During which time frame do you eat most of your calories?

WorkInProgress909
WorkInProgress909 Posts: 271 Member
edited August 2015 in Food and Nutrition
Around what time do you eat most of your calories? When do you feel more hungry ?

Thanks to MFP I have realized my lack of energy might be due to requiring more calories in the morning until about 5pm.. and then after that I am not really hungry and can eat a small dinner.

I used to before either barely eat breakfast or a very small breakfast, lunch would be small too and then I would save my calories for evening snacks and dinner. What seems to work better for me is having a larger breakfast, a snack, a large lunch, and then for dinner I do not really have a large appetite so I can have something small.

Replies

  • Kexessa
    Kexessa Posts: 346 Member
    edited August 2015
    I eat 100% of my calories between 12pm and 9pm with 60% of those between 5-9pm. Not on purpose, it's just the way I'm hungry.
  • Dmaster1214
    Dmaster1214 Posts: 9 Member
    I save most of my calories for 2PM-6PM. Leaves me nice and full and not even thinking about food until the next day.

    I actually feel more energetic on an empty stomach from morning until lunch time.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I eat 2/3 of my calories by 1pm typically.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    It depends on the day. If I didn't eat much the day before, I'll usually eat more earlier in the day.

    Generally, I like to spread my calories out into bunches of smaller meals and then stop eating around dinnertime. I don't eat late.

    I don't think my way is better than any other way, though. It's just what I like after doing lots of different things.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    WorkInProgress909 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I eat 2/3 of my calories by 1pm typically.
    At what times do you have your meals?

    Depends when I'm hungry. Sometimes I'm starving and have 800 calories by 10am, sometimes only 300 by 11am. Usually though I guess it's breakfast around 7pm, and lunch at 11am (later if I have a snack). Dinner is usually around 5-6pm and if I'm hungry I have a snack around 2pm.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    WorkInProgress909 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    It depends on the day. If I didn't eat much the day before, I'll usually eat more earlier in the day.

    Generally, I like to spread my calories out into bunches of smaller meals and then stop eating around dinnertime. I don't eat late.

    I don't think my way is better than any other way, though. It's just what I like after doing lots of different things.
    Yea I think different things work for different people. Just curious to hear how others do it, thank you for sharing :)
    What time is your dinner?
    Today it'll be around 8:00. I'll go to bed around midnight. With any luck at all, I'll be asleep around 12:30. Since menopause began, sleep is not something I count on doing easily...or for very long, lol!

    I haven't noticed any weight loss difference, overall, since I cut out eating at night. I started because of the heartburn when I tried adding spicier things to my diet. My ding-dong neighbors (except the fat one) insist that if I'd eat more like them - ridiculously spicy foods from the carribbean - I'd lose more weight. I knew this wouldn't be true, but enjoy trying stupid weight loss things that don't interfere with my overall plan. So, I added more spice to my diet.

    I didn't lose more weight (surprise), which they insist is because I cannot tolerate the really hot spices, but I have adjusted to more spice. And yay that!!!

    Then I added a fiber-rich breakfast, which I do like.

    I have tried just about every single valid or stupid piece of diet advice that doesn't interfere with my basic, loose plan. Those are the only thing that had any lasting effect at all. :)
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
    My intake is spread across the day pretty evenly. Three meals and two snack times between 6am and 8pm. Meals are usually around 300-400 calories and snacks around 200. I like to eat smaller and often.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    edited August 2015
    8-11pm I eat about 85% of them
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited August 2015
    I have played around with this, a lot. my favorite way of eating is 4 meals a day.

    I eat a small breakfast (like 200 calories or less small) and divide the rest of my calories between the remaining 3.

    My last meal of the day is always had at night, just before I go to sleep. I hate going to bed hungry, and I like munching on something while watching TV.

    Times- breakfast between 8-9 am, lunch between 12-1pm, dinner at 6ish, bedtime snack between 9-10 at night.
  • felixthemaster1
    felixthemaster1 Posts: 28 Member
    My sleep cycle changes all the time. I eat 1-2 hours after I wake up and then 4-6 hours after that. I know you wanted an actual time but that's all I can say xD
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    Do what works best for you. If you're hungry, science isn't going to matter. You're going to eat.


    I've been trying to have about half my calories for breakfast, about 2/3 of what's remaining for lunch, and a small dinner.
    It doesn't always work that way, and as I've dropped weight & reduced calories it's gotten harder, but that's my goal.


    Here are some of the studies upon which I based this decision.

    This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
    with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
    "The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose,
    insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
    In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
    Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
    Full text:
    http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

    "subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to
    high caloric intake during the dinner"
    Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
    Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

    "data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day
    could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437
  • 555_FILK
    555_FILK Posts: 86 Member
    Interesting studies.

    I usually have a big breakfast, then try all day to save calories as much as possible, and then snack at bedtime to fill what's left (or come up short if I can). I'm relying on the MFP community's advice that the old idea that eating before bedtime packs on pounds is a myth.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited August 2015
    Cool studies, but that scrambling "i only have x calories left" feeling makes me freak the f*** out. I dont know why, but there ya go. (so i like saving up enough calories to have a small meal in the night time)
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • vlovell24
    vlovell24 Posts: 61 Member
    Usually after 5pm.
  • catt952
    catt952 Posts: 190 Member
    Well on the weekdays it's usually when i get home from class. I would say I'm more of an evening eater.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    8am Breakfast 1000 kj
    12 noon Lunch 1000 kj
    6:30 pm Dinner ~4000 kj

Categories