Question about the food diary and advanced planning

kristizzle66

Thank you for all the support and inspiration. I spent the day preparing -- because i know this is going to be an uphill journey -- at least for now.

I wanted to ask, does anyone pre-plan their daily food on MFP? I decided to make a plan for tomorrow, and if I stick to it, I will have done pretty good. I just wondered if anyone else has approached the food diary this way. Thanks

Krista

Runninginafatsuit

I think this is a wonderful idea and I do this sometime when I feel myself slipping off plan.

Jenscan

Yup, good call to do that - be sure to eat all of your calories too. If you're preplanning and have some left over, just be sure to net at least your minimum by the end of the day.

MelissaL582

Absolutely! It helps me a lot to plan out my "tomorrow's" diary. Lets me know how long I need to workout for too and I can see if I need to up my produce during certain meals.

terri045

yes I do that all the time. I love making sure that I have calories left at the end of my day in case I want to treat myself and if I dont then all the better.

LittleFootHafner

I often do the same, and it definitely helps me stay on track!
Good Luck, and I'm sure that you will do great!!
Feel free to add me if you are looking for some friends...

mrogers52

Yes I do! I also log at least breakfast, lunch and snacks in the morning. Too busy at school to think about food again until dinner. I plan my food and exercise:flowerforyou:

Think I might be OCD.

cheermom614

Absolutely! I usually plan for the entire week. I always eat roughly the same things for breakfast and lunch and I plan my dinner menus a week at a time (easier with my busy family).

jrcox520

I do this often. Last Sunday I planned all the way through Thursday, then cooked for it. It helps me a lot because I'm short on time (like most of us probably) during the week and don't feel comfortable winging it. I'll prelog exercise calories also so I can plan for the added intake on certain days. It takes the stress out of doing it nightly and you don't have to worry about what is within parameters. Sometimes it isn't always possible to eat exactly what you have planned, but the deviation doesn't ever turn to be much. Yay planning! Yes, I am a nerd about this.

Speaking of which, I should probably get started....

batalina

i do that most days! either i'll plan out the whole day the night before, or sometimes i'll eat breakfast and enter that, then enter what i think i'll want for dinner, and the remainder of the calories tells me what i can have for lunch and snacks! (rather than running out of calories before dinner and having to eat something tiny and ridiculous, lol!)

PattyCake123

Yes! I do it often, especially when I have to work nights (my biggest snacking time). It just helps to keep me on track and I feel accountable for what I eat. It also reduces some of the stress when I know it's going to be a rough day. Good luck!

Skepti_Kal_1

i do that most days! either i'll plan out the whole day the night before, or sometimes i'll eat breakfast and enter that, then enter what i think i'll want for dinner, and the remainder of the calories tells me what i can have for lunch and snacks! (rather than running out of calories before dinner and having to eat something tiny and ridiculous, lol!)

This is a fantastic idea! Definitely going to try it!

wjkfloyd

I pre-plan, too, using the log, just in case I want to splurge. If I do splurge for a meal, I know my next meal needs to be very sensible...good luck!

cownancy

I try to plan my entire week so that I can shop and not end up with lots of extra food around the house. Like some of the others here, I also pre-cook some of the weekly meals. Last week, I had meatloaf, fish, pot roast, a chicken dish, "sandwich night" and two nights out.

It's a real help to not have to think about it each day. LOL. Good luck!

Pebble321

Every day, in fact I can't understand how people do it any other way.
If I just dropped foods in as I ate them, I'd be adding to all the posts every day saying "help, I've got 809 cals left to eat" or "help I'm 500 cals over"!

I enter my meals for the day then add snacks or increase my meals to get up to my cals. If I know I'm going for a long run I will factor that in and add extra snacks to my plan. This doesn't mean I stick to the plan absolutely, if something changes then I am in a good position to decide if I want to have a treat or something different and adjust my diary accordingly.