Adding Food Before You Eat

bitterfusion

I sometimes log dinner in advance, especially if I know it's not going to be the healthiest of dinners, just so I can see how much I have then for lunch/snacks and hopefully not over eat!

sbarbry

I pack my meal for the next work day (breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks) the night before and log everything to the tracker at that time.

bcattoes

I will sometimes do it with my lunch on work days since I know that's what I'm going to eat. But otherwise, I usually wait until I've eaten it to log. I don't log dinner until the next morning most days.

stephenatl09

Does anyone else do this? I have been partially populating my diary so I know what my plan is (and so I remember what I put in my sandwich), then adding or subtracting as I eat.

Absolutely. I frequently do this when I go out to chain restaurants - research what is in my "budget", enter it in my diary and assess whether I can "afford" the meal, then when I get to the restaurant I'm not stressing out about what I can and cannot order - I order what I planned ahead and enjoy it.

I do this, also. If I know I am going to a certain restaurant for a meal with family, etc. I go online to the nutritional info site for that restaurant and decide what are my best options and log it before going so I do not get off track.

lauras777

I typically log most of my day right after i eat breakfast....just to know what my options are for dinner if i exercise or not....sometimes I'll add in the "planned" exercise too and see how many more calories that gives me for dinner...and then it guilts me into actually doing the exercise since I've already accounted for it.

emma110984

I do... fail to prepare, prepare to fail! I love knowing in advance how many calories I have left for the day or what I will be eating the next day! :0)

Melodypharmon

I always do this because otherwise I loose track of what I have eaten. Then when I sit down to track everything I have gone way over calories. If I enter it first I tend to stick to it.

InnerFatGirl

Sometimes I search/scan an item and add it to see how many calories it leaves me with, but in terms of pre-logging, I just add my food as I go ...

kacbldmm07

I do, I will always put it in and then eat. But. I do not go back and re weigh my food and minus what is left on my plate on my log. I never go back and add more because I never go over serving size. It has definitely helped me not over eating.

Emancipated_Tai

First thing in the morning I log the whole day then make adjustments as needed. I'm also forgetful, so it helps me remember what I'm supposed to be eating.

Jezebel_Barbie

I do this pretty much every day. Especially for events or big meals - BBQs, friends coming round for dinner, going out to eat etc.

Flab2fitfi

I usually put it in while I'm cooking unless I need to find the cooked weight. It makes its easier as having to dish up for six most nights.

ninerbuff

I eat pretty systematically so it's not uncommon for me to do it.


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xcharysma

I'm pretty predictable 5 days a week, so I log those all the time. It's only the weekend that I don't really log meals beforehand. But 5 days a week, I'm pretty good keeping my food on target.

amymt10

I do this, it makes it easier to stay on track and no go over on my calories. When I get to work the first thing I do is do my food log for the whole day. I'll change it later if I need to.

staceykay104

Food planning is kind of essential for weight management. I over eat when I add up my calories AFTER I eat them. But when I add everything up before-hand, I know how much to eat, how to pace myself (no, I won't be able to eat that second helping), and how much I can splurge without feeling guilty or starving myself later to make up for it (I don't like starving

SlidingDown

I do this too. Right from the start on MFP, I was finding the nutritional information available to be a revelation in why I had gained weight - seeing what was really in my choices. Because of that revelation, on many occasions I would enter what I was planning to eat at the next meal, and see whether it fit my goals or if I needed to change it.
That was a huge help in learning the best choices for me.

Also, because I don't have access to MFP during the work day, sometimes in an evening I will not only complete that day, but also pre-record what I know I'm going to have for breakfast and lunch the next day. Then I log back in the next evening, and update with any changes or variations, and also record dinner and snacks.
Often if I have not pre-recorded breakfast and lunch, I will instead send myself an email from work to home, noting what I had and counting coffees, snacks etc.

So there are two reasons for me why I pre-record, the biggest one being the ability to see how my choices will fit with my goals, while I still have the ability to change them. Once the food is eaten, it's too late to undo it, so this works for me.

shiseido_faerie

I generally will log my whole day so that I know what I have to play around with if I want a snack.
Now, having said that, there have been times where i've logged the day and then we've ended up going out for dinner instead of going home and eating what I thought we were going to, and i've gone over. But like someone else says, life happens, I don't stress out about it.

cbart2818

I do this everyday and it has helped me stay on track and make sure I don't over eat on something.

I am getting quicker at it now, since a lot of my food I eat and buy can be found in my recent. I also save a lot to my meals and I have included quite a few recipes now.

My boyfriend just steals the meals from my diary since he eats pretty much the same as I do, and just modifyies the amounts and adds or minuses what he doesn't eat. LOL Lazy : )

shelbyfrootcake

I usually add before so I can work out a proper meal plan for the day/coming days.

ntw25

I agree with most. I plan my meals (breakfast, lunch and snacks) the night before and log them at that point. I can then decide my dinner based on my exercise, if I dont want to walk or go to the gym, then I have to eat less. I know that it is all a game that I am playing with myself, but whatever works.

Weekends I am less predictable, but also have more flexbility to exercise

cbart2818

I do this too. Right from the start on MFP, I was finding the nutritional information available to be a revelation in why I had gained weight - seeing what was really in my choices. Because of that revelation, on many occasions I would enter what I was planning to eat at the next meal, and see whether it fit my goals or if I needed to change it.
That was a huge help in learning the best choices for me.

^^This^^ I couldn't beleive how off my eating was. My boyfriend just joing MFP and his food meal log was HORRIBLE. He thought he was eating good, he was making good choices but the amounts of everything were WAY off. I also thought I was eating healthy, but my healthy choices we not even close to my goals. Not enough protein is what I found out. Now that I log everything a head of time, I can make sure I get plenty of protein.

jesss5885

absolutely!!
I usually try to enter the week at once (at least Monday - Friday) and then tweak my entries as needed.
It definitely helps me stay on plan and forces me to make better choices!

ojell

Does anyone else do this? I have been partially populating my diary so I know what my plan is (and so I remember what I put in my sandwich), then adding or subtracting as I eat.

Yep. I did it all the time and then adjust it at the end of the day.

mrandolph69

It is 9am and my diary already contains my lunch and dinner so, yes, I do add foods before I eat. I don't do it all the time but when I do I find it helps me plan out the day so I know what to expect calorie-wise. It can help me decide what to snack on throughout the day as well since I know what I have planned for later.

lottier0311

yep i do this all the time. it means you can plan your 3 main meals and have a bit of what you fancy when you fancy it and play with whats left!

asmithTXfit

Yes .. this is me. I add and remove depending on how may day is going .. also helps me to plan if I need an extra workout!

big_eye

this is so true!!

That strategy has helped me alot!. Especially if I know I'm going out to eat, I have it all planned before I go so I don't have to annoy my dinner date with checking the calories on everything before I order

delilah47

I usually try to fill in my entire meal plan before I eat anything or shortly after breakfast. Then, as the day goes by, I make adjustments if I want to change anything. Most of the changes are to my snacks (smaller meals). This helps prevent feeling like everything is "set in stone" and I can make changes if I want.

myfitnessnmhoy

...he was making good choices but the amounts of everything were WAY off. I also thought I was eating healthy, but my healthy choices we not even close to my goals....

You've pretty much described my wife and I to a "T". Especially my diet. I was eating what I thought were healthy things like grapes, raisins, fruit, TONS of veggies, etc etc, and they were, but my "before supper" diet was almost completely lacking in fats and proteins, and I was one starvin' puppy all day long.

Added in some extra cream cheese on my bagel in the morning, and a lean turkey or roast beef and cheese wrap at lunch, and cut the fruit back just a little bit (I still eat 3-4 pieces of fruit a day), and kept the veggies high, and now I'm a lot less hungry and a lot more energetic.

The food diary is truly a gift from the Gods. It's made such an incredible difference.