Do you dine like a King, a Prince or a Pauper?

ziggy67

There is a popular saying that one should eat like a King for breakfast, a Prince for Lunch and a Pauper for dinner. While I can understand the logic behind this as regards fuelling the body for the days activities ahead, I've never been able to conform to this way of thinking.
For one thing I could not face a big breakfast first thing in the morning and I would be chewing the furniture by bed-time...not to mention being unable to sleep with my stomach growling all night!
I have a calorie allowance on MFP of 1600 a day...which I split into 400 calories for breakfast, 300 calories for lunch and 600 calories for dinner...I allow myself three snacks a day of 100 calories each (mid-morning, mid-afternoon and evening). This routine suits me and I always try to eat low GI foods to avoid the afternoon slump. I find my weakest time of the day for craving food is the evening so there is no way I could possibly eat like a pauper late in the day. I try to burn 500 calories a day (give or take) and try not to eat all my exercise calories.
Does anybody else have an opinion on this?

Katiemarie4488

When I adjusted to this way of thinking, I saw results for the first time in my ife.

sarahlucydaynes26

HI
I Have a 1200 cal allowance - i do the same roughly as you - 200 for breakfast, 300 for lunch 500 for dinner and then that extra 200 for fruit / nut snacks or a treat xx

dad106

Honestly, I eat like a pig at night and have still been losing weight.

I have 1700 calories a day before exercise, and that averages to about 400-500 for breakfast, 400 for lunch and 400 -600 for dinner. I also throw one 220 calorie snack in there.

Edited to add:
I exercise right before dinner, so not am I already hungry because I exercised off breakfast and lunch, but I'm extra hungry from the exercise.. which leads to a bigger dinner.

Queenmae

I feel that you have to listen to your own body and adjust your eating habits accordingly. I am a active all day and very vulnerble to eating at night also. So I have to portion my meals so I can eat a good amount during the day and about 500 at night. I eat one to two snacks a day depending on how many calories my meals are. If its working for you I say go for it.

Kelly_Wilson1990

I have my calories set at 1200 and I eat six small meals of roughly 200 calories each. I have been steadily loosing.

saydee3

I eat around 250 calories at breakfast and at lunch, and around 600 at dinner and am losing weight just fine.

koosdel

Honestly, I eat like a pig at night and have still been losing weight.

I have 1700 calories a day before exercise, and that averages to about 400-500 for breakfast, 400 for lunch and 400 -600 for dinner. I also throw one 220 calorie snack in there.

You eat mud and poop? No, just kidding! Sorry, couldn't help it.

rosied915

Kinda doing Prince(ess), Princess, Princess.

My husband works "shift work" and is frequently not home for dinner. On those nights I'm more like a Pauper~ having a Lean Cuisine dinner or similar.

My "King" (Queen) days are over~ for good, I hope.

The theory is probably a good one and I will keep it in mind for the next time I'm struggling with losing!
Thanks for posting this~ I'll check back and see what everyone else has to say.

By the way, would be interested in knowing your stats if you'd like to share........

IamEric

I spent two years down in Chile and they actually have their big meal for lunch down there. For breakfast we would eat oatmeal, then a big dinner-style lunch and then for dinner it would be something simple like bread and hot milk. (The bread is different down there, so it's not like just eating a piece of bread. It's more like eating a small french bread.)

It was tough to get used to at first, but by the time I got home, it seemed odd to eat a huge dinner.

Unfortunately, that was many years ago and I am now married with five kids. If I told my wife & kids that we were just going to eat bread and milk for dinner, I think I'd be kicked out of the house.

naonah

Different things work for different people. However, it makes sense to eat that way (King/Prince/Pauper). If you would teach yourself to eat this way, come to the end of the day, you wouldn't be starved and need a big supper! If you find you have to eat more at night, it's simply because you haven't eaten enough during the day! So, if you need a boost to jump start your metabolism, give it a try For just one week

Xaspar

I use dinner as my time to spend a few minutes with my kids, so we generally eat our largest meal then (but we try to eat before 6) and save calories for a snack or dessert later.
I have about 1400 calories and I eat around 300/350/550 and dessert or snack (200).

So would that be pauper /pauper /prince? Or prince /prince/ king?

mike737

Na im totally backwards to that way of thinking.

300 breakfast
400 lunch
900 dinner

since i change up to 1800 cals loosing 1lbs a week ive bumped my lunch up to include a soup.

HappyLuna

I think leaving 500 cals for dinner is fine. I have to say the problem I have is eating after dinner. So I have started a new rule:

No food after 7pm and bed by 10-11pm so there has been time to digest my dinner. I find this really helps. I will have drinks in the evening like a cup of tea (no sugar) and if I am feeling hungry I will have some fruit as these are light snacks (and better than crisps, chocolate ect).

Anyway thats my little theory. Its a good saying though

MelissaL582

I'm the opposite when it comes to my breakfast and dinner amount. I'm hungry in the mornings but not for a big meal.

crasula

lifestyles play such a huge part in how/ when we eat that we just have to adapt and find the balance that suits our own personal routeen.Your particular quotation may have been more appropriate in an earlier period of our history where people were out working hard physically all day and therefore needed the energy and calories to do their job but does an telephone operator at a desk all day need 1000 calories for example?

I work off a 1400 intake per day but would struggle to eat a bigger breakfast due to the fact my schedule wouldn't allow. if I have a large lunch i'll probably end up up falling asleep at work so a good 70% of calories are consumed after work in the evening around 20:00.

it an important meal for me as i get to spend time with my family after a long day but if you're sensible about not loading up on carbs or going to sleep right after it's not going to have an impact on your weight loss programme. If you do eat a little more then go for a walk or participate in some other leisurely activity getting that balance right is so important!

stephyy4632

I have a small BF so I`m a Pauper for BF lol (100-200cal)

Large Lunch (Queen 700-800cal)

average dinner (Princess around 500cals)

plus one or two small snacks depending on how much exercise I have done ( my daily goal is 1230 but with exercise cals its normaly quite a bit more and I work out everyday )

ziggy67

Thank you for all your replies...some interesting ideas here have given me some food for thought...I hadn't considered eating 6 small meals a day...just worried about the fact that it only allows me about 250 calories per meal and there are not that many hearty dinners I can think of for this amount....anyway I need to try something different to see if I can get off this plateau I am currently stuck on.

Somebody asked for my stats and I am quite happy to share these:

height: 5ft 10"

starting weight: 15 stone 9lb (2008)

current weight: 12st 6lb (since June 2011)

goal weight: 11st 7lb (this was the weight I was when I got married in 1977 and before I had my children)

Midori_i

Funny enough, I follow that rule exactly... because when I wake up in the morning, I'm always really hungry and find it really hard NOT to eat at least 450 calories right away. Take away my breakfast and I get really grumpy.

But because I'm only allowed 1200 calories a day, that means I really have to cut back the rest of the day, which I manage to do most of the time. I used to think that I'm only so hungry in the morning because I don't eat much for dinner. But I wake up starving even when I do. :S