How do you log your food?

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Zengrizzly
Zengrizzly Posts: 76 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I generally prepare my two meals in advance at home. One for lunch at about 1:00 pm my time and one for dinner around 6:00 my time. I put in all the ingredients in what I think I'll eat and then look and see if I'm over doing or under doing it and add or subtract based on that. That way I'll know what I'm consuming before I even do it.

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  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    I generally pre-plan my breakfast and lunch and log those. I then adjust the amounts when I do the actual preparing and it may bring me down or up a few calories, but it generally stays the same.

    Dinner is the one meal I generally have more variety and am 'on-the-fly' with.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,789 Member
    edited March 2017
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    When I'm losing, I pre-log several days -- even a whole week -- at a time, by weight and with balanced macros and all that. Right now (I'm working on some mental/emotional food stuff) I'm just trying to consistently hover near maintenance; I'm currently pre-logging some meals by portion size instead of weight, leaving plenty of room in my calories, and adjusting/adding as I actually eat. I'm doing this because I'm trying to eat regular meals, to my appetite, without binging or restricting. Right now it's more important for me to keep a record, eat regularly, and eat "normally" than it is to have a perfect log or a perfect calorie deficit.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    If I am not eating something pretty routine for me then I prelog it most of the time.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,596 Member
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    I prelog everything in the morning. I pretty much eat the same things every day with occasional changing up on items so it's pretty easy. And then I change any weights of foods or add or subtract items depending on if I burn my anticipated calories or not.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    For religious reasons I'm offline from Friday evening through Saturday night. This is also when big meals get served. Oh, and I can't write stuff down till Saturday night either. So Friday afternoon, I pre-log as best I can. During the rest of the week, there are certain things I can log ahead of time. My typical breakfast is 1 cup of grapes, 1 fat-free Greek yogurt, and 1 granola bar. The only variation is in the flavor of the bar. I cook one main that gives me 4 servings and I generally have one for supper for half the week. So, I'll input that to give me an idea of what I have left for lunch and snacks.

    My snacks are usually low-calorie. A veggie dog (50 cals), a piece of string cheese (80) or 2 cups of Skinny Pop popcorn (about 85). Lunch and, once that main is done, supper may not get pre-logged because I usually weigh things right before they end up on my plate. One of my go-to salads involves 1/2 cup of corn, a veggie dog, and various raw and pickled veggies. Sometimes I use 73 grams of cherry tomatoes. Sometimes 102. It's nickle-and-diming, but I'm trying to be as accurate as I can.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I tend to prelog my day, then update quantities as is appropriate. Such as when I logged apple slices & peanut butter for an afternoon snack, I left my last values in. Then a little while ago, actually preparing my snack, I weighed out the portions. Then updated quantities.

    It gives me an idea of what gaps I need to fill for macros. And for day's like today when I don't know what I'm having for dinner, I at least have an outline of ~600 calories. And I know I need a decent bit of protein in dinner.
    Zengrizzly wrote: »
    I generally prepare my two meals in advance at home. One for lunch at about 1:00 pm my time and one for dinner around 6:00 my time. I put in all the ingredients in what I think I'll eat and then look and see if I'm over doing or under doing it and add or subtract based on that. That way I'll know what I'm consuming before I even do it.

  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    sammyliftsandeats wrote: »
    I generally pre-plan my breakfast and lunch and log those. I then adjust the amounts when I do the actual preparing and it may bring me down or up a few calories, but it generally stays the same.

    Dinner is the one meal I generally have more variety and am 'on-the-fly' with.

    Generally this. At the end of the day I know how many snacks I was actually hungry for, whether I actually went to the gym or not, if something happened and there was free food at work instead of the lunch I packed or whatever. If I know that I am going out for dinner I plan lower calorie/more satiating things, but don't pick my restaurant

    When I put dinner in the crockpot it's a little different, but I usually make a healthy main, so its whether or not I have garlic toast or salad or nothing with it etc. EVERYTHING is flexible, but prelogging gives me an idea of where I'm aiming and helps make choices about splurging (cheezits now or ice cream later?)
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,665 Member
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    I pre-log for the next day while in bed the night before. Then edit as I go.

    Today, for example, I was all set with my hummus, veggies, cheese, and apple for lunch. Then hubs suggested we go out for lunch. Sounds good, so I saw how much I had allotted, and figured out if I'd need to reduce my dinner. Nope, it's a light dinner anyway, so all is well. Had a very nice pear, goat cheese and walnut salad with half the dressing they provided. Opted out of the calamari. Logged it after eating.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    I prep all my food a week in advance, weight and all. So I don't even need to adjust portions as it's already been sorted and logged.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,140 Member
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    I only pre-log if I am going to eat what I have already in my freezer (soups, stews, chili) or any left over from the day before. So the pre-logging didn't or doesn't happen very often.

    I log what I ate when I am done eating but sometimes I don't log until the end of the day or I don't log my dinner until the next day. I am pretty good with estimation and since I am on maintenance it works for me.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    I know for the most part what my breakfast, first snack, and lunch will be. Afternoon snack and dinner will depend on the calories I have. I've been trying to up my fiber game for an upcoming surgery, so lately I know my afternoon snack too (Metamucil with orange juice - I dislike drinking juice calories, but without it is horrible).
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
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    I pre log all my meals during the week on the weekend (not hard when you have 2 days if food that rotate through the week) - makes planning and prepping easier.

    Weekends get logged in the morning of each day before eating anything....
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Every morning before breakfast I prelog what I will eat for the day. I start with dinner, then lunch, breakfast and snacks last. As I log, I check to see if I am meeting my protein goal and make choices that will get me there.
    I only eat out one meal a week. I have dinners planned for the week. The rest of my choices are limited to what we have in the house.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I log as I cook or just after I plate up, normally, or else I jot it down and do it after the meal (exception is if I bring lunch for work, as I often do, I log it when I pack it up).

    I don't prelog and never did, but I'm pretty good at planning in my head and I adjust based on calories/macros if needed (for example, I might have a smaller or larger serving of salmon or potatoes based on what's left -- I don't cut vegetable servings, though).

    When I was seriously logging and keeping a deficit I never had an issue going over, despite not prelogging, and I just don't plan that far in advance--it would make it feel burdensome.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    This is my routine. Wake up, go to the loo, make a coffee, turn on my computer, prelog my day.

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