i need help managing my calories

hellothere1212
hellothere1212 Posts: 248
in Health and Weight Loss
i have 1500 per day. how do i budget them? i know it doesnt matter in terms of weight loss but im not sure what i would find the most satisfying way to use my cals. does anyone else have this limit? how do you budget?

Replies

  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    Try preplanning and logging your meals for the day. This will help you play around with numbers BEFORE eating.

    Also, make sure you are eating the right amount of calories to begin with.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    1500 a day? Yikes, I would go out for a one hour walk. I can't seem to get full on less than 600 calories per meal. If that was my budget I would skip breakfast, just to get all the hungries out of the way. A lot of people say that is bad. But, if I have no calories for the evening and I wouldn't then I would definitely go over budget. But, anyway if that is what you want to stick to it seems you have 500 calories per meal if you eat three a day. I would eat a lot of veggies on that budget too cuz they are really low in calories and they really do fill me up. Tonight I had pasta with no veggies and I was still hungry. Normally I eat my pasta with an onion, a couple of tomatoes, and a green pepper and I won't be hungry for at least 5 hours.
  • aronao
    aronao Posts: 112 Member
    I would split about 1200 up across the 3 main meals (e.g. 400 each) and then the remaining as 100 cal snacks (morning, afternoon, evening).
  • error_number_404
    error_number_404 Posts: 19
    i guess it depends on how you like to eat.

    like, you could have three 500 calorie meals a day, but you might get hungry between them and want to snack so i wouldnt recommend doing that lol.

    or you could have a big breakfast of like 400-500 cals and have small meals and snacks the rest of the day. which gives you time to burn off breakfast before you go to bed.

    or you could eat small meals and snacks all day around 100 for snacks and 300 for small meals and save up a bunch of calories for dinner.

    personally, i just do small meals and snacks all day around 100 to 300 cals each. for example, if i eat bfast i'll have a packet of instant oats and some coffee which would be about 200 cals. and then later some veggies as a snack for like 50 to 100 cals. and then some tuna salad or some sushi for lunch (so around 300ish cals) and just stuff like that. c:
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    I train like a monster and don't eat breakfast.

    This way by noon I still have 3500-4000 calories to eat.
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937709-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

    check this out :), this will get you in the right area for Body Fat, BMR and TDEE. I believe you can up your 1500 from what MFP is saying you are able to have
  • pnk_elefant
    pnk_elefant Posts: 1
    First make sure you are taking in enough calories then what has been working for me is dividing up my meals throughout the whole day. Once your body is getting enough proteins and carbs for each meal and snack the weight will start coming off. I start with breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. I am doing minimal to no exercise right now so I am taking in less than 1500 calories a day but you could split it up by doing 250 calories for breakfast, about 116 calories a snack, and 450 calories for lunch and dinner. Pretty much if I am eating every 3 hours or so I don't ever feel hungry and it stops me from over eating during the next meal. Good luck to you.
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    I don't eat until I get hungry, which is usually around 10:30 or so. I keep it light, maybe 300 calories or so, until lunch, when I'll eat something with complex carbs and protein. I'll snack a lot in the afternoon (healthily!), have a light dinner, and then a small evening snack.

    I probably consume the most calories snacking throughout the afternoon. But I usually just have a sandwich or oatmeal or whatever for dinner since I eat alone and am pretty busy, so that makes up for it
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    It really depends on you. But what I did to see how I could use my calories is go to my dairy to a day before I started on here and just mess around with. If I ate this, this and this how many calories would it be and kind of go from there. It was nice for when to see what that number really was like in food. Best of luck to you :)
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,469 Member
    I have a similar amount of calories for the day. I'm following IPOARM/TDEE - 20% so I don't eat exercise calories back and I find it easier having the same amount day to day.

    I prefer to stick to three meals a day - mostly - and that will be pretty small breaktast, a slightly bigger midday meal, and then a more normal-sized evening meal.

    The rest of the calories go on milk in my tea, and if I have some left after the evening meal I might have a late evening snack.

    Because the evening one is a social one that I cook, it's nice to be able to eat more then. It also means I've got it to look forward to when I'm at work!

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