Do you preplan or wing it?

tanniew78
tanniew78 Posts: 602 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I am talking about food tracking here. I pre-plan my meals. Usually the night before, but sometimes I do it that morning before a stitch of food passes my lips. Of course I adjust throughout the day if things change, but I find that having a plan organizes my day and helps to keep me on track. And I dont find an excuse NOT to log it because of no time.. etc.. its already in there...

I dont pretrack exercise though. I go by what I feel like doing that day.
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Replies

  • Daisy_May
    Daisy_May Posts: 505 Member
    I pre plan, I enter my calrories the day before or the morning of, that way I can make sure everything I want to eat fits into my calories for the day.
    I usually leave a hundreed or two incase I get the urge for a snack I wasn't counting on or incase I want a littel extra of somethign throughout the day.
  • sbwood888
    sbwood888 Posts: 953 Member
    I wing it. I just have lots of choices on hand and eat what sounds good to me and will fit into the # of cals I have left.
  • rebeccaS85
    rebeccaS85 Posts: 141
    Right now I am a SAHM so I mostly wing it because I can get on MFP throughout the day . I have my go to meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner and just stick with those.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
    I wing it. I just have lots of choices on hand and eat what sounds good to me and will fit into the # of cals I have left.
    Same here.
  • I wing it too! kind of eat the same things really, i try to plan for a friday night as thats my girlie get together night!
  • jane77
    jane77 Posts: 489
    I wing it. I just have lots of choices on hand and eat what sounds good to me and will fit into the # of cals I have left.
    Same here.
    yes me too lots and lots of good choices on hand.
  • wmubuffettfan
    wmubuffettfan Posts: 34 Member
    I pre-plan most days. If I know I am going to be eating out or having a special occasion that night I always pre-plan so I can change up breakfast/lunch/snacks accordingly. If I don't know what I am going to have for dinner, I will often add in everything up till dinner then use the remainder of my calories to determine what I am cooking for dinner that night. :)
  • ejb245
    ejb245 Posts: 195 Member
    I wing it, to a point. I go to the grocery store on the way to work every week and have healthy snacks and lunch choices. I have MFP on my phone and access to the internet all day, so I can monitor what I'm doing.
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
    I only pre-plan to the extent that if I know what I'm having for dinner that nite, or will be going to a restaurant, I plug that into my diary in the morning, so I can work the rest of the day around it.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    I pre-plan meals because if I don't, I find myself heavy on the carbs and light on the protein, which usually leads me to eat more and feel crappier in the process. I am willing to change things throughout the day, but it's nice to have a plan so I do'nt find myself in a crunch for time and super hungry, and then I just eat toast or something. It helps to know ahead of time what I can make.

    I don't pre-plan my exercise. Sometimes I don't have the time or energy, or I do more or less than I had planned. I just add it in as I go. And then if my net cals are too low, I add in an extra snack or a glass of milk or something to make up the difference.
  • marci355
    marci355 Posts: 292
    I stay at home too. (can't find a damn job....) so I wing it. I leave my computer on all day and enter it after I eat. I LOVE this site! It's helping me a LOT!!
  • vitosbud
    vitosbud Posts: 54 Member
    A little from column A, a little from column B :) Mostly wing it, but last week for St. Patty's I knew I wanted fish and chips at my favourite pub so I planned all around it.
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    I wing it. I don't know what I will be hungry for a week from the day I plan to eat.
  • dixedreg
    dixedreg Posts: 276 Member
    I preplan. I eat more or less the same things on the days I work. On my days off I preplan dinner with the family. If I am going out to eat I definitely prelplan so I know how much more exercise I'll have to do.
  • GooBeGone
    GooBeGone Posts: 439 Member
    i actually do a little bit of both. i have the foods in my home but it's separated in2 snacks/breakfasts etc. i just choose what i wanna have from those sections in the mornin. i use 2 preplan the whole wk but now i do this. it's actually less stressful b/c i just choose w/e i want from the sections b/c w/e i choose is ok :smile:
  • ZachyABaby
    ZachyABaby Posts: 235
    I preplan. Any time I wing it I wind up going over/under by a ton.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I pre-plan my exercise.

    Meal- wise, I have a standard "pro-forma" of a week's worth of different breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. But I don't stick rigidly to those - it's a pick and mix out of that standard set, plus if I'm going out to lunch or dinner, I'll try to choose a healthy option and make adjustments elsewhere.
  • chellekoren
    chellekoren Posts: 273 Member
    I pre-plan, just the way you described. Otherwise, I will eat more than I need to before dinner and that always makes me sad. Dinner is my favorite meal of the day.

    Another thing is that I keep it pretty standard during the week for breakfast and lunch. On my kung fu days, I have to stay away from certain foods so that I don't get sick to my stomach. Interestingly enough, salads do not digest well and make me feel like barfing when the intensity is high. Highly acidic foods do to. Surprisingly, cheese and peanut butter is okay for me and I am always told dairy is the common triggers for sickness at high intensity training. I also have to eat between one to two hours before. Too early and I don't have the energy, too late and yucky tummy. ALL of which is learned through experience, YUCK. :)

    Good luck. Planning is key.
  • LaurieEReid
    LaurieEReid Posts: 273
    I pre-plan most days. If I know I am going to be eating out or having a special occasion that night I always pre-plan so I can change up breakfast/lunch/snacks accordingly. If I don't know what I am going to have for dinner, I will often add in everything up till dinner then use the remainder of my calories to determine what I am cooking for dinner that night. :)

    Same here. And if I'm going out to a restaurant, I try to check out the menu and pre-plan a sensible meal so I'm not tempted by the smothered chicken or some other outrageous dish.

    That said, it's my life not prison so I'll adjust and delete things if plans change.
  • Both. I plan a few meals through the day, but it really depends on when I wake up. Days like today, I woke up with enough time to shower, and head to work.
  • bbygrl5
    bbygrl5 Posts: 964 Member
    I've planned before, got tired of the regimented structure and have been winging it for quite some time now, but just yesterday a friend here helped me plan a more aggressive approach to lowering my body fat and I can't do it without some careful planning, so I will be going back to planning.
  • Elle408
    Elle408 Posts: 500 Member
    Pre plan! I put in the things that I know i'll be having, like my cereal and protein shakes and then have a think about what's in the cupboards and what's going to come to it's sell by date soon and also what i've been craving and then make up a plan from that.

    Then the next day I try to stick to it but am able to change it up a little if something comes up out of the blue, like an unscheduled meeting or eating something naughty off-plan!

    I find it really helps me stick to my allowance because I know what's coming up and what things 'cost' me throughout!
  • shanolap
    shanolap Posts: 1,204 Member
    I pre-plan a week in advance and prepare it all on Sunday, except for dinner...I kinda wing it because sometimes I'm not hungry for dinner or something comes up.
  • lovetowrite73
    lovetowrite73 Posts: 1,244 Member
    I preplan dinners in advance. I'm a supporting member of Allrecipes and will plan my meals out on there. I will then try to cook all the dinners on Sunday so that they can be frozen and reheated on the applicable day. I also cook for 6 people so it saves time for me to do it this way.
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    I wing it. Lots of choices on hand or readily available. If I know I have something special going on I will pre plan my day and make sure to leave plenty of room.
  • tanniew78
    tanniew78 Posts: 602 Member
    I pre-plan, just the way you described. Otherwise, I will eat more than I need to before dinner and that always makes me sad. Dinner is my favorite meal of the day.

    Another thing is that I keep it pretty standard during the week for breakfast and lunch. On my kung fu days, I have to stay away from certain foods so that I don't get sick to my stomach. Interestingly enough, salads do not digest well and make me feel like barfing when the intensity is high. Highly acidic foods do to. Surprisingly, cheese and peanut butter is okay for me and I am always told dairy is the common triggers for sickness at high intensity training. I also have to eat between one to two hours before. Too early and I don't have the energy, too late and yucky tummy. ALL of which is learned through experience, YUCK. :)

    Good luck. Planning is key.


    WHERE is the not worthy smiley. lol You go kung fu mama! :drinker:
  • atrayubrandy
    atrayubrandy Posts: 188 Member
    I definitely preplan and wouldn't do it any other way. I've lost 10 lbs by planning the night before but I have recently realized that I don't buy enough fruits and vegetables for the week when I go grocery shopping. So what happens is I'll have 2-3 really good days and then I'll have 4-5 days where I'm below my calorie limit but my diary is filled with chicken nuggets and tv dinners.

    So this week I'm planning a full week in advance. I spent a couple hours on Sunday planning my meals and exercise (so that I'm forced to do it). I left a good caloric deficit in case I get invited out for dinner unexpectedly or if I decide to skip my workout. Then, I made a grocery list based on the week. It seems to be working already since this morning I saw my first weight decrease almost two weeks. :-)
  • Mairgheal
    Mairgheal Posts: 385 Member
    I only plan for daytime. I'm in the office Mon-Fri and on Monday in my lunchbreak, I'd buy all my lunch ingredients and fruit for the whole week.
    Evening time and weekends I'm winging it, ie I just eat with my family, but since I keep the cals quite low during work, it's not that hard to eat a normal dinner and stay within my allocated calories.
  • Nigel99
    Nigel99 Posts: 498 Member
    I wing it. I keep plenty of fresh fruit and veggies in the house, and always have some options to cook lots of different things. I've never actually gone over on my calories in two months, so it seems to be working out ok. I just keep track and log everything throughout the day, and I know where I stand at all times.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    I am talking about food tracking here. I pre-plan my meals. Usually the night before, but sometimes I do it that morning before a stitch of food passes my lips. Of course I adjust throughout the day if things change, but I find that having a plan organizes my day and helps to keep me on track. And I dont find an excuse NOT to log it because of no time.. etc.. its already in there...

    I dont pretrack exercise though. I go by what I feel like doing that day.

    This is pretty much exactly what I do... except the exercise part. I plan my calories around my planned workout, but I don't enter exercise until I've actually done it.
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