Do you plan your eating a day or two ahead?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

Yes Always! Otherwise you don't stick to a plan.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.