pre-logging: motivating or an opportunity to let things slide (sabotage)

I tend to pre-log, especially on days when I am working because I have already packed my lunch and snacks. It helps me to keep n eye on where I am, and to know that I can't just splurge on that cake in the workroom or I'll be eating vegetables only for dinner. However, I do sometimes go in and change... and nothing wrong with that! It helps me to see where my day is going, but things don't *always* go as planned.

I prelog so that I have a good plan for the day. 95% of the time I stay with it spot on, however once in a while I will tweak this or that. Something as simple as a different sauce or type of fruit, or once in a while change a whole meal. I still know what my limits are so most of the time I stay within my main goals when I tweak things.

I typically prelog by planning my dinners for the week, at the beginning of the week, then each night I fill in my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the next day, and make them fit around my dinner, since that is the meal that changes the most, day to day.

I meal plan mine and my son's dinners for the week on a Sunday night so I usually prelog my dinners and maybe lunch since I mostly have the same thing (homemade soup and some crackers/fruit/eggs/cheese etc). It lets me see how much I have left to play with for breakfast (do I have enough for my granola or is it cheerios today? Sort of thing) and it allows me to keep 100-300 calories for night time which is where I tend to do my snacking and when I have a treat I don't feel tempted to add extra treats in the day as I know I will have one later.

I find prelogging also helps me keep and eye on my macros and adjust accordingly, which is good because my protein levels aren't great so I will shuffle things around to get a minimum 50g a day

But just because I and some others like to prelog doesn't mean it is the right thing to do, it's whatever works best for you!

Prelogging only helps me on the nights that I work since I usually take the same things to eat every time.

christinev297 wrote: »

4leighbee wrote: »

Capt_Apollo wrote: »

4leighbee wrote: »

Good grief - could pre-logging make me a better mother, haha! Perhaps a bit dramatic? I might actually know what we're having for dinner before 20 minutes before we eat it ...

by tomorrow afternoon, i know what i'll be having for dinner all week.

Whoa. Could you come run my life, please? K thx.

haha, and then mine :bigsmile:

haha ladies. it just takes some preparation and planning.

If I'm logging (I really only log when there's a problem), then I usually pre-log dinner as soon as I know what it will be - or I'll guess what it will be. I log lunch/ work snacks when I pack them. The rest of the day, I log as I go along. There's no slavish adherence to what I log - it's just a convenient way of reserving calories for food I'm planning to eat later.

I am kind of crazy with prelogging at the moment with being planned out til the 20 th. Things change sometimes but, I never eat before I log even if I rearrange my day.When I prelog I plan cheat days and days of not cooking. I plan leftovers and my husbands days off as closely as possible. I get a sense of accomplishment if I follow the plab for the most part. I also change recipes whenever I cook it so it is the exact measurment of that particular time. Though I do build it with usually the highest measurement I would use of each ingredient. When I did weight watchers yrs ago I prelogged for the week because I was working crazy hrs. Just had to look what was planned and pack my lunch. It also helps with our grocery budget because I only buy what we need for the recipes planned.

I usually pre-log the night before. The order just depends on what my day looks like. For example, if I'm working out early, I'll plan for a higher calories breakfast, then my post workout snack, then dinner. Lunch and snacks I'll fill in as I go.

If I know I'm going out to dinner, I'll try to search the menu and pick a meal and estimate the best I can. You might call this obsessive, but sometimes I'll even call the restaurant ahead of time and ask them the portion size of whatever protein I'm choosing, but it just means no surprises when I get there. Helps to plan out the rest of my day. And there are always changes here and there. Like tonight, I had already planned dinner, but hubby called and said he would grill tonight, so I made a quick change and was ready to go! Then I'll fill in the rest of my day.

I love pre logging because sometimes I forget what I allowed myself for the day and I'll go over my journal at night and see, "Oooooooo! I forgot to eat that!" and I get to eat more and go to bed not hungry. I hope that made sense

Usually, I prelog the treat I want for dessert, then work backwards from there. High protein items are next, followed by veg, because that's where I tend to fall short. Remaining items filled in by what goes logically with what I've already chosen. I leave empty spots when I have no idea what's going to be available.

I change my prelogged meals fairly often, but since I have the basic framework already filled out, it makes it easier to choose substitutes. Like if I want a higher cal lunch, I know how I need to alter dinner and can judge whether it's worth it to me or not.

I try to pre-log my week so I know what I'm eating when I've done my food shop. But it's not set in stone and most days I make some sort of adjustments.

I do a lot of pre cooking and meal preparation in advance, so I tend to pre log. Of course, things do change day-to-day. I might not feel like my yogurt in the morning, a friend might bring cupcakes in to school, etc. So I pre-log to give myself an idea of what my planned consumption looks like and then edit as I continue with my day. Usually when I sit down to eat, I will verify that my food diary matches what I am eating. The most important thing to me is keeping myself accountable. My personal philosophy is logging something inaccurately is better than not logging it at all.

Exercise I don't tend to pre-log as much unless I have a scheduled fitness class. I change my workout day to day and rarely know what I'm doing until I get to the gym.

I prelog foods if I have prepared then and the rest at a rough guess on an evening for the next day because a) I don't have access to the internet at work and b) I like to see if it is balanced and what can I add to get a good day.. I write down all the actual weights and update on the night.

I log as I go. My eating is pretty clean and I don't usually vary much. I will include everything I've eaten, even if I had an extra handful of pistachios. To just brush that off as an "oops" and not log it in, why? You'd only be cheating yourself. Whatever works for you, if you pre-log and then make adjustments as the day goes on, or log as you go, it's whatever works for YOU.