Staying within meal calorie goal guidelines - question

75poundstogo

Hi Friends,

I have a premium account and use a feature where the app gives you a cal count goal for your meal. My question: do you think staying within these guidelines consistently will lead to steady more consistent weightloss? Or do you think fluctuating all over the place (small bfast, big lunch, snack, small dinner) but still meeting your day cal goal before you complete your diary will do just as well.

Ive been aiming for the meal target for a month now. I assumed the meal target was simply a way to moderate your cal consumption. A realization ive had recently is that these meal guidelines might also help monitor your deficit and keep you in cal burning zone regularly. Ive learned from mfp that weight loss and gain doesnt happen in a moment - on weigh in day or the next day or now... it happens constantly, all the time

What do you think of the meal guideline?
Do you stick to them?
Are they helpful or a nussance?
Do you think they aid real time cal burning?

joeboland

I think the idea of a per-meal "guideline" is, more or less, bunk. There are no studies (to my knowledge - and I've looked, believe me) which suggest that a "calorie-burning zone" exists. It's basic thermodynamics: eat less than you're expending in calories. The difference meal timing makes is minimal at best, and really only applies once you're down to near-show BF%. I've played around with calorie cycling, frequent meals, intermittent fasting, carb backloading, low-carb, and have noticed little to no difference in my weight loss or how it affects my overall body composition (personally, I'm a huge fan of intermittent fasting simply because I love eating large meals - my lunch tends to be about 1200 calories, with ~100g in both carbs and protein).

tl;dr: It's probably a gimmick designed to sell more premium subscriptions. I've yet to see any real incentive to upgrade my membership.

nowine4me

It makes zero difference, it's just helpful for planning purposes. Change if you, for example, prefers smaller breakfast and larger dinner.

AgentFlex

I can't imagine it would really make a difference. During my weight loss phase, I generally ate meals around 400 calories because I like to eat snacks. So at my lower calorie goal I needed to leave room for those snacks. It pretty much worked out that way unintentionally though. Now that I have done everything from maintenance through several bulk and cut cycles, my meals vary anywhere from 200 to 1,000+.

Lounmoun

I don't have that feature and have lost weight fine.
I would not want MFP telling me how many calories to eat for each individual meal nor do I believe it is necessary for weight loss to divide your calories a specific way.
My calorie goal is 1,200. I eat a small breakfast and more calories later in the day. I function well that way. It makes it easier to eat a normal dinner with my family. It would be harder if I divided it equally among 4 meals. If your calorie goal is 2,000+ or you are a grazer it might be easier to just split calories more evenly throughout the day.
I think eating a consistent amount for meals however you divide your calories can be helpful for learning portion sizes for foods you commonly eat.

kommodevaran

I was worried there for a moment - MFP does some strange things now and then and this could easily be one of those things, but it's just that you can set limits for each meal yourself: http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/2534913-calorie-goals-by-meal

To answer your question - sort of: Staying within your daily/weekly calorie goal - as long as that calorie goal is a calorie deficit - will lead to steady and consistent weight loss. Your weight doesn't increase or decrease following a straigth line anyway, though, it fluctuates, through the day, and from day to day.

How you spread out your calories for the day (or week) will not influence your weight loss directly. It can influence how you feel (satiety, energy, general mood) which in turn makes you more or less likely to stick to your calorie deficit. Having a good structure to your meals is also helpful. How tightly you should structure your meals, will be up to you.

Calorie burning zones don't really exist, because - as you said - you burn calories constantly.

fattothinmum

My 100+ pounds were lost with meal calorie counts all over the place. I can't see the benefit unless someone is a planner and likes control over the numbers.

75poundstogo

Thanks guys! Just was curious and I will generally use these guidelines as a way to conserve cals cause i do like to snack.