We all know that planning is a major key to success in weight loss, and I'm wondering what kind of planning, and/or mental preparation you do. Do you

• make weekly menus
• write down your food for the day
• make an escape plan for temptation
• set your gym bag out the night before
• visualize a successful day
• always carry a protein bar in your purse

Etc., etc.

Tell us the planning tips and tricks you've found to be invaluable to your weight loss success!

I plan a lot!

plan a weekly menu and make my shopping list at the same time (I eat before I go shopping too)
pre-make snack baggies so I can grab something and go
journal & track points for everything I put in my mouth
for game days (I coach t-ball & have another in coach's pitch) I pack an easy but healthy dinner for everyone. Sometimes we get to the ball park around 5pm and don't leave till 9:30.

When I'm going out to eat (rarely with 3 young kids lol I'd rather cut my leg off) I pull up the menu online or take a look in my WW dining out companion then plan my day around the outing. As for special occasions I will eat a healthy salad before I go just in case there is nothing there for me to eat. If it's a family gathering I'll bring my own stuff. I just plan lol

For exercise I have these post it notes on my fridge and bathroom mirror that ask "Have you exercised today?" It's normally the first thing I do after brushing my teeth but I do have kids and life can be very unpredictable I fit it in anytime I can!

I count my calories and if i am going to be dining out i do a little research first to figure what will work best for me.
I also have snacks handy at home and for when i'm out i have a list of healthy options in my head. It's just as easy to pick up some almonds and a pear at the grocer as it is a candy bar

For me, I've actually found having a supply of frozen meats in my freezer helps. We bought a lot of chicken, steak and some fish when it was on sale and it helped my planning more than I knew it would.

I plan two or three days ahead, just informally in my head, and we take what we need out of the freezer. I have also found frozen veggies are a huge help in planning ahead because I already have the meat and veggies there.

If I'm going somewhere and I know I'll be gone during snack time, I'll pack a healthy snack.

As for exercise, I'm trying for four days a week and I just have it in my head that that is what needs to be done that day, like grocery shopping or laundry. Lately, I've tried to get up earlier and get it out of the way and it seems to be working. Just treating in my mind like anything else I would have to do in a day seems to work for me.

I plan my day out the night before and enter it all into fit day
I plan two weeks of dinners at a time and shop for them
I have a litre water bottle that I fill up three times a day
I plan to walk to pick up kids from school every single day so I know I'll get some exercise in
I come here

Each morning, I plan the day's menu and calorie count on a spreadsheet. I've also started using a lot of visualization techniques. I visualize myself at goal, trying on clothes and running a marathon.

I take my lunch to work three days a week. The other two days, I have planned lunches out that are figured into my calorie count.

I take healthy snacks to work every day--string cheese, oranges, almonds, fiber bars, yogurt. I make sure that I have several choices so I am not tempted to eat junk.

Every night after dinner, I strap on my shoes and go for at least a 2 mile walk or my c25k session. On walking nights, I listen to a program I like on NPR as I walk. As I'm walking or jogging, I picture the fat melting off my body and running down my legs to the pavement or the track. I picture my body getting firm and healthy. It sounds weird but I really believe it helps.

I count calories. Every day. Even when I know I've gone over, I still count.

I weigh daily. I know enough now not to get upset at the daily fluctuations; I just log the weight in my spreadsheet and go on about my day. On offical "weigh-in day", I take the weekly average as my new weight. Only if the average is up do I examine my plan of attack; otherwise, I just keep on keepin' on.

To be honest, I don't do a lot of planning. I just know, that I must make good choices everyday and get exercise in. I suppose my key to success is positive thinking and having the right mind set.

I'm the same way. I don't plan my meals in advance, but I do make good choices. Ofcourse, if I'm going out to eat I'll check out the menu and find what meals will work with my plan but other than that I grab what I want...well not whatever I want but you know what I mean.

Oh I do plan my exercises beforehand though. I'm not sure why but it really helps me stay accountable.

I make my lunch and breakfast every morning. I don't alter it that much until I get tired of the same old thing, so I know what I'm getting.

I work out every morning at the gym, except Sunday. It's the first thing I do and I don't give myself any options of getting out of it.

I have a 16 oz water bottle that I fill 4 times a day.

I participate in the point challenge here so that I have to document everything!

I do some meal and snack planning, but that's more because it's kinda necessary before doing the shopping. I'm actually pretty flexible about my eating these days. I plan my exercise in the sense that I have the same routine every week. I plan on getting good sleep and getting up early - every thing else seems to follow if I make sure I get those things. I couldn't have started out this way. It works because I have changed my tastes and habits so much. That's really key. I don't even want donuts for breakfast or ice cream for dinner anymore (at least, not very often ).

I log onto:
1. 3fc - I usually read the new posts page and respond where I can. It gets my head into thinking weightloss from the getgo
2. dietpower - you have to enter a weight to get to your startpage and it gives you a graph not only with what you've achieved but with what you 'ought' to get to by your designated goal date if you keep it up.
3. sparkpeople - it has given me a budget of 1200-1550 and you can enter your foods into meal categories. I love to see how my calories pan out over the day.

I don't plan meals in advance but I only buy healthy foods - fresh fruit and veg., beans, tofu by the ton - so that the combinations I can make are bound to be healthy.

I usually eat a very light breakfast. I Never miss, it helps get my digestion working, as it were.... but generally a banana or an oat/banana/soymilk smoothie will last me until lunch; a higher calorie one will still only last me until lunch.
I may need to look at this though, it's been suggested I should put in a mid-morning snack to make sure the dizziness isn't low blood sugar.

I usually eat quite a big lunch - a bean stew with a flatbread, for example. I enjoy the planning and creation of this.

I usually have a tiny afternoon snack, couple of crispbread and cottage cheese.

At this time I review my remaning calories and design an evening meal accordingly. I'm pretty good at just knowing my head when I make lunch what I'll have left but if I've miscalculated, I'm rigid at not exceeding the budget at dinner, and will settle for a giant, virtually no-cal plain salad, if that's all I've budget for.

A lot of days I work from home but if I have afternoon meetings, I have a very light lunch and a big meal at night, to avoid 'sound-effects'!

If I'm working from home I check into 3fc often to read and respond.

I Never miss logging my foods, will sit and type it in while it's on the plate, which, in the early days, sometimes meant doing a woops! and scraping half of it off and into the bin.

At the end of the day I fill in a tracker, just a sheet with cals, carbs, fat, protein, fibre, whether I ate anything processed/dairy/meat - I'm still trying to pattern what makes me retain water. I weigh in once a week and write it in here and log the difference from last week.

That's all.