Logging as you go OR already logged?

I usually know how the day will go, and a lot of what I eat is pretty routine, so I pre-log quite a bit. But not everything is predictable and sometimes the day goes way off the rails, so I'm always aware that my plans may have to change.

Lounmoun wrote: »

Gisel2015 wrote: »

Lounmoun wrote: »

I prelog my food for the day every morning.
I don't really understand people who don't know what they are going to eat for a meal until right before they have it. I guess I am always thinking a couple of meals ahead. I have dinners planned for the month. I have food bought for the week. I know what restaurant I will go to well in advance. I can figure out what I'm going to feel like eating for at least the majority of the meals of the day ahead of me.

I sometimes change my mind about a food or discover the food was not good/there and I adjust my log. I'm fine finding something with a similar calorie count to slot in.

We are all different @Lounmoun, and maybe that is what makes the world and life more interesting. I can't understand how people can log days in advance or think about plan meals weeks in advance. I like organization and predictability to certain extent, but I find that thinking about food or meals all the time is boring, and not that important to me.

I know that I will have pork chops tonight, but I don't know what else to make with it. I will figure it before dinner. No worries. Alas, it is almost lunch time and except for homemade soup and homegrown pink grapefruit for desert, I still don't know what else I will make. And life is good

Sure different things for different people. I am not saying everyone needs to be like me or criticizing people. I hope it didn't come off that way.
I just can't understand living like that. I live with people who have severe anxiety so everything can be worries some days! Planning and routine help us get through as a family.
If I were planning pork chops for dinner I would know the limited food options in my house and could decide side dishes that morning. I would not wait until 5 PM and open the cupboard and wonder what to have. I am not thinking about what to eat all the day long because the decisions are made.

Good for you for finding what works better for you and your family. No anxiety in my family, except mine when I have to cook...
And I waited until 6PM to figure out what to cook with my pork chops but I changed my mine at 6:30PM. All was well at 7PM and I was right on target with my calories. No worries.

I pre-log most of my week before I shop. Then I know what I am buying for the week, and have a rough idea of what extras I can have each day if needed/wanted.
I do tend to eat the same breakfast everyday and bulk cook lunches on Sunday - so same thing each day there too. Dinners are the variables, but I pre-log based on the meat that is in the house

HappyKat5 wrote: »

Curious to know, if logging as you go versus a menu already logged in makes a difference?
Thanks

Oh, and the weird thing I eat almost the exact same thing everyday so it really shouldn’t bother me, yet I kinda does.

I do this. I start out with a basic plan and log what I think I'll eat. (Breakfast is always the same, lunch similar) If I change anything up during the day, I add/subtract. I still pretty much stick to what I initially set, but those 2pm pretzels or Teddy Grahams sometimes sneak in.

It's not weird that it bothers you. You choose to eat the same, but have the comfort of knowing you can have other/more things because you were exercising. Not being able to leaves you feeling like some of your choices are being taken away. (Even if it's just your mind playing tricks on you) I went through this after my knee surgery. It was a control thing for me.

I do a semi pre-log when I am making my grocery list on Sunday morning. Most of that though is because I am a pescatarian who is also trying to make sure that my combinations reach my macros, so I have to cross check my lunches and dinners to see where I need to add in extra proteins or fats. For me this is also important because I'm currently cooking for just me. I don't mind making a normal lunch/dinner and portioning it for 3-4 days, as this means a smaller grocery bill generally as well as not having to cook every day of the week. Generally once my meals are made I go ahead and log them for the amount of days they'll last, as well as log any snacks/treats that need to be added in. This also means that I can go ahead and log the other lunch/dinner I have planned for the week on the days after the current lunch/dinner are good for since that's mostly just what I have left in the house. If things come up such as an unexpected meal out or over at a friend's then I make adjustments accordingly as needed.

I like to log each meal or snack right before I prepare it, so that I have a chance to adjust if it doesn’t look right. I don’t think I could realistically log much further in advance than that, though!

I prelog my work week on Sunday's. And make small variations if needed. On the weekends I will prelog right before I cook each meal because i'm not sure what I'm going to make until right before.

If I'm eating dinner with my family, I log dinner first thing in the morning and then make the rest of the day fit around it. If I'm eating dinner with myself, I log as I go.

I eat a lot of left overs being that I mainly cook for just myself so I pre-log as much as I can to stay on target during the week and adjust as needed.

When I make lunch ahead (which I do often), I log it when I make it. Otherwise I log while cooking. I tend to know roughly how to make a meal to hit my calorie and macro target and to plan in my head what dinner will be (although often I'll be working with the vegetables in the refrigerator, so will plan that aspect while cooking). The idea of pre logging or of logging a bunch of meals and then shifting them after cooking (or trying to cook to the plan) would make me miserable, and I often decide on dinner during the day. (But that's why it's great we are all different!)

When I first started I did sometimes log sample meals or meal ideas to see how the calories and macros would turn out.