Planning meals

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Keisha604
Keisha604 Posts: 126
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone plan their meals for the entire day? If you do, do you think it works better than just counting calories as you go along?

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  • ErinMarie25
    ErinMarie25 Posts: 733 Member
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    I plan my meals the night before. :) It's a lot easier knowing what I am going to eat! Sometimes I will change it, though.
  • asltiffm
    asltiffm Posts: 521 Member
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    I generally plan my meals a week in advance...but things get changed around if there are more left overs than planned or if something unexpected comes up
  • MartiWillett
    MartiWillett Posts: 103 Member
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    I plan all my meals for the day in the morning. I think it helps me to stick to what I choose if I have already logged it.
  • Lisa__Michelle
    Lisa__Michelle Posts: 845 Member
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    I do not plan my meals ahead unless I am going out to eat. If I go out to eat I look at their nutrition menu and decided what and how much of my food I am going to eat. I usually enter it into MFP BEFORE I go so that I stick with eating HOW MUCH I said I was going to eat. If I am eating at home I usually plan what and how much I am going to eat right before the meal. I don't plan all my meals a day ahead.
  • Suzy12
    Suzy12 Posts: 284
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    I plan mine. But I eat both breakfast and lunch at the office so I'm kind of forced to plan. Dinner is always planned the night before so I can pull something out to thaw or slice or dice whatever is needed to shorten prep time. I do NOT plan ALL my meals on weekends and that is my downfall. I inevitably gain every weekend. So yeah, bottom line: plan, plan, plan.
  • kelzz193
    kelzz193 Posts: 120
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    I menu plan a week at a time and only shop for those items on the list. This way I have 7 days of healthy items to chose from and plan my daily meals from that the night before. It has actually cut donw on our grocery bill by 25% as well!!
  • patio1313
    patio1313 Posts: 169 Member
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    I plan my meals ahead of time...then again during the week I pretty much eat the same things over and over for breakfast and lunch...The only thing that really varies in dinner and we try to make a weekly dinner plan so we know what to buy for groceries...Seems to help me since then I know what I can have for food thoughout the day. And I always plan for SOME KIND of snack in the evening. Sometimes you stray away from the plan but just having a base plan seems to help me out alot
  • kbooth
    kbooth Posts: 49 Member
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    I menu plan a week at a time and only shop for those items on the list. This way I have 7 days of healthy items to chose from and plan my daily meals from that the night before. It has actually cut donw on our grocery bill by 25% as well!!

    I would love to know how to do this!!! I am such a horrible planner and I think that is contributing to why I am not loosing as much as fast. I end up trying to take the "easy way out" and do cereal or something else. Any tips, ideas, suggestions would be great!!!
  • Keisha604
    Keisha604 Posts: 126
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    I don't think I could plan a week in advance, but I'd like to start planning day by day. There are so many times when I find myself standing in front of the refrigerator with no idea what to eat and then I just end up binging on something like..cookies, fast food, etc. So, I definitely think planning is the way to go. Do you track your calories in MFP before you eat them? Or as you plan them?
  • ErinMarie25
    ErinMarie25 Posts: 733 Member
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    I plan my dinners 2 weeks in advance.
  • Jourdan_Rystrom
    Jourdan_Rystrom Posts: 176 Member
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    I DEFINITELY think it helps to plan it out the night before - because then you can control exactly how many calories you're putting in and add a bit of protein here and there, a bit of carbs, etc. where you need it :)

    It also really helps me stay on track. When its not planned out, I'm like a wandering lost puppy...afraid of what to eat because when I add it up at the end of the day, it might push me over. It usually does, haha!

    Of course sometimes it changes, but that's only one or two things and can easily be swapped out at the end of the day.

    Good luck!
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
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    i plan out my suppers for the week, but i keep lunch and breakfast pretty flexible. :) i love to have you stop by my blog and check out what we eat. i occassionally post recipes too.

    http://www.everythingisbetterwithcheese.blogspot.com
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
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    I don't plan in advance, but will cook multiple servings when I do cook, and put the leftovers in the freezer for later. I DO always have baked chicken breast in the fridge that I can make something quick with. What I cook depends on what I have on hand in the pantry, fridge and freezer.
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    I'm definitely a planner, and can usually enter breakfast and lunch the night before. I enter dinner before I cook, then adjust if needed to keep under my limit. SInce my exercise classes are regimented, I can usually enter my exercise the day (or several days) before...usually that keeps me on track, expecially if I've dipped into those exercise calories in order to plan my dinner.
  • nikinphila
    nikinphila Posts: 3
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    i would love to start planning better. does anyone have suggestions for a 1-week meal plan?

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