Log food BEFORE you eat it?

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  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I plan and log breakfast and lunch the day before (usually) and adapt as I go. If I'm bicycling in to work (about 700 calories, 14 miles with lots of nice crunchy hills), or both ways (1400 calories), I'll plan a correspondingly larger breakfast and supper.

    Then I just eat a portion of supper that is pretty close to my remaining calories.
  • Mistyblu08
    Mistyblu08 Posts: 580 Member
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    i log it before i even decide what im having for the day, because if its already to high, i choose something different until something is good, and under my calorie goal, and i've lost 7 pounds. so it helps. :)

    I've done that before, when trying to decide how much I should be eating by the end of the day. I usually leave too many calories for dinner. I think my lunches/snacks need to be higher. Come dinner, I have like half my calories left, and I know that's not the best way to go..

    I go back and forth with tracking though. Or well, back and forth throughout the day - not in general. I have my food log set in time frames, so I know what time of day I start craving junk, or how long it takes me to eat in the mornings (usually forever, but trying to be better about that).

    I've been pretty obsessed with tracking lately, and will sit down and log my morning and afternoon foods RIGHT before I eat. I'm talking literally right before - food sitting next to me getting cold, haha. Dinner, I usually plug in after the fact. Though, it's always helped more when I knew how much I was going to eat BEFORE I actually ate it. I like tracking beforehand.

    I never thought to plug in a whole day, and adjust around it. That's such a great idea!

    thanks! and usually, I don't know what i'm having for dinner, unless I have school that day, but when its dinner time, i ask, and they tell me and i track it, like last night, we were having spaghetti and cheese garlic bread, i was like okay, garlic bread is like 120 calories. NO its not, its 170!! but I was under my calorie goal from working out, but it made me reevaluate decisions, like what if i didn't work out that day? I would have been waaaaaaaaaay over. just stuff like that helps me, personally. :)


    I would think it would be totally beneficial- or you do the garlic bread thing and feel sick that you went over your cals for the day- posting what you are going to eat before hand lets you know what you are going to eat, how many cals and how much room you have to adjust if you feel hungrier that day :) I think i will start doing this myself as i got into this pickle just last night lol
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    I log me entire week on Sundays....a bit much I know, but it works for me. That being said, I make adjustments as they come up so it's not like I don't vary at all. It's just a plan that I try to stick to.
  • SpazzyMal
    SpazzyMal Posts: 276 Member
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    Most days I do this. I'll either log it the night before, or whenever I'm about to make my first meal of the day. Like others have said, it tends to help me stay on track. I eat what I've told myself I can eat, and I don't go over it or make substitutions or add to it unless there's something that comes up and throws me off, like we ate dinner at a restaurant when I thought we'd be home.
  • Toxictwist
    Toxictwist Posts: 274
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    "Write it before you bite it" :)
  • debomommyforhealth
    debomommyforhealth Posts: 31
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    I do pre-log the night before because I have 2 little kiddos that keep me busy. Then, I can just pull up my log and adjust as needed. Also, I am going out of town this weekend, and it helped to look at the menus and estimate as best as I can calories. It makes me not so worried about going over my calories (even though I probably will a little). It's good to have a plan!! Plus, I want to save enough calories for WINE!! hehe
  • jenjersnapco
    jenjersnapco Posts: 206 Member
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    Usually, I log dinner after lunch (enter the recipe) so I get an idea if I need to eat more.
  • mazasmusings
    mazasmusings Posts: 74 Member
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    I usually log what I eat before actually eating it if I know I may not have the opportunity. it's easier to do with lunch when I make it at home because I have already put together the meal, but occasionally I will try to project dinner and then adjust later if need be.
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
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    I pre log about 75% and adjust as necessary, depending on my exercises for the day etc, I eat a good 1/3 of my calories between 7pm and midnight, those are the ones I don't log, but log in what works for my macros.
  • ytfelmi
    ytfelmi Posts: 47
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    Plus, I want to save enough calories for WINE!! hehe

    This!! :love: :drinker:
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
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    Wait, how far ahead of time are we talking? Because I imagine that pretty much everyone would log food before they actually consume it. I mean, what's the alternative? Blindly eating a plate of food with no idea what's in it and then regretting it afterward? Do people actually do that?

    But if you mean preplanning a whole day or something, then I guess that's different. I don't do that unless I plan on going out or having something calorie-heavy at night.
  • weeblex
    weeblex Posts: 411 Member
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    Im doing that, I havent eaten lunch yet, but I logged it already. (My food diary is public btw)
    I think its a good idea, because it motivates me to eat only what I log, and stay on track better.

    But there is no barcode on the Big Mac to scan!! :smile:

    Seriously though I plan the meals for the day and log those, that lets me know exactly what I have left for the times I just want something to munch on.

    Coincidence yesterday that I had just enough space left for a Smirnoff Ice.... I don't think so!
  • LeeshaNichole
    LeeshaNichole Posts: 179 Member
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    When I first started about 5 weeks ago, I was adding as I went and I noticed I kept going over something never calories but fat, sodium, or sugar. So the last two or three weeks I have been adding everything the night before, helps me from going over, plus also helps me from picking a unhealthy choices. Sometime I have to re-adjust but generally try to stick to it. It has really helped me to stay on track!
  • nasoj007
    nasoj007 Posts: 35 Member
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    Different things work for different people, I tend to log my meals after I eat them. I try to plan out my meal and the rough calories it will contain I don't log it fully before I eat it, I don't want to spend my meal thinking "XXX Calories, I'm eating XXX calories" ... I want to enjoy what I do get to eat. If I end up eating a few extra calories I figure out how to trim it down for next time(if I go over my day it's added incentive to get in some exercise). Also I can be sure not to cheat myself, everything (down to toppings and what I cooked the meal in) gets logged. If I logged before I even started it could be very easy to convince myself that bit of butter I used won't make a difference I won't bother adding it. That's just me though, I've always been a bit odd :P
  • schtump
    schtump Posts: 71 Member
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    I try to do that as much as I can, preparing my breakfast and lunch on work days ahead of time so I know exactly what I'll be having two meals a day so I know where I need to go for dinner.
  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
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    I do that mostly if I have to eat out. I dont want surprise calorie bombs. I have also been logging my exercise before I do it so I don't give up early. Today I logged 45 minutes on the eliptical so I did 48. There is no way I am going to go back and decrease my exercise for all my friends to see me wimp out, lol.
  • phoenix8633
    phoenix8633 Posts: 137 Member
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    Sometimes I will log everything I have planned to eat for the day in the morning, and sometimes I have to go back to it and delete or change things because of one thing or another, but then sometimes I log food as I eat.
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
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    I tend to do this so I can plan out my day and especially when I am going out to a restaurant.
  • bellalee426
    bellalee426 Posts: 25 Member
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    Works for me...it always helps me know if I should do extra time at the day and I'll plan for that :)
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
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    Definitely do this with small kids. If something changes, then I switch it when they go to bed and before I submit my entry for the day. It also takes the guesswork out of what I'm eating for the day too. Less stress all around.

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