Do you split your meals up evenly?

mortonmoore

I'm new here. Im logging healthy meals but found myself with 400calories left at the end of the night that I still need to consume. I'm already over my fat ratio from Avocado/salmon etc. planning to have a protein shake and bannana to try eat up some calories.
Any tips on hitting the ratios better. Do you divide your total calories up into 3 even meal calorie sizes?

Lietchi

I don't do equal sizes because that's not what keeps me satisfied.
Light breakfast for me (150-300kcal on average), a larger lunch and dinner (600-800 kcal each) and an evening snack (very variable, depends on how many calories I have left, could be 100 or 600, usually somewhere in between).

It really depends on your personal preference. Experiment and see what works for you 🙂

cmriverside

I try to sort of get my percentage ratio of macros in each meal so my running totals stay pretty close to my goals, but I very rarely end a day with macros and calories all lined up. I used to fret about that, but now I don't really care. Some days I'm over on one macro and some days it's another. Protein is the one I have to really focus on getting enough, so I watch that pretty closely but I don't really care where the fats and carbs fall - as I'm never short of the essential one: fat!

What you're doing is a good way, though. Looking at what's left and fitting the remainder of your food to it. Some people pre-log the day's food for various reasons. You could try that, too.

yirara

I don't. I have a pattern of eating that I've been maintaining for 23 years or so. Of course details and calories differ through time, but overall my dinner in the evening tends to be the biggest meal.

springlering62

I don’t look at it that way. It would just be way more effort than it’s worth the have equal meals.

Breakfast is usually around 500, lunch 250-500, and dinner is 350 to sky’s-the-limit.

As long as my three meals, snack, dessert, and chai tea tally up, I’m fine with it.

Breakfast is usually the exact same meal unless I decide to add some bacon. If I do, I usually eat a lighter lunch.

If I know dinner’s going to be high cal, like last Saturday’s dive into a Lebanese cookbook, then I’ll make lunch, and maybe breakfast lighter. But I like a filling breakfast since I usually do several workouts in the morning.

As far as calories and macros, I look at the 7 day average. That’s far easier to manage than meal-to-meal, or even day to day.

As long as the 7 day is on par, I’m happy with that.

kshama2001

mortonmoore wrote: »

I'm new here. Im logging healthy meals but found myself with 400calories left at the end of the night that I still need to consume. I'm already over my fat ratio from Avocado/salmon etc. planning to have a protein shake and bannana to try eat up some calories.
Any tips on hitting the ratios better. Do you divide your total calories up into 3 even meal calorie sizes?

If you consistently have a problem hitting fat, think of it as a minimum, not something you need to stay under. (We do need minimums of fat and protein.) I try to stay at the MFP default of 30% fat, because while I love fat, I don't find it very filling, and it takes away from foods I find more satiating. But for weight loss, we don't need to hit or stay under it. Macros are important for health and satiety, but for weight loss, calories are key.

I also try to meet or exceed my protein target.

Here's a reputable protein calculator:

https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/

I shoot for 500 calories of exercise per day, and when I achieve that, using the MFP default of 20% protein aligns with the protein grams recommendation from Examine. If I were completely sedentary, I'd need to bump it up to 30%.

Corina1143

Me--
I eat a small meal around 11. Struggle to include enough protein so that I won't have a problem that night

Large meal around 4 or 5. Lots of protein because I'm a meat eater. Lots of veg because I like them.

Picky kind of meal around 8. Sometimes yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit. Sometimes struggle with getting enough protein (would be perfectly happy with a tomato or a cucumber). Don't sleep well if I eat a lot of meat.

I always go over my fat macro goal, even though I try not to.

I eat a lot of sugar. I try to keep it reasonable, but it's mostly from fruit, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc., so I don't really worry about it.

I've found my happy. For you, I think it might be a good experiment to divide it equally just to see what the figures would be, then look at how your past meals have fit that mold and adjust the future accordingly, as a very general rule.

AnnPT77

No. Not intentionally anyway. Probably it ends up that way sometimes.

Early in weight loss, I figured out that I need a solid breakfast with plenty of protein, and protein through the day, in order to feel mostly satisfied and happy, sated until it's getting close to time for another meal.

In the rare case where I'm extra-crave-y with no meal coming up, I'd eat a small protein snack, because I figured out that that was the best way for me to avoid over-eating at the next meal. I'm happiest if I eat large volume at some time during the day; usually that's a big (big) heap of veggies at dinner. If I eat fruit routinely, I tend not to have difficult cravings for less nutrient-dense higher calorie sweets like candy or baked goods.

It's important to me to get overall good nutrition, on average most days . . . but it makes me happy to have the occasional indulgent day where I don't necessarily hit those targets. I'm vegetarian, so it's extra important to make sure I get plenty of good-quality protein. Fats are the thing I'm most likely to under-eat, unless I pay attention. If I need it, I may eat a serving of full-fat cheese or nuts in the evening to top up my fat macros.

Some days I eat 2 meals, usually 3, occasionally 4. Sometimes there are snacks at non meal times, sometimes not. Sometimes a "meal" is more a matter of grazing on small things over the course of an hour or two. Sometimes it's cooking some elaborate thing just for myself. Most times it's a simple meal.

Every individual person will need their own personalized best routine to hit calories, get decent-ish nutrition, control appetite, etc. You can figure out yours. Paying attention to your food log, and how you feel, it will become obvious . . . or at least that's what I found.

Best wishes!

P.S. I try to get at least my protein minimum, at least my fat minimum, and at least 400+ grams of varied, colorful veggies/fruits (ideally 800+ grams) daily, except for those rare indulgent days. I care more about the averages than about being exact. I literally don't care how many carbs I eat, within calorie goal, but it's usually close to 50% (almost entirely from veggies, fruits, and no-sugar-added dairy). I do eat the occasional candy or dessert, though. . . . also the occasional adult beverage.

nossmf

I pre-log each day, inserting the same yogurt breakfast, at least 100 calories at night for dessert, and whatever the dinner of the day is going to be. That tells me how many calories I have left for lunch, from among the various leftovers in the fridge. Big dinner means smaller lunch, and vice versa. If the combination of the two meals leaves calories left over, I get to have a bigger dessert than normal.