How do you like to log your food?

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OddPiety
OddPiety Posts: 6 Member
in Getting Started
Hi guys!

I was curious on how you folks prefer to log your meals. Do you log food as you go throughout the day or do you plan out your day by logging everything you plan to eat in the morning and try not to cheat? Or maybe you have a different method all together? There are no wrong answer :) I'm also open to friend request! Thought I'd give the community thing a try.
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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I don't use my food diary anymore, just a spreadsheed; I transitioned into it while still tracking calories. I learnt how to prelog in here, and that was a great help. Now I log as I plan, sometimes I plan all meals two weeks ahead, sometimes just fruit for breakfast the upcoming week, sometimes some of the dinners, sometimes just the protein for some of the dinners, sometimes before I grocery shop, with what I intend to buy, sometimes after when I know what I ended up with. I will change things around a bit if something comes up, but I love the rythm and predictability and I only pick foods I like, so 99% of the time I go for what I planned. Sometimes, if I really want it, I have a treat, but not every day, and in limited amounts. Cheating becomes redundant this way.
  • mkculs
    mkculs Posts: 316 Member
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    I tend to log as I go, too.
  • NHDaisy2
    NHDaisy2 Posts: 151 Member
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    I mainly log as I go.

    However, if I pack my lunch using leftovers I pre-log and may log what I will bring for breakfast and snacks as well. OR if I know I'm going out to lunch or dinner if I know what I'm going to order I will also pre-log that.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
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    A bit from column A and a bit from column B.

    If I know what I'll be having ahead of time (e.g. I have the ingredients for dinner in the fridge) I'll just pre-log it when I have the app open.

    If it's something that I eat regularly, like my breakfast is pretty much the same every day. I'll just log it later when I have the app open rather than making a point of logging as I consume.

    If I'm not sure what I'll be eating or something unplanned comes up like a lunch invitation I'll log as I order/consume so that I can plan the rest of the day.

    This approach makes the act of logging seem less arduous/annoying/time consuming/imposing/etc so I'm more likely to continue long term.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Both for me as well. Most of the time I log as I go but if I know that I will be having something higher calorie than usual, I will pre-log it and work my day or couple days around it. (I follow a weekly calorie goal) I do usually pre-log 250 calories for a 8 pm snack every day.
  • pandorasbox632000
    pandorasbox632000 Posts: 6 Member
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    I pretty much log as I go but I usually have a roughed out idea in my mind when I start my day.
  • DragonHasTheSapphire
    DragonHasTheSapphire Posts: 184 Member
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    I always pre-log the day before, it's easier. If I want to eat something else that isn't logged, I just tweak it here and there. I usually start with post-workout snacks/shakes, since I want decent macros on there for recovery. Then I log breakfast (pre-workout meal, most carbs for the day), lunch, then dinner (fill in any macros that seem a little low). In my opinion it was a little nerve-racking trying to figure out what to eat, but after a while I've grown used to the fact that most of the time it's the same thing, but I always add some variation so it isn't boring.
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 850 Member
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    Well it depends when I go shopping. As an example I went shopping yesterday. And had decided this week was going to be heaving on Fish as I had seen some was on sale at a few stores where I live. So with that in mind. I bought fish for dinner for every day for this coming week. Then bought veges to go with. And I have been on a kick that for breakfast of having the same thing. So made sure I had that stocked. So breakfast taken care of, dinner covered. Thought ok for lunch what do I need, ok covered. Snacks, oh needed it snack bags, they keep me from getting carried away while measuring. I am on week 5 of doing this. So staying super strict with the scale for food weighing, and what goes in snack bags etc. So I make up groc list on what I am going to eat for coming week. And then like today. It is 930PM and I just logged todays food. Still need to make the protein shake and good for today. I agree no right or wrong on this one. Just everyone needs to find what really works best for them and stick to it.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
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    I tend to pre-log meals the day before; or if I don’t know what I’m going to have, I quick add some calories to make sure I have enough when I get to dinner time.

    Then I snack to my heart’s content with what’s left over.
  • baacissej
    baacissej Posts: 32 Member
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    I log as I go but sometimes I have a think about what I want for lunch and dinner and if there's something I really fancy I log it to reserve the calories. I like to save some calories for the evening too because I know that's when I'm more likely to snack, but I don't physically reserve these calories I just know to leave around 200 for the evening.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,106 Member
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    I try to plan on a morning and always leave some calories in hand so if I fancy something I can have it - I hate not being "allowed" to have something as I just want it more then and end up going over.
  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
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    I pre-plan basically every single day. I just find it easier.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
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    I am a creature of habit so I am safe to log my major meals in the morning. Once I open groceries, I finish them before starting a new meal type.

    On work days I will log my breakfast as I eat it, log my lunch and dinner early as I know what I'm having for those. I log snack breaks as I go, as I don't know if/when i will need them through the day.

    If we go out to dinner I will log once I get home, as I don't know what I will eat until i'm there.

    On weekends I log everything as I go, as I try to minimize meals and have a larger deficit on those days.
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,866 Member
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    I mostly log as I go for the first part of the day (small-to-none breakfast, light lunch), and run a sim on dinner which is when I get the most cals in. Then adjust/tweak if I don't feel like eating what I pre-logged, or if I need to cut down to make space for treats or liquid cals :smiley:
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
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    I've been using platejoy.com to do all my meal planning. Each week I enter their recipes into MFP manually and work with ingredients to get close to the calories in the recipe. Then I log eating 1 serving of the recipe. Logging too much detail is excruciatingly painful for me.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I log in advance, 1-2 days, and make adjustments as needed.
  • stephaniek511
    stephaniek511 Posts: 86 Member
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    I tend to prelog the weekdays since those are fairly set for me, and I find it motivating to see that I have met my macros with 100-200 calories to spare...means I have room for a freebie snack during the day when the inevitable urge hits. Weekends tend to be a bit more log as I go since there are usually meals out and bigger, later brunches versus three square meals.
  • fraukazi
    fraukazi Posts: 614 Member
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    I also pre-log. I weigh breakfast, lunch and snacks/fruit while i prep them in the morning and have access to scales (i eat my home-made breakfast in the office). And also often put between 400-700 quick add calories to allow for dinner. I then change it to the actual food later.
    Then depending on exercise, i have some spare to eat snacks or have a glass of wine or so.

    I found that if I log as I go, I can easily eat my 1200 cals by early afternoon and then need to work for my

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