Do you plan it out??

I tend to eat very similarly for breakfast and lunch most days, so I don't log until the morning of unless I know something will be out of the ordinary. But generally I'll log breakfast and lunch, and then leave a decent amount of calories for dinner and after dinner snacks since that will always fluctuate.

On Sunday we make up batches of food for the week. I'll make a big vegetarian chili or a big thing of tofu/onions/spinch, hubby will make a big batch of brown rice. I'll make a big batch of the slow cooking oatmeal. That stuff lasts us until thursday usually so we have some go too food. Too tired and pressed for time to cook during the week for the most part so that's what we do.

Also I'll log my day's food until I get out of work and kind of stick to it every day. Oatmeal for breakfast, chili for lunch, protein shake for afternoon. Less thinking that way too. And that way I behave at least 2/3 of the day without effort.

Not much variety but works for me.

I have been able to stick with logging my foods everyday for 450+ days. I've never had such discipline until I joined MFP.. I was very strict with my calories in the beginning , but slacked off last summer due to family issues in California that I had to attend to. When I came home I just couldn't get back to that level of discipline. I went back to California for two months this winter and did really well til I got home and lost sight of why I was doing this. Something changed this week and I have started pre- logging my days. I eat and log breakfast( whatever I want ) then I log my pre planned dinner and then the rest of the day. That way I know how many calories I have left to eat and don't go over. I haven't yet been able to do more than one day at a time, but dinners for the week I do pre-plan since this is the only real meal I cook for my husband and I. Yesterday I bought pistachios and Beanitos and bagged them into snack size ziploc baggies. Each serving was weighed before bagging. I did this because if I didn't my husband would eat straight out of the bags and they'd be gone. I weigh an measure my foods diligently so that I am aware of portion sizes.
Good luck on your journey. And remember it is your journey and it won't be perfect always. If you screw up... dust yourself off and start again. You'll get there and we will all be here for you.

I make big batches of frozen meals and portion them into individual zip locks, basically I just need to take a baggie out of the freezer and dinner/lunch is served! It's real food and I know exactly what is in it and the portioning is already done. You can freeze sooooo many meals and makes life soooo much easier.

I also have a meal plan written up on an excel spreadsheet including a list of all the food I typically eat and what the carbs, fat, protein and calories of each are and then I copy and paste into each day to create my meal plan, it totals itself at the bottom so I know if it will work or I need to readjust. Took some time to get my own database set up but I really wanted to use the nutrition info on the foods I was actually using and not a generic database. Nutrition info can vary by country so this was the only way to make sure it was 100% correct. Now that it is all set up though meal planning is super easy.

Planning ahead will be a huge factor in your success so don't scrimp on this stage. It will be one less roadblock on your journey.

Yes I plan them out, I go by the sale flyer for the two grocery stores I use. When my children were small (they are grown up and off now) I did the same thing and it worked well. That doesn't mean if you plan on having chicken on Tues and Fish on Sat that you can't switch them just means you plan out the foods you will need to make those healthy meals.

I often buy extra meat, if I need two chicken breast, I will buy 3 and use that extra one for a stir fry later in the week. (I actually buy more family size packs to save but you get the idea) For lunches you can have leftovers or I plan on using a pre-made frozen meal (from the market, under $2 ones) have that with a salad and you are good to go for little calories.

You can do this... and no matter which way you decide to plan you will be just fine!

I plan out my stuff as best I can and this actually saves me a ton of time. The thing I do to keep things interesting is have 200 or so calories that are "whatever calories" each day. Unplanned snack stuff. This allows for some variety in my day. For instance, one day I'll have strawberries and another day an apple. At the end of the day, any left over calories means I get desert

You've gotten a lot of good advice here that I will definitely agree with as far as trying to be organized and making meal plans/grocery lists ahead of time.

The other thing that I wanted to mention that was a big learning for me when I first started was to also plan ahead for when you know you will be going out to eat. Take some time, if you know what restaurant you are going to, to look at their menu online and then even if they don't have calorie counts available on their website (and many chain restaurants do), you can look up a few things on MFP to see if the actual restaurant entry is in the database, or try to find something that sounds similar so you can get an idea of what you think you might order. By doing a little research ahead of time, it can help you make better decisions at the restaurant - if one of the appetizers sounds really good to you, maybe just get the appetizer and a salad and forego the entree. Or if you are celebrating a birthday and you know dessert will be involved, look through the entrees to pick something a little more calorie friendly so you can save room for a whole dessert or part of a dessert if someone wants to share!

Knowing that Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits are ~150 cal apiece was very helpful because before, I would have consumed 4 or more in one meal! Now knowing that, I try to plan 300 calorie wiggle room in my meal choices ahead of time so that I can still have a couple, because seriously, who can just eat one of those...

Also by looking at the restaurant calorie counts ahead of time (and I've been known to look it up on my phone in the restaurant - maybe rude but everyone else is on their phones!) - you can avoid the "OMG what did I just do to my calorie total" factor at the end of the day when you go back and log it later.

Good luck!

I plan for the week as part of my grocery shopping. I get that done Sunday mornings and then take time in the afternoon to prep some of the food for the week. I have been enjoying soups for lunches so I will make a big pot of what ever variety I feel like for the week. I also eat the same breakfast for breakfast and cook a full package of bacon up for my sandwiches. I will also prep things like a meat loaf or trim the fat off of any meat that I'll be cooking in the next few days for dinner. I keep dinners simple and will sometimes use the crock pot slow cooker to get dinner going while I'm at work. Dinners usually consist of a veggie, starch, and meat for us.

I will usually log ahead in the morning to see what amounts of the planned menu work best. Sometimes I will need to replace one item for another (like sweet potato for quinoa) to support my macro nutrient balance.

I also have a few go to snacks that I fit in where needed. I can't say that there is too much variety in my day to day meals, but I know what fits where after working with similar foods for so long.

I plan and pre cook, ironically I use all the little plastic takeout containers I have saved over the years to keep my healthy choices/ freezer meals in!