Planning your meals the day before?

i plan everything the night before if i did not i would not eat my macros naturaly

I plan my meals and log them the night before, packing my lunchbox for work. It makes my morning go a lot smoother and helps me stay on track. I generally don't do it on the weekend, though I really should, because I tend to stray off my plan sometimes on the weekend. I guess that's a goal I can work toward.

As some one who finds it very easy to pop extra kcals into her mouth with out even realising, planning has become an essential part of my diet and exercise plan. If i know what i'm doing i tend not to stray. I plan all meals for the week on a sunday go shopping on a monday. Not only does it help me stay on track but it helps me pinch my pennies!

After work, when I'm getting ready for bed, I decide what I'm going to have the next day and log it. Sometimes I end up changing it, but if I change it, I update my logs prior to eating to make sure I'm within my limits.

I also make and pack my lunch and snacks for the next day. Cold stuff goes in a specific spot in the fridge, room temperature stuff goes in a specific spot on the counter, and when I wake up, I take a glance at my logs as a refresher while getting ready for work, and grab my lunch on the way out the door. Other than that, I know if I want, say, half a quesadilla and half an avocado for lunch at work instead of my lunch, I know I can substitute those calories so I don't worry about it. So long as I don't exceed my limit more than once or twice a week, I don't sweat it.

It's what's working best for me right now, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it :P

During M-F i plan everything except my dinner. I have to plan breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea as i start work really early and don't get home til an hour b4 dinner time so it just makes it easier to get it all ready the night b4 and also then i know how much i need to burn at the gym to stay on the steady path

On the weekends i don't have the time restraints so i wing it.

It's good to know the day b4 exactly what you are gonna take into your body the following day, mostly for the calories, macronutrients and water levels much easier then going on the fly and overdoing it in one part only to have to suddenly juggle the rest of the day around it

i do this nearly every day. that way I know where i can work in treats

I never used to, but I have been recently and I've found it helps so much. I plan a reasonable amount of food, so if I want more, I know its just boredom or mindless snacking! also it saves me a lot of money on impulse food buys

I always plan in advance... I eat 6 small meals a day and have them all portioned 2 days at a time. It really makes it easy to stick to since all the work is done at once

Cora, I like the idea of logging in what you "plan" to eat so that you can stick to it as closely as possible. I think I will try this for the next week. If nothing else it really helps me to "decide" what to eat verses trying to enter it all after I have eaten!
Great tip!

I shop on a Sunday for the week so buy my salad and yoghurt for lunch, meat & veg for evening meals. Stuff gets used up in date order and logged the day I'm eating it. OH will buy some extra veg & salad mid week. Saturday tends to be ad hoc based on what we're doing and how many calories I have 'spare'. Sunday is a big gym day so I have a big roast dinner. But in a general way I plan

Oh and I always log before I eat something so there's no nasty surprises and I can make informed decisions.

I do that, absolutely!! It's really helped me get past those moments when I'm just starving and all I want is a cheeseburger or fattening burrito. It was hard at first, but after a few weeks I actually like it better when my meals are planned out already!