Saving too many calories for dinner?

slade1122334455
slade1122334455 Posts: 4
in Getting Started
So, the site sais I need to eat no more then 1300~ calories to loose 2 lbs a week, and 1600 for 1 lb a week, which is fine as it gives me some leeway to not try to be perfect and eat exactly as much as it sais, and is hopefully a push in the right direction either way. Though I find that I try to eat as few calories as I can for breakfast and lunch. bout 2/3 cups eggwhite (which is said to be equivlant to 4 eggs, but is less calories then two whole eggs, yellow included. Lunch, salad, which even with extra dressing only comes out to about 150 calories (came out a bit too fast). And then I have like 1300 calories I can eat whatever I want for dinner. So my question is... is this a bad idea? I have read that starving yourself is bad, as your body enters starvation mode which stores more fat when you do eat, and that you are suppose to eat breakfast to jump start your metabolism. I have also heard that you can eat fewer calories throughout the day to allow yourself to have a bigger dinner, just not sure if this takes it to too far of an extreme. I dont really feel hungry during the day eating those few calories, but not sure the science behind it. Anyways, apologies if I rambled a bit, and just looking to make sure I am on the right track.

Replies

  • AlysonG2
    AlysonG2 Posts: 713 Member
    Definitely try to eat more for lunch (maybe add some chicken to the salad), and try to fit in a couple snacks during the day (yogurt, fruit, cheese, etc). If you're not eating enough during the day, you run the risk of being so hungry when you get home that you eat the whole house! Good luck!
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    I would spread your calories out more, use one full egg and a couple egg whites, add some cheese and veggies. I like to make an egg sandwich on a sandwich thin (100 cal). What kind of salad is only 150 cal? Add cheese, veggies, fruit, bacon, tuna, cottage cheese to it to make it a 400 cal salad. A 150 one would be just lettuce and dressing??? Boring!!! Eat done snacks! Nuts, yogurt, cheese, protein bar or shake, peanut butter. You are restricting your intake so much it isn't sustainable long term.
  • McKenzieLeigh
    McKenzieLeigh Posts: 113 Member
    I don't restrict quite that much, but I do use dinner as my large meal. I have a large non calorie counting husband and 2 growing boys at home so they eat a lot and sometimes we might go out to dinner unexpectedly so I like to leave 700-800 calories left for dinner most days. Then I can enjoy whatever we eat and still be on track and if it is lighter than I can have an extra sweet or something!

    Then there are days like today (and almost all Wednesdays) where I eat almost all my calories before I go home, because I have long weekly commitments on Wednesdays so I get in late and everyone else has already eaten. I spread my calories out more and maybe just have a small snack when I get in.

    I don't see anything wrong with saving up your calories, but you do need to eat enough during the day to function well and so that you don't binge when you feel cheated and hungry.
  • tony49837
    tony49837 Posts: 15 Member
    I used to do this too. I used to skip breakfast for a long time. Now I've been forcing myself to eat more for breakfast, a reasonable lunch, and still have reasonable calories left for dinner. I'm finding I actually feel hungrier during the day now which means maybe my metabolism is kicked up a couple notches? I might even have enough calories left for a cocktail at night if I exercise during the day. Now that's incentive!!
  • kayla_who
    kayla_who Posts: 540 Member
    Your body will not go into starvation mode in one day. In fact I tend to lean towards starvation mode being a myth anyway. Starving children in Africa are not getting fat because they are not eating. Your metabolism may drop some (though not in one day) but starvation mode, no.

    That being said you don't have to eat your calories at a certain time in the day. Eat them whenever you want. I like to save quite a few for a night time snack.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    Meal timing is irrelevant. Eat when you want (I eat about 500 for lunch, and no breakfast, leaving 1500 for dinner and noshing in the evening. I tend to get hungrier in the evening, so it works for me. There's no such thing as "jump starting your metabolism", and true starvation mode (which doesn't work the way most people assume) takes days or weeks of severe undereating to take effect. There are a lot of people on here who use intermittent fasting (might be worth looking into for you; I didn't care for it).
  • theJTfitness
    theJTfitness Posts: 142 Member
    If that is how you feel comfortable eating and it works for you, then keep it up. Breakfast won't jumpstart your metabolism. You won't enter starvation mode from not eating breakfast or lunch. For the most part meal timing doesn't really matter.
  • CharleeCali
    CharleeCali Posts: 51 Member
    I eat my dinner late (8 pm) and then snack while I watch t.v That's never going to change. I pre-plan most of my daily meals, including late-night treats, so I do save up about 750 calories for evenings.
  • Apple31415
    Apple31415 Posts: 98 Member
    i read somewhere on here the mindset should be: eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner. Maybe not that extreme is the answer, but the point is, you need to fuel your body during the day. I find that when i go super low (for me less than 800 calories) before my evening workout (I eat dinner afterwards), i bonk during my workout and end up having a really unproductive session. I'm learning most through trial and error (and MFP forums help), so try fueling up earlier in the day to see for yourself.
  • ProfessorCurlz
    ProfessorCurlz Posts: 72
    I personally eat most of my calories earlier in the day, especially during the lunch hours, and if I get too close, I know how much I need to burn off, or at least have the day to burn it off. In the evening, you want your stomach to start slowing down a bit, so that is a bit counter productive to save soo many for the end of the day. Make some minor modifications and see how you feel and if its working for you.
  • fedup30
    fedup30 Posts: 141 Member
    I say eat when you are hungry. I spread my calories out, because I would be ready to chew my own arm off if I waited until dinner time!! I also find that if I eat throughout the day when I am hungry, I am less likely to binge and get out of control later :embarassed:
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    I personally would eat when you are hungry, but there are exceptions.

    If I want to have a nice big meal at night or I know I will be going out to eat .... I will let myself go hungry.

    Just don't make it a habit.

    In reality....you could eat 1300 in one meal and not eat the rest of the day and still lose weight, just might not be very fun.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    I save nearly all my calories for dinner. That is when I am hungriest (right after lifting) and when it's most convenient for me to eat. I don't have time in the morning, and there's no way I'm getting a satisfying lunch from a Tupperware container. So I just eat a lot at dinner, usually also including upwards of 500 calories for dessert alone. I also like the freedom of not having to deal with food several times a day. I usually have a couple servings of fruit at work, and that is all I care to eat during the day.

    Do not listen to anyone who says you need to "spread your calories out more" or you'll go into starvation mode. Meal timing is about personal preference and dietary adherence.. That's it.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    I eat my largest meal for dinner, sometimes this is my only meal of the day depending on my schedule for the day and what I plan on having for dinner and dessert. It has not slowed my weight loss. Meal timing is personal preference, you will not go into starvation mode for not eating breakfast, breakfast doesn't kick start your metabolism or whatever it's supposed to do.

    Find what works for you, keep a calorie deficit and don't over think it.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    So, the site sais I need to eat no more then 1300~ calories to loose 2 lbs a week, and 1600 for 1 lb a week, which is fine as it gives me some leeway to not try to be perfect and eat exactly as much as it sais, and is hopefully a push in the right direction either way. Though I find that I try to eat as few calories as I can for breakfast and lunch. bout 2/3 cups eggwhite (which is said to be equivlant to 4 eggs, but is less calories then two whole eggs, yellow included. Lunch, salad, which even with extra dressing only comes out to about 150 calories (came out a bit too fast). And then I have like 1300 calories I can eat whatever I want for dinner. So my question is... is this a bad idea? I have read that starving yourself is bad, as your body enters starvation mode which stores more fat when you do eat, and that you are suppose to eat breakfast to jump start your metabolism. I have also heard that you can eat fewer calories throughout the day to allow yourself to have a bigger dinner, just not sure if this takes it to too far of an extreme. I dont really feel hungry during the day eating those few calories, but not sure the science behind it. Anyways, apologies if I rambled a bit, and just looking to make sure I am on the right track.

    Don't worry about starvation mode if you are hitting your daily calories.
    Breakfast will not jump start your metabolism, as it never stops.

    If you aren't hungry and your low calorie breakfast, and lunches satisfy you then by all means save them for dinner.

    The big thing is to eat to your calorie goal!
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I only eat about 20% of my calories from wake up till dinner with dinner and snacks until bed making up most of my calories.
  • aqualeo1
    aqualeo1 Posts: 331 Member
    I eat my dinner late (8 pm) and then snack while I watch t.v That's never going to change. I pre-plan most of my daily meals, including late-night treats, so I do save up about 750 calories for evenings.

    Same here. Hasn't been a problem!
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    I only eat about 20% of my calories from wake up till dinner with dinner and snacks until bed making up most of my calories.

    Same here. Some days, I just want a bigger breakfast. But most days I have 800-1,000 calories of my 1696 left to eat when I get home from work at 5:30.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Eat a big dinner if you want to...eat a big breakfast and smaller lunch and dinner if you want to...eat nothing for breakfast, a big *kitten* lunch and then snack all afternoon and have nothing for dinner if you want to....eat 3 times a day if you want to...eat 20 times a day if you want to...because it doesn't really matter from strictly a weight loss perspective. Training performance is another matter entirely.

    Due to my schedule, I eat dinner every night around 8:30 or so generally (except on weekends). I take in most of my calories from around 1 PM until about 9:00PM as I just sorta have lunch and then have a snack around 3 and another around 5 or 6 and then my dinner. I lost 40 Lbs pretty easily doing this and when you look at this as pretty much a mathematical function, it becomes pretty obvious that it really doesn't matter for the average person.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    As long as you get your allotted calories for the day, it does not matter when you eat them, for weight loss.

    However, if you are going hungry by eating too little through the day, or if you have demanding physical requirements, you might want to eat more throughout the day.

    If you were training for a body competition, that would be different, but for general weight loss it doesn't matter.
  • Luciu5
    Luciu5 Posts: 15
    If you read through the whole thread then you probably know your answer now, just by reading what works for different people. Likeothers said, do whatever works for YOU. If eating that way keeps you in your calorie goal, then that's the best way for you. If you find this causes you to binge or eat over goal, then adjust to what works better.

    That's the thing with losing weight by counting calories. There is ONE rule. Be in a caloric deficit. Meal timing doesn't matter. Carbs vs fat doesn't matter. Eat 6 meals, 3 meals, or 1 ginormous meal, none of that matters if your only goal is weightloss.
  • jlynnm70
    jlynnm70 Posts: 460 Member
    I too spread mine thin early in the day (egg whites on a piece of toast with some veggies and cheese) Lunch is usually a few slices of deli meat (chicken or turkey) and an ounce of cheese. However I still have cream and sugar in my coffee - and I sometimes eat a small snack in the afternoon (right now there is this stupid bag of M&M's that we got with an order of toner and it keeps calling my name - so I've been weighing them out an ounce at a time)

    That being said - I still have the bulk of calories for when I get home. I have a husband that does NOT need to lose weight (could gain a few even), Kids, and I like my glass (or two) of wine.

    By eating a little something throughout the day......I keep from getting starving and wanting to eat the whole house......but I still get to enjoy whatever the family wants for dinner (within reason) and have a glass of wine or a sweet treat.

    This is a lifestyle change - you have to do what you can continue to live with -and if you give up everything - well - you won't stick with it!
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    I do the same, I can't get quite 1500 as my total for the day is only 1700 but I do try very hard to have at least 800 for dinner. Hasn't stopped my progress either. I'm a late snacker so this keeps me under my calories for the day and still allows me to budget for the occasional surprise dinner out or desert or just munching on something while I watch tv. Do what works for you ;)
  • eileen0515
    eileen0515 Posts: 408 Member
    After much experimentation, leaving a bit over half of my calories for the evening meal, and a snack later, works best for me. Pretty much any combo that works for you, that makes you compliant to the calorie deficit will work.
  • hmaddpear
    hmaddpear Posts: 610 Member
    Yeah, what others have said. If you find that smaller breakfast (if you eat it) and lunch and saving your calories for the evening doesn't make you want to eat everything, then go for it. I save about half my calories for the evening, after eating 25% at breakfast and 25% at lunch.

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