Are you a prelogger or do you log as you go?

Buttermello
Buttermello Posts: 127 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you log all your food for the day ahead of time (the night before or the morning of), or just log foods as you consume them?

Why?
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Replies

  • CatsRule611
    CatsRule611 Posts: 1 Member
    I am still new to this but find if I log what I am eating for the day, I stick to it better. This is for weekdays only, the weekends are a gamble. :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    I don't log anymore and haven't in a long time, but when I did I usually pre-logged. I wanted to know where I stood on the day rather than eating and then getting some surprise after I ate it and logged it. I wouldn't always stick to what was pre-logged...often dinner plans would change or something, but I knew where I was in general.
  • Cadencec1
    Cadencec1 Posts: 12 Member
    I log as I go. I just find that it works for me.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Back when I used to log, I did a mix. I prelogged parts of my day then left some blanks. Even if I prelogged I would change things around as I went quite frequently.
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,894 Member
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    I do both. When I'm logging, I'll prelog batch cooked meals like lunches I pack for work, but log dinner when I make it.

    This is pretty much what I do. On work days, I usually do a lot of the same foods, so it helps to pre-log as much as possible to get an idea of where I am calorie wise, and that helps me make better decisions for the meals that I don't pre-log.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,101 Member
    I log as I go, with one exception: when cooking dinner, I make enough for leftovers the next day, so I will log those leftovers in advance, at the same time as dinner itself.
  • noelkro80
    noelkro80 Posts: 248 Member
    Pre log is working out great for me at the minute. I plan my next days breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks the night before & log it all when I’m eating my breakfast
  • Sand_TIger
    Sand_TIger Posts: 1,072 Member
    I do both - I prelog what I bring for lunch, and then log dinner when I find out what it is. I prelog my bedtime snack but take it off the next day if I didn't eat it. Which happens more and more because I forget.
  • StellaRose227
    StellaRose227 Posts: 43 Member
    I prelog, sometimes a week or two at a time. I meal plan, so I have a pretty good idea what dinner is going to be on any given day. Lunch is going to be leftovers. I have several hundred recipes saved, so it's just a matter of adding that recipe and tweaking the specific amounts of each ingredient.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,552 Member
    Are you asking what's best for weight control (=pre logging / pre-planning --don't forget to make the final changes to reflect the food you consumed in the end. Or, quite powerfully, never putting something in mouth until it's already logged?)

    Or are you asking what people who open the fridge and only then start thinking about what they're going to eat do?

    I current belong to the second variety.

    I will occasionally test log something to see how it would fit. But beyond that I now tend to jot things on a piece of paper by the scale and log while I'm eating. Sometimes even after I'm done.

    Then again I'm at maintenance. And have a high enough TDEE that can absorb more than a couple of oopsies!
  • speyerj
    speyerj Posts: 1,369 Member
    I sometimes pre-log my dinner especially if I plan to have something carb or fat heavy - that way I can plan to eat foods at breakfast and lunch that get me to where I want to be with my macros. Or to see if I have enough left in my 'budget' for a mid day snack. But generally it's log as I go.
  • CupcakeCrusoe
    CupcakeCrusoe Posts: 1,355 Member
    steveko89 wrote: »
    I pre-log as much as possible and adjust weights and portions for accuracy as I go along.

    This is what I do. Pre-log foods to get a sense of the macros/calorie load for the day, then go through and adjust the weights as I eat them. Like I'll log a pear from the last time I ate a pear, and when I go to eat the pear, I modify the weight.
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,310 Member
    Both
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,889 Member
    I generally log about the same time I eat but try to test-log new dinners to see where they are for calories. For example, the focaccia I made Saturday was 515 calories for 175 grams, and I could have easily, easily overeaten that if I didn't prelog it.

    However, I do know that for me, for pizza-type foods I should stay under 200 grams, creamy pasta dishes are safe at around 250 grams, my Thai stir fries are good at around 350 g, for chicken and broccoli I'll want 100 g each, etc.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Buttermello wrote: »
    Do you log all your food for the day ahead of time (the night before or the morning of), or just log foods as you consume them?

    Why?

    If I make lunch and dinner ahead I will go ahead and log them the morning of or day before. I usually log breakfast when I'm making it in the morning. I don't log anything that isn't already measured out (so dinner if I specifically broke it into servings when I made it or lunch most of the time), and never farther ahead than the night before. If dinner is leftovers but not measured out I might copy the day I first had it and then adjust servings later.

    I don't plan meals ahead until I've already made them -- having a week planned out isn't fun for me I like to be creative/spontaneous about what I want to make for dinner often. If I have a dinner made (leftovers) and planned but decide not to have it I usually move it to the next day to have it then.

    Why? I plan and hold plans in my head pretty well so I can figure out what would fit my cals/goals and the ingredients in my refrigerator without formally menu planning and menu planning too much makes me feel restricted.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited February 2020
    I log at least one day in advance, often 2-3 days. There's usually some tweaking that takes place when I actually get to the day in question, but I like having a general roadmap worked out, mainly because it allows me to tweak portion sizes to stay within +/- 10 calories of my calorie target. Then I can just kick back and enjoy all my food and treats w/o any stress about "going over".

    Here's my roadmap for tomorrow, all laid out and waiting for me:

    zu3adoj9io6j.jpg
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    I pre log the whole day unless I don't know what I'm having for dinner yet or something. Because I like to see how my whole day looks and make adjustments if I need to...

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