Do you play with the numbers on your food tracker before you eat?

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cyaneverfat
cyaneverfat Posts: 527 Member
in Getting Started
I did today. I went from being 700 calories over to having one calorie left! Hahaha

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  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,394 Member
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    Do you mean you fudged the numbers? No, i don't do that because it might look good on paper, but my body still gets those calories.
    For pre-planning? Yes. If I cook for several days then I put all ingredients in MPF, and then look at how many days I could get out of it if I add x amount of my pasta/rice/couscous/etc of choice.
  • cyaneverfat
    cyaneverfat Posts: 527 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    Do you mean you fudged the numbers? No, i don't do that because it might look good on paper, but my body still gets those calories.
    For pre-planning? Yes. If I cook for several days then I put all ingredients in MPF, and then look at how many days I could get out of it if I add x amount of my pasta/rice/couscous/etc of choice.

    No, not fudging the numbers, readjusting them to fit the calories (you only eat that many).
  • DomienS
    DomienS Posts: 11 Member
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    Yeah i always do it. I will often give me more or less carbs in my meal based on how many calories i have left.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,394 Member
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    cyaneverfat wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Do you mean you fudged the numbers? No, i don't do that because it might look good on paper, but my body still gets those calories.
    For pre-planning? Yes. If I cook for several days then I put all ingredients in MPF, and then look at how many days I could get out of it if I add x amount of my pasta/rice/couscous/etc of choice.

    No, not fudging the numbers, readjusting them to fit the calories (you only eat that many).

    Yes, I totally do that! My dinner and desert is the adjusting thingy as there's fairly little variation over day for me. I usually adjust pasta or rice, but I'm never off too much. Thus might use 5g less rice or so.
  • gallantria
    gallantria Posts: 54 Member
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    I try to plan my food for the day ahead of time. It is certainly easier to plan ahead than to trust myself to do the right thing in the moment. My daily routine is to get to work and spend a little time planning my meals before I eat some trail mix to hold me over to lunch (I'm not a huge breakfast person). Once I plan my meals then I plan my snacks as well just so I know what my options are at night. I don't always eat all the snacks, but at least they are there if temptation or hunger strikes.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
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    Yes I enter my breakfast, lunch, and dinner at least the day of in the morning and more often the night before.

    The only think I don’t pre log is exercise as I have a second unpredictable job. In the morning I might think my evening is free for the gym and then, later, plans change and I’m driving to go pick up some gym equipment 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
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    I'm a big proponent of pre-planning meals, or even whole days in advance. However, I prioritize the accuracy of my data above everything else so even if I'm missing my targets by a large margin it's documented as precisely and accurately as possible.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    Most days I know what I am eating for the day and will pre log it. (I don't usually log on this site.) It helps with knowing if I have extra calories for some wine. 🍷 😁
  • XxMinoXx
    XxMinoXx Posts: 9 Member
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    I do, all the time! I pre-plan and pre-log my meals generally, but I also want to be flexible. If there's something I really want to eat, I just eat it. Then I take a look at what I have left for the day and adjust appropriately.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    I often prelog/preplan - then adjust portions or snacks according to the way the #s land. My personal agenda is eating 1400-1700 daily, and getting at least 100 grams of protein.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    When I was early on in the process (like the first few months) I did a lot of this. That was kind of the exact way I learned to adjust what I was eating to fit my calories and also keep me full and be food that I liked and food that met my nutritional needs.

    Like I’d start with what I thought I wanted or what I thought would work, then start changing things around until it worked. Then look back to yesterday/last week to see what worked on a similar day or when I didn’t have as many calories as I needed or whatever.

    It’s been many years now so I don’t do so much of that anymore. I have a pretty good idea what fits and what works and that’s just what I eat. I may tweak portion sizes a bit here and there.

    But I definitely did a lot of swapping things in and out when I was learning what worked for me.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,457 Member
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    Absolutely.

    I have always used a fixed daily goal, regardless of exercise calories earned.

    Some days I’ll have a calorie heavy breakfast and have to reel it in elsewhere. Or a lighter than normal breakfast which gives me more freedom elsewhere in the day.

    Having everything preplanned and logged actually makes things easier when a day turns into an on-the-fly. I can easily add that unexpected Mexican lunch special and tinker with dinner or snacks to offset. Or, see that I have enough calories left elsewhere to eke out some bonus corn chips.

    There’s many many days when the diary I prelogged that morning looks nothing at all like the final one at bedtime.

    That’s why CICO is so awesome. It’s all about the C’s!
  • imgwendolyn2015
    imgwendolyn2015 Posts: 347 Member
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    I try to start with what I am having for dinner so that I can change up what I eat throughout the day. Dinner is still whatever my hubby and I eat together. Makes it easier!
  • AlexandraFindsHerself1971
    AlexandraFindsHerself1971 Posts: 3,106 Member
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    I usually prelog. I have a light breakfast and a heavier breakfast, so I log my lunch and my dinner, and then my afternoon and evening snacks. Then I can see whether I am having the lighter or the heavier breakfast, and if any little treats (such as a mini candy bar after lunch) are going to be doable. That way when I get up I know what I'm doing and all I have to do is just do the plan, that's all. And that helps a lot.
  • cyaneverfat
    cyaneverfat Posts: 527 Member
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    I prelogged popcorn, cola and m&ms today and nearly didn't eat them because they didn't fit into my calories. I ended up eating half as much chocolate. I felt proud leaving the supermarket, because I would usually have 3x as much junk food and eat it in one night, but it was a lot more calorific than I was expecting.

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