Does anyone input their food ahead of time?

raebels

I do it occasionally, mostly when I know I'm having leftovers. Every now and then I will plan my entire day but I'm not always the best at planning so it is usually plan as I go. Thankfully, I eat a lot of the same stuff at work so it helps me stay on track.

Congrats too on being so close to your goal weight!!

taso42

I pre-log quite often and highly recommend it to people that are just starting out.

majones_orl

I usually have the same thing for breakfast and eat it when I get to work, so I know, and add the night before if I remember.
When fixing lunch the night before I usually load.
When going out, I try to check in MFP for menu items from where I am going.

faborina

Logging ahead of time has been extremely helpful to me. In many cases it helps me to make different choices based on how it all looks together. WHen I was using another site It helped me to tweak my menu a bit to increase certain nutrients where I was lacking. I also find it helpful to look up and log potential choices when eating out. Once I see how it in the log I may decide to make a better choice in order to help reach my end goal.

Samstudent88

Yes, I usually try to do it the night before....pretty much eat the same stuff everyday...

mystinamarie

I work nights so it's helpful for me to plan out my day and put it all in before I head to work. It also keeps me on track to kind of plan ahead and pick healthy things, instead of just going "oh, I'll run through a drive thru, or I'll grab a slice of pizza from the place a few doors down."
It's nice to know a general idea of the calories you'll consume too, for snacking purposes, or to see if you need to crank up the exercise that day, depending on your meals.

BrienJD

I try and do up to a week in advance. I get the main stuff in, then all I have to worry about is snacks and how much exercise I need to do to make sure I don't go over goal.

Pimpmonkey

I frequently do--especially when I am working, then will make any changes at the end of the day

^^This

Brittonloves

I log the big three meals, an afternoon snack, and a nighttime snack, and try to leave myself some wiggle room so that if I am hungrier than that I don't have to stress it. It's funny, but I actually forget sometimes what I'm supposed to eat and pre-planning takes the guess work out of it. I'll hop on my app and see what I'm supposed to eat next and THERE YA GO.

Bookchick887

YES the night before! Then I can play w/ the numbers and make sure I don't go over. It takes careful planning to stay w/in 1200 cals.

DangerJim71

Yes, sort of... I usually put in lunch and two snacks while I sit and eat one of about 8- 300 calorie breakfast options I have worked out. Rarely put in dinner but save enough calories that I have a lot of options which is good because it is the one meal I usually share with my family.

Eveamlizya

I do sometimes. Especially when I know that a meal that day is going to be big (like a family cook out or something) that way I'll know what I can have for the other meals to stay within that 1200 cals...also, I'm less likely to grab the extra Dr. Pepper if I know I don't have the extra cals and carbs to spare.

duhblond

I do - It helps me plan my intake so I know if what I'm thinking of eating will work in my calorie range
Otherwise I feel I had more "oops" days lol

AntWrig

Since I am in contest prep, I add my meals one week in advance. I print it out and post it on my fridge, this allows me to know what macro range I am working with per day.

fergie2812

pretty much i do every day
I always put my cereal and drinks in first (I tend to have the same) then my lunch and then I know what I've got left for my tea. If I'm organised with tea then I do that first and work it backwards. Can work out my snacks too then!

TheVimFuego

My meals are usually planned in advance. I tend to eat the same stuff for the vast majority of the week so the MFP log is a bit redundant now, as long as I stick to the right foods for me and only eat when hungry then I'm good.

nevertoolate2

All the time. It means I know what calories I have to play with

Dawn3218

Yes I pre-log in the week and I usually stay within my calorie allowance as I work out what I can/can't have - I find it really helpful to plan my meals that way.

However at the weekends I log after the event and more-often-than-not I have eaten more than I should and gone over my calories!!

SpazzyMal

I did it every day when I first started out, to get used to eating less and figuring out how much I I needed to eat, but I'm doing it less and less now. I probably do it about half the time now. I should probably do it more, my diet was more balanced when I did it all the time.

tadpole242

I never log food that I‘ve not eaten, the whole reason to log food is to track it, not to plan it, but keep a track of the amount.
Pre-logging is taking calorie counting to a more extreme level, a level I do not wish to go to.

I eat roughly the same things when I am at work, so I know what kind of numbers I’ll be heading for, but the food tracker is my aid, not my parent, I don’t need its permission to eat an extra slice of ham or a doughnut. 14,000 kcal a week, not daily or by the hour, if I go over one day I either work harder, or eat less the next day. At the end of every week I’m normally left with a couple of thousand calories that I could eat back, but don’t.