Planning & Tracking - Do you?

[Principessa N]

Do you plan & track everything you eat and drink?

I have been planning (well sort of) but I'm pretty bad at tracking my food and I no its a pretty big part of any diet but I tend to lose my sheets from group through out the day if I remember to fill them in at all. Planning is basically just a list of dinners so I no what to buy but really I need to be planning lunches and breakfasts too.

How do you plan?
How do you track?

Is there any phone apps that you use and find helpful?

 

[OpalLilyEats]

Hey!

I try to do both - plan AND track. I am a bit of an impulsive person though so tend to only plan a day in advance as all meals can be subject to change! I know this probably doesn't do my wallet any favours either!

I try to plan daily on my food diary on this site, I then track it as the day progresses by using the edit post tool. If I've got no internet, I use the notes app on my iPhone.

I used to use the MyFitnessPal app but tended to get a bit fixated on making sure my food diaries were below a certain calories content which conflicted with the SW plan - I was effectively running two different diet programmes alongside each other - not a good idea or pleasant experience.

I still use MyFitnessPal on my fast days as for calorie counting it's great but have ruled out using it on the other 5 days a week.

Lots of people I know who do SW tend not to track after their first few weeks but I feel I need to in order to keep a grip on what I'm putting in my mouth. It also helps if I'm stuck in a rut to go back over past posts to get some inspiration for new meals

 

[RebekahR]

Re: Planning & Tracking - Do you?

I use a combination of things to track normally carry my sheet with me. Plan the night before then highlight when I've eaten/amend it at break

Also use the slimming world app on my phone

Using physical sheets I find handiest to scribble away!

 

[Siggy74]

I always use the food diaries that SW supply. Normally I will sit and take a good hour or so every week filling it out, just to decide what Im gonna eat and when and make sure I have supplies...Which lately is pretty much the same things as its so hot. I am past the stage of handing them in every week but I do still write them out and use them for myself throughout the week. It really helps me. If I don't fill it out I will just eat on impulse and gain all the weight back and then some. I keep it tagged on the kitchen cupboard so I can check it throughout the week and tick it off when eaten. Sounds bizarre typing this out but it really does do me good and keeps me in check with the Syns!

 

[TheOnlyPink]

I plan every meal for the week on a sunday night. It took a bit of getting used to but now I feel a bit lost if I havent got my plan! I save a fortune too. I do keep some low syn emergency supplies around, just in case i'm late in or dont fancy what i've planned. But on the whole, I just stick to the plan! I do track my syns, I keep a notebook on the fridge, but thats all!

 

[Lmg_]

I plan my dinners for the week on a Sunday before I do a food shop. I'm in my second week (third time!). I haven't tracked this week as I know the plan like the back of my hand, but I obviously make a mental note of my syns throughout the day. Knowing the plan so well that I don't need to write everything down is such a key thing for me as I don't feel like I'm dieting.xx

 

[i_am_plankton]

I plan all my meals to coincide with the food shop that we have delivered every Saturday, and then every day I still fill out an online food diary to make sure everything is accounted for - I've done one every day for the last year, it's really easy to forget what you've eaten and what syns you've had.

 

[lemonblondie]

I track, but I don't plan all my meals for the week. I know that everything in the cupboards/freezer are sw meal ready. I just have to make up what I want and I don't find it an issue at all. If I sat down and planned what I was having for meals it would drive me insane. I don't think it is very fun to know what you are having for 21 meals.

I do plan each day when I wake up though, that way I know what I am having and don't have to think about it when I come home or when it's time to eat.

 

[Belletabbycat]

I plan in 3 or 4 day chunks depending on when I'm working (I work in a supermarket and there are constant temptations!) but means I can pick bits up rather than rely on one weekly shop

 

[ceebeee]

I plan meals, but it never stays that way as we always fancy something else! I use the SW food diary online and usually fill it out at the end of the day but also use the mobile site to update it if I get a chance at work/when out and about.

 

[Debridger]

Planning & Tracking - Do you?

I don't make a formal plan, but always ensure I buy lean meat, fish etc as well as store cupboard staples, so I can always have an on-plan meal
I decide in the morning what I want for dinner, and base breakfast and lunch around that.
I do keep track, but if I'm busy, I take a photo on my phone before I eat/drink it, then write it up later

 

[MissNix]

I plan and track.

I sit down after weigh-in and plan out my meals for the next 7 days, and then go food shopping for everything I need the next day. I have a notebook that I write out my menu plan in, and it permanently resides on the coffee table so it's easy to check what I have planned (and so I can change it as I go along if I need to, e.g. an unplanned meal out or just not fancying the meal I've planned).

I track by keeping a diary on here, and I write down everything I've eaten as well as any exercise that I do - and I promise to myself that I'm going to be 100% honest when I do it, as I'm only cheating on myself I choose not to write down the Mars Bar I ate by accident... I find this helps keep me on plan as I don't want to be seen visibly falling off the wagon!

x

 

[*Emsie*]

Re: Planning & Tracking - Do you?

I usually plan for the week ahead and keep a diary on here as feel it helps me keep on track.
Its not set in stone though and changes at times.
I am trying to do it more so lately to keep shopping costs down too.

 

[LuluBee]

I'm just going into my fifth week - for the first few I loosely planned, but I didn't really keep track. My losses were okay. Last week, I wrote out my plan for the week, pinned it up in the kitchen & pretty much stuck to it. I don't like the SW sheets provided for food diary, so I bought a little notepad of my own & stuck all the reasons why I want to lose weight on the front for an extra motivation kick - I wrote down everything as soon as it passed my lips. I lost 5lb. It really helps keep me on track!

 

[lardylady]

I filled in a food diary for a few weeks when I started, but soon got into the swing of things without the need to write things down. I have never planned my meals.

 

[smile87]

I write down everything and plan as its easier to shop for

 

[Cheekypasterfield]

I always try to plan my daily meals as I know if I don't have my meals planned for the day I can easily go off plan. I have tried to plan weekly but that doesn't suit me and my family as we don't always want what I planned on the day.

With tracking I sway from doing it religiously to having periods where it is all in my head. I usually write everything down when im having periods where im struggling to stay on plan so use it to help keep me focused.

That's what I love about SW because you only have syns to count it is easy to keep a mental track

 

[joedenise]

I plan monthly! Breakfast, lunch & dinner. As I like to buy my meat monthly from the butchers it makes sense for me to do it this way.

Generally stick to dinner but breakfast and lunch are definitely moveable feasts! Some days I don't fancy breakfast at all or I have it fairly late then lunch will either be a bit more substantial or lighter IYKWIM.

Today for example breakfast was late, about 10am but was only fruit and FF yoghurt so won't keep me full for hours so I will probably have lunch about 12.45 and am having a Tuna salad. Tonight's dinner is HM chicken kiev, SW chips & beans.

I think it's easier to know roughly what I'm going to be eating and it keeps me on plan most of the time.

The only thing I don't plan are my snacks and syns - these vary depending on mood, temperature etc. At the moment I'm eating loads of fruit for snacks and icecream and lollies as syns.

Denise

 

[sweetierufus]

Re: Planning & Tracking - Do you?

I usually plan my lunch the night before as I sort in the evening. Breakfast is a spurr of the moment thing, I go off cereal really easily lol . I plan my evening meal on the morning and take meat out the freezer. The main planning is when I go shopping and pick things up with meals in mind.
In terms of tracking I keep a note of syns when at work. I fill in a paper food diary when home from work.

 

[Poppybibby]

I normally sit down in the morning and plan what I will eat for the day, I'm not organised enough to plan it further in advance but it seems to work for me. I track everything online and use the journal space to right down how I've felt that day so I can look back and see if there are any patterns.