are just as habitual as bad ones.

If you plan, how do you do it? By the day? The week?

Back in the day, I did have a plan for the week.

How detailed is your plan? Is it a whole menu for the week? You do recipes and shopping lists?

My plans were story boards. I'd try to look at each day, some meals were set, some were- I can have this or that, I'll pick when I get there. But everyday had a section I called "What could go wrong? Then I'd take a minute and try to visualize myself going through the week. More of a picture than a to do list.

Al_Howard

TOL and I plan our day in the morning. Breakfast and lunch are pretty much rote.
Weekly plans are usually based on what's on sale.
Overall, our plan is to stay "on plan". TOL has regained Lifetime, and I'm still working on it.

podkey

Plan? Yes when I go to a restaurant I look at the menu ahead of time. Getting started I did sometimes pre-track for the day. I never plan for the week except maybe to look at special meals or trips. I shop almost daily most days to get the best deals which are unadvertised while riding my bike. Seldom do recipes and no shopping lists. I really eat much the same daily and am creature of habit.
In my mind I know what I am doing daily.

Rachel0778

Do you plan? Absolutely. Fail to plan, plan to fail

If not, do you intend to plan but don't? What stops you? If I don't plan it's because something changed last minute (ex. going out to eat randomly). In which case I just make a reasonable choice based on the menu

Or are you at a point where you don't need a plan? How'd you get there? I don't think I'll ever be at a point where I don't need to plan

If you plan, how do you do it? By the day? The week? I plan weekly. On Sunday morning over coffee and TV, I read the weekly ads, choose my recipes, make my grocery list, shop, and meal prep all before noon. It has worked for me for years.

How detailed is your plan? Is it a whole menu for the week? You do recipes and shopping lists? My plan is pretty detailed because if I spend a few hours on it on Sunday I literally don't have to think about food for the rest of the week which is very freeing (plus with my sporting activities I literally don't have time to plan/cook during the week).

goldenfrisbee

I'm a terrible planner and so is my wife. This is something we need to work on so we always have healthy food in the house.

myallforjcbill

Do you plan? -- Yes if I want things to go well. Provides good choices versus less fortunate ones

Or are you at a point where you don't need a plan? How'd you get there? -- There are times it is habitual but that tends to degrade overtime to temptation failure

If you plan, how do you do it? By the day? The week? -- Right now I do a few days ahead for dinner and shop including breakfast & lunch options (standard stuff and/or leftovers).

How detailed is your plan? Is it a whole menu for the week? You do recipes and shopping lists? -- right now I am getting back to planning each day 3 meals & snacks in the AM. I have been getting a bit sloppy with snacking on healthy stuff. It helps to follow a plan in these systems.

misterhub

Yes. However, I need to be more consistent with it. I try to plan on a weekly basis, and this works best when I cook on the weekend. I don't really use a detailed plan. I have general guidelines in my mind, which are used in conjunction with what I've cooked on the weekend. This week, we have black bean soup with which to work. I'll eat other things, but the soup will be the theme for the week.

MurpleCat

I am a planner by nature. It has increased somewhat in the last year as I've had to add some additional dietary restrictions beyond just counting points, in terms of the balance of nutrients (doc's orders).

I usually sit down once a week with a cookbook and a grocery shopping list. My breakfasts are standard, so I make sure I have those on hand, plus a variety of vegetables and a protein, so I can always make a stir fry. Then I pick one or two recipes to cook up over the weekend for weekday leftovers. I often have a second trip to the store during the week to restock produce.

The only time I really plan a week's actual meals is if I'm trying to use up everything in fridge before leaving town. If I don't, there's liable to be a half bag of kale and some scallions turning to sludge while I'm away. Similarly, if I'm going to be eating away from home several times in a week, I might plan the at-home meals to make sure nothing rots in the meantime.

I think I started the recipe-planning as a way to keep my food-time constant. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back, I can see that I was looking for something to do besides snacking in front of the TV, and somehow flipping through cookbooks still kept me food-centric without adding more calories. Now I enjoy the anticipation of making trying a new recipe, or looking forward to having an old favorite that week.

I usually freeze one or two portions of the leftovers for those days when I don't have time/inclination to cook. And there are a few commercially made frozen dinners I find acceptable, so those are in the freezer also, for days when the plan goes to hell or I just don't feel like it. I enjoy cooking, though, so generally I don't find this part of weight loss to be burdensome.

Murple

Jimb376mfp

I'm pretty much a fly by the seat of the pants guy. I "Plan" in my head in a general sense but I figure I'm paying WW to use their Plan. That is the Plan I follow.

lilybbbbb

I eat lunch in the cafe at work Monday-Friday.
I frequently go out to dinner, and often last-minute, so I don't really plan my evening meals very well. Thank goodness I live about a quarter mile from four groceries! I frequently get partially-prepared items at Fresh Market.

DavidKuhnsSr

Nah. Not beyond what we're having for supper - if it is something that takes special preparation. But that is really unrelated to weight management; just the logistics of life. I have options at my finger tips. I go by what I know works for me. Everything else is "rinse and repeat."

gadgetgirlIL

Do you plan? yes, but only in terms of making sure I have options in my refrigerator/freezer.

I keep a running shopping list so that I know what I need to pick up at Trader Joe's, which will be happening tonight! List is in my car. Other staples I have my DH pick up for me.

Since I am traveling for work, I am trying to pre-plan in terms of making sure I have portable options with me. Since I have food intolerances, I've already touched base with the B&B as well as the host university for lunches. Dinner Wednesday and Thursday are the unknowns.

linmueller

I always have good healthy food (fruit, veggies, lean protein, HC soup, frozen leftovers) in the house, so I never have an excuse to go out or eat junk. I grocery shop 1 or 2 times a week, depending on how organized I am. Generally, I plan specific food for 3 dinners a week. I cook for way more than the 2 of us most days, so there are leftovers for other dinners. There's always frozen lean protein to pull out if I need something else.

I never plan foods for specific days. I'm never sure what's going to sound good.

minimyzeme

My first and foremost answer is I plan to generally adhere to my plan ~90% of the time. After weighing, signing into GOAD sets my compass in the morning. With those two routine habits, I'm reminded I choose to do this another day. So that's the first part of my planning.

In practice, I'm spoiled by my partner who does a lot of the planning for us, meal-wise. Because she does, I don't have to for the most part. Having said that though, after several years of this, we cycle through many of the same foods on a somewhat seasonal basis. We don't have the same thing every day (fortunately--that would not work for me). But we have foods to choose from that keep it interesting but also on-plan.

Because much of my work is done at home so that takes a lot of the need for certain kinds of planning largely out of the equation. However, when I or we do go out, I usually make the better choice, by choice ('cuz that's my plan). There are times I'll choose something not plan-friendly, but most of the time, I'll use Frank's strategy of boxing half of it to take home and using 'pushbacks' away from the table to stay on-plan. That's a big change for a guy who was taught to eat everything on his plate (and drink all his beers).

My key to weight loss was not to make a big deal of it. I'm grateful to my partner and her enjoyment of shopping because it's really not my thing. I would do it if I had to. Same with food prep / cooking. Her efforts really cut down on how much I have to plan. That said, I think remembering that I'm making a choice to maintain my weight helps steer me to incorporate the lifestyle and make good choices without a whole lot of planning.