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

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  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    500-700 on average. Pizza and wing night is around 1000
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    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
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    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: 10,741 Member
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    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
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    My goal is 1350 per day - I leave about 600 for dinner and night snack.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    Minimum 600 calories.

    I like to eat a solid lunch or I'm starved all afternoon..
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    I don't "leave" anything for dinner - I prelog for the entire week beforehand. It keeps me from guessing how many calories I'll need at the end of the day. I don't do guessing, I'd rather have a plan.

    My dinners usually run between 450 and 550 calories. Breakfast is around 400, lunch 250, afternoon snack 200, protein shake 250. That totals 1550-1600 calories per day.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    I'm around 2000-2300 without weight gain on maintenance right now. I'd say 600-900 round about there.
  • hellodmo
    hellodmo Posts: 23
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    I am on about 1650/day. I try to leave around 1000 because I'm never quite sure what my wife has planned or when a trip to the frozen yogurt place is in order.
  • Zx14chick
    Zx14chick Posts: 255 Member
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    I also tend to stress a bit about what I'm going to eat for dinner. We used to eat out ALL the time. It's been easier now that we are eating at home more often. Easier on my calorie intake planning and easier on our wallet! I like to have at least 800 for dinner, if not more. I am on around 1550 calories. Today my breakfast was about 200 calories, lunch around 200 calories and 200 calories for snacks (carrots and hummus). I would rather fill in the evening calories after I know what I'm eating for dinner. It really screws up my days when I have a lunch planned.
  • msbeeblebrox
    msbeeblebrox Posts: 133 Member
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    My diary is open. I typically eat around 1000 between breakfast and lunch; and leave the other 800 for dinner, snacks, and dessert.
  • dianaeatworld
    dianaeatworld Posts: 25 Member
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    I have picky eaters at home so I have a to cook for them more so than myself so I eat light all day (which has helped me not feel luggish at work) and leave anywhere between 800 - 1000. I'm goal per day is 1520 per day and I use my lunch hour to walk when I can.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    I lost most of my weight at 1550 NET calories a day. I would try to save 800-1000 for dinner. 2-300 cal breakfast, 3-600 cal lunch, and 700-1000 cal dinner with some exercise to give me 1-200 cals extra.

    Even now that I get quite a bit more (I exercise more and I'm on higher cals), breakfast didn't change but lunch and dinner got bigger. More snacks too.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Not enough, lol. Typically between 300 and 500.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Usually between 700-1000. I eat around 2000 cals a day.
  • ddixon503
    ddixon503 Posts: 119 Member
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    Between 1000 and 1200 for myself (daily is 2750)

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