Logging meals ahead of time

1020Chelsea

Anybody else find it helpful to enter what your lunch or dinner will be once you know? I find it helpful. Example, if I had breakfast then enter my lunch and dinner guesses and I know I only have a 200 calorie wiggle room... much easier to say no to bad snacks and is a boost to my gym or walk motivation.

kommodevaran

It's one of the smartest things you can do. Another smart thing is to stop dividing foods into good and bad.

RelCanonical

Yeah, I do it on the reg so I can have some wiggle room for candy since the Halloween candy is already coming into the office, or I can bank it for something on the weekend.

livingleanlivingclean

I write/plan one day of food and eat the same thing every week day. Makes life easy! Weekends are more flexible and I have different foods and a different meal schedule.

Lounmoun

I typically log my whole day of food before I eat breakfast.
I eat the same amount of calories for each meal every day so even if I did not log in advance I would know I have 100-300 calories for snacks.

bizgirl26

I do this lots. The other thing I do is when I know I am going out for dinner I look at their menu and pre-log it . I find that really helpful

ewhall46

Just started doing this today! Pre-logged expected intake. Easier to edit, than to start from scratch. Gives me direction. Loving it. Btw, my calendar is public, but it's not super aggressive. Feedback is welcomed at any time. Thanks.

quiksylver296

I log my entire day before breakfast. It gives me an idea if I can have any of the birthday cake that was brought into the office (or whatever). Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

vegannicole1818

Yes I try to do this everyday! It helps me make better choices so that I don’t blow my goal completely out of the water!

Natalieomg

I started doing this earlier in the week, especially when I was planning to be out for dinner that night - and yes I looked up the menu and tried to log what I could in advance .... when I knew what the calories would be I decided to walk the 5 kms to dinner instead of drive!

SKintsch

I eat the same darn breakfast every single day, so I just add it as far ahead as my attention span will allow. The only thing that might change is having additional fruit. I'm such a dull eater... Treats and snacks are my downfall...

unigirl143

I pre log almost all of the time. It helps me to plan ahead what I am eating so when I am rushing around I at least have one thing under control.

883xlsportster

I eat the same thing on a weekly schedule. I tracked it here when I started. Once I got the calories about where I wanted them I stopped logging. If I venture outside my diet with odd meal I don't bother logging it as it will autocorrect over the long haul. The food does get a little mundane at first but the time it saves from logging is time better spent IMO.

kellsey4955

I always do it as it helps me to plan 👍🏻

admaarie

I always pre log the night before or the morning of, especially when going out to eat. That way I can semi stick to my plan (still find it important to be flexible) & have an idea of what I should eat around that to fit my goals.

VUA21

1020Chelsea wrote: »

Anybody else find it helpful to enter what your lunch or dinner will be once you know? I find it helpful. Example, if I had breakfast then enter my lunch and dinner guesses and I know I only have a 200 calorie wiggle room... much easier to say no to bad snacks and is a boost to my gym or walk motivation.

Yep. I log dinner (usually my biggest meal of the day) before I even make it. I log the most I think I'll eat, and that gives me an idea of what to stick to for lunch and snacks. If I eat less than anticipated, I know that I can have an evening snack. It's just easier for me to pre-log my biggest meal of the day and adjust the rest of my day accordingly.

TrishSeren

I prelog meals where I can, mainly to see if I can fit in treats hehehehe

RAinWA

I usually log a week in advance and then adjust quantities as needed. I need to be organized and having things planned ahead means less grocery store stops, less having to make decisions in the morning, etc.

Millicent3015

I log a day or three in advance. I'd really like to build up to prelogging a week in advance, but I'm not that organised yet. I also use a shopping list app with a pantry option, so I've listed what I have in the house and that helps me plan meals around fresh food and leftovers I need to use up.

fitoverfortymom

I meal prep and prelog, so I at least know what my breakfast/lunch calories are so I know how much I can spend on dinner/dessert.

PennyP312

I do this every weekday. I plan all of our dinners on the weekend and generally have the same lunches and breakfasts most days. I log my 3 main meals as I’m sipping my morning coffee and it allows me to see how many treats I get for the day!

Gamliela

I log my meals every morning, it works really well for me.

Kalex1975

RAinWA wrote: »

I usually log a week in advance and then adjust quantities as needed. I need to be organized and having things planned ahead means less grocery store stops, less having to make decisions in the morning, etc.

I also log a week in advance. I meal plan on the day the grocery store circular comes out which has saved me a lot of money. The only unknowns I have are when I eat back exercise calories which usually ends up being a protein bar (i.e. a candy bar with protein).

jillstreett

I do this everyday! Maybe not dinner but breakfast, lunch and snacks are always pre logged and sometimes dinner too if I have made something specific. Echo to others that it helps me know that if someone brings in a birthday cake, etc., I know where I can drop something off my log or if I have enough calories, just go for it! I think I owe a lot of my success to it so that I already have snacks worked in so that when I need it, I can reach for it and not second guess having a snack!

urbanradish

I love this idea - to be honest never really thought about doing this but seems like it makes it easy to keep on track!!

AnnPT77

If pre-logging works for someone that's great. Obviously, it works for a lot of people. I'm going to offer another view . . . not to be contrary, but so new MFPers reading this have multiple perspectives.

I don't have the personality type for prelogging. I'm impulsive, and can't predict in the morning what I'd like to eat later in the day. I do have some consistent breakfasts, but I don't even bother to prelog those. I pretty much only prelog when I'm post breakfast/lunch, going out for dinner to eat a known thing at a known place, and wondering if I'm going to get in the full-day nutrition I want, and if not, how many calories I have for a remedial snack before dinner.

Despite that, it was straightforward for me to lose weight: 50+ pounds in a bit less than a year, and going on 3 years of maintenance since.

Pre-logging is a great tool. But it's not a required tool for everyone, in order to succeed.

debrakgoogins

Prelogging helped me a lot when I was starting out. It allowed me to start paying better attention to my macros and motivated me to get into the gym for some extra calories. When my weight starts to slip by more than 5 pounds, I start prelogging again to get back on track.

mountainmare

I'm also a weekly pre-planner. I plan my dinners for the week and prelog them. That most breakfasts are the same-except "BIG SUNDAY BREAKFAST", but I have my standard Sunday BB meals in "meals" so can log them in advance. I am retired now but I started making weekly meal plans when I was traveling a lot for work and I never had a weight problem then. When I retired I decided to go with the flow--that didn't work well for me so I went back to planning.
I am a good cook and like to cook so its not a big deal and for me makes logging easier.