How many calories do you leave for dinner?

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  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    oh and planning out your day the night before is a great suggestion. I usually do this so that I can fit things in ...like tonight I wanted to have pizza on the grill..so I put in my dinner first and then worked backwards from there so that I would be under calories and come pretty close to my macros....
    Working backwards from a planned meal is an excellent suggestion.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,789 Member
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    I try to have around 800 left at dinner time; I usually plan and eat a dinner of around 500 calories, which leaves me roughly 300 for either snacking or boozing. It's not a perfect plan -- sometimes I want something more elaborate for dinner, sometimes I'm really hungry at lunch and so eat a lighter dinner -- but it's a good enough guideline.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    I am a night time eater. If I don't have 1000 cal remaining for dinner and after dinner/overnight snacking, I'm in trouble. I eat less during the day (when I'm not usually all that hungry) to accommodate this.
    Ditto. I enjoy wine with dinner (rather than dessert), so I like to have a couple hundred calories available if I want some wine with a good hearty dinner. And maybe a snack. So I try to have about 1000 calories left for 5pm onward.
  • DorothyR87
    DorothyR87 Posts: 113
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    I don't know why, but I go into panic mode if there is less than 800 calories for dinner. I try to have around 1000. I don't usually eat it all but knowing I have flexibility for dinner is comforting. Usually during the day I am in too much of a rush to eat a lot so dinner is always the biggest meal for me.
  • StripedSmoker
    StripedSmoker Posts: 104 Member
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    Every mornins I quick add 350 cals for my dinner, later I replace them with what I ate. It helps me plan my day so much!
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    I try to meal plan dinners a week ahead, or at least the night before. Of course with 2 full time working parents and a 4 year old and a 2 year old, that sometimes doesn't happen, lol. But most of the time, whenever I can, I know what I'm making for dinner at least the night before, so I add that first and then plan the rest of my day around it. It can range anywhere from 200 to 500 calories on a typical day, and then more for special evenings and such.
  • Sashoi
    Sashoi Posts: 295 Member
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    I usually pre- log all my meals but dinner usually has the most calories since I usually eat dinner between 5-6 n I workout between 7:30-10 at night so that works for me cause I'm never hungry
  • PrettyPearl88
    PrettyPearl88 Posts: 368 Member
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    Usually 500-600, sometimes less sometimes more, but never less than 350 or else I'm cranky about it! :laugh: I also try to leave an extra 100-200 calories for dessert as well. I like my dessert and I insist on having it! :tongue:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I used to leave 600 calories or so... Now I tend to snack more during the day and leave 300-400 for dinner. Often I just prelog dinner so I can see exactly what snacks i can eat during the day though.
  • HeyGoRun
    HeyGoRun Posts: 550 Member
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    Dinner usually smallest meal 100-300, i workout usually after dinner, it would suck to have alot of food in me, plus waking up feels better.
  • Jenninscotland
    Jenninscotland Posts: 97 Member
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    I try to meal plan dinners a week ahead, or at least the night before. Of course with 2 full time working parents and a 4 year old and a 2 year old, that sometimes doesn't happen, lol. But most of the time, whenever I can, I know what I'm making for dinner at least the night before, so I add that first and then plan the rest of my day around it. It can range anywhere from 200 to 500 calories on a typical day, and then more for special evenings and such.

    Great idea :) I had not thought of planning ahead of time. Sounds fun :D
  • Jenninscotland
    Jenninscotland Posts: 97 Member
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    Thanks to everyone else for replying. It sounds like many like to have a lot of calories left for dinner and some like to snack all day or just have a few for dinner. I will most likely stay in the have as many left as possible for dinner camp, but nice to read what others do :)

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