Proper Calorie Distribution

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mgibbons22
mgibbons22 Posts: 69 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How should one distribute allotted calories throughout the day? Equally between breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Equally between breakfast, lunch, and dinner and snacks? Should any one meal be significantly and consistently smaller or larger than the others? I find my lunches have been getting over 600 calories (healthy calories) and becoming the largest meal of the day. I have a sedentary job and take morning, noon, and evening walks totalling three miles I appreciate your input, thanks.

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  • 241stop
    241stop Posts: 9
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    I have looked into this and apparently the best way is to eat big in the earlier part of the day and then fewer as the day goes on. I have problems here tho because of the way my life is I eat little in the morning because of time, doing the kids school run and then I excersise around half 9 in the morning. So I dont want to eat big because I do swimming or I get a bad tum when im in the gym. Sometimes I dont get to eat lunch or its somthing light like an apple. The majority of my calories are around 5-6 pm prob about 600-700. Then about 9pm I start feeling peckish but I go bed around 10 so if I eat im going bed on it.

    Its so difficult to get a balance. I read u should eat 300 cals 2 hours pre work out and then another3-400 post work out upto an hour after because ur bpdy is still burning from your cardio. ( best time to eat) or so I read if you could do this without other commitments suffering I guess it would be txt book stuff. I asked my instructer at the gym I use and she told me to scrap calorie counting and just cut carbs down and aim for high protein...if u can afford thst its great but if u cant it gets tricky. Then my doctors nurse told me to eat little and offten she said aim for five small meals a day and ur metabolism is always at work....I have no idea if anything anyone has told me works. But if your eating less and moving more its got to work.


    So if u go for a few walks through out the day and then eat or even if u do it before u eat the bulk of your calories then u will still be burning them off whilst u are watching tv :-)

    Its all so confusing ! X
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Meal timing will not make a difference to weight loss. Distribute your calories however you feel best.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
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    I eat all the time, well almost. I just can't stomach bulky mealtimes, anymore. Have just eaten 4 chocolate ricecakes, and I'm full. It's a full time occupation, eating and logging over 1900 kcal a day. Here's a guide to TDEE and other related questions.
    www.fitnessfrog.com
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Whatever works for you. Meal timing has no effect on weightloss
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    unless you need to fuel for hard exercise - eat when you feel is best for you.
  • Wtn_Gurl
    Wtn_Gurl Posts: 396 Member
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    yes but why is it when I weigh myself before dinner, then weigh myself after eating dinner, then weighing myself in the morning. It seems like i gain 2 pounds if i eat dinner and then 2 pounds gain will show up next morning. it may be the weight of the food that has not yet digested? I dont know, why but it always seems when i eat lighter at dinner, i have a better weight loss in the morning.

    by the way, if im hungry at bedtime i will eat because i know eventually it will work itself out.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    Meal timing will not make a difference to weight loss. Distribute your calories however you feel best.

    QFT

    The best way to time your calories is however feels the best to you. I don't get hungry early in the day but once I start eating I do, so I push breakfast back as late as possible and eat more later in the day. You have to figure out what will make you happiest.
  • 053069
    053069 Posts: 52 Member
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    I was on Montignac diet which is no carbs and no sugar + 45mins spinning almost every day. For the first month I did not loose 100grams yet the diet was kept religiously and so was the spin. After reading few articles about having carbs while going to gym will help loosing weight I have switched to counting carbs and it works perfect.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
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    Meal timing isn't to help burn calories because it doesn't... it's to make calorie burning more comfortable, and comfortable can mean something different for each person. For some, it means downing carbs before and sometimes during exercise. It sometimes means liquid calories because heat gets to them. For others, it might mean more small meals.

    The only person your diet needs to work for is you.

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