When Do You Decide... ?

MsCzar
MsCzar Posts: 1,071 Member
... what to eat at mealtimes? Do you plan your meal far ahead or take the day as it comes?
Most days, I have a vague notion of breakfast and dinner - generally adjusting the later meal to meet the day's remaining calories. Often I'll pre-log meals and juggle serving sizes or substitutions until I meet my calorie goal.
What about you?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,826 Member
    My snacks are adjustable and will depend on hunger, how many calories I have left over and what I feel like eating (I usually only snack in the evening, sometimes in the afternoon when I'm really hungry and dinner won't be ready in the near future.

    My main meals are planned out for shopping purposes, usually 3 or 4 days at a time: I know what I'll eat, but not the precise quantity.

    Bread and toppings will be according to what I feel like at that time (or prepared in advance when I'm working at the office).

    Warm meals: my precise portion will depend on how calorific it is (I try to calculate it beforehand, if possible) and how much my boyfriend wants to eat 🙂

    The only meals where I know what and how much I'm going to eat in advance is when I have leftovers (for one person), a ready-meal or I prepare my lunch at home before going to work (but even in that last case, I might just hit down the quantities and calculate the calories later) or breakfast because it's usually the same day in day out.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    We plan out our dinners for the week on Saturdays for shopping purposes, plus take a look at our staples and what needs to be replenished. We pretty much stick to that plan although it might not be the exact day...like maybe my wife was going to make her Greek chicken pita thing on Monday but decides she's in the mood for the Salmon dish she was going to do Wednesday, so she just swaps out the days...or I was going to do Teriyaki chicken bowls on Tuesday but I decide I'm going to do my blackened fish fry I was going to do on Thursday instead.

    Lunches are usually either leftovers or I go between a ham and swiss or tuna salad sandwich. Breakfast is usually a 2 egg with ham and cheese omelet a couple days per week and a smoothie a couple days per week.

    I don't log, but when I did I usually pre-logged my day. Breakfasts and lunches have always been pretty consistent. Dinner is where I get most of my variety.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    I'm definitely a wing-it person. I always have the foods I eat available but when I open the fridge, if I feel like a salad meal or an egg meal or tuna or whatever, then that's what I'll have.

    I've tried preplanning or pre-logging but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I'm constantly changing my mind. :)
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,352 Member
    I fall somewhere in between. If I cook, then things are naturally planned out forever. I cook for one, so most things I actually cook I'm stuck with eating for a week or more. If I don't cook, then I just sort of graze on whatever is around until I hit close to my calories.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    edited April 2022
    I tend to eat the same breakfasts (two general different ones depending on whether I'm working out early with others, or am on my own for eating schedule. (I'm retired, but I was similar when working: Breakfast is all about patterns. I wake up slowly, don't handle morning all that well. Varying breakfasts lots feels too complicated.)

    After that, all bets are off. If I had the light pre-workout breakfast, I tend to have my oatmeal concoction (the heavier breakfast) for lunch, because I like it just that much.

    Snacks are always impromptu, though obviously they tend to rely on a small range of quick-to-grab foods, but the specific range varies over time.

    Dinner, I usually decide generally what to make late in the day, but often it's a bare outline ("something with tempeh", "something with beans and the leftover canned tomatoes"). I've been known to make up the details, even sometimes make a sharp left turn, while actually in the process of cooking dinner. I almost never plan exactly, precisely what dinner is until I start getting out ingredients, though fairly often I have a general category (stew, tostadas, pasta dish, etc.)

    For meals, I pretty much never use recipes, except for general ideas of new patterns to try. I just cook, put things together impromptu. (I do use recipes, mostly, for things that have a lot of what I think of as "structural ingredients", such as baked goods.)
  • 88AViva
    88AViva Posts: 499 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I'm definitely a wing-it person. I always have the foods I eat available but when I open the fridge, if I feel like a salad meal or an egg meal or tuna or whatever, then that's what I'll have.

    I've tried preplanning or pre-logging but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I'm constantly changing my mind. :)

    I'm the same. If I pre-log my food, I noticed I always end up changing it. I go with what's convenient or what I feel like having today. If I made extra, I just keep it for the next day. So then I would only have to plan one meal that day. I don't really do breakfast because I can't eat much in the mornings. Snacks I only have in the evenings when I feel like it. I make room for a fruit a day and 2 coffees/ teas.
  • gpanda103
    gpanda103 Posts: 189 Member
    I eat the same thing, but sometimes I will tweak certain ingredients to change up the flavors. Other than that, I just copy paste everything to the next day and do everything from memory
  • Idontcareyoupick
    Idontcareyoupick Posts: 2,854 Member
    I pre-plan dinners Sunday to Thursday to make sure there's leftovers for hubby work. For lunch, I'll usually make a big pot of soup, leftovers, or chicken tenders. Breakfast tends to be a free for all with either breakfast foods, leftovers, or a sausage and a cookie. I don't eat many snacks but they depend on calories at the time.
  • Walkywalkerson
    Walkywalkerson Posts: 456 Member
    I don't pre log because I always change my mind - but I do meal prep - so I have foods on rotation for the week.
    It saves money and time
    It also really helps me keep my calories down because there's always something ready to eat.
    I need to start planning snacks for when I'm out and about because this is where I fall short.
    I find bakery goods hard to resist!