Calorie Distribution Throughout the Day

weeze_h

Hi, just wondering how people distribute their calories throughout the day. I have 1200 cals a day and after looking at my diary for the past month I have realised this is what I tend to do :

Breakfast: 200-300cals
Lunch 200-300cals
Dinner 600cals

any remaining plus my exercise calories (300-500) are used as snacks throughout the day.

Just wondering if anyone else does it differently? It works for me as I'm still losing but whats your opinion on 600 calories for dinner? I've noticed a lot of main meal receipes on the forums for around 300cals, if this is what you eat on a regular basis when do you eat the remaining cals?

Lou

stella77

As long as it works I would leave it. I tend to do the same because although dinner shouldn't be the biggest meal of the day, I try to have it before 8 pm and it fits into my lifestyle at the moment. I'd rather eat a healthy home cooked meal in the evenings than try to cram those calories into a caffeteria lunch at work.

c3lxxx

Though I am not a nutritionist...I do know some about healthy eating habits and this is what I've heard:

The largest meal should be the earliest...you burn more calories throughout the day so when you eat those calories they have time to burn. When you are eating the calories at night it doesnt give your body the time to digest and burn the calories. I do my meals this way....
largest at breakfast
decent snack
a bit smaller
another snack
and then dinner is the smallest meal of the day.

What helped me is I made my snacks more filling......evenly distributing your calories throughout the day keeps your metabolism at the optimum level...

I HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!

purplepollypops

I'm the same as you. I just can't seem to face a lot of food early in the morning! I tend to snack during the day between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. In actual fact most of the food I put down that I've had for breakfast I usually have mid morning. I really look forward to a big dinner in the evening although I don't have a regular time to have it, it's usually any time between 5pm and 7.30pm unless I'm going out.

mmiiaa

I tend to do the same as you, though I have heard what 'c3lxxx' is talking about. I wonder if it really matters? If my smallest meal is breakfast, and I burn those calories throughout the day, that will leave me with a deficit that I'll eventually fill in with other meals. Do you think it really matters?

helloburger

See I find that interesting where they say breakfast should be the biggest meal, as you burn more calories throughout the day. HOWEVER surely if your burning calories that day. it doesn't matter what meal is biggest as its calories in vs calories out right? Or is it the fact that you have a heavy breakfast as you have all day to digest it? Im interested in this...

anubis609

Like cardio, calories are cumulative. Though c3lxxx does have a solid plan regarding the upside-down pyramid pattern, which seems logical, tapering calorie intake as the day progresses since your body burns calories throughout the day, but it's subjective to the individual's lifestyle. It depends on what you do throughout the day.

I actually eat more than 6x a day, but the diary will only allow for 6 slots, so it seems like I eat most of my calories at night, but I actually eat roughly around 200 - 300 calories per meal spaced out about 2 - 3 hours apart about 7 - 8x a day since I work out at night. I'm more active later in the day since I'm a bit nocturnal. It hasn't hindered my progress at all.

So, if you have a set pattern that's working for you, stick with it. I tend not to question whatever works.

shellyk1979

I've been trying to make my eating more balanced but I just can't face too much food in the morning, I mostly end up with tea and toast. At lunch time I usually have sandwiches, a light yogurt and a can of coke zero. So then along comes dinner and I have about 600-800 calories left, it was stressing me out but now I just go with the flow :-D It doesn't seem to be effecting my weight loss any that it's all end loaded. I do follow the "don't eat anything after 8" rule though, the only exception is if I'm out with friends for dinner but on those nights I'm up later anyway so I'm not going to sleep having just ate.

As long as you're sticking to your calories and losing weight I don't see the problem.

CARNAT22

I have lost 20lbs having a light breakfast / lunch (300 cals a go) and a slightly more calorific dinner (in the region of 500 - 550 cals)

Also I don't exercise much so don't have many calories to eat back (maybe 150 exercise cals on an average day and I use them for snacks)

weeze_h

Thanks guys, i dont think i will be changing what i do since it's working for me at the moment but just wondering how other people work their food intake. Interesting stuff :happy: