Small Breakfast, Big Dinner, Ok as long as calories are low?

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jenna_watsonator
jenna_watsonator Posts: 99 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know everyone always says eat more in the morning and less at night to lose the most weight possible, but to lose weight you've got to create a deficit...and it seems I am only able to stick to my calorie goals when I eat less in the morning, and have a bigger lunch/dinner. I don't go to bed until a few hours later. Even though I am staying below my calories, am I sabotaging my weight loss goals by not eating a big breakfast? HELP!

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  • merrillfoster
    merrillfoster Posts: 855 Member
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    bump
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    I think as long as you're eating in between, you'll be fine. They say you should eat every few hours to keep your metabolism going. I'm better at keeping all my meals about the same size so whatever works for you!
  • 90poundsoflard
    90poundsoflard Posts: 81
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    I want the answer to this also. I like to save my calories for the evening - just in case. Sometimes I get last minute plans for dinner - what do you do if you only have 300 calories left?
  • tritta01
    tritta01 Posts: 311
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    very good question!
  • spackham
    spackham Posts: 252 Member
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    I asked my nutritionist this very questions and she said, "As long as you don't skip a meal, it does not matter when you get your calories. If you like a smaller breakfast and bigger dinner that is fine if it is not so late that it disrupts your sleep." She also said it does not matter if you have 3 normal meal or 6 little ones and that most people find that it is more convenient to just eat three meals with one snack. Do what works for you. Things even out over the day. Have your small breakfast and enjoy your dinner. Just eat within your calorie goal and exercise. At first she wanted me eating 1600 cals to lose 2 lbs per week but begged to do less and she agreed to 1200-1400. Next month I am raising to 13-1500 cals.
  • LHarders
    LHarders Posts: 28 Member
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    I don't have anything to back me up....but I believe it is all about how many calories you put in and how many you burn....shouldn't matter when you eat them. I too try to save my big meal for the evening because that is when my husband and I can eat together.
  • Duliebob
    Duliebob Posts: 12
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    I personally run my calories about equal all day, seems to work best so I don't start feeling like I've been starving.

    Today I had a wrench thrown into my plans for dinner, ended up helping one of my brother's friends with her car for a couple hours. This kind of caused my dinner to happen a little earlier than I would have had it, and he paid with a meal off his meal plan at the school he goes to. He is cheap, so he expected me to eat a lot, but I had a basic meal. Plus, after that, I was invited to a friend's to celebrate her getting a better job, her mom bought ice cream cake from DQ, I LOVE that, but I knew I needed to be careful. I had a little extra, so I figured what I had left and was very polite when I was offered another piece of the cake.

    Other times when I'm invited out for dinner, I'll make up the deficit by extra activity the next day, or I'll cut my meal in half immediately and box the rest for my next meal. This works better in the winter as I can then cool it in the car. I also don't imbibe as much in the spirits or brews since my tolerance is shot again.

    I guess the short answer is to do what works best for you. Take on a short trial period (1-2 weeks) where you run the small breakfast, large dinner, and then another where you run the big breakfast and small dinner and see what happens.

    What works best for me is to eat every 2-4 hours with my first and last meals the biggest and three small snacks in between. My job works well for this though as I have plenty of freedom as a desk-side services computer technician.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    As long as you burn more calories than you're taking in (creating a deficit), you'll lose weight. It's very important not to skip breakfast entirely, but it's OK if you choose to eat less in the morning. Try to eat a mix of carbs and protein.

    My breakfast is usually around 200 calories but then I eat again about 2 hours later. Breakfast is old-fashion oatmeal (not packaged) with blueberries and black coffee. A couple hours later I will have raw veggies with between 1.5-2.0 ounces of protein (turkey, chicken, tuna, sardines).
  • juldga
    juldga Posts: 119
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    My breakfast is normally 200 or less lunch 400 or less and dinner 600 or so.... When I was doing this before I lost 80 lbs in 5 months...
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
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    My trainer suggested I eat 6 small meals a day instead of any big ones. She said this prevents your blood sugar from spiking, which slows down weight loss. I know I don't get hungry doing this. It took some time to get use to it...I felt like I was always eating, but it seems to be working.

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