Logging food ahead of time

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  • Buckeye_Fittie
    Buckeye_Fittie Posts: 64
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    I love pre-logging. It takes all of the guesswork out of my meals-- so that when I head to the fridge, I know exactly what I'm retrieving.
  • pumpkinspice84
    pumpkinspice84 Posts: 160 Member
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    I almost always log my breakfast, lunch and dinner in the morning. That way I know what calories I have for snacks. Its easier for me that way. Also if I change my mind about lunch I can change it if I didn't end up eating that. My breakfast and dinner almost always stays on planned.
  • deprek
    deprek Posts: 101 Member
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    sometimes when i put my lunch together in the morning (salad w/ protein, etc) I'll log it in or if I plan a dinner then I'll log it in and see how many calories I have left for my other meals. It certainly cant hurt and you can always go back and revise if you ate less or more
  • cals83
    cals83 Posts: 131
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    If I already know what I am going to be having, I will log as much as possible in the morning while I am logging/eating breakfast. This helps me to determine what I am going to have for lunch and snacks.

    If I were more focused on my macros, I might log things in advance so they would be easier to hit...Currently as long as I hit my target grams for protein and fat, I don't really pay attention to anything else...it gets too complicated for me when I start adding in my exercise calories.
  • Dudagarcia
    Dudagarcia Posts: 849 Member
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    I do and it works great for me :)
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    I do both...

    If I know.. I log ahead of time.. if I don't know I don't


    Simple!

    I usually log tomorrows food the night before.. I don't always know dinner, but at least I know where I'm at without dinner. Usually not enough. I always pre-log more then I actually eat. I always *plan* to eat more then I do, but then when it comes to it, I just can't eat it all. Sometimes I work out a lot more then I thought I would.. I really try hard to eat more on those days.. It's a battle. But at least it makes mornings easy. I know exactly what I am having for breakfast and what snacks to pack for work and usually what lunch awaits me. Somtimes it changes.. but I'm usually pretty good.
  • getup25
    getup25 Posts: 119 Member
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    I like to log in ahead of time. I'm trying to do lower carbs so i can adjust where I need to.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    I log my entire week ahead of time, usually on Sundays. Then adjust as needed.
  • Rachelito
    Rachelito Posts: 119 Member
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    Every night before bed I sit down and log everything I plan on eating tomorrow. It keeps me from having to worry about what I am eating next and keeps my calories in check. I adjust when needed, but I usually eat exactly what I have logged already.
  • RitaSantoss
    RitaSantoss Posts: 986 Member
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    I actually just posted tomorrow's intake. I feel like when you already know ahead of time what you want to eat at a certain time, it cna help you to be on track. But there are still many times where I change up a meal, add or take something from it it, and so on. You just do what feels best for you.
  • Creativeballance
    Creativeballance Posts: 57
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    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
    d3nise Posts: 25 Member
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    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
    michele0101 Posts: 90
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    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
    dmaloof2013 Posts: 134 Member
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    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
    Dolci07 Posts: 37 Member
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    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
    ggivensjr Posts: 8 Member
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    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
    ggivensjr Posts: 8 Member
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    Oops, didn't realize this discussion is from 2013.
  • minnelizzy
    minnelizzy Posts: 45 Member
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    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
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    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
    MsCzar Posts: 1,042 Member
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    With fewer shopping outings nowadays, I often eat from my freezer. Logging ahead of time helps me thaw foods in a timely manner.

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