How/when do you log your meals?

iamthevieve
iamthevieve Posts: 107
edited October 6 in Food and Nutrition
I started out logging what I eat as I eat it, but then I found that I was running out of calories well before dinner and I ate poorly. So I've decided to plan my meals ahead of time and put them in my diary in the morning and only eat what I put in. Does anyone else do this? Is it effective?
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Replies

  • ilikejam33
    ilikejam33 Posts: 252 Member
    For me this is the only way to go, i like to know exactly how much i can eat extra when the unplanned tray of goodies goes by at work...lol

    Or if i can have wine with dinner.

    This is also why i work out in the morning, for me it makes staying on track much easier.
  • Nelly_J
    Nelly_J Posts: 53
    Prelogging is the best way to go! It always keep me in check so that I don't eat up most of my calories before lunch.
  • Kushgetti
    Kushgetti Posts: 146 Member
    i prelog as well
  • Toxictwist
    Toxictwist Posts: 274
    pre-log everything the night before when packing my lunch/snack's
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    I log days in advance, and then make adjustments as needed
  • saugonda1
    saugonda1 Posts: 145 Member
    i log in the mornings
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    I pre-log as well
  • ShrinkingChelle
    ShrinkingChelle Posts: 187
    I currently log as I eat. I have the app so I find that easy. But I think starting out it would have helped to prelogged, it took me awhile to get use to what foods I could eat in a day without be under or being over.
  • prettyfitchick
    prettyfitchick Posts: 502 Member
    i log as go it makes it easier to rember potion size and what I ate I like to weight some stuff on the food scale and would forget if didnt log it in right then and there
  • jenniferhiggins
    jenniferhiggins Posts: 116 Member
    I log in my dinner calories for the day first. then I see how many calories I have to eat for the day.
  • jshish8
    jshish8 Posts: 11 Member
    log the next day for what I know I'll eat. My breakfast, 10am snack, lunch, 2pm snack and post-workout beverage are the similar every day. It gives me the freedom to plan my dinner based on macronutrients I am high/low on.
  • Scorpioangel
    Scorpioangel Posts: 951 Member
    I have done that in the past so I know what is ahead of me for the day and I stay on track :)
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Either as soon as I eat them or as soon as I fix them and as I'm sitting down at my computer with the plate.
  • robinogue
    robinogue Posts: 1,117 Member
    If I have pre-set my menu for the day I just log it all in and adjust if necessary. It's easier that way.
  • mehaugen
    mehaugen Posts: 210 Member
    I used to pre-log for the day, but after going strict paleo last week I found I could eat until I was satisfied, and then log, and I will usually be under my calorie goal for that meal and have to add more items! By not eating grains, dairy, legumes, or sugar I feel like I'm eating tons of satisfying food and still being way under my calorie goal. I do weigh my food as I prepare it, so that I can log it after I eat. Also I have a pretty good feel now for how much my portions should be of the highest calorie items (meats, nuts) so that also contributes to not having to pre-log.
  • FITnFIRM4LIFE
    FITnFIRM4LIFE Posts: 818 Member
    i log in the mornings

    ditto
  • jshish8
    jshish8 Posts: 11 Member
    any way to have it auto log certain meals?! now there is an idea.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    I don't plan what I eat. BUT I avoid eating badly because I don't let bad food come into the house. I don't have cravings for that stuff anymore (after eating right the whole entire year, my cravings are now for healthy good for you foods - or i know how to make healthy alternatives to the 'bad foods')..... I only bring stuff in the house that I feel comfortable eating and I know is good for me, and won't ruin my diet. My boyfriend is another story.... I don't eat some of the stuff he eats (i.e. cheerios and stuff) but It's because I don't want it.....
  • manvsfood
    manvsfood Posts: 175 Member
    I pre-log my meals in the morning... always, so I can avoid over-eating. It works great for me :drinker:
  • Chood5
    Chood5 Posts: 259 Member
    I pre-log my meals before I eat
  • Mandys_Getting_Fit
    Mandys_Getting_Fit Posts: 70 Member
    I pre-log all of my meals, either the night before or the morning of. It gives me time to make adjustments as needed. I also find that it helps keep me one track. It takes all of the "thought" out of food/calories when I'm actually hungry (and weak :wink: ).
  • lovesweetlove
    lovesweetlove Posts: 40
    I log RIGHT before I eat, that way I can adjust my serving size. I don't like not being able to eat what my family eats so I just adjust portions, leave out the cheese, ect. I have learned a lot about guesstimating my calories so I don't pre-log in the morning or anything.
  • SachaMichel
    SachaMichel Posts: 95
    I log as I go along my day, usually right before I consume it (or when I get back home). I don't eat much when I'm out so I'm not worried about forgetting something.

    I never have a pre-set menu because my cravings are constantly changing, or my brother might have eaten what I planned to have or something like that :tongue:
  • karenhs2
    karenhs2 Posts: 197
    I don't have to pre log breakfast except on sundays - other days I have one of two breakfast smoothies. There are some lunches I don't need to prelog (like if I am having my veggie soup or a known lo cal salad). Otherwise I try to log lunches and dinners before I eat them so I am not surprised. If I have a special evening meal, i would log that in while logging lunch.

    I am never sorry about pre-logging but I am sometimes sorry when I do not.

    Try out several ways and do what works for you. That is what is important.
  • TrekkerCynthia
    TrekkerCynthia Posts: 155 Member
    I log my meals the night before so I can figure out if I need anything from the grocery store, or in case there's something I might need to prepare. Nothing like having your mouth set for a certain meal then find out you don't have it.
  • ChasingHaven
    ChasingHaven Posts: 126 Member
    I log as I go along. That way I can decide what I'm hungry for and adjust my calories to stay within my limits throughout the day.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I started out logging what I eat as I eat it, but then I found that I was running out of calories well before dinner and I ate poorly. So I've decided to plan my meals ahead of time and put them in my diary in the morning and only eat what I put in. Does anyone else do this? Is it effective?

    I always pre-log. I spend a little time on the weekends and plan out all my meals for the next week. I ensure that everything fits my daily macro and calorie goals. Then I make my grocery list from those plans and buy only what I need for those particular meals. It works very well. I have done it for years, and I have found I lose weight more consistently when I do this. On those weeks that I don't pre-log and I just wing it, I tend to go over on calories a lot, even when I think I am doing OK.
  • tanniew78
    tanniew78 Posts: 602 Member
    I prelog, but I also realize that there are times there will be changes in my plans and I just go back and fix it accordingly. Most of the time I try to stick with the known. So for me if Im stuck out and about and lunchtime or whatever comes and goes and Im starving, Ill stop at Mcdonalds. I work there so from force of habit Ive pretty well learned the entire menus calorie count so I can at least stay in the green for that. Anywhere else and I dont know what im getting into. OR sometimes I just dont feel like making what I wanted that morning. At that point I will come back on and log what Im thinking of making and compare the calorie content and if its satisfactory, Ill make it instead and then all I have to do is delete the previous entry and viola... its done. :)
  • welcominganewself
    welcominganewself Posts: 283
    I log days in advance, and then make adjustments as needed

    Same here.
  • jovz10
    jovz10 Posts: 531 Member
    in the beggining, i pre log my meal or look at my MFP app in my ipod before i eat something... but then you later on i have to make adjustment of which one to eat or most of the time i would already know how many calories i'm eating because i log it all the time...
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