Pre-planning your day's meal

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knoelledi
knoelledi Posts: 91 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Do any of you preplan your day's meal to make sure you get enough calories? I just got back from a workout and had planned dinner but didn't put it in MFP. Now it's 8pm and even when I put in dessert, I'm shy calories. Just wondering what others do.

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  • ajax041813
    ajax041813 Posts: 136 Member
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    I am trying to get better about this myself. I do input daily, after I have eaten something. Im trying to weigh things out but I need a better scale. I do preplan, a day ahead at least. Tonight i made ground pork and ground chicken at the same time, stir fry style. While things were cooking, I got out two tupperware and filled them with salad stuff i had prepped and ready in fridge. I set these aside until everything was ready for dinner. I made our dinner bowls (sauteed mushrooms and zucchini, a little raw cabbage and the meat) then topped our salads with meat so they are ready for lunch and put the rest of meat in tupperware. I cook for two and my fiancee needs more calories than I do so I usually give him more meat. I didnt weigh the meat mixture out, due to sheer laziness. I know it was 2lbs of meat so 32 oz divided into 5 portions, so 6.5oz of meat. I know i should weigh it but I just don't all the time. When I do, I usually realize I have overestimated the amounts, so Ill have eaten less. I also plan what Im gonna make weekly so I know we have enough to get us thru a week. We might have to go.back for avocados or nuts. Hope this.helps!
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    I do just so I don't end up home after work, sitting around humming and hawing over what I should make for dinner and then never ending up making anything at all because I don't feel like thinking about it.
  • knoelledi
    knoelledi Posts: 91 Member
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    We are both heading back to work soon (seasonal employee) so we need to be a better planner. We're used to only making what is needed for one meal so we don't over eat.

    What I actually meant was do you prelog for the day so you know that you're making calories? I never thought, before this journey, that I would UNDER eat. #firstworldproblems
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    Yes, I find that I have to pre plan my meals for the day, otherwise I end up consuming less calories than I should to maintain my weight.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    Right now I pre-plan breakfast and lunch for sure, just because I need to be leaving by 8-8:30 every day and eat lunch on campus. So it's faster to pre-plan the night before and then just put everything together (or I might put it together the night before too). I do a loose plan for dinner now to and sometimes for the whole day, but it can easily change. Fri-Sun I don't need to plan since I'm home early on Fridays (althoguh I think I'll be bringing lunch anyways, so just need to preplan breakfast + lunch) and then no school on the weekend.

    Basically if pressed for time, prelogging helps a lot. Otherwise I'll free flow it. But I follow TDEE method so my calorie intake (when I finalyl settle on a calorie limit LOL, I'm always changing it but DETERMINED to stick to 2020 for now or 2050 if I find that I'm feeling a bit sluggish/crabby since I'm walking around more) is stable every day. Makes it easier to pre-plan or free-flow as I desire since I'm not playing wtih changing calorie limits

    So ETA, unless something happens where I don't finish eating for the day (e.g. last night I fell asleep before eating the last 150 cals I needed, so making up for it tonight), I will fit in some small things if needed. So if I plan all of my meals but then I change half of what I'm eating because I find that when I get home I'm too lazy to cook, I just replace with easier food until I reach target and then nom nom nom.
  • Makterbro
    Makterbro Posts: 101 Member
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    Yes, if I don't pre-plan then I usually end up eating way too little or way to much.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I typically do but by now I know 'how to eat' anyway. But I use the TDEE method, so if I decide to do an extra workout or something, it doesn't change anything.
  • myrtille87
    myrtille87 Posts: 122 Member
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    I often pre-log dinner (roughly) and then add in the exact weights when I cook it.

    It's generally for the opposite reason as you though - because I'm worried dinner will turn out to be 700 calories or something and I won't be able to have any snacks all day.

    So I guess how much I will use of different ingredients and input them to give me a rough idea of calories, then change the numbers up or down as a chicken breast or different vegetables obviously don't weigh the same every time.

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