What number do you consider to be "low cal"?

reagansmom05

hi i'm new here!:happy:
my goal for breakfast and lunch is under 200cal, then under 400 for dinner.
what numbers do you consider to be LOW CAL?
thanks!

jo_marnes

I think I think the same as you :-)

dad106

I generally try to keep my breakfast between 300-400

Lunch and Dinner under 500.

I eat one snack and that I try to keep around 200 calories.

I don't think I could do 200 for breakfast and lunch... I'd be staving!

ClareB1974

I tend to go for a 300/300/500 split, with the 500 either being lunch or dinner. This then allows me 100 base calories for the milk in my morning coffee and some rice cakes mid afternoon

bethdris

Depends on a lot of factors......If your eating say 200 at breakfast and lunch then 400 at dinner your only eating 800 calories a day. That won't sustain your body. I try to make breakfast my biggest meal. Doesn't always happen, but I do try. The reason being that you all have day to burn those calroies from breakfast. If you make dinner your biggest meal (which in general most do) then you don't have as long to burn that off UNLESS you do your exercise after dinner. Sooo....you will get many different opinons on this. My diary is open if you'd like to see what an averge day looks like!

Mindful_Trent

Welcome!

One thought - that only adds up to 800 calories for the day. Small meals are fine, as long as you're also including some healthy snacks! (Some people find it much easier to stay on track when they eat smaller amounts more often.) While there's not a set calorie number that draws a line between healthy and unhealthy, most people will agree that 800/day is too little. Most women will be able to lose weight on 1400-1600 per day. Based on your profile, you don't have much to lose, so you should actually be aiming for only 1/2 lb to 1 lb a week loss at the most. This means you want to keep your deficit smaller and eat most of your exercise calories burned. Check this thread out - you'd be stage 3 to stage 4: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/49690-the-banks-plan

Some great posts for newer members to read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/238282-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing-redux

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/188509-my-take-on-exercise-calories-please-read-if-you-are-new

reagansmom05

oh, i eat an afternoon snack and then dessert i was just curious because i was looking at other threads where people were posting recipes that were what i consider too high for a meal and they were calling it small. i'm sure it just depends on size and goals! yes, my goal is tiny, i'm more trying to tone up than lose a number.
thanks for the links i'll check them out!

reagansmom05

ok i made my diary public if you want to see. yesterday i ran out of milk so breakfast was funny.