Do you plan out your menu each day or figure it out as you go along?

When I logged, I had the best success pre-planning my day which I generally did the evening prior. Things would change here and there...most often with dinner. When you have a plan, you always know exactly where you are and because it was mapped out, it is exactly where you should be.

Most successful endeavors in life require a solid plan of action and adherence to the plan.

For me, I'm doing a challenge right now so I have to plan to be successful. However I've found that it helps me mentally to feel that I'm making a choice in this. I'm not having those chocolate chip cookies because I've planned my food, I'm having this or that instead. There's nothing unexpected to derail me. That and I know what groceries to purchase so for money it helps also. I just don't trust myself to make last minute healthy choices, some people can

I plan each day up until I get home from work (aka I pack my lunch and snacks for work).

I used to not plan and I ended up buying/eating out not healthy choices, which got me to a very unhealthy weight (to say the least). With MFP, I started planning my lunches for the week, cooking and pre-portioning out what I grab and go for lunch. I have the same thing for breakfast (hard boiled egg and Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt), Apple snack before my lunch time walk and some high protein bar (like Quest) mid afternoon. For dinner, I figure it out on the fly based on remaining calories, and reserving some for a post workout snack.
This really works for me!

I try to pre log the whole week, but by Tuesday I've usually done something totally different. I have a two year old and a husband who goes to school sometimes one night a week and sometimes two nights a week, two extended families who think of a big dinner as a weekly familial Mass, a part time job with the most flexible hours you can imagine, and I'm too broke to turn down free food. So sticking to the plan is not impossible, but it's just not worth it to me. I'm perfectly capable of staying within the confines of my calorie goal no matter how the week goes. Pre-logging it just seems like a waste anymore. Maybe when life settles down a bit I might try it again, but until then I'm losing weight the lazy way and it's working fine.

The one caveat to that is that pre-logging is an absolute must for homemade recipes. I'm rubbish at trying to cook and log at the same time, so I have to pre-enter it in MFP, then measure it out to what I entered or I forget numbers and end up having to guesstimate. So it's wonderful for that.

ETA: When I say flexible hours, I mean I'm the one who has to be flexible with MY time, not the other way around. I'm on call.

Carlos_421 wrote: »

misskarne wrote: »

I plan the fortnight. This also keeps my grocery budget under control because it means I make a list of what's in my freezer, fridge and pantry and work to use that stuff as well.

Ten points for use of the word "fortnight"

I've always planned meals by the week. Mostly so I know what to shop for and when, to minimize waste and to prevent the "I don't know, what do you want to eat?" discussion. Since being on MFP I've also pre-logged my food the night before. I like to know what wriggle room I have for extras and changes to the plan.

misskarne wrote: »

I plan the fortnight. This also keeps my grocery budget under control because it means I make a list of what's in my freezer, fridge and pantry and work to use that stuff as well.

This may be the sexiest thing I've read this week. "Fortnight" is very hot.

/things grammar geeks think

Carlos_421 wrote: »

misskarne wrote: »

I plan the fortnight. This also keeps my grocery budget under control because it means I make a list of what's in my freezer, fridge and pantry and work to use that stuff as well.

Ten points for use of the word "fortnight"

Love slipping 'fortnight' into conversations with my colleagues to see if it catches anyone out. Working on 'sennight' next.

As for food planning. Breakfast is easy - same thing every day. Dinner is usually a sandwich, and tea is whatever happens to be in the fridge.

I'm very boring and plan 2 meals for the week - 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner. Works out well because most recipes make 4-6 servings. I've always eaten this way, even when not calorie counting - I hate grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning up, so I get all of it out of the way on the weekends and then I'm set for the work week.

Carlos_421 wrote: »

misskarne wrote: »

I plan the fortnight. This also keeps my grocery budget under control because it means I make a list of what's in my freezer, fridge and pantry and work to use that stuff as well.

Ten points for use of the word "fortnight"

WinterSkies wrote: »

Lol... it amazes me how people can get by without planning! My parents always had a menu planned out, and now I do the same thing. I've got two young kids, so our house would be chaos if meals weren't planned in advance.

Our weekly menu is "planned" on the weekend, before we go shopping. It keeps us from buying too much extra food, and keeps shopping trips shorter. The majority of dinners are arranged such that we will have leftovers for lunch the next day. Our breakfasts are usually pretty similar (toast or cereal), so that's pretty easy too.

We do have some flexibility - if something comes up and we need to make a quicker dinner one night, or we're craving something that was meant for another day, we'll just swap out dinners and rearrange the rest of the week. It works well for my family. As well, we always have several bags of frozen veggies available for a quick side dish, and I keep an extra box of pasta and a jar of tomato sauce in the pantry. Sometimes the kids just want spaghetti

I don't remember my parents ever planning meals more than one day in advance. My mom would ask: "what do you feel like eating today?" or" How about X today?" then they would buy what is needed for the meal and mom would make 2 days worth of main dish food. Breakfast and dinner were usually eggs, a sandwich, several breakfast foods on the table..etc. Basically whatever is in the fridge and whatever we feel like eating that morning/evening. If we need anything extra we would just go and buy it. Now I'm the same. I do make a rough plan to see how my calories are looking, but I often end up substituting things for other things on the spur of the moment.

We also utilize the local food bank, so we can't actually pick what food we get. My grocery list two out of 4 weeks of the month is just supplemental. Stuff to be able to make a meal out of whatever we got this month.

WinterSkies wrote: »

Lol... it amazes me how people can get by without planning! My parents always had a menu planned out, and now I do the same thing. I've got two young kids, so our house would be chaos if meals weren't planned in advance.

Our weekly menu is "planned" on the weekend, before we go shopping. It keeps us from buying too much extra food, and keeps shopping trips shorter. The majority of dinners are arranged such that we will have leftovers for lunch the next day. Our breakfasts are usually pretty similar (toast or cereal), so that's pretty easy too.

We do have some flexibility - if something comes up and we need to make a quicker dinner one night, or we're craving something that was meant for another day, we'll just swap out dinners and rearrange the rest of the week. It works well for my family. As well, we always have several bags of frozen veggies available for a quick side dish, and I keep an extra box of pasta and a jar of tomato sauce in the pantry. Sometimes the kids just want spaghetti

Lol, I'll mail it all to your kids:) If I never see another spaghetti noodle in my life I will die a happy woman!