Is it better to track as you go/eat or plan ahead?

planning ahead works way better for me than winging it. after years of doing this it makes the most sense for my life.

i track and then eat. i used to eat and then track but then got upset that i ate more sodium or more calories than i thought

I simply cannot plan out my whole day. I hate doing it. So, instead I aim for a certian amt. of calories at each meal. If one meal is less, then I have some spare for the next. If one meal is a bit more, then I eat as bit less at the next. It is a lot of math in your head, but it works well for me. Having knowledge of how many calories are in things helps too. My smart phone helps with this.

I always input what I'm going to eat the day before, and then edit it later if something changes.

If I"m going to be eating something I can't avoid (like a family dinner or some event), I'll plan my day ahead of time. If not, I'll usually just make healthy choices throughout the day and figure it out as I go.

If I plan too much, I feel stifled. But, not everyone is the same way. The only things I'll plan for are parties and gym.

I find it easier to plan it out and adjust as the day goes on...it works better for me b/c otherwise I feel like I am constantly going back and forth all day

I plan, but thats the kind of person I am and the lifestyle and job I have allows me for easy planning, so it really helps a lot. Most mornings I eat the same thing everyday any way ( oatmeal) and lunch I always plan. Dinner is the only thing that sometimes does not get planned ahead.

I plan ahead, usually in the morning for that day, sometimes for the next day too. When I get to work in the morning, I log everything I brought with me that day, breakfast, snacks, lunch. It helps me plan the rest of my day, mostly dinner. It also helps with my self control! I know how many calories I have left and if anyone offers me anything at work, I have even more of a reason to say no. I feel like if I just logged as I went, I would be saying 'oops' a lot.

Try to find a happy medium. Planning may help you get to your goals faster in the long-run, but if it stresses you out too much, it may be counterproductive and actually hinder your progress (especially if you stress about it so much that you end up giving up).

I planned everything down to the tee for a week or two in the beginning of the summer. But it took a really, really long time, as I'd have to plan, count, and pack everything the night before going to work. I actually lost sleep over it, which is obviously not good!

What works best for me is visualizing how many calories I have to spend on each meal. My breakfast is almost always the same 300-calorie meal (cereal, milk, banana...creature of habit :P), about 100 for a morning snack, then I have about 400 calories to spend on lunch, 200 for 3 o'clock snack, and 400 for dinner. It's kind of a happy medium.

I recommend figuring out calorie counts for the foods and meals you eat most. When you're preparing your food, just jot down the calories of whatever you use on a sticky note, and estimate how much that sums up to. That way, it's easier to tell if you can have another piece of food or if you should skip desert. ("Meatballs: 150, Whole wheat spaghetti: 200...I think I can throw in a tomato or two and two Hershey kisses!")

By the way, if you're ever at the point that you realize you only have x-amount of calories for your last meal, don't beat yourself up to hit that amount exactly. Especially if it's less than 300 calories, or whatever you need to feel satisfied (by "satisfied," I mean "I am full and no longer hungry," not "YUM THOSE FIVE PIECES OF CAKE WERE SO SATISFYING" or "snickers satisfies"). I find that sometimes it's OK to go over by 100 calories than to try to hit my mark exactly, since it makes me less prone to late-night snacks and emotional eating.

Best of luck! You've got this! If you slip up today, make tomorrow better