How many calories do you leave yourself for supper?

getting_fit86
getting_fit86 Posts: 128 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I'm just wondering how many calories you guys usually leave yourselves for supper. I work all day and have a small breakfast and lunch to allow myself AT LEAST 600 calories for supper and a bed time snack.

Just curious - for me its really mind over matter. If I have 600 calories I think "wow I can eat a lot of supper!" and feel like I have a bit more cushion.
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Replies

  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
    I'm the same way. I typically try to give myself at least 500 calories and if I have more than that, I usually treat myself to a beer or a glass of wine. My dinners are usually chicken or steak with a bit of rice or steamed veggies, so that's *plenty* of calories there. Of course, the other day, I ended up with so many extra calories, my boyfriend and I treated ourselves to Culver's Custard! :drinker:
  • jennifert40
    jennifert40 Posts: 10 Member
    I do the exact same thing, especially if I'm going out to dinner or something special. Usually, I save between 500-700 calories for dinner.
  • topazora
    topazora Posts: 82 Member
    Actually, I'm pretty much the opposite, I'll try to get most of my calories in the breakfast and lunch, so I don't have to have dinner. I find not having dinner or a light dinner, if my earlier meals were too light, I sleep better.
  • caly_man
    caly_man Posts: 281 Member
    best case scenario for me is 50% for dinner and evening snacks
  • AndiGirl70
    AndiGirl70 Posts: 542 Member
    For myself I try for a 300 cal bfast, 400 cal lunch, 600 cal dinner and 2-3 small snacks under 100 calories each. Plus daily cardio. Oh and I stop eating after 7p.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I get panicky if I don't have ~1000 left for dinner. Most of my dinners are between 800-1200 calories.
  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
    I eat the bulk of my calorie at breakfast so I have a good chance to work them off during the day. I really eat a big meal at night and NO food after 5P
  • legreene515
    legreene515 Posts: 276 Member
    Tonight I have 637, which seems like a lot to me. I usually eat a large breakfast, medium lunch, and a small dinner. This week has been off though!
  • ChristinaR720
    ChristinaR720 Posts: 1,186
    I usually leave about 700-1000 for dinner. I'm not really a breakfast person, so it has been very easy to do.
  • run2bfree
    run2bfree Posts: 108 Member
    wow that's alot of cals before bed!

    you should look at this site: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    at the very bottom it will break down how many cals each meal should be depending on how many you want to eat (I eat 6 meals) and they are all around 300 cals. I try to load up at the beginning of the day to burn the most then lessen through the night...

    think the old saying, Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Lord and Dinner like a Peasant. :)
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  • run2bfree
    run2bfree Posts: 108 Member
    btw are you meaning dinner then a meal after that - like late night?
  • Megan101792
    Megan101792 Posts: 3,194 Member
    Hello,

    I'm just wondering how many calories you guys usually leave yourselves for supper. I work all day and have a small breakfast and lunch to allow myself AT LEAST 600 calories for supper and a bed time snack.

    Just curious - for me its really mind over matter. If I have 600 calories I think "wow I can eat a lot of supper!" and feel like I have a bit more cushion.

    I usually leave about 300 because I make my lunch my big meal of the day.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    I like to have 1000-1200 calories for supper. .
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    wow that's alot of cals before bed!

    you should look at this site: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    at the very bottom it will break down how many cals each meal should be depending on how many you want to eat (I eat 6 meals) and they are all around 300 cals. I try to load up at the beginning of the day to burn the most then lessen through the night...

    think the old saying, Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Lord and Dinner like a Peasant. :)

    Le sigh. Meal timing is a myth
  • umieto
    umieto Posts: 46
    I'm a reverse eater, 600kCal breakfast, 400kCal lunch, 300kCal dinner and a 150kCal buffer for snacks
  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
    I only save calories for dessert. I'd skip dinner if I had to. :tongue:
  • yelliezx
    yelliezx Posts: 633 Member
    I have about 700 calories for my dinner and evening snack. It works out well for me because the evening is when I'm most likely to binge! :)
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Anywhere between 0 and 2000+.

    ETA:
    Le sigh. Meal timing is a myth

    Oh, and ^this.
  • TheEffort
    TheEffort Posts: 1,028 Member
    600 to 700 calories is approximately what I leave for the end of my day.

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  • stormyinfinity
    stormyinfinity Posts: 12
    I try to leave myself 600 or 700 for dinner. I stay up pretty late at night, so a big dinner is preferable for me.

    Also, the preference of calling it "dinner" or "supper" is mostly just of cultural significance.
  • ChristinaR720
    ChristinaR720 Posts: 1,186
    wow that's alot of cals before bed!

    you should look at this site: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    at the very bottom it will break down how many cals each meal should be depending on how many you want to eat (I eat 6 meals) and they are all around 300 cals. I try to load up at the beginning of the day to burn the most then lessen through the night...

    think the old saying, Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Lord and Dinner like a Peasant. :)

    I have used this method for most of my weight loss, and doing so has not affected this process for me one bit. I tried doing smaller meals and snacks when I first started, and I was completely miserable. If that method works for you, then that's wonderful. You need to do what works for you!

    But, I'll stick to having my coffee for breakfast, a reasonable lunch, snacks if needed, and a big @ss dinner, because that is what works for me. Also, I'm not a hangry b*tch anymore, so my family thinks this method is awesome, too!
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    All the calories. Well, minus 50ish for coffee. I train in the evening, and then I feast.

    Meal timing has no effect on weight loss. All that matters is that you are in a deficit. If you can't sleep with a full stomach, then eat earlier in the day. Otherwise, you can eat IN bed and not be harmed by it.
  • balsert713
    balsert713 Posts: 39 Member
    I'm not a night snacker. I'm not really a snacker, unless i'm in the kitchen rumbling around, being bored. I work at 6 am, so I'm usually asleep by 9. I eat about 200 calls for breakfast -- which is a banana and peanut butter or something grab and go during my work week. I eat it before my work day starts. I eat lunch sometime between 1030 and 1130, whenever I get my lunch break. It's anywhere between 300-500 cals. Usually salad, leftovers. I find I get hungry between breakfast and lunch -- but that could be because I serve breakfast to my residents around 8 and then 9, so I'm around foodstuffs. Haha.

    Then I have about 500-700 calories left for dinner. We eat about 5, and once or twice we have built in desserts. Sugar free jello with whipped cream, fruit or the like. I have two 7 year olds that think you should eat dessert after EVERY meal. lol.

    I plan my meals a week at a time, for grocery shopping, so I know the calorie counts and serving amounts with how much leftover calories I have for each day so I can use for more servings, ice cream, so forth. If I'm not so rigid in my meal plans, I have leeway to cheat EVERYDAY. I still do unexpected potlucks, dinners out, surprise desserts from the hubby. But my schedule gets me right back on track.

    I read somewhere that a good rule of thumb is 3-4-5 -- for a 1200 cal diet eat 300 breakfast, 400 for lunch, 500 for dinner.
  • Nina1007
    Nina1007 Posts: 150
    Also around 500-800. 500 -700 when I cook and 800 when I order pizza or other food, mindfully. I like to save a few hundred for ice cream around 8-9 :)
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    i leave a majority t for evening. Why.?.cause that is when i can overeat. It actually motivates me to exercise so i can go into the evening with more than 1000 so i have what i need in case i slip up.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    I can't go to bed hungry so I like to have at least 600-1000 calories for a late dinner and then go to bed feeling full.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Same, usually 600 calories or more.
  • CMB1979
    CMB1979 Posts: 588 Member
    My dinner/supper (never understood the difference - same to me) is as many calories as I am hungry or fit into however many calories I have left in the day. Could be 300. Could be 1000.
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
    At the least, I try to give myself 400-600cal. My meals tend to go on the light side as I have 4-5 meals a day (yes, snacks count as meals in my mind), so that gives me plenty of leeway if I want to make soup, or stirfry, or eggs, or whatever comes to mind.

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