Breakfast calories

Chottu

I need to eat 1200 cal per day, so how much should it be for breakfast. Can any one give me a breakdown of cals for all the meals and snacks.:frown:

amw8675309

i usually use about 250 calories for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 400 for dinner and then have room for an afternoon snack as well as dessert (i typically shoot for 1350 calories total)

i started out skimping more on breakfast, but that just makes me hungrier throughout the day!

SKastanis

They say a good guideline is a maximum of 400 calories per meal. If your goal is 1200 though, you might need to try and keep it in the 300-350 range to allow for snacks.

leftymac

You're gonna have to experiment and see what satisfies you. Some people prefer a bigger breakfast, and others a smaller breakfast. Some like to have it evenly divided. It all depends on your body and when you are hungry. Are you a snacker? Some people don't snack at all, and others have 5-6 small meals spread out throughout the day. It's all a personal decision.

My suggestion would be to first ask yourself, "How hungry am I in the morning?" and go from there. If you honestly don't know, then try dividing up the calories equally.

heather0416

I usually eat between 200-300 for breakfast.. usually multi grain cheerios or egg whites on whole wheat and some fruit...

Angela4Health

It's not going to be the same for everyone. Some people have 5 or 6 small meals a day of 200-300 calories each, and others have bigger breakfast but smaller lunch and dinner, or big dinner but small breakfast and lunch, with minimal calories left for snacks. It's best to eat smaller meals, and keep the metabolism going but for me it's hard to eat that way because even though it means I'm eating often, I'm never getting "full" and therefor my body is CONSTANTLY telling me I'm hungry. I try to bulk up lunch and dinner and have a small snack in between and my breakfast is usually about 250 calories.

dls06

It depends on your likes and eating habits. You need to add your foods for a few days and then make the changes where you need to. If you don't learn where you need to cut you won't learn what works for you. Add foods before you eat them and see if it works for your goals. If not put something else. Its the best way to create your own plan. No one can do it for you because you won't stick with it.
Also it's not just about calories. you need to stay within all goals.

ChantalGG

Are you a snacker if so then save calories for that. i try to have 200 to 300 for morning, lunch is 300 to 400 and dinner is more and the rest is mine snacks though out the day. Plus i workout so i can eat even more if i want.

meg7399

well I consume more calories than that...maybe you should too. 1200 is the absolute LOWEST you can go! I try and get more protein things in the morning so I can have energy and stay full longer. I usually have a hard boiled egg and a homemade latte with skim milk. I then try and break the rest of the calories down so I have about 400 for lunch, 100-200 for an afternoon snack and then I save the rest for a bigger dinner, usually 600 +...but that almost always includes a glass of red wine or two! Now this way will not completely work for you as it will be over 1200 but its something to think about!

ladylu11

I recently got the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 meal plan.

She suggests around 400 calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. and a snack around 200 calories.

jennifance

I am also on the 1200 per day goal... I usually have yogurt, toast or oatmeal, and/or fresh fruit (blackberries, bananas, nectarine, blueberries, etc.) and I aim for about 250-300 calories. I don't like eggs, so I stick with the fruit, grains and yogurt.

Leftymac is right... it's gonna take some experimenting until you figure out exactly what's enough to get you satisfied.

I usually break my calories as follows:
300 Breakfast
150 Snack
300 Lunch
100 Snack
... that puts me at 850 by the time I usually workout in the evenings, then I have about 350 left for dinner (plus whatever I worked off in exercises).

Of course, the balance gets thrown off sometimes, but you'll get into a rhythm pretty easily. Good luck!

kate2004rock

1200 calories isn't very much. 1199 a day is technically starvation---so if you're going to eat 1200 a day you definitely have to eat back your excercise calories. Plus, even if you eat 4-6 small meals a day--200 calories a pop isnt likely to ever leave you feeling satisfied (it wouldn't for me). I'd suggest at least eating in the 1300-1500 range. But if you're really tied to 1200--I'd go for a big breakfast, medium sized lunch, and smaller dinner.

jmconway1

I shoot for 1200 a day and for breakfast I have around 200. Its hard for me to keep the lunch cals down especially if I want a sandwich, so I shoot for the low cal breakfast. But, my breakfast is very filling. I have 1/2 cup of egg beaters (60 cals) cooked into an omelet, 2 slices of Butterball turkey bacon (50 cals) and a Nature's Own 100 cal multigrain english muffin (100 cals). I have "I can't believe its not butter" spray and I usually spray a few sprays on the english muffin. Its a total of about 210 and it keeps you full for a while. I don't even need a mid morning snack. This way I can have more cals at lunch and/or a mid afternoon snack and dessert. Also, Kashi Go Lean cereal is filling too, and its really pretty tasty if you have the low calorie wal mart brand maple and brown sugar oatmeal with a half a cup of that cereal on top. Again, really filling, and that one is only 170 cals total. So really, just look for low calorie, FILLING options. Breakfast is one of the easier meals to keep really low I think. :-)

syates83

I was told to eat in the shape of a "V"...To make your metabolism work for you...try eating 350 for breakfast, 350 for lunch, 300 for dinner with a mid-morning and afternoon snack of 100 each. Drink that water too!

kklemencic

I usually eat 250 to 300, love my honey nut cheerios or oatmeal for breakfast. I could easily eat more but with my snacks and my love of eating later I save a bit more calories for those times. Look at what times of day you may need a snack or if you like lunch or dinner to be your higher calorie meal. It took me a bit to figure out what worked best for me. I would start around 300 see how it goes and adjust from there. When I ate 1200 and exercised I found I dropped the pounds way to slowly, because I wasn't eating enough now that I have adjusted my calories to a bit more on exercise day I am dropping at a good rate.

Chottu

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE GLOWING COMMENTS .................................