what meal do you consume most calories?

nomad1000

I tend to have a smaller breakfast, larger lunch, and smaller dinner so I can have some snacks in the evening.

But it varies depending on the day and the meals I have planned.

Itslozzamate

Usually my evening meal

crissy976

It depends on how late I ate the night before. If I stopped eating early in the night, I'm starving by morning and eat a big breakfast. But I've always been a big breakfast eater. I think it really just depends on the day.

deluxmary2000

I usually consume the most calories at breakfast because 1) I really like high-calorie breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, bagels, etc) and it's when I tend to splurge the most and 2) I go to bed early now with a new baby so I wake up very hungry. After eating a big breakfast and then a reasonable lunch, I'm not normally very hungry for dinner.

On the weekends I tend to consolidate breakfast/lunch into one big meal, then eat a small dinner with any extra calories going to winey wine wine. That seems to be a common weekend diet theme!

enzosmama

Mine really varies daily. Typically between lunch and dinner, but it really all depends on the day. I usually do smaller meals with a morning snack/afternoon snack and sometimes an evening snack. Sometimes I find my snacks are close to the calories I consume in a meal! I don't think it much matters as long as you're eating an appropriate amount of calories and you're not starving or overly full.

Kalikel

Depends - lunch or dinner.

I try not to eat late dinners.

BigT555

dinner, by far

LadyKim66

I am getting some fabulous responses here. A little bit of everything. I try to meal plan the day before, and make everything for work the night before. It is really hard to get in my water on days I work, we are not allowed to have anything in the unit, so in order to drink I have to walk off the unit, and being the only RN, it makes it mighty difficult!!.
One good thing at work is we do not have a cafeteria or snack machines. So I bring all my food in My super long day at work is from 0630 until 10 pm. talk about difficult trying to meal plan for those days.
I found that 1200 calories and under does NOT work for weight loss.. LOL, gee go figure. so today I upped it to 1500.
I ate 460 for breakfast, rode my bike 7 miles (burned 475).

xcalygrl

It depends. During the week, all my meals are about equal (between 5-600 a piece). On the weekend, usually my lunches are my biggest meal.

AbsolutelyRaw

I generally eat my largest meals of the day before 2pm. Before 2pm is when I am the most active and I have found that I seem to lose weight better eating this way. I eat 6 smaller meals instead of three larger meals which seems to keep me from getting as hungry.

Cathalain

During the week, I usually have 350 for breakfast/lunch (maybe a little more depending on what I'm having) and the rest for dinner, but my exercise calories tend to fluctuate, so sometimes I have way more at the end of the day than I like. Yesterday was a good example of that - I had 340 for breakfast, about 400 for lunch, and that should have left me about 650 or so for dinner, but I walked nearly 5 miles, so I ended up with 1300 toward the end of the day.

Weekends are where I tend to struggle. I wake up late, so I usually skip a meal altogether (sometimes breakfast, sometimes lunch) and I end up with a huge calorie deficit by the end of the day that's hard to shake.

Still trying to plan it out accordingly.

climbing_trees

evening meal(s). because if i go to bed even a little bit hungry, i will wake up and gorge myself in a half asleep stupor. >__<

i eat a small breakfast, medium lunch, medium/large dinner, and small bedtime snack.
but i try to listen to my own hunger cues. if i've worked out early in the morning, and i'm starving, then i will eat a bigger lunch!
no use sticking to a strict routine if it doesn't let you feel your best~

OldSportOldsport

Definitely dinner. I always have a fairly large piece of meat, salad and that's also the time that I might have a little glass of wine or something. It's definitely the tastiest meal as well.

leggup

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
Full text:
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

Study is relevant to those suffering from metabolic syndrome. 93 women with metabolic syndrome were studied.

"subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner"
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

The conclusion: Timing of food intake is related to obesity and to the success of weight-loss therapy. Unexpectedly, total energy intake, dietary composition and estimated energy expenditure were not explaining these results. Changes in the cronotype, genetic background and/or circadian system function may be implicated in this outcome. Novel therapeutic
strategies should consider not only the caloric intake and macronutrient distribution but also the timing of food. So, it seemed to matter in some studies and we don't know why but we shouldn't rule it out? I haven't looked through all of these studies (since it's an analysis, not 1 study). Many of those studies relate to hormonal patterns, not obesity directly.

"data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437

Thirty-six subjects completed the study. Again, these results had a large impact on insulin sensitivity. I can't find the full study, but I'm guessing a lot of diabetes and things in this study? People with health conditions that could be severely harmed by incorrect meal timing (like someone with diabetes eating all of their calories for breakfast) are not representative about how meal timing works on the whole.

dunnodunno

It used to be either breakfast, lunch, & my later snack.

Now I am trying to eat more for dinner & still adding some calories to my later snack.

TonyB0588

I thought I was eating most at Lunch, but going back through my diary I'm seeing quite a bit of variation. Some days my calories seem almost evenly distributed through the day. A few days Breakfast actually exceeded the other meals.

Here's one - Breakfast 446, Lunch 494, Dinner 430, Snacks 190 and another - Breakfast 604, Lunch 315, Dinner 314, Snacks 476

Main thing is I'm getting the desired results - losing 1lb per week and just finally dropped below my target weight yesterday.

NaturalNancy

Dinner but sometimes lunch

Wynterbourne

MKEgal wrote: »

I eat about half my calories for breakfast, because studies have shown that it contributes to greater weight loss and better control of other health markers (abdominal obesity, fasting glucose, triglycerides).

But don't take my word for it (as everyone else commenting so far seems to expect you to do), read some of the studies I'll provide links to below.

All of those sayings about ..."Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a blah blahh" just aren't backed up by any science.
All else controlled if you eat at a deficit (let's say 1,500 calories is a deficit for you), you would lose the same amount of weight if you ate all 1,500 for breakfast OR all 1,500 for dinner, or if you had 15 meals that were 100 calories.

meal timing doesn't affect weight loss

Wrong.

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
Full text:
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

"subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner"
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

"data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437

Hrrmmm, I almost never eat breakfast so almost zero of my daily caloric intake is at that time and I've lost nearly 90lbs. Am I a figment of my imagination, am I actually eating breakfast and having memory loss, or maybe just maybe meal timing doesn't affect everyone? I know which one I'm betting on.

st476

It's lunch for me but I have lunch at 5pm so I guess that's considered dinner for most people. I like to eat under 300 for breakfast (10am) then have snacks like yogurt and popcorn at 12 and 3. Then I eat lunch (500-600 calories) at 5. I eat lunch so late because then I have a lot of calories left over for snacks in the afternoon. I'm a huge snacker if you couldn't tell lol I also have a small fear of eating big meals in the morning and earlier in the day because I'm nervous that I'll really want something in the afternoon and won't be able to have it because I already used up all my calories earlier

CooCooPuff

Lunch is usually the most, but I use around 400 calories for dessert not too long after dinner.

lauraesh0384

Definitely dinner. I typically allow myself 600-800 calories depending on the day. Breakfast is around 450-500, lunch around 600-700 and then whatever I have left over after my meals and snacks is reserved for dinner. I love the fact that I can eat around 2100 calories.

Gallowmere1984

Mine's pretty evenly split. About 800 in the morning, and 900 at night.

abitofbliss

Breakfast after fasted cardio during the week!

PAV8888

Eat the way that will make you achieve the caloric deficit you need to achieve. If everything else is equal, there MAY be a small advantage to front loading your first meal of the day (breakfast).

I continue to eat most of my calories right around midnight, once my Fitbit results are in for the day and right before going to bed.

Cause... everything else is NOT equal and staying within my caloric budget is much more important than timing.

lisalewis7588

I get 1600 cals. I eat 400 at breakfast, 350-500 at lunch, 450-600 at dinner, and whatever's left as snacks. I usually average 200-300 as snacks. (When my lunch is on the larger end, my dinner is on the smaller end).

TonyB0588

Wynterbourne wrote: »

MKEgal wrote: »

I eat about half my calories for breakfast, because studies have shown that it contributes to greater weight loss and better control of other health markers (abdominal obesity, fasting glucose, triglycerides).

But don't take my word for it (as everyone else commenting so far seems to expect you to do), read some of the studies I'll provide links to below.

All of those sayings about ..."Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a blah blahh" just aren't backed up by any science.
All else controlled if you eat at a deficit (let's say 1,500 calories is a deficit for you), you would lose the same amount of weight if you ate all 1,500 for breakfast OR all 1,500 for dinner, or if you had 15 meals that were 100 calories.

meal timing doesn't affect weight loss

Wrong.

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
Full text:
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

"subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner"
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

"data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437

Hrrmmm, I almost never eat breakfast so almost zero of my daily caloric intake is at that time and I've lost nearly 90lbs. Am I a figment of my imagination, am I actually eating breakfast and having memory loss, or maybe just maybe meal timing doesn't affect everyone? I know which one I'm betting on.

So, with no breakfast, what time is your first snack?? You must be hungry all morning. I could never do this.

oolou

Dinner. I have no appetite in the morning and can hold off 'lunch' until around 4pm. Then I eat most of my calories in the evening. I find if I eat breakfast, all I do is wake up my stomach which then wants to be fed all day long. So I have better control of my calorie consumption for weight loss if I postpone eating to the latter half of the day.

samchez0

Dinner here. I'm sure it's different for everyone though. I usually don't eat over 300 call at breakfast.

_piaffe

I bookend every day with the same smoothie breakfast - 319 calories - and 200 to 300 calories for treats or dessert etc.

Otherwise, I seem to consume most weekday calories at lunch and afternoon snack - about 600 - 700 calories between those two "meals". Lunch can be at 2 p.m. and snack can be at 3 p.m. It's more of a midday eating window, really.

On weekends, it's smoothie and then light meals as needed - I am less hungry and more out and about, busy being a weekend warrior and saving up for big Saturday and Sunday dinners.

Machka9

what meal do you consume most calories?

I log my food in four categories: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

Most of my food falls into snacks. That category is about double any of the others.

Breakfast is usually 0.

Lunch and dinner are usually about the same at approx. 400 cal.