Planning ahead...

ameliaannakin

Since starting to use MFP seriously, I have always planned ahead with the app and put in the food that I would be eating for the rest of the week. I find this really helps me to ensure I get the right amount of fruit and veg in my diet, as well as ensuring that I am on track with my calorie consumption. I was wondering if anyone else does the same as I have been looking at a couple of peoples open diaries and I think I might be on my own with this?

Be great to here your thoughts!

vickyg1986

I normally enter in my breakfast, lunch and dinner the night before for the next day and then add snacks through out the day. I can never plan ahead for the week just because I never know what I'm going to feel like eating that day. As long as I have healthy food in the house I stay on track.

concordancia

Not me, I planned ahead for a steak dinner last night and ended up with falafel at home. And quite a few left over calories.

SparklySarah412

I don't put in all my meals for the whole week but I do plan ahead each day by putting in everything I plan to eat that day first thing in the morning. It really helps me because it means I can tweak my meals to keep me within my calorie allowance (eg reduce the amount of meat I was going to have and increase the vegetables.) And if I fancy a treat and it turns out that that piece of cake has a thousand calories in it, I can just delete it out instead of eating it first and then realising how calorific it was!

Similarly, if I fancy a bar of chocolate or a glass of wine in the evening, I can plan the rest of my day's eating to allow for it if I fill it all in in advance.

avababy05

I log each morning what I plan to eat for the day. 9 times out of 10 that works for me.

But sometimes I decide that last snack is not what I want and change it out.

Fr3shStrt

I'll sometimes log a day in advance, but not always. I tend to stay on track better when I log in advance.

cwolfman13

I don't pre-log an entire week, but I usually pre-log my day in the morning. I'm pretty much to the point where I'm on cruise control though...I used to log religiously the night before, but I quickly started to figure out what I could and couldn't have in a given day. Sometimes I'll be logging though and I will log everything in my breakfast/snack/lunch sack and dinner and be over, so I'll have to cut a snack out or something.

realme56

The most I do is a day ahead, it does help to plan though!

SKMC0214

I usually do mine the night before and then just remove anything if I cannot fit it all in or need to make any adjustments.

rosebarnalice

I don't plan a whole week, but I do often put in a whole day's food --particularly on days when I am teaching late and have to pack both lunch and dinner while I'm making breakfast.

peasantsong

I log for the whole week also. I'm a planner and it helps me. I don't always stick exactly to what's planned but I often do. It also helps me grocery shop.

dawn_eichert

I don't input a week's worth of meals on here, typically I will prelog a day to that I can plan. I typically keep a sheet of paper in my kitchen of what I plan to cook for dinner's that week depending on the kids activities. That way I know what I will be eating for dinners, pre enter that and then will plan each day my breakfast/lunch/snacks around that.

Good luck because there is nothing wrong with planning ahead

jadethief

I usually have dinners planned out for the week so each morning I'll log in dinner i so that I know how many calories I can use for breakfast and lunch. And snacks.

pjrbs

I try to pre plan as much as I can as I use a weekly calorie total rather than a daily one.

I pretty much always plan 1 day ahead and sometimes for 2-3 days if I know I will preparing all my meals for these days.

But, life happens and there is always lots of food where I work and the great thing is you can always change your diary.

ameliaannakin

Thanks for all your responses, it's. great to know what other people do. It tends to be more my main meals that I plan, rather than snacks. I am a planner and it really helps Ax

shutterbug282

I usually have a set plan in mind of meals for the week, but I don't log them until the day.

smilingirisheyes

I plan the following day after my last meal of the day. That way I'm sure what's in the kitchen, and since I'm doing it when full I make better choices. If I do it when I'm hungry it looks like I'm 11 and my parents are out of town...

rumplesnat

I plan and track my exercise for the week on Sundays and plan and log my food for the whole day each morning. Keeps me in control.

justal313

I don't plan my whole week ahead of time in MFP, we do plan out menus and we'll have bigger dinners around my runs.

I enter my food for the day as early as I can so I know how much time I need to run or go to the gym so I can have a beer with dinner or a particular dessert at the end of the day.

BMcG2010

I plan for the day, it keeps me honest and motivated

melsmith612

Recently I have been planning each day the night before, tailoring my meals/snacks to what macros I need in order to hit my weekly goals. I have actually found this to be really helpful in getting me out the door on time in the mornings instead of having to add in all of my foods then before eating breakfast or packing my lunch for work. I would probably plan ahead further but I like the illusion of choice.

HealthyinAZ

Yep - I always plan my day ahead of time to be sure everything is where it should be. Keeps me from cheating

michele0101

I log everything I'm going to eat in the morning and leave a small amount of calories to "play" with. Then at night, I can add in a few sugar free popsickles if I want them! I also cut my sandwiches into halves and put each half in a separate zip lock bags. I can't tell you how much this has helped me!!

Bettyeditor

I'm a planner too, Amelia. I have a spreadsheet of my snacks. LOL How geeky is that? *blushes*

But I also try to practice intuitive eating. So my planning is along the lines of buying/shopping/ordering for the week so I have lots of healthy choices. I have certain foods that I eat for snacks, so I portion them out into little baggies.

I don't often log a whole day or week in advance. But if I know I have some fish to eat up for example, that is high fat/calories, I might plug it in dinner so that I can then see what I have left for lunch. Also, if I will be going to a restaurant, I try to look up the nutritional information on their website ahead of time and plug in my order into MFP so I can make tweaks and feel confident about ordering when I go.