Planing meals, good or bad??

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tokidoki839
tokidoki839 Posts: 3
in Food and Nutrition
Recently I've started writing my future meals down and calculating exactly how many calories and what I'm going to eat but, it seems to be ALL I think about. Is it just my obsession with food taking over? Because I find if I don't plan my meals and eat spontaneously I tend to over eat.

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  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    I do the same thing and it really works great for me. I plan all my meals ahead of time for the most part so I can stay at the same calorie level each day and get in all my protein. I dont write it all down, I just sort of keep track in my head.

    If you're thinking about it constantly you might burn out from doing it though. Just try making it simple and straightforward so its something you just do out of habit and not necessarily think about all that much.

    I still allow myself a couple cheat meals during the week as well since I'm not going to completely give up junk food and pizza and beer and things like that. But I just limit it so I dont get carried away which is why I gained weight to begin with haha!
  • Shari325
    Shari325 Posts: 196 Member
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    I pre-plan 99% of my meals. I have been doing this since February. In the early months, it did feel like all I thought about was food. In time, it became habit and I seldom have to think about it.
    Have you ever learned to play a musical instrument? When you are first learning you have to pay close attention to where to place your fingers, how to breathe, etc. Eventually, with practice, it becomes almost second nature. I feel learning to follow a healthy eating plan was like this.
    I'm still 70# from goal, but I anticipate, trying to maintain will be a whole new learning curve!
  • cdjs77
    cdjs77 Posts: 176 Member
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    I also plan my meals and log them the day before or in the morning because it lets me know how many calories I will have leftover for snacks. When I didn't plan meals I would sometimes find myself with no calories left at dinner time or a ton of calorie left at bedtime (and I hate eating a lot before I go to bed because I find it hard to sleep).
    If it helps to keep you from overeating then it's probably a good idea. It can feel like you are obsessed with food at first, but I found that after a while I got used to it and thought about it less.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    Nope its a great idea. Sometimes it takes a little bit of "obsessing" in the beginning to learn form new habits, but in time it will start becoming second nature and you can grab meals that fit into your eating plan easily. Keep up the good work :)
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    If you can plan out your foods for the day, then you will be better for it.

    Look at the various physique models out there.....they plan out their food for the entire week.
    Especially if they are getting ready for a photo shoot, or a competition.
  • Mareebzz
    Mareebzz Posts: 45 Member
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    I've always heard "if you fail to plan, then plan to fail." I always do better when I plan my meals, so it's an excellent practice that I've gotten into the habit of doing. I need to know everything I've eaten for the day BEFORE I eat dinner so I don't go over my calories (I do go over sometimes anyway, but at least it's a conscious decision for me to do so.). PS I also weigh myself every day, so yeah, I am obsessive, and it works for me so I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. :heart: :flowerforyou:
  • Mguilmot
    Mguilmot Posts: 232 Member
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    Been doing it for 2.5 years now. Can't plan every meal, as sometimes come up, and you won't eat what you planned, but 99% is planned ahead, mostly the day before. Difficult to hit your goal right on if you don't know what you will be eating two hours later.
  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    I agree, after doing it for a while it becomes second nature. Lots of good advice out there. Goes to show you that there are different ways to go about it but ultimately to be successful you need to plan ahead.
  • tokidoki839
    tokidoki839 Posts: 3
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    thanks so much for all the input! it's something that has really been working for me so I'll keep it up, even if I am a little obsessed over it haha
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Planning out meals ahead of time is probably the #1 way that I ensure success. I've been known to plan days in advance. It's nice because I know I will hit my goal calories and macros and I don't have to think about it. Logging as you go through the day is a great way to end up with lopsided macros or too few/too many calories left by the end of the day.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    Recently I've started writing my future meals down and calculating exactly how many calories and what I'm going to eat but, it seems to be ALL I think about. Is it just my obsession with food taking over? Because I find if I don't plan my meals and eat spontaneously I tend to over eat.
    i have to preplan to have my calories and macros work. At first it WAS like an obsession, but now it's just second nature. I bet the same will happen for you. You will get used to, bored with the obsession, and planning will be 2nd nature.
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    I definitely felt obsessive at the beginning, but after about a month, pre planning had become second nature. I log my meals for the day every morning, then plan my midday snack around that. I do usually leave my night time snack open, then decide what to eat based on how my macros are shaping up and how many calories I have left over.
  • chad_phillips1123
    chad_phillips1123 Posts: 229 Member
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    I think it's a great habit to get in to. I try to make simple meals and in batches so I'll have leftovers to work with, which cuts down on spontaneous eating. More than anything for me though, planning meals (and cooking) made me really look at what was in the foods I was eating. There were things that I used to make/eat that i thought were healthy, but in reality were anything but. My advice though would be if you feel yourself getting burnt out planning the same meals, then try to add a new dish or two a week and/or go a day or two sometimes with nothing planned, just to help test/build your will power. Good luck!
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
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    Planning out meals ahead of time is probably the #1 way that I ensure success. I've been known to plan days in advance. It's nice because I know I will hit my goal calories and macros and I don't have to think about it. Logging as you go through the day is a great way to end up with lopsided macros or too few/too many calories left by the end of the day.

    QFT

    I'm a planner anyway, so I've been pre-logging the entire time I've been on this site. It keeps you from having those "holy *kitten*, that had how many calories!!??" moments.
  • Irenaekl
    Irenaekl Posts: 116 Member
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    'Failing to plan is planning to fail' ....it's very true. I plan my meals a day ahead then my eating is mapped out and I stay within my calories etc.
  • InStim
    InStim Posts: 3
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    I find meal planning makes my shopping more focused and I'm better prepared to make it through the week. Our shopping bills went down because we were planning. Being prepared also stops those screw it I can't make anything so lets just order out nights, or missing something and running to the store and ending up buying more stuff we don't need.

    I use htttp://www.pepperplate.com to collect recipes and do my meal planning. It also has a shopping list tool to help make it easier to group your ingredients together to make preparing shopping easier too.

    They have a little web browser tool which makes it easier to add recipes easily. If I'm browsing Pinterest or some low-carb recipe sites and quickly adding a recipe to try later.

    Sharing the account with other people in the house makes it easy for people to see what is on the planner or add a choice to the planner themselves. PepperPlate lets you mark recipes as a favorite so that makes meal planning even easier. When I'm uninspired or can't think of anything, at least I know what recipes were a hit and we all liked.

    I don't live by the planner religiously with everything on it's day. I just fill the week in on the planner to help get an idea of what we're doing and plan the shopping. Then I just know what we have to make and I can decide that night what I'm in the mood to prepare.

    For me the planning helps me be successful, making fewer opportunities to to be tempted to lose focus one eating well.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
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    I plan ahead what I'm going to cook and what I'm going to bring to work for lunches when making a grocery list, but I don't plan out each individual meal with calories in mind, that would drive me nuts.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    It helps me some, so I can figure out what snacks I can have etc. But I never really know what quantity of food I'm going to have, so it's still an approximation.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    Recently I've started writing my future meals down and calculating exactly how many calories and what I'm going to eat but, it seems to be ALL I think about. Is it just my obsession with food taking over? Because I find if I don't plan my meals and eat spontaneously I tend to over eat.

    I've lost the majority of my weight doing exactly this. I don't care if people call it obsessive, I'm successful which is what matters.

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