How do you like to log your food?

OddPiety
OddPiety Posts: 6 Member
in Getting Started
Hi guys!

I was curious on how you folks prefer to log your meals. Do you log food as you go throughout the day or do you plan out your day by logging everything you plan to eat in the morning and try not to cheat? Or maybe you have a different method all together? There are no wrong answer :) I'm also open to friend request! Thought I'd give the community thing a try.
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Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I don't use my food diary anymore, just a spreadsheed; I transitioned into it while still tracking calories. I learnt how to prelog in here, and that was a great help. Now I log as I plan, sometimes I plan all meals two weeks ahead, sometimes just fruit for breakfast the upcoming week, sometimes some of the dinners, sometimes just the protein for some of the dinners, sometimes before I grocery shop, with what I intend to buy, sometimes after when I know what I ended up with. I will change things around a bit if something comes up, but I love the rythm and predictability and I only pick foods I like, so 99% of the time I go for what I planned. Sometimes, if I really want it, I have a treat, but not every day, and in limited amounts. Cheating becomes redundant this way.
  • mkculs
    mkculs Posts: 316 Member
    I tend to log as I go, too.
  • NHDaisy2
    NHDaisy2 Posts: 151 Member
    I mainly log as I go.

    However, if I pack my lunch using leftovers I pre-log and may log what I will bring for breakfast and snacks as well. OR if I know I'm going out to lunch or dinner if I know what I'm going to order I will also pre-log that.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    A bit from column A and a bit from column B.

    If I know what I'll be having ahead of time (e.g. I have the ingredients for dinner in the fridge) I'll just pre-log it when I have the app open.

    If it's something that I eat regularly, like my breakfast is pretty much the same every day. I'll just log it later when I have the app open rather than making a point of logging as I consume.

    If I'm not sure what I'll be eating or something unplanned comes up like a lunch invitation I'll log as I order/consume so that I can plan the rest of the day.

    This approach makes the act of logging seem less arduous/annoying/time consuming/imposing/etc so I'm more likely to continue long term.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    Both for me as well. Most of the time I log as I go but if I know that I will be having something higher calorie than usual, I will pre-log it and work my day or couple days around it. (I follow a weekly calorie goal) I do usually pre-log 250 calories for a 8 pm snack every day.
  • pandorasbox632000
    pandorasbox632000 Posts: 6 Member
    I pretty much log as I go but I usually have a roughed out idea in my mind when I start my day.
  • DragonHasTheSapphire
    DragonHasTheSapphire Posts: 184 Member
    I always pre-log the day before, it's easier. If I want to eat something else that isn't logged, I just tweak it here and there. I usually start with post-workout snacks/shakes, since I want decent macros on there for recovery. Then I log breakfast (pre-workout meal, most carbs for the day), lunch, then dinner (fill in any macros that seem a little low). In my opinion it was a little nerve-racking trying to figure out what to eat, but after a while I've grown used to the fact that most of the time it's the same thing, but I always add some variation so it isn't boring.
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 849 Member
    Well it depends when I go shopping. As an example I went shopping yesterday. And had decided this week was going to be heaving on Fish as I had seen some was on sale at a few stores where I live. So with that in mind. I bought fish for dinner for every day for this coming week. Then bought veges to go with. And I have been on a kick that for breakfast of having the same thing. So made sure I had that stocked. So breakfast taken care of, dinner covered. Thought ok for lunch what do I need, ok covered. Snacks, oh needed it snack bags, they keep me from getting carried away while measuring. I am on week 5 of doing this. So staying super strict with the scale for food weighing, and what goes in snack bags etc. So I make up groc list on what I am going to eat for coming week. And then like today. It is 930PM and I just logged todays food. Still need to make the protein shake and good for today. I agree no right or wrong on this one. Just everyone needs to find what really works best for them and stick to it.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    I tend to pre-log meals the day before; or if I don’t know what I’m going to have, I quick add some calories to make sure I have enough when I get to dinner time.

    Then I snack to my heart’s content with what’s left over.
  • baacissej
    baacissej Posts: 32 Member
    I log as I go but sometimes I have a think about what I want for lunch and dinner and if there's something I really fancy I log it to reserve the calories. I like to save some calories for the evening too because I know that's when I'm more likely to snack, but I don't physically reserve these calories I just know to leave around 200 for the evening.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,115 Member
    I try to plan on a morning and always leave some calories in hand so if I fancy something I can have it - I hate not being "allowed" to have something as I just want it more then and end up going over.
  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
    I pre-plan basically every single day. I just find it easier.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    I am a creature of habit so I am safe to log my major meals in the morning. Once I open groceries, I finish them before starting a new meal type.

    On work days I will log my breakfast as I eat it, log my lunch and dinner early as I know what I'm having for those. I log snack breaks as I go, as I don't know if/when i will need them through the day.

    If we go out to dinner I will log once I get home, as I don't know what I will eat until i'm there.

    On weekends I log everything as I go, as I try to minimize meals and have a larger deficit on those days.
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,867 Member
    I mostly log as I go for the first part of the day (small-to-none breakfast, light lunch), and run a sim on dinner which is when I get the most cals in. Then adjust/tweak if I don't feel like eating what I pre-logged, or if I need to cut down to make space for treats or liquid cals :smiley:
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    I've been using platejoy.com to do all my meal planning. Each week I enter their recipes into MFP manually and work with ingredients to get close to the calories in the recipe. Then I log eating 1 serving of the recipe. Logging too much detail is excruciatingly painful for me.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I log in advance, 1-2 days, and make adjustments as needed.
  • stephaniek511
    stephaniek511 Posts: 86 Member
    I tend to prelog the weekdays since those are fairly set for me, and I find it motivating to see that I have met my macros with 100-200 calories to spare...means I have room for a freebie snack during the day when the inevitable urge hits. Weekends tend to be a bit more log as I go since there are usually meals out and bigger, later brunches versus three square meals.
  • fraukazi
    fraukazi Posts: 614 Member
    I also pre-log. I weigh breakfast, lunch and snacks/fruit while i prep them in the morning and have access to scales (i eat my home-made breakfast in the office). And also often put between 400-700 quick add calories to allow for dinner. I then change it to the actual food later.
    Then depending on exercise, i have some spare to eat snacks or have a glass of wine or so.

    I found that if I log as I go, I can easily eat my 1200 cals by early afternoon and then need to work for my
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    I'm also apart of the pre-logging crowd. Usually right before I'm about to eat/make something so I can see what I am going to be left with for the rest of the day.
  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
    I guess I should also add, I eat almost the same thing every day and it doesn't bother me. I know many can't handle that, but it makes it so easy for me :lol:
  • OddPiety
    OddPiety Posts: 6 Member
    Wow! Thanks for all the replies and food for thought. I'm going to apply some of your ideas to my own tracking habits. I didn't realize I would not get notified when I got replies to a community post, I had to dig to find my post again with intention of deleting it because I didn't think anyone responded. Ah well, I'm new at this ;) Learning curve. Thanks again!
  • indiacaitlin
    indiacaitlin Posts: 691 Member
    I pretty much always have the same breakfast so tend to pre-log that, if I'm meal prepping I'll pre-log lunches. I also tend to log dinners in advance if I know what I'm having. That way, if someone offers me a treat at work or I'm feeling like a snack at work I know what I can fit in :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't log anymore, but when I did I usually pre-logged everything the night before or first thing in the morning and would then make a change if necessary. I usually left a buffer in there for something impulsive in the afternoon or evening.

    To me, it only makes sense to know where you're at before you even start. Generally speaking, having a plan is pretty optimal to success.
  • supersocks117
    supersocks117 Posts: 169 Member
    I log as I go, since I tend to eat what sounds good and fits in my day at the moment. If I know what I'm having though I'll prelog to save time and effort, and make sure it fits, but I don't feel at all bad tweaking amounts or "cheating" if I change my mind or am more hungry (ie if I prelog one slice of pizza, but end up wanting two and two fits - with or without extra exercise, I don't worry about adding it)
  • Zulu87
    Zulu87 Posts: 119 Member
    I log as I go but have created a "weekday breakfast" which is usually the same or if it's leftovers for lunch i copy from the previous night. If I'm going out I tend to see if there is calories online for the restaurant to help me decide and plan that. Feel free to add me too I am trying to get back into it after a less than successful spring!
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    Both. I typically know what my lunch will be in the morning as I usually pack it. Even if I am at home, I think about what I would pack out of habit and eat that. Breakfast has an old standby or two that I can pre log or log as I go. nacks are as I go and dinner generally is also because I will often cook for the family and weigh stuff out that I will eat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited June 2018
    I also always kind of looked at it in the same way I looked at part of my job...part of my job is to analyze and project our budget for the year. If I just projected things as they were spent, we'd probably have issues and not really be in good shape...if I project over the course of a year and reconcile to actual on a monthly basis, we have a good idea of where we stand financially at the office...and if it looks like we're going to go over budget then we can quickly identify cuts...or conversely, if we're leaving too much on the table, we can buy a little more.

    But I wouldn't know any of that if I didn't project the budget out over time and just put it down as those dollars were spent.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    I have always logged as I go, but now that I'm getting closer to a healthy weight range, it's getting tougher to stay under my calories. I'm toying with prelogging in the morning then I can cut out the "hum what do I feel like eating" trap I seem to be falling into in the evening.

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