Question For Those Who Advance Log Meals

Athijade

I preplan all meals and snacks for Monday through Friday and preplan my dinners on Saturday and Sunday. I do this to keep myself on track and to actually eat what I buy. I find if I tell myself "You are supposed to have yogurt this morning and it fits in your calories" I am less likely to swing by the café and get a big platter of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and biscuits. Or "You're making Asian glazed Salmon for dinner as that is what you bought" and I won't stop for McDonalds for a couple cheese burgers and fries.

nickssweetheart

I thought about this thread as I was updating my diary today. I edited my prelogging yesterday and today to reflect the fact that I DIDN'T want split pea soup and DO want a Chipotle burrito.

So much for my fine words about not throwing out my plan.

But I still mostly followed my own rules, because the peas are dried, so I can fix them any time. The lackluster carrots and celery I was going to use up in the soup I can dice and freeze along with an onion, and then I've got the start of a soup whenever I want it. And I'm having the burrito today when it's easier to fit into my goals than it would have been yesterday because I edited down my lunch to compensate and worked in more fruits and veg. I had my original lunch today for dinner yesterday and I'm good to go.

peaceout_aly

HeyJudii wrote: »

What happens if you decide you want something different last minute?

I try to plan my meals by the week because it has worked well for me so far.
But, I worry (probably too strong a word) that I will eat my first and second meal, and then by third meal time, either the group will decide to go out to eat, or I will decide I have a taste for something else, but because I ate earlier average calorie size meals, now I am "stuck" with what I already planned.

I am here filling out my weekly log, but hesitating to fill in Fri-Sun, because, "What if I want something different then?" The danger, for me, in not pre-planning, is that every time I leave it open, I wind up using more of my exercise calories than I originally intended to use. Since I don't really trust the amount that of exercise calories MFP gives me, it stresses me out. (Neurotic as I am, I don't need any additional things to worry about. )

How do you other pre-loggers handle that?

If I switch it up, I simply do that in my log. Not a big deal. Just be conscious of your decisions if you're trying to hit macros. For example, I won't have a 200 g protein day and then sub in a bagel, or pizza, I'll make sure that whatever I'm getting on a whim is still high in protein.

maybe1pe

typically i pre-log for the week. and then make minor adjustments as I go. Maybe I don't want brussel sprouts tonight and I want corn instead. Or maybe my farm share didn't give me green beans like I thought they would and they gave me something else.

If something comes up and suddenly we are going out for a social event. I go out and enjoy myself. If I go significantly over my calories I might cut out a snack for the next couple of days. But really I use my weekly deficit so as long as I'm under or even for the week I don't usually worry about being over for a day or two.

For me pre-logging isn't a prison. If I change my mind I change my log and I move on with my life. To me the pre-planning is to take the stress and decision making out of "what do I eat tonight when I get home" some days after work I'm mentally exhausted and don't want to think about it at all when I get home. I don't care what I eat, I care that I'm hungry so I grab what I logged and go. Other times things come up and plans change and I roll with it.

hesn92

I just delete the meal and log what I’m actually eating? I generally stick to a ballpark number of calories for each meal. Plus I always leave a couple hundred each day for random snacks and whatnot. Although- I only log out my day in advance, never an entire week. If you’re constantly pre-logging your weeks and then changing them all the time maybe pre logging just doesn’t fit your lifestyle?