Logging food ahead of time

Creativeballance

I went to Taco Bell right after the gym recently (it was next door to the gym). I ate, then logged. Needless to say, I ended up going back to the gym to hop on the elliptical again for 45 minutes so I had enough calories for dinner.

d3nise

I find that logging ahead of time.. sometimes gives me the time to reconsider whether I really want to be eating what I'm about to eat :happy:

This, and it makes me happy when I can say at the end of the day, "Yay! I can delete that!"

I agree... Sometimes I change/swap for something I am really craving. By knowing where I stand I avoid the guilt!

michele0101

I started doing this recently and it has worked wonderfully!! I eat a lot of sandwiches for lunch and I will make them for the day and log them and everything else I will be eating for the day. A lot of times I eat sandwiches and yogurt only during the day. In the morning I will prepare the sandwiches in halves and put each half in a separate ziplock bag. I have a big insulated cooler bag and in the morning I load it up with dry ice, my sandwiches and yogurt and carry it with me all day. When I get home at night, I know that when I'm finished eating everything in the bag then I can't have anything else. Although, I usually leave a small amount of free calories for night time because I like to eat sugar free popsicles at night. I don't hardly ever cook so I am fine eating sandwiches all day.

dmaloof2013

I really like logging ahead of time. First of all it allows me to see what I am eating and if I need to make a change (i.e: too much carbs, not enough protein.fiber, etc). Secondly I can reconsider eating out if I was going too. And lastly it lets me plan if I can have a snack later on in the day and/or what exercise and how much I need to do. Also when I log ahead of time I can makae sure that I am going to eat enough to sustain any exercising that I do.

Dolci07

I actually log my whole week on Sunday night. I usually have to change one or two things during the week but it works really well for me.

ggivensjr

elena0559 wrote: »

Does anyone else log food in ahead of time? For example I already know what I will be having fo breakfast in the am and what my snacks will be so I just add them now so that I stick to it and save some time later.
Is this a good idea? Im new to this so any advice is very much appreciated.

I just go into app (Android) open the diary tab at bottom and use arrow at top to go to next day then, select meal eg breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc, and enter the food and time. It seems to work. It's my understanding MFP works with Google Assistant now but haven't tried it yet.

ggivensjr

Oops, didn't realize this discussion is from 2013.

minnelizzy

I like to log early as well. I like a plan and it takes the guesswork out of what I’m eating later. I tend to stay in my calories better this way as well

wilson10102018

Its an old thread but an important topic.

The power of contemporaneous logging is that it is contemporaneous. Subconsciously, silently, in the background, the consequences of poor food choices sink in. "Geez that bowl of peanuts sure was good! Hey, wait a minute, I don't have any calories left for the dinner I had planned."

It comes form monetary budgeting. At least 40 years ago I had compulsive spenders walking around writing down everything in a little book.

Don't be too smart to just fall in line and do it the way you are supposed to.

MsCzar

With fewer shopping outings nowadays, I often eat from my freezer. Logging ahead of time helps me thaw foods in a timely manner.

Butterfly_Ninja3

I have done this and I agree it helps! I love following a routine and a goal for the day! It's written out for me the following day and I end up staying under and at the end I end up losing because of it!