To meal plan or not to meal plan?

I plan as much as I can, and then I can have a fiddle with my numbers for lunch or snacks if I know i want a blow out tea or whatever. Also, I find it is cheaper to do that way

I generally plan out my meals, but leave some flexibility (in case my husband gets home early and starts dinner - and it's not what I had planned, or I'm just starving that day and need something else). I try to leave some calories for snacks in there as well.

I plan my meals, but I don't always stick rigidly to them. I also try to leave some wiggle room for snacks.

I agree with everything posted so far. I plan breakfast and lunch pretty closely because I have to pack them for work. Then I keep a variety of veggies and a couple of protein options in the fridge to construct dinner. Like right now, I have some chicken sausage, cooked pinto beans, and a roasted chicken. That way I can have the feeling of eating what I feel like within certain parameters without going off the rails. And like @mforsis says, "No regrets. No looking backward." If I go off the rails, I also never start over "on Monday" or "tomorrow". Every time I eat is another opportunity to take good care of myself. So the next snack or next meal is a clean slate.

One last thought -- when I don't plan, I can't stop thinking about food and thinking that I'm hungry or feeling munchy. That builds anxiety and leads me to emotional eating (no good decisions are made there). If I've planned ahead, I experience much less anxiety. I think maybe it somehow triggers my brain to know that I've taken care of food for the day, and there's plenty to eat and nothing to get anxious about. In the end you have to find the right balance for you, but hopefully our advice will help.

To each his/her own.... I go through phases of "rigidly planning"... but than of course life happens and planning tends to go out the window...it makes me crazy!

So instead of planning I have certain go to meals/snacks that I know are "safe" and generally how many calories are in them. I downloaded the MFP app on my phone and log as I go. its really just toying with everything and seeing what works for you.

good luck

I like to plan loosely so I know where I have wiggle room. But I don't rigidly eat exactly what I've logged and if I don't eat that then I'm a complete failure for the day. I stay flexible with life and it has made me much happier.

I plan all my meals on Saturday for the week, but on Sunday I am more relaxed about my calories so then I don't go totally control crazy

I agree with this. I know that if I don't plan, then I am 90% sure I'll fail and fail fast for a day. I don't beat myself up for a whole week, only for that meal (or sometimes that day). I take the perspective that if I WANT to succeed and I want to NOT waste my bootcamp efforts with bad eating choices, then I *MUST* plan and execute that plan.

I work HARD at bootcamp and nothing feels worse than failing to eat right. I have discovered that I really do well sticking to good eating habits when I plan and the opposite occurs when I don't plan. I typically plan on Sundays for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then again on Wednesday nights for Thursdays and Fridays. I allow myself the "wiggle" room on Saturdays to "live a little."

A failure to plan is a plan for failure. Very true.

On weekends I don't plan much because I'm always staying with my partner who does the shopping so I don't know what is in the house. I try to keep my breakfast and lunch quite small so I don't have to worry about dinner.

During the week I shop and cook for myself and I plan a little. Ive only just started using mfp, so I'm not sure about calorie contents just yet. So I think about what I want to dinner, log it the night before if I have time and then fiddle around with breakfast and lunch.

Eg: This morning, my fridge/freezer contained
- leek
- bell peppers
- cocktail tomatoes
- carrots
- sausages
- some turkey breast
- bread
- eggs

I had quite a lot of meat last week, so I went shopping with the plan to have more fish this week.

I bought:
- frozen broccoli
- frozen spinach
- prawns
- salmon
- milk
- meat-free meat balls

During the week I will always have a sandwich for lunch because I need something that I can prepare quickly and eat while I'm supervising children.
Because I have bread for lunch, I don't want any bread for breakfast, so I'll have weetabix with blueberries and milk.

That leaves dinner. Tonight's dinner was centred around the meat balls. So I've got prawns for tomorrow, salmon for Wednesday and something from the freezer for Thursday. Since I eat carb-heavy during the day, I just add whatever veg I have to the protein source. I think that's all the planning I really need.

If I KNOW I'll be going out I just don't eat much at all during the day and have all my calories in one meal.

Plan. You've even noticed that if you don't plan, you're always wondering about food. When you plan, your problem is giving up just bc you have something that wasn't in your plan. The good thing about this site is that you can easily see how substituting different foods will affect your cals/limits. Don't give up. Just revise your meals for the rest of the day.

I also plan:
- log my meals for the next day in the evening, that's when I work out my breakfast and lunch (which I prepare and take with me to work)
- and have made up a dinner plan over 3 weeks to get varied nutritious and good meals (my 3 kids aren't on a diet so it needs to taste nice too!)

good luck!

I try to plan a little for dinner. I know I'll make chicken on one day and then wrap or taco's with the left over chicken, baked fish one night, soup another, and one pasta night a week. I just throw whatever veggies I have as a side and usually add a salad. I don't plan out my lunches, but I eat a lot of the same things so it's either a protein shake with frozen fruit, cereal, hard boiled eggs, salad, pb and j sandwich. Lunches I add raw veggies and breakfasts add a fruit as a side. Hope this helps.

I try my best to meal plan. On the days I don't plan or pack enough food - those are the days I end up buying & eating crap and going over and regretting it! Esecially if I don't have my usual breakfast ready! It's bad for my wallet and my waits I try to spend one day (preferably sunday) and make a bunch of food to last me through at least most of the week. Any prep I can do the better. I like to make big batches of things - chilis, pastas, rice & veggies, etc. - and break them into tupperwares right then and there.

I may not plan out each exact meal though, like once I have all that food made, then each day I'll choose an item for lunch, snack, dinner... (i have the same breakfast everyday preferably!).