Dinner ruins my calorie goal for the day

kbmnurse

I log my dinner first thing in the morning so I know how many calories I have left for the rest of the day. Plan ahead it works every time.

dietcoke281

Tonight for dinner I had Linda McCartney Vegetarian sausages - under 100 cals per sausage and tasted so yummy and so meaty.

I make brown egg fried rice a lot, that's really low-cal, you can just add whatever meat or veggies you like. I made sesame chicken the other night too and it was super tasty and around 300 cals.

I also agree with everyone saying do exercise to allow you to eat more. If 500 calories isn't cutting it for you, change it!

ChrisM8971

Dinners of around 500 calories are pretty easy to come by and I would use some of the sites already suggested.

But looking at your diary its the 200 calorie plus evening snacks that throw you over the top.

There are lower calorie snacks that you could swap to but if you wish to continue with them (and there is no reason why you can't) you either need to sacrifice other calories like your dinner or burn off some calories to eat back so you can enjoy both

ETA and yes you really should start weighing everything you eat :-)

SonicDeathMonkey80

Im doing so well each day until it comes to dinner when I don't seem to know how to make a meal under 500 cals, breakfast and lunch are easy to make around the 300cal mark. Anyone got any dinner suggestions where I can have decent portions? Im sure this is just an upbringing thing where I expect dinner to be a big hearty meal. I cook for myself and husband every night so want something a typical man would enjoy aswell as I don't fancy cooking two separate meals

Treat dinner as any other meal. Most of the time, you can get a serving of protein, starch/carb, and a veggie for <400 cals. Plan ahead/around.

Calliope610

Lemme guess. You set the MFP defaults to lose 2lbs/wk and MFP gave you 1200 calories per day, right? With less than 15lbs to lose, you will be better off with a more modest weight loss goal, about .5 - 1lb weekly loss. That will give you more calories to eat, a good fulling dinner won't ruin your day and you WILL lose weight.

zeastronomer

What I do is eat less for breakfast and lunch. Then I can allocate more calories to supper.

Or, alternatively, I might sometimes skip breakfast, eat lunch, and put the "breakfast" calories in the supper pile.

20 or 40 minutes on the exercise bike gives me an additional 200-400 calories to play with.

Lots of ways to skin this particular cat.

susie3g

personally i have the same issue. i make healthy dinners but they are my highest calorie meal of the day. so i eat low calorie breakfast and lunches and one snack in the afternoon (sometimes) and usually have no issues getting a nice dinner and even a 100-150 "treat" in after dinner.

my 1200 day

i do 150-200 breakfast.
200-300 calorie lunch (usually small portion of leftovers)
100 calorie PM snack

600 calories left for dinner. if i dont need a snack obviously i have more for dinner.

This is me to a T. I also log my dinner calories first so I know what I have to work with the rest of the day.

Francl27

Typically I eat a lot during the day and have light dinners... rarely over 400 calories.

Cheeseburger (93% beef patty, bun, thin cheddar slice, ketchup and mustard) and a serving of mixed veggies... 381 calories.
Homemade pizza so it was still 490 calories... thin premade crust with pizza sauce, mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese.
1/5 of baguette with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and prosciutto - 273 calories
Poultry sausage link with peppers and onions - 165 calories
Spaghetti squash with pasta sauce, grilled chicken and mozzarella - 300 calories
Beef stew - lean beef with carrots and potatoes (forgot the onions, doh) - 300 calories for a bowl
Big salad with tomatoes, olive oil/vinegar/mustard dressing, gorgonzola and steak - 250 calories
Chicken salad on lettuce and tomatoes - 200 calories

I got a ton like this. My diary is open. My husband eats bigger portions and has dessert and a snack later.

serindipte

@450 cal: Baked pork chop, Baked sweet potato with 6g butter, Green beans with mushrooms and onions cooked with a T of olive oil

@350 cal: Baked swai fillet, sauteed shrimp, stir-fried veggie blend with small amount of brown rice (45g) and stir-fry sauce

@330 cal: Baked chicken breast, sauteed mushrooms, salad w/ green leaf, broccoli, spinach, carrot, low-fat dressing.

@400 cal: Pinto beans, sausage and rice with cornbread.

@480 cal: New York strip 5-6 oz, green beans with mushrooms and onions.

@400 cal: Ground turkey spaghetti sauce over pasta with salad.

@500 cal: Taco Bell, two crunchy tacos and a chicken soft taco

Other recipes available in my blog, all under 400 cals/serving:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/serindipte

ETA: Of course, serving sizes are key. You can eat nearly anything you may want, just maybe not quite as much of it as you'd have eaten before. Smaller bites, taking the time to savor each bite, I enjoy my food far more now than when I was hurrying through two or more servings at a time. These are meals directly from my food diary (it's open). There are a few that I went over the 500 by intentionally making space for extra.. like with cornbread. I love it, don't have it often, ate plenty and pushed my calories up with that but I'd saved them earlier in the day.

momma2azoo

I have 5 kids and the husband that contributed to them to feed in addition to myself. I have to plan ahead and make modifications or I can't meet my calorie goals. It's not hard to do, and I eat a lot of great food. I have a harder time eating enough calories than not going over unless we eat out.

We had pasta and meat sauce with garlic bread tonight. I had spaghetti squash (which I love, more than noodles) instead of noodles, meat, sauce, cheese and a piece of garlic bread. Under 500 calories and I was full. The kids and hubby got to eat their fill of pasta, bread, sauce and some cut up veggies. Last night we had taco night. Instead of tortillas I make a huge salad (mixed greens) and top with lean ground beef/turkey, lots of veggies, salsa and light sour cream. Add fat free refried beans and cut green beans and it's another meal under 500 calories. The rest of the family has all the same with the addition of tortillas, Spanish rice and corn. Night before that we had roasted chicken breasts and veggies (carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus and onions). Love this because it's a one dish meal in my giant 14" cast iron skillet. The rest of the family also had bread. Night before that I made homemade pizza. Usually I make my pizza with a cauliflower crust ( which is really good, amazingly), fat free mozzarella, a healthy low sugar pizza sauce, tons of veggies and ham to keep calories down. Regular pizza for the rest of the family. I had a bunch of long mild chili peppers that needed to be used so I made open faced stuffed peppers instead for the hubby and I. He had pizza too, but the peppers were so good I didn't feel deprived missing out on the pizza. Stir fry is another favorite (tons of veggies, chicken breast, reasonable calorie sauce, baked egg rolls). My hubby just surprised me with a new cast iron wok that I can't wait to try out.

I love to cook and since I'm cooking for so many anyway, it's not a big deal to made some variations and adaptations to make our regular meals lower calorie for me. Of course, it helps that we eat healthy in general and my crew likes veggies. I don't serve things out of a box or pre made very often. The more convenient and ready made a food is the more likely it is to have too many calories and other junk no one in the family needs to be eating. I want my whole family to be healthy, not just me!

alisatodd

I find when I eat a larger breakfast I am more controlled for my other meals.

mbrasure

try fish was able to eat two pieces and still stay under 300.

jenna762001

Choose a protein, cook it in a healthful fashion and serve it with lots of veggies. Endless options of lean proteins and veggies. We also eat a fair amount of squash varieties or rutabaga instead of potatoes or pasta. My biggest tip at dinnertime... prepare only the appropriate amount of servings. No chance of overeating if the rest of the chicken is a frozen block in the freezer. I make enough food to portion out for myself and the 6 others I feed at home and if I still end up with extra I wrap it for leftovers before we even reach the table. I prepare all plates in the kitchen and bring them to the table.