What's your calorie goal and how do you distribute them throughout the day?
TimothyFish
Posts: 4,925 Member
Curious because one of my plans for maintenance allocates 750 calories for lunch, but I often see people eating two slices of pizza for lunch (close to 800 calories). That is doable, but pulling calories from somewhere else, but my preferred method of watching my intake is to know how much I have available for each meal and stick close to it or just a little under.
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I’m a bit puzzled as to where you’re going with this. My calorie goal is 1450, and I eat those calories however. Usually two 500-calorie meals (lunch and dinner) and some Quest bars / ice cream. If your inquiry is in regard of whether people set a specific number of calories per each meal, I do not. However things line up works for me.
Edit: just saw you’re talking about maintenance. If I were maintaining, I’d care even less about calorie splitting, as I’d have more to play with.0 -
It's 1690 to maintain my current weight without exercise. Some days I run a deficit and some days I don't. When I don't, I generally do just coffee for breakfast, 300-400 calorie lunch after 2 pm (16:8 here), 500-700 for dinner, then I like to graze until about 10. I don't really assign specific calorie amounts--I plan dinner based on what's on sale, almost always eat a salad for lunch, and keep things like vegetables, fruit, cheese, deli meat, and peanut butter on hand to round out my macros for snacks.0
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I’m a bit puzzled as to where you’re going with this. My calorie goal is 1450, and I eat those calories however. Usually two 500-calorie meals (lunch and dinner) and some Quest bars / ice cream. If your inquiry is in regard of whether people set a specific number of calories per each meal, I do not. However things line up works for me.
Edit: just saw you’re talking about maintenance. If I were maintaining, I’d care even less about calorie splitting, as I’d have more to play with.
Where I'd like to get to is a place where I don't have to log calories. Breakfast is pretty simple, because I eat pretty much the same thing every day anyway. Lunch is a little more complicated because the menu changes regularly. Pizza ends up being my go to when the other options don't look appetizing or have excessive amounts of calories. For weight loss, a single slice of pizza works okay, but for maintenance without logging, the problem I see is that either I'll be way under with one slice or I'll go over with two, unless I spread my calories differently.
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I eat 2000 calories per day during the weight loss phase. If I'm super hungry at breakfast I will eat a big breakfast, small lunch, small snack and a decent sized dinner. If I'm having pizza with my kids I will have smaller meals until dinner where I will eat most of my calories. I don't divide my calories, I just eat more whenever I feel a bit extra hungry or have a nice big snack after dinner if I wasn't super hungry at some point during the day.
ETA: I don't log every day, but I do keep an approximate running total in my head.0 -
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TimothyFish wrote: »I’m a bit puzzled as to where you’re going with this. My calorie goal is 1450, and I eat those calories however. Usually two 500-calorie meals (lunch and dinner) and some Quest bars / ice cream. If your inquiry is in regard of whether people set a specific number of calories per each meal, I do not. However things line up works for me.
Edit: just saw you’re talking about maintenance. If I were maintaining, I’d care even less about calorie splitting, as I’d have more to play with.
Where I'd like to get to is a place where I don't have to log calories. Breakfast is pretty simple, because I eat pretty much the same thing every day anyway. Lunch is a little more complicated because the menu changes regularly. Pizza ends up being my go to when the other options don't look appetizing or have excessive amounts of calories. For weight loss, a single slice of pizza works okay, but for maintenance without logging, the problem I see is that either I'll be way under with one slice or I'll go over with two, unless I spread my calories differently.
Or eat 1 1/2 pieces of pizza? I'm wondering how you calculate your calories because you don't weigh your food, right? I don't either. I don't even know how many calories I eat per day because I don't log or track. Just curious as to your current method.0 -
What kind of pizza has 400 calories a slice? I thought the norm for a plain pizza is 250-300ish? Or are you including toppings?0
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I digress...I'm still losing, but close to goal. Depending on how much I exercise, I usually am working with about 1400 calories. 300 for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 200 snack, 300-400 dinner (though this meal is where it varies more), and 200ish for a dessert (or wine if I'm out). I think when I go into maintenance I will increase my lunch slightly, but probably still keep a small deficit a few days a week to allow more indulgences on the weekends.
As far as your pizza issue, I would either eat one and a half slice, or stick to your current one slice and add something small or add a snack later.0 -
I don't do breakfast and eat a super light lunch (200 calories) because I like to eat a big dinner and have whatever I want for a snack later. I make sure to leave plenty of calories on the table (pun intended) for wine, too. Calorie intake is 1700, up to 2300 on weekends.0
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I prefer to allocate the majority of my calories between the hours of 10am to 2pm. On a daily basis, I eat around 2000. I usually have only about 300-350 for b'fast; dinner and a small dessert somewhere between 600-700. So that's about 1000 for an AM snack, lunch, PM snack. AM snack is usually about 150, lunch probably 500, PM snack about 250...leaves a little wiggle room for dinner/dessert.0
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I have 1750 calories and like to split them like this: about 200-300 for breakfast, about 500 for lunch, and the remainder for dinner and snacks. I like a large dinner to keep me happy while I can live on small breakfast and lunches without feeling deprived. I think it just comes down to personal preference.0
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2200 for a modest cut. 3 meals and a couple snacks during the day.0
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I eat 2000 calories a day. How much I eat per meal varies, but these are the ranges I typically fall. Where I fall in the range depends on the day. I'm almost always on the high side for breakfast, so that one varies less than the others.
Breakfast: 500-650
Snack: 100-300
Lunch: 350-450
Dinner: 300-600
Dessert: 150-3000 -
TimothyFish wrote: »I’m a bit puzzled as to where you’re going with this. My calorie goal is 1450, and I eat those calories however. Usually two 500-calorie meals (lunch and dinner) and some Quest bars / ice cream. If your inquiry is in regard of whether people set a specific number of calories per each meal, I do not. However things line up works for me.
Edit: just saw you’re talking about maintenance. If I were maintaining, I’d care even less about calorie splitting, as I’d have more to play with.
Where I'd like to get to is a place where I don't have to log calories. Breakfast is pretty simple, because I eat pretty much the same thing every day anyway. Lunch is a little more complicated because the menu changes regularly. Pizza ends up being my go to when the other options don't look appetizing or have excessive amounts of calories. For weight loss, a single slice of pizza works okay, but for maintenance without logging, the problem I see is that either I'll be way under with one slice or I'll go over with two, unless I spread my calories differently.
I see what you’re saying. I don’t know, I’d have have the two slices of pizza and then have a smaller dinner or something. But then again, I like pre-logging my meals, so making decisions on the fly would probably freak me out a bit at this point.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »
I vote for one piece plus a small snack or other addition of about 200 calories. a cookie or two
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I'm new to maintenance but I'm just doing the same as I did during weight loss except with a few more calories. I eat a pretty light breakfast, lunch, and snacks throughout the day (usually around 1000) and then that leaves me with around1500 for dinner and snacks plus exercise calories. I don't typically set those numbers, that's just how it typically works out.0
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i don't log. i keep a rough tally in my head with the understanding that my maintenance isn't some exact and specific number. I tend to consume anywhere from 2700 - 3000 calories and maintain. As per my rough tallies, I don't eat the same calories day in and day out...basically, my natural eating tendencies lean towards calorie cycling.
Beyond that, it's most important that I listen to my body and my hunger ques, particularly where snacking is concerned...I ask myself, hungry or bored? If it's the latter I go find something else to do or nibble on a few sunflower seeds.
I monitor my weight with regular weigh ins and track the trend...for the past 4 months or so I've fluctuated between 186 and 190 Lbs with my average being 188. When I notice that my average starts trending in a different direction I take a look at my diet and I can usually spot where I've started eating an extra snack or something or most often, I notice that I'm doing a bit less exercise than normal...I identify the problem and deal with it right there and then.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »
Thank G-D. I thought maybe my recent 300 calorie estimates were wrong!0 -
Maintenance for me is 2100-2300
Typically my cals are:
Breakfast 400
Mid morning snack 150
Lunch 400
Dinner 700
Evening snacking 250-300
Tea/coffee with milk cals per day (x5 cups) - 100
(I may be petite and getting on a bit but I'm very active
hence my huge appetite) 0 -
I try to hit 3,000 calories a day:
Breakfast - 825
Lunch - 650
Protein Shake - 155
Dinner - 925
Snacks throughout day - 4500 -
I'm flexible on calories and how to allocate my calorie allowance but nominally my goal is six days 2000 + exercise calories and one day only 650 cals (a maintenance varient of 5:2 fasting).
As my exercise is a bit extreme in reality my days vary from 650 to 5000+ cals.
On the six "normal eating" days I will mostly have three main meals + snacks. Guess the calorie amounts per meal vary from 300 - 2000? Not really concerned about individual meals just the day as a whole.
But if my weight drifts upwards towards my intervention point I may skip breakfast as that's a very easy way for me to drop about 400 - 500 cals.
My main meal tends to be in the evening but really the choices through the day centre on what I feel like eating, hunger, social eating and overall hitting my calorie and other nutrition goals.
Also happy to transfer calories from one day to the next and take more of a weekly view.
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Main meal is my evening meal.. But it is always fish or chicken, veggies and starch.. This being said, all other calories fall where they may...
If I happen to go out for lunch (rarely) then that is my biggest meal..
But right now, I do not plan to stop logging.. Perhaps when the "calorie database memory chip" in my head has enough data, I will know how to calculate calories before I eat them..0 -
My maintenance is around 1400
Breakfast: 50-100
Lunch: 450-500
Snack: 250
Dinner: 450-500
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@ Op, good luck to you if you can get to the point where you don't have to log. I found in the past for me, when I didn't log, and I thought I knew how to distribute my calories, it would always creep back up.
But to answer your question, I do 1600 calories for the day (sometimes I dip into the exercise calories). Breakfast is my major calorie hit. 600 - 700. Lunch is usually a protein shake (200 ish). Dinner is 500-600 and I usually end with some chips and hummus if I can.0 -
It really depends on the pizza. One slice of Papa Johns Large Pepperoni is about 320 calories, but the same size with deep dish crust from Pizza Hut is 370. And if you get New York style slices, which tend to be cut larger, they are around 400. I don't think I've met a slice of pizza that was near 250 calories, but it sure would be nice since pizza is one of my favorite foods.TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »
Thank G-D. I thought maybe my recent 300 calorie estimates were wrong!
As for the original question, I'm not that strict with how I divide up my calories. I usually try to get around 500 calories at breakfast only because in my experience if I eat less than that I tend to be hungry again by 10:00. I shoot for around 600 calories for lunch/dinner. I cook dinner at night and usually eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. That leaves me room for snacks or desserts. I generally eat anywhere from 1800-2100 calories per day. While I still have my goal set to lose weight, lately I've just been eating around maintenance.
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Different things work for different people, but my maintenance goal is 1,600 calories a day and this has been the most helpful for me personally (ever since I adapted it I've never felt the need to cheat or go over!):
Breakfast, usually 1 hour after I wake up since I like to get ready first: 400 calories (30% fat, 30% carbs, 30% protein)
Snack, I'm not a big lunch person as you'll notice: 160 calories (usually around 1 cup of cereal high in iron, which is also mostly carbs so it evens out the ratios from breakfast and brings me close to 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein for the day)
Snack #2: 140 calories
Dinner: 500-550 calories
Night time snack, which is when I have that chocolate bar or ice cream I've been wanting to treat myself to: 350-400 calories.
In the end when it's all said and done, I usually end up with about 50% carbs, 20-25% protein, and 25-30% fat.
I try to make healthier options throughout the day, and then that 350-400 calories at night gives me room to still indulge myself in something satisfying while also keeping me motivated to stay on track during the day so I can earn it. Some people say not to reward yourself with food, but I always do with this small snack. It works for me, so I see nothing wrong with using food as motivation!0 -
It's up to your personal eating preference & your particular lifestyle really.
The general meal caloric guidelines is that each meal should range 500 - 700 calories (I can't remember the source of this info - sry).
However, personally I have a small breakfast, moderate lunch, and my dinner is my biggest meal of the day.
But honestly as others have mentioned, I don't break the calories down by the meal - that would drive me completely mad! lol
In maintenance I glance at my daily calorie intake but I focus on the macros. I don't really put a lot of emphasis on the specific number of calories anymore because I practice a variation of the 80/20 Rule so about once a week or so I will go over my daily allotted calories & I'm A-OK with that.
For me in maintenance is more of a weekly pulse-check on the calories & paying more attention to the macros.
Best of luck to you!0
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