Breakfast...

chera325
chera325 Posts: 38 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
So I've done lots of research over the past fews on this quest for thinness, and I know how important eating breakfast within two hours of waking up actually is. My question, though, is just how many calories should I be aiming to eat for breakfast? I've seen recently in one of my fitness magazines that larger breakfasts have been proven more successful in weight loss--some say as many as 600 calories!

This seems like a lot to me! I'm sure the caloric goal varies from person to person, but does anyone know an approximate number to shoot for? Or do you agree that a 600 calorie breakfast is best?

Thanks :)

Replies

  • Samantharose8akaDebbie
    Samantharose8akaDebbie Posts: 407 Member
    I am on 1200 cals per day. I usually try to keep my breakfast below 250. This gives me enough for lunch (usually under 300 cals) and then I can have a decent dinner.
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    I think I only have that many calories for breakfast when I wake up late on a weekend and basically eat a brunch. On normal days, I usually have a breakfast in the 300-400 range. Oatmeal, a bowl of cereal, an egg with cheese and/or toast, stuff like that. But then I also plan small snacks into my day, one mid-morning and one in the afternoon. So if you stick to 3 meals without snacking, maybe 600 calories would be appropriate? Personally, I think that you need enough to keep you from hitting the vending machine before your next planned meal/snack, and no more!

    (Oh, and I'm on 1500cal/day, so my numbers might be skewed higher!)
  • MissingMinnesota
    MissingMinnesota Posts: 7,486 Member
    I tend to have between 200-300 calories for breakfast. Which is oatmeal and a glass of milk and maybe a piece of fruit. I like to have a good complex carb to keep my body working through out the morning.
  • missmalibu
    missmalibu Posts: 12
    I've heard that big breakfasts are good for athletic training, I think a female athlete well known here in England said she 'breakfasts like a king, lunches like a prince and eats dinner like a pauper'.

    However, in my experience it doesn't make any difference to losing weight. In fact I often find if I front load my calories I am more likely to go over because even if I've eaten a big breakfast I still need another meal later on. I think it depends what you're used to and what you can manage. I think the real trick is to eat a breakfast that sustains you for the morning, or at least until mid morning snacks! I usually go for porridge, muesli or egg on toast because it's filling and I don't get peckish for at least 3 hours. That usually takes up about 200 calories.

    At the end of the day a big breakfast isn't always feasible either, successful dieting is about making it work for you, if it isn't easy to adapt you'll be put off.

    Also, the big breakfast thing should never be used as an excuse to eat things that are basically bad for you whatever time of day, such as a greasy fry up or a stack of pancakes, ha ha!
  • jmmsunshine
    jmmsunshine Posts: 11 Member
    Obviously, it depends on how many calories you're eating per day. If your total intake is 1200, then 600 for breakfast is setting yourself up to be starving later in the day.

    The goal is ultimately to have food be fuel, and you need to fuel your body all day long. So, the question becomes, how many meals will you have today? Assuming 4 - Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner - an option is to take your total daily calorie allotment, divide it by 4, and shoot to keep each meal about the same size. This will normalize your glucose levels, avoiding the blood sugar rise, then crash, and binging/cravings that ensue.

    If you know you'll engage in regular exercise - say 200 - 300 cals each day (or on certain days), you'll want to add them in and give yourself a few extra calories at each meal that day to prevent yourself from falling into the starvation trap. If your net calories drop too low, your body will revert to starvation mode, and your metabolism slows down and weight loss stalls. At that point you begin to burn muscle, not fat, and you're setting yourself up for problems.

    Good Luck!!
  • Robin1117
    Robin1117 Posts: 1,768 Member
    I tend to average around 350 for breakfast, maybe 400. But I split it into different times. When I first wake up, after coffee, I usually go for greek yogurt and a little granola. Then maybe an hour or 2 later I have an egg w/cheese & veggies, or 1/2 english muffin w/melted cheese...something like that. I would try to stick to the same calorie size for a typical lunch, and then have nuts for snacks in between.

    My husband likes a regular sit down dinner and I can't seem to get these dinner calorie counts even with the other meals, so I work out mid-day and typically use at least 50-75% of the workout calories to make up for my bigger dinner, including red wine.

    I think the way you split it up has to make sense for your lifestyle--I think if I were single I would be able to have a tiny dinner but when you do the sit down thing, it's really tough not to eat more--even when you are cooking in an extremely healthy way.

    So far the timing of calories hasn't made a difference for me--I still have lost weight. I just try hard to stay away from any snacking after dinner.
  • cristi1184
    cristi1184 Posts: 4
    I've heard that the reason that people say eating a larger breakfast is best is because the calories and nutrient eaten during breakfast are more effectively burnt because of the amount of activity you do. If you eat a larger supper, the chances of you burning those calories though activity are less, since most people tend to wind down after supper. My calorie goal is 1200/day an I try to get breakfast to be around 300 then a 100 calorie snack, about 500 for lunch, then 300 for supper. I find I am more active around lunch so try to keep my lunch calories the highest to keep me going.
  • duckfan06
    duckfan06 Posts: 20
    My 2 largest meals are breakfast and lunch. I usually consume around 500-600 calories for breakfast because it allows my body to jump start and get in gear. I find on days I eat a smaller breakfast I have less energy. One thing I try to do is make sure my carbs are mostly consumed during breakfast and lunch so my body has a chance to break them down. On the days when I work out in the morning I tend to have a large glass of water, yogurt and can of tuna before my workout... then have my normal breakfast afterwards. That may sound like a lot to eat for breakfast but I am burning 600 calories more than I consume for my entire morning usually.
  • NotLuigiTM
    NotLuigiTM Posts: 21
    eat more calories at breakfast, cause i would burn them off in a day. I heard it said "Eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a pauper for dinner."
  • dansdeb
    dansdeb Posts: 164
    I'm on 1400 calorie a day and usually have about 300 for breakfast. This allows for a mid-morning snack and then lunch. I try to keep dinner lighter so I don't have a heavy meal sitting there. I'm less active in the evening - so don't want all those calories just sitting there :)
  • crzu189
    crzu189 Posts: 1
    I'm at 1300 k cal a day and I'm eating about 400 - 500 cals in the AM. The main reason for that is because I workout in the AM and after doing so I drink my protein shake.
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