Calories per meal
emmies_123
Posts: 513 Member
Hi all,
So I'm new to MFP, and just starting out on my quest to get healthier in general. I do not have a lot of weight to lose (10 lbs), and am instead focused on trying to get fit and change food habits.
I guess a basic question is how do I know a good balance of calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Currently I consume (work 9-5 weekdays, so limited eating times):
Breakfast - 250, usually holds me 3 hours after a 30 min workout.
First snack - 50-80 calories depending on what I eat. Have 3-4 hours after breakfast, and 1-2 hrs before lunch
Lunch - 250-300 calories. Holds me approx 5 hours
Dinner - approx 300-400 calories if I make it at home. Go out to eat maybe 1x a week on avg
All of that combined puts me well under my calorie goal (1400, not including exercise calories), so I can easily eat dessert at the end of the night without going negative. This fact makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong! Or do I just have that much leeway as I am not looking to lose a lot fast?
Side note: weekend is usually same amount consumed, but more by snacks as I skip breakfast due to sleeping in.
So I'm new to MFP, and just starting out on my quest to get healthier in general. I do not have a lot of weight to lose (10 lbs), and am instead focused on trying to get fit and change food habits.
I guess a basic question is how do I know a good balance of calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Currently I consume (work 9-5 weekdays, so limited eating times):
Breakfast - 250, usually holds me 3 hours after a 30 min workout.
First snack - 50-80 calories depending on what I eat. Have 3-4 hours after breakfast, and 1-2 hrs before lunch
Lunch - 250-300 calories. Holds me approx 5 hours
Dinner - approx 300-400 calories if I make it at home. Go out to eat maybe 1x a week on avg
All of that combined puts me well under my calorie goal (1400, not including exercise calories), so I can easily eat dessert at the end of the night without going negative. This fact makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong! Or do I just have that much leeway as I am not looking to lose a lot fast?
Side note: weekend is usually same amount consumed, but more by snacks as I skip breakfast due to sleeping in.
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Replies
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The good balance of calories is going to be personal to your lifestyle and preferences. You aren't doing anything wrong if you have room for dessert at the end of the day -- this actually sounds like a pretty nice way to live! But if you don't like it, don't be afraid to experiment with adding more calories at the beginning of the day. The only wrong way to do it is a way that leaves you feeling hungry or winds up with you struggling to be at your calorie goal.1
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Yes, the freedom that pure calorie counting gives you, can make you feel like you're doing something wrong. And that's exactly how you can tell you're doing it right. And it can feel like that for a long, long time. I felt like that for a couple of years into maintenance - and that was also by far the longest I've ever maintained a weightloss.
To answer your question - that's your call. How you arrange your calories is up to you. You have to find out what works for you.4 -
emmies_123 wrote: »Hi all,
So I'm new to MFP, and just starting out on my quest to get healthier in general. I do not have a lot of weight to lose (10 lbs), and am instead focused on trying to get fit and change food habits.
I guess a basic question is how do I know a good balance of calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Currently I consume (work 9-5 weekdays, so limited eating times):
Breakfast - 250, usually holds me 3 hours after a 30 min workout.
First snack - 50-80 calories depending on what I eat. Have 3-4 hours after breakfast, and 1-2 hrs before lunch
Lunch - 250-300 calories. Holds me approx 5 hours
Dinner - approx 300-400 calories if I make it at home. Go out to eat maybe 1x a week on avg
All of that combined puts me well under my calorie goal (1400, not including exercise calories), so I can easily eat dessert at the end of the night without going negative. This fact makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong! Or do I just have that much leeway as I am not looking to lose a lot fast?
Side note: weekend is usually same amount consumed, but more by snacks as I skip breakfast due to sleeping in.
well depending on height,age and your activity level. 1000 calories is too little. now if your dessert is enough to get you to your 1400 then you are fine. and it doesnt matter what you calories are per meal. its whatever you want it to be as long as you get your 1400 calories.also eating back at least half your exercise calories as well. if you ant to eat a bigger dinner and a smaller lunch thats up to you. there is no one size fits all breakdown of calories. some people do one meal a day. some do 2 or more. its just a preference. also with so little to lose weight loss will be slow.2 -
it will be up to your lifestyle. i try to keep 450 or so for evening and then spread the rest thru the day1
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Thank you both. It is very hard to believe that I will actually lose weight by eating dessert, but the one night I did not the diary gave me a warning that I was not eating enough! I am not a large-meal person, so maybe I will experiment with having more calorie-rich meals throughout the day, or up my weight loss timeline so that I frontload loss and then just need to maintain...1
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emmies_123 wrote: »Thank you both. It is very hard to believe that I will actually lose weight by eating dessert, but the one night I did not the diary gave me a warning that I was not eating enough! I am not a large-meal person, so maybe I will experiment with having more calorie-rich meals throughout the day, or up my weight loss timeline so that I frontload loss and then just need to maintain...
you can have dessert every night if you want just make it fit into your calories for the day. to me it helps to keep me on track when I can eat things I love3 -
emmies_123 wrote: »Thank you both. It is very hard to believe that I will actually lose weight by eating dessert, but the one night I did not the diary gave me a warning that I was not eating enough! I am not a large-meal person, so maybe I will experiment with having more calorie-rich meals throughout the day, or up my weight loss timeline so that I frontload loss and then just need to maintain...
You can lose weight eating *anything* as long as you're in a calorie deficit. I know it can be hard to adjust to that way of thinking . . . we're often told the secret to weight loss is eliminating certain foods or things like dessert!2 -
Thank you everyone
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I pre-log my food so I know how many calories I am going to be left with for the rest of the day and decide if it's going to be enough. This way I can either scale back what I'm about to eat or eat more if I'm leaving too many calories (this rarely happens LOL). I usually leave myself some wiggle room for a snack or dessert. Today I left some room for some Halo Top S'mores ice cream. I'm slowly trying all the flavors and haven't hit a bad one yet!
edit: I'm also having pizza for dinner
You don't have to give up the foods you love just because you decide to lose weight. You just have to find a way to make them fit into your calorie goal. 0 -
Would any of you recommend changing my weight loss goals? I have 10-13 lbs to lose, more than that I would not be healthy. I'm not particularly in a rush to lose it, no looming event or end date I have to meet to be happy with myself.
Current: Lose 0.5 lbs per week, struggling to meet calorie intake goal with normal eating habits.
Potential: Lose 1.0 lbs per week, would get within 200 calories of goal with current eating habits and a small dessert (wrapped lindor each night instead of brownie/cake)0 -
with only 10-13 lbs to go 0.5 lb/week is what it should be set at,if you have issues eating to goal eagt more calorie dense things like peanut butter,using oils to cook veggies and other things,nuts,etc1
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What are you current stats (height, weight and age)? How often do you exercise and what do you do?
You might be better off recomping, depending on your stats.0 -
Another vote for leaving it at 0.5 pounds per week.1
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250-300 calories per meal isnt very satisying to me. I prefer to eat larger meals and cut out snacks. It depends on your calorie budget I guess.0
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What are you current stats (height, weight and age)? How often do you exercise and what do you do?
You might be better off recomping, depending on your stats.
Height = 5'3" - Female
Weight = 138 (trying to get to 125)
Age = 29
I do 30 min workout routines 5 days a week, rotate the focus of body muscles each day. Sit at a desk/sofa the rest of the day...
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emmies_123 wrote: »What are you current stats (height, weight and age)? How often do you exercise and what do you do?
You might be better off recomping, depending on your stats.
Height = 5'3" - Female
Weight = 138 (trying to get to 125)
Age = 29
I do 30 min workout routines 5 days a week, rotate the focus of body muscles each day. Sit at a desk/sofa the rest of the day...
you need to realize that we are not one static number in weight. we have a weight range. so you may get to 125 and the next day your weight may be up a few lbs or down a few lbs. weight fluctuates all the time which is normal so give yourself say a 5 lb weight range.0 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
you need to realize that we are not one static number in weight. we have a weight range. so you may get to 125 and the next day your weight may be up a few lbs or down a few lbs. weight fluctuates all the time which is normal so give yourself say a 5 lb weight range.
So true CharlieBeans I think as far as numbers go I would be happy from 125-130. I might even be happy at 135 if I got rid of that "Stubborn belly fat" and saw the weight as trim muscle tone instead of flab I know I'm super early in my journey, and I have never done any type of workout for upper body/core before, so I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised by the end of the year!
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emmies_123 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
you need to realize that we are not one static number in weight. we have a weight range. so you may get to 125 and the next day your weight may be up a few lbs or down a few lbs. weight fluctuates all the time which is normal so give yourself say a 5 lb weight range.
So true CharlieBeans I think as far as numbers go I would be happy from 125-130. I might even be happy at 135 if I got rid of that "Stubborn belly fat" and saw the weight as trim muscle tone instead of flab I know I'm super early in my journey, and I have never done any type of workout for upper body/core before, so I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised by the end of the year!
exercises wont target belly fat thought. it has taken me 5 years to get most of it off. its now finally coming the rest of the way off. fat takes time to come off. thats the sad part. I lift and do bodyweight exercises and have for the last 5 years.when I started I looked like I was 6-8 months pregnant(both my kids are adults) and finally now its almost flat with just a little flab. so its going to take time. it may not take as long as it did me but it may be longer than a few months. all you can do is put in the work and keep going until you start seeing results. for me it was super slow.so dont get discouraged0 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »emmies_123 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
you need to realize that we are not one static number in weight. we have a weight range. so you may get to 125 and the next day your weight may be up a few lbs or down a few lbs. weight fluctuates all the time which is normal so give yourself say a 5 lb weight range.
So true CharlieBeans I think as far as numbers go I would be happy from 125-130. I might even be happy at 135 if I got rid of that "Stubborn belly fat" and saw the weight as trim muscle tone instead of flab I know I'm super early in my journey, and I have never done any type of workout for upper body/core before, so I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised by the end of the year!
exercises wont target belly fat thought. it has taken me 5 years to get most of it off. its now finally coming the rest of the way off. fat takes time to come off. thats the sad part. I lift and do bodyweight exercises and have for the last 5 years.when I started I looked like I was 6-8 months pregnant(both my kids are adults) and finally now its almost flat with just a little flab. so its going to take time. it may not take as long as it did me but it may be longer than a few months. all you can do is put in the work and keep going until you start seeing results. for me it was super slow.so dont get discouraged
^ this!! I am 5' 5" and in a healthy weight, but my belly fat didn't even start going away until I was at 122lbs. Annoying that it's the last thing to go, but the first thing I want gone
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Go_Deskercise wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »emmies_123 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
you need to realize that we are not one static number in weight. we have a weight range. so you may get to 125 and the next day your weight may be up a few lbs or down a few lbs. weight fluctuates all the time which is normal so give yourself say a 5 lb weight range.
So true CharlieBeans I think as far as numbers go I would be happy from 125-130. I might even be happy at 135 if I got rid of that "Stubborn belly fat" and saw the weight as trim muscle tone instead of flab I know I'm super early in my journey, and I have never done any type of workout for upper body/core before, so I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised by the end of the year!
exercises wont target belly fat thought. it has taken me 5 years to get most of it off. its now finally coming the rest of the way off. fat takes time to come off. thats the sad part. I lift and do bodyweight exercises and have for the last 5 years.when I started I looked like I was 6-8 months pregnant(both my kids are adults) and finally now its almost flat with just a little flab. so its going to take time. it may not take as long as it did me but it may be longer than a few months. all you can do is put in the work and keep going until you start seeing results. for me it was super slow.so dont get discouraged
^ this!! I am 5' 5" and in a healthy weight, but my belly fat didn't even start going away until I was at 122lbs. Annoying that it's the last thing to go, but the first thing I want gone
I know for me its my hips butts and belly. its coming off those places but the belly is faster than the other two. but Im losing my *kitten* literally lol, hubby asked where it went. told him its on hiatus it will be back at a later date lol1
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