How many calories do you leave yourself for dinner?

24

Replies

  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    As of 3 weeks ago, I leave 1000-1200 for dinner (on 1800 calories). Room for a huge dinner and dessert.

    :drinker:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I was actively trying to lose and logging I pre-logged everything...so everything was planned out in advance and I didn't have to worry about leaving myself calories or whatever. My dinners have always been in the neighborhood of 600 calories.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    Dinner is usually in the 600-900 calorie range for me. I tend to plan my menu so on days I know what I'm having for dinner I will pre-log it. That way I know what sort of calories I can have earlier in the day.
  • getting_fit86
    getting_fit86 Posts: 128 Member
    Awesome. It is always nice to have that room for a larger meal and dessert.
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
    Wherever did "eat like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper" go?

    I divide my meals into 4 x 300-400 cal meals, depending on how I feel. I prefer to go through the day fooling my body that I'm not dieting by leaving the smallest meal for last - then I'm only entitled to feel hungry :) for the last few hours before bedtime. Crazy or what?
    This just doesn't work for me psychologically. I keep breakfast and lunch routine and kind of small so I can look forward to something special for dinner. I like to cook and have a full dinner with my family. So that's where I put my effort/calories (900-1000). Delaying gratification till evening works best for me.
  • aalicia88
    aalicia88 Posts: 77 Member
    Usually about 400-500. If I eat my biggest meal in the morning, it keeps me fuller longer. For some reason if I try to eat small things throughout the day, I'm always starving. Unfortunately during the week I don't have a lot of time to eat before I go to work but on the weekends/days I'm off, I'll eat the majority of my calories when I wake up. 400-500 calories is enough to give me a good serving size of chicken or fish with some veggies and rice. But just do trial and error to find out what works best for you.
  • suziepoo1984
    suziepoo1984 Posts: 915 Member
    i have a light breakfast(mostly), some morning snack...medium lunch, afternoon snack and i try and leave around 700 calories for dinner/snacks/desserts..whatever i feel like eating..
  • NumbrsNerd
    NumbrsNerd Posts: 202 Member
    400-500 for me.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    All of them. All the calories.
  • Takarameri
    Takarameri Posts: 152 Member
    When it's cooler out, I tend to leave 600-800 calories for dinner. In warmer weather, usually 100-300 for fruits and vegetables since I rarely want to eat a real dinner.
  • leaaa92
    leaaa92 Posts: 164 Member
    I usually leave 400 - 600 calories for dinner. As much as I can, basically :)
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    I like to snack after dinner so I like to have 1000 if I can, 900 for sure. I eat most of my calories after 6 (I know, it's a miracle I can lose any weight :p)
  • RunFarLiveHappy
    RunFarLiveHappy Posts: 805 Member
    Almost all of them. Dinner is my main meal of the day.

    This ^^^ I do lean gains so supper is most/all my calories ????
  • MsGuMama
    MsGuMama Posts: 17 Member
    Wherever did "eat like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper" go?

    I divide my meals into 4 x 300-400 cal meals, depending on how I feel. I prefer to go through the day fooling my body that I'm not dieting by leaving the smallest meal for last - then I'm only entitled to feel hungry :) for the last few hours before bedtime. Crazy or what?

    I agree with this one ^^^. I eat during the day so i dont feel like im hungry all of the time and whatever calories I have left are for dinner, if I come up short for a decent meal at dinner then I will go for a walk or jog first to get back the calories I need. If you eat a large dinner you may not have enough time to completely digest it before you go to bed and it can be more easily converted over to fat. Breakfast and Lunch should be your biggest meals. If your not a big breakfast person and bigger lunch is still better than a bigger dinner.

    as you are reporting that you always hungry throughout the day you may want to allocate more calories to your daytime meals/snacks.

    hope this helps! I always try to remember that dinner is just fuel for bedtime so why go heavy?
  • nyrina4life
    nyrina4life Posts: 196 Member
    500-700 calories, depending on what is going on. Tonight I left myself 750 because of a family BBQ / birthday celebration. Just really depends. ='3
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    It depends on what I eat for lunch, but on a well planned day, I usually have over 1000-1200 calories left for dinner.
  • run2bfree
    run2bfree Posts: 108 Member
    Just out of curiosity... How many calories do you leave yourself for dinner? I like to leave myself at LEAST 600-800 calories so I have a bit more cushion to have a decent meal and a bed time snack. Though some days are harder than others when I just feel hungry all day at work!

    in my perfect world I'd love for it to only be about 300 but usually goes into 400-500 and I go over my goal (not considering what I earned from workingout) I have heard you are supposed to eat like a king at breakfast, a lord at lunch and peasant at dinner - but then you read some of the food plans on body building.com and they have 6-7 meals all at 250-300 cals throughout the day...

    what are you normally doing right now?
  • seruki
    seruki Posts: 10
    I *try* to eat more during mid-day than any other time. That's helped me with my progress a bit for some reason.
  • cbluna
    cbluna Posts: 26
    700-900 for dinner and my 2 squares of pre-bed dark chocolate. :happy:
  • markpmc
    markpmc Posts: 240 Member
    I leave about 1K in case I decide on a Cheeseburger.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    i do my best eating at night after they gym, so i typically try to have between 1400-1600 left when i leave the office.

    this allows me to get my double scoop protein shake, AND copious amounts of food after lifting.

    if i get full (often) before i reach my goal, it's ok....i'll save those cals for the weekend and do damage.
  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
    I'm averaging about 500-700 a night for dinner/snacks after dinner.

    Typically I don't get home until 7 - 7:30 PM anyways, so by then it's pretty late and I just eat my dinner as my snack. That's about 5 days a week it's like that.
  • Mainebikerchick
    Mainebikerchick Posts: 1,573 Member
    600-800
  • TyTy76
    TyTy76 Posts: 1,761 Member
    Today, since I didn't eat breakfast and a just a light lunch, it's about 1600

    Or for example, I will be eating the majority of a frozen pizza
  • jennifervalentinebcc
    jennifervalentinebcc Posts: 7 Member
    Interesting to see how many people leave about 500-600 calories for dinner. That's what I've always done (or tried to do), although sometimes it's hard to stick to it. I try to eat about 1000 at work, and then leave the remainder for dinner. I am relatively small (i.e. I'm not eating 3000 calories a day) but am also pretty active (so I'm not eating 1200 either).
  • TallGlassOfQuirky
    TallGlassOfQuirky Posts: 282 Member
    I like big dinners, so it's not unusual for me to leave myself 1000+ for dinner and maybe a snack or dessert during the week, but on weekends I am more likely to have decent sized meals for breakfast and lunch, leaving me closer to the 500 calorie range for dinner.
  • cwaters120
    cwaters120 Posts: 354 Member
    Wherever did "eat like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper" go?

    I divide my meals into 4 x 300-400 cal meals, depending on how I feel. I prefer to go through the day fooling my body that I'm not dieting by leaving the smallest meal for last - then I'm only entitled to feel hungry :) for the last few hours before bedtime. Crazy or what?

    This - kind of. On 1200 calorie goal, I leave 250-300 for dinner. I use about 250 on breakfast, 500 for lunch (my most active time of the day and I have to go the longest before I can have a snack), and about 200 for a mid-day snack. Anything I've "earned" I use on added protein for mid-day snack or dinner - whichever I feel hungriest for.
  • wjack459
    wjack459 Posts: 17
    breakfast and lunch is my biggest i like to have dinner before 8pm or i just have a protein shake as a replacement dinner with my 24 almonds. i love to leave at least "1 grand" on my count at the end of the day!!!!! but it working for me.
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    It usually depends what I've planned out for dinner. If I know I'm making mexican food, etc. I leave at least 700, and will have a small breakfast/lunch. if I happen to have a large lunch, I'll usually keep my dinner small, and now and again only have 200-300 cals left.

    So i suppose it varies day by day!
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Today I have 1,223 left for dinner and snacks. Some days it's more and some days it's less. Really it just depends on when I get hungry during the day and whether or not I'm working that day.

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