Do you plan your eating a day or two ahead?

happy123456
happy123456 Posts: 48 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello

I was wondering do you plan what you are eating for the next day or so and add it to your food diary or do you just add as you go?

I have been adding as I go but then seem to be going over all the time, :-(

So I have planned everything for tomorrow and I am hoping for a better result!

Replies

  • krhn
    krhn Posts: 781 Member
    Whatever works for you really! Everyone's routine is different, I can plan or deal with the foods daily - currently just doing the latter because I don't really have the space to store the foods, so i get through day by day!

    If you want to get this done daily with no real planned meals and are still going over your calories, maybe do some cardio exercises so you burn off just enough to be in the caloric deficit.
  • divemunkey
    divemunkey Posts: 288 Member
    I find that when I make food ahead, and also put it in my diary ahead of time, I make my goals more consistently. That doesn't make me do it more often, though... But when I do plan ahead, I leave a bit of wiggle room in there for snacks. That way it's not inflexible.
  • auteurfille22
    auteurfille22 Posts: 251 Member
    Yes I do! But I always add in 200-300 quick add calories just because I know I'll probably end up snacking on something unplanned throughout the day anyway. But it's how I stay on track and don't go over - the days that I go over are almost always days that I didn't bother to plan out.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Right now I have mine planned a week ahead (yes, it's already logged). Usually I plan two days ahead and leave extra calories for a treat just in case.
  • Pimpmonkey
    Pimpmonkey Posts: 566
    I plan ahead for the days I work. The days I'm home I don't and I definitely do better at work than at home, sigh.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    I plan it as I go. My husband and I do discuss what we're going to eat for our shared meal, then I work off that.
  • tleighs64
    tleighs64 Posts: 12
    Every Sunday, I plan out my meals for the week. I do my grocery shopping sometime before noon and do all of the prep work (wash & cut veggies, marinate meats, etc). I do all of the cooking and split out the portions for all of the meals. I then make all of my entries here. It helps me see that I have the correct balance of foods and I stay under my limits for each day. If I do have a weak moment and head to the vending machine for something at work, I use the bar code scanner to add it as I go.
  • mixedfeelings
    mixedfeelings Posts: 904 Member
    Depends on the day, if I know I'm going out for a meal or if we're having a take-away I will log the day before so I can work out the rest of the day. On a normal day I just log after lunch so I can work out what to eat for tea.
  • happy123456
    happy123456 Posts: 48 Member
    Thanks folks!
    I have logged for tomorrow and I have left cals just in case!

    I like the idea of sorting my week out ahead of time, but I will start with a day or two first I think and see how I go!

    Thanks x
  • BlessedOne2019
    BlessedOne2019 Posts: 41 Member
    Planning seems to be a great idea...but that is all it is to me...an idea! I have been logging at the beginning and end of the day! On the days I am at school (teacher) I get outside when I can and play with the kids, jump rope burns alot of cals, which helps if we have to go out for dinner or whatever! Also, during the week, low cal lunches helps out for those last minute unplanned lunches after church on Sunday!
  • jennagoogles13
    jennagoogles13 Posts: 266
    Yup! I plan my entire day ahead of time, and alter it at the end of the day if need be. It definitely helps a ton!:smile:
  • Iceman420
    Iceman420 Posts: 195
    Today I wrote a meal plan for the entire week. I'm going to stick to it, and see how much weight I lose by Friday. If it works, I will keep planning my meals like that :)
  • CoraLeeRMer
    CoraLeeRMer Posts: 6 Member
    I don't use MFP as a meal planning tool, I don't have that type of discipline! I do, however, PREPARE ahead so that my daily choices are easier. I usually roast/steam a large quantity of veggies and put them in the fridge for quick meals. I basically eat the same breakfast and lunch every day, so no planning really. Smoothie for breakfast with various fruits, spinach and Vega One. Lunch is a quick sauté of veggies - at least one root veggie and one green from my pre-made supply and an egg or two.

    Dinner is my most varied meal, and I try to make something that my entire family will eat so I am not making 2 meals. I usually add in extra veggies for myself that my girls really don't like: turnips, beets or greens like kale. (I make them try them again every once in a while - I didn't like them that much when I was a kid.)

    I can usually stay on track this way - having to follow a plan would make me rebel :)
  • cristeberga
    cristeberga Posts: 251 Member
    I find that planning and logging ahead helps me stay on track, especially when it comes to macros. Since I prefer to have 5 to 6 meals a day, I can easily break down my calories for the day. :smile:
  • DiscoveringOptions
    DiscoveringOptions Posts: 5 Member
    Yes Always! Otherwise you don't stick to a plan.
  • bystander1943
    bystander1943 Posts: 31 Member
    I'm always looking at my meals a couple of days ahead since I shop as near daily as possible. Going to the local s/mkt is a round trip of some 40 mins so burn of a couple of hundred cals each trip. I occasionally pre-log food, usually log immediately afterwards - same for exercising.
  • snowmanluv
    snowmanluv Posts: 200 Member
    There's a book called Think and Grow Thin. He said to plan it out to stay focused on choices. I tend to agree because when you already know your meals and snacks it's so much easier to say No to the other stuff.
  • Linkdapink
    Linkdapink Posts: 128 Member
    I eat the same for breakfast, day in, day out... so that's always sorted. Then for lunches during the weekdays, I have those made up and ready on the Sunday. I don't log it though, because I just prefer to do that when I'm eating (who knows... one day I might do something different!). Dinners are another story. Luckily, my OH is joining me on this, so I can pretty much dictate what we eat. Me and the OH plan out our meals roughly at the weekend when we shop. He tends to want lots of pasta though, and that just doesn't appeal to me any more! And I used to happily eat pasta for every meal. It just isn't fun without cheese! (I get lactose-intolerant when I haven't eaten cheese in a while!)
  • AnnR999
    AnnR999 Posts: 27 Member
    I plan what I want to eat for a couple of days in advance, but I log at the end of every day. I plan only because I shop a couple days a week and just buy small amounts of what I want to eat. I live alone so I don't do large quanity shopping ahead. I think the prior posters are right. You just go with what works for you and that's the beauty of it.
  • Rockstar_JILL
    Rockstar_JILL Posts: 514 Member
    I log as I go....each day at a time....
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,046 Member
    Yup, I always pre-log my food and snacks. I usually end up modifying my meals or snacks as the day goes on, but I prefer to pre-log because it gives me a general idea of what I will be eating and how much wiggle room I have for extra snacks, etc. It also helps me ensure that I meet my macros. Also, I tend to cook all of my meals, unless I'm going out, so I usually already know what I'll be eating. I usually do almost all of my cooking on one or two days that I have off, freeze the food in single portion sizes, and eat off that for a week or two.
  • Rilke
    Rilke Posts: 1,201 Member
    I tried that, but I ended up feeling entirely too restricted and my anxiety was through the roof. I enjoy food too much to get all anxious over it. I may log a meal ahead of time once in awhile, but rarely even that.

    I do weigh my food, but I'm going to try moving away from that as well. Too close to obsessive.
  • bwnorton
    bwnorton Posts: 100 Member
    If I'm going to travel, I carefully plan what types of foods I'm looking for. I also check the calorie content of what I'm about to cook before I prepare it. When I'm going to a store, I now read the labels. If nutritionally, the food doesn't measure up, then I rethink it. So far, it's worked for me.
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
    I have trouble planning meals ten minutes in advance, never mind days or weeks.

    If I buy something in Advance, chances are I just won't want it once it's time to eat.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    I do most my planning in the grocery store. If it's a trigger food I don't buy it. If it's a food that looks interesting I might buy it, if it turns into a trigger I never buy it again. I fill my cart with food that I can/have to eat to make my calorie goals. I bought a dark chocolate bar yesterday and to my shock and surprise it's tastes very good, but isn't a trigger and I can have two squares a day without even breaking a sweat on what it will do to my macros. I don't panic when my sugar goes a titch high. And I don't mind a little extra exercise to keep my calorie goals intact.

    Yeah, but other than that it's hard for me to plan a whole meal ahead of time let alone a whole day.
  • castelluzzo99
    castelluzzo99 Posts: 313 Member
    I find that when I make food ahead, and also put it in my diary ahead of time, I make my goals more consistently. That doesn't make me do it more often, though... But when I do plan ahead, I leave a bit of wiggle room in there for snacks. That way it's not inflexible.

    ^^This.

    I have a family of 5 and a budget, so I plan my meals every week, around weekly sales, if possible, and then cook accordingly. So I can enter recipes ahead of time and then figure out how much is a reasonable amount. I do try to leave wiggle room, because normally I don't eat supper, but if I'm hungry, it's better to eat a bit, even to go a bit over my goal, than to not eat, because then I tend to binge later (not always the same day). Doing this helps me think twice about exactly how much I'm going to eat, and that really helps the overall scheme of things for me, so far.

    All in all, I think everyone is different. I never used to plan my meals. But then, I was single and didn't need to budget as carefully. Plus cooking for myself was boring. If planning is working for you, go for it. If it stops working, then just log as you go. :)
  • oldandhealthier
    oldandhealthier Posts: 449 Member
    Yes, we make our menus out 2 weeks before we go to the store. That really helps the budget. The actual meals are decided the night before by whoever turn it is to cook. That way I log the night before so I can see if I have to adjust. This way in the over 90 days I have logged I have only gone over once.
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
    Hello

    I was wondering do you plan what you are eating for the next day or so and add it to your food diary or do you just add as you go?

    I have been adding as I go but then seem to be going over all the time, :-(

    So I have planned everything for tomorrow and I am hoping for a better result!

    I always plan ahead my Breakfast, Lunch, and snacks the night before.

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