Do you pre-log your food?

Late to the party, but can I join

I plan my meals, and for me, it's actually one of the things that allows me to have a varied and balanced diet. I also love the predictability, and I enjoy looking forward to all the great meals. The fun/puzzle/game aspect also makes it perfect as a hobby. Did I mention I love meal planning?

I plan in a spreadsheet, not MFP, and somewhat erratic, partly to make the shopping list, partly "backwards" after I get home with the groceries. Dinners are rotated weekly by theme of the day, and often planned more or less completely two weeks in advance, sometimes I start with to-three alternatives, and narrow it down as the day approaches, or I buy whatever I find that's delicious, cheap and fits. I don't change my mind often, but I am flexible and move things around or replace if I find something better or end up eating out, or whatever.

nyponbell wrote: »

@kommodevaran No one is late to the party, 'cause the party doesn't stop!

Your planning sounds incredible when you do it (I am a planner by nature, but have such a difficult relationship with food I have problems with pre-planning it "properly").

So you have theme days, like Monday is Italian and Wednesday is Breakfast for dinner? (Except maybe not those themes.)

My planning actually sounds like a lot of work - to me, too! - when I type it out like that (and I'm not even going into details), but it's really very straightforward. I do indeed have a setup like that - Monday is soup/casserole, Tuesday white meat, Wednesday is leftovers from Monday, Thursday fish and so on. I used to think meal planning would mean restrictive and boring food, and it never even occurred to me that I could do it myself (well of course, because I didn't want restrictive and boring food).

I have had to work on my own relationship with food, and getting in a good meal schedule - even before I started planning so extensively - was a great help. I've never had an eating disorder, but I had disordered eating, lots of fear of food and felt quite hopeless. MFP was one of the first steps towards "food security" - I "had to" hit my calories every day, and I was "allowed" to eat anything I wanted. This was liberating. I started to get back to my roots - I'm Norwegian (and you're Swedish, right?) - and reintroduce a lot of the meals and dishes I grew up with. Using fat, sugar and salt to make the food taste good was... not scary, but daunting. I have been afraid of those three for over twenty years. Realizing that I'll be fine - my diet is not going to consist of fat, sugar and salt - and the joy of cooking and eating... simple dishes, made from cheap ingredients... that I could eat food I like without being afraid of getting sick, or fat... I love everything about food now.

Have you seen this?

What is Normal Eating?

Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it -not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is mostly three meals a day, or four or five, or it can be choosing to munch along the way. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful. Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.

In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, your proximity to food and your feelings.

http://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/hte/whatisnormaleating.php

erienneb66 wrote: »

Occasionally I prelog. Like if I know I'm cooking for dinner for my husband and I, I'll log the dinner so I know what to do with the rest of my day. But otherwise, no, because I'm a child and I don't like being told what to do even if it's myself. It's just psychological. I'll bring food to work, planned for my day, but if I log it before I eat it I get aggressive even though I was going to eat it anyway?

This is fascinating! I couldn't understand that kind of reasoning until I read Gretchen Rubin's "Better than before" - and initially I believed I was a Rebel too... but you are a rebel. I'm a Questioner. As long as I get a good answer (it doesn't have to be the right answer), I'm happy.