How many calories do you 'leave' yourself for dinner?

jaynegalls24
jaynegalls24 Posts: 1
in Health and Weight Loss
I am just curious as to how many calories everyone "leaves" themselves for dinner each night. I like to think of my diary as a sort of budget where I can consume, for example, 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, and then have 500 for dinner (on a 1200 calorie budget).

Anyone have a certain amount of calories they typically like to have available for them to enjoy at dinner time?

For me, I like to have at least 600 calories left for dinner so I can eat a bigger meal at night (with maybe a glass of wine LOL)!
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Replies

  • yasoyyo
    yasoyyo Posts: 15
    Personally I'm not a dinner person at all, most nights my dinners are like my lunches or smaller. Usually I adapt my eating according to my hunger - if I am particularily hungry during the day, I might not eat at all after 5 or 6 pm, but if I suspect I'll get hungry in the evening I'll leave a minimum of 200 calories. If I plan to have a "proper" meal in the evening I like to leave 400-500 kcals for that though!
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    I'm 5'4", female and lost 25 by eating at least 1700 calories, usually 1800 calories. When I was losing, I usually saved 1000 calories for dinner. You might be shortchanging yourself by only eating 1200 calories.
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,795 Member
    I eat 3 mini meals and have substantial snacks. 400 is enough for me for dinner however I pre plan and if I need to I adjust my calories throughout the day to ensure it fits into my daily tracking needs, So if I was going out for dinner I would be saving more like 600-700 calories for dinner
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 683 Member
    Im a dinner girl I love dinner so I plan these first then work in other meals, I eat loads im very clever at stretching calories like 4 grilled chicken drumsticks are around 180 calories if small add cous cous and salad and a nice big dinner small calories. My advice is to always plan best meal first and work in other meals im 5ft 5 and weigh 11st 4 and im on 1800 cals a day I usually hit the 1700 mark on average
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
    I have difficulty with dinner. dinner has traditionally been the biggest meal of my day...since i was a child. it is also something i have always looked forward to. Now, dinner causes me anxiety. i fear i will over eat. and when i finish eating, i feel guilty because "if i am just going to bed in a couple of hours, why did i have to eat X amount" i know, i know...it is crazy logic. currently, i am trying to find a way to still look forward to a nice dinner without going overboard.
  • amwoidyla
    amwoidyla Posts: 257 Member
    I'm a dinner person, so I always try to leave around 1,000 calories, maybe more depending on what it is. Tonight we're having penne rosa with parm chicken, so I'm going to want at least that many calories available. I *might* even be able to fit in a glass of wine.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    I usually have 900-1000 left for dinner and nighttime snacks. I eat 1920 (sometimes more) a day and am losing steadily. 5'4" & currently 150.
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
    With exercise Im usually at the 2500-2700 range.

    I probably only eat about 700-1000 cals before 3.

    Then have either a BIG dinner or two normal size dinners at diff times.
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,123 Member
    I don't really "leave" myself a certain amount... I just eat what I eat and make dinner work with what I have left... and if more calories are needed, I'll go for a run or a long walk.

    Generally speaking though, my dinner is not more than about 400-450 calories.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    1860 today.

    It was a fair bit higher, so I've just had a litre of chocolate milk, a pack of beef and two and a half servings of cereal with milk as my 'pre workout' :).
  • chloeealicee
    chloeealicee Posts: 204 Member
    I like to have big breakfast and lunches and little dinners. So i usually save around 500-600 calories for dinner. Breakfast is around 400 and lunch(es) around 800-900 (i eat like two/three mini lunches throughout the day)
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    If I'm not working out that day, 750-ish. If I have worked out once, 800-900. If I have worked out a lot, 900-1,200.

    My daily goal is set to 1370.
  • KrisJ125
    KrisJ125 Posts: 93 Member
    I don't really "leave" myself a certain amount... I just eat what I eat and make dinner work with what I have left... and if more calories are needed, I'll go for a run or a long walk.

    Generally speaking though, my dinner is not more than about 400-450 calories.

    This is exactly my philosophy too! If dinner puts me over, then I do a workout to counterbalance!
  • miss_phat_booty
    miss_phat_booty Posts: 117
    I like to leave as close to 1,000 calories as I can. But I'm not eating 1200 cals... thank god.:laugh:
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    700-1200 for dinner and evening snacks!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    700-1000, especially if I decide on something nice afterwards (ice cream, cake, etc.)
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
    anywhere from 800-1200 depending on the morning of
  • feliscatus84
    feliscatus84 Posts: 80 Member
    I am on 1500 a day. Generally I like to leave 450 calories for dinner. I eat a lot of the same things everyday so it doesn't change much unless I decide to have a larger lunch. Then I go for a lighter dinner. I like to keep my day pretty even with a snack in between and my coffee. It also can vary if I exercise. Then I have maybe 100 cals more for dinner.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I did MFP I pretty much planned out dinner and made the rest of my day work around that. Dinner is where it's at, and I like desert...and beer.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
    I lost my extra weight by eating around 1300-1450 calories (less as I got lighter, until now when I'm starting to raise my calories slowly to go into maintenance). But with the exercise I do I usually have 1700-2400 calories I can eat each day. I usually keep my breakfasts around 300, lunches under 500 if possible (though now I'm eating a little more, my lunches are a bit bigger), and like to save at the very least 800 for dinner. I'm happier if I have 1000+ left for dinner though, as I like big dinners (it's the only meal of the day my fiance and I have together during the week) and it is nice to be able to have a small glass of wine or half a beer. :)
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    500-700 on average. Pizza and wing night is around 1000
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Assuming "dinner" is what we are calling the last meal of the day I just eat whatever I have left to eat to hit my goal. That could be 150 calories of almonds or it could be 1100 calories of pasta meat and frozen yogurt.
  • ftrobbie
    ftrobbie Posts: 1,017 Member
    More boring,I plan dinner, then breakfast, then lunch and fill in snacks mid morning, mid afternoon and evening to use up the remainder. That way if I am going out, I can have alcohol and or pudding if I want and make the rest fit around it. As a result I do not feel deprived. If I need to go over significantly to get it to fit and know it is coming, I plan the days around it in advance too. No spontaneity but good for waistline reduction. Have fun
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I am similar to you, OP. 600 calories is a rough amount I like to have in reserve when I get home from work. I can eat all of that for dinner or have a little snack after, depending on what my husband makes for dinner or what we decide to have. Once a week or so we go out for ice cream and I'll either have a smaller dinner that night and/or get a bunch of exercise from walking before or after. Works out pretty well for me.
  • MLouis1
    MLouis1 Posts: 108 Member
    My goal is 1350 per day - I leave about 600 for dinner and night snack.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    These open ended questions don't really work.
    It is like asking a group of 1,000 people who make between $15,000 & $500,000 how much money they plan to spend on their son's birthday gift. The answers will be all over the place.

    That said, I plan on leaving enough to be enough to have my meal.
    I target 2600 per day, and often burn enough to get me an extra 200-400 on top of that, so having 1,000+ cals left at 5pm is not that unusual for me.
  • nlbez
    nlbez Posts: 111 Member
    I like my dinner to be around 1000. I have a couple of hundered for breakfast,then around 500 for lunch. X
  • oxers
    oxers Posts: 259 Member
    I usually make dinner in advance, and it also usually ends up being my leanest and most nutritious meal so I just plug it in first. Pre-log that noise. Then breakfast, then lunch, then I fill in the gaps with snacks as needed. Dinner usually ends up being around 400 cals? Usually a piece of lean protein (chicken or salmon) and a good serving of roasted veg - cauliflower or brussels sprouts seem to be my go-to lately. I work nights, though, and my dinner falls in the middle of my shift, so I'm always careful to give myself enough energy to get through.
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    Depends entirely on how much breakfast I have and my exercise for the day, but often around 900 from a 1690 base.
  • Blacklance36
    Blacklance36 Posts: 755 Member
    Minimum 600 calories.

    I like to eat a solid lunch or I'm starved all afternoon..

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