How to split calories across the day?

Whatever works for you is how you should split them.

It doesn't matter how you split them--Do it the way it works for you. When are you most hungry? If the answer is the evening, then maybe have a smaller breakfast and lunch and then leave plenty of calories for a big, filling dinner and maybe a bedtime snack. If you're hungrier in the morning and don't care to eat much at dinner, you can do the opposite. It all depends on what will give YOU the best chance at success.

I'm on team "It doesn't matter". I work at Amazon walking around 10-13 miles a day so I tend to load up breakfast with complex carbs to keep me full long and give me plenty of energy. I usually have enough left over after all my meals for a snack at the end of the night when I'm relaxing. It really is ALL up to you though and how you go about your day. Find what fits best for you and your activity level.

Eat when you're hungry. Try to make good choices. Eventually you'll figure out what works for you the best.

For me I usually eat 60% of my calories by 1pm, but a lot of people are not very hungry during the day and have a big dinner.

DebbDuquette wrote: »

suziecue20 wrote: »

DebbDuquette wrote: »

Well, it's day 1. I am thinking I will be hungry all day!! LOL

Why? have you no food in the house/at work?

no... I have food... just day one of cutting calories... I usually eat whenever I feel hungry, and usually not foods that are necessarily good for me... hence the reason I have gained a lot of weight over the last year...

You gained weight because you ate too many calories, not because of the particular foods.

DebbDuquette wrote: »

I get 1,500 calories a day. How do I determine how many I should be eating at each meal and "snacks"?

It depends on how many meals you plan on eating.
You can go with 300 calories for 5 meals
You can go with 500 calories for 3 meals.
If you plan on working out, then eat something before and after

I'm on 1500 calories and you tend to get a 'feel' for how much you should be consuming for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast, I aim for no more than 400 ideally. My evening meal tends to be my largest meal of the day as I usually eat after an intense work-out :]

This probably isn't much help to you but pre-plan your food the night before and you'll be able to determine whether your calorie split is working for you through trial and error. Tweak where necessary - this is a learning process! Good luck!

Sit down and pre-log your days.

There is no right or wrong time to eat, every person is different. For me personally, I get hungry no matter what around 10:30am so I tend to have a smaller breakfast and bigger lunch. I also get very hungry around when I leave work and as I workout after work, I have a small meal before I leave work. I have a smaller dinner as well based on this. So essentially I have 2 lunches about 3 hours apart to make up for smaller breakfast and dinners. This works for me. I tried bigger breakfasts and changing what I eat based on what I read online but it didn't work. For instance I found porridge in the morning to make me feel sluggish and tired after an hour

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Sit down and pre-log your days.

THIS. I always log the night before and the only times I cave in my diets is when I try logging as the day goes on.

You might have to experiment a bit before you figure out what is the best split. If you're worried about being hungry often, you might try to have smaller meals and substantial snacks, therefore spreading out the calories throughout the day. Or maybe you aren't very hungry in the morning but find yourself really hungry at night, so you have a larger calorie dinner. Or maybe around 3 pm you are tired and listless, and need a hearty snack of protein with a lighter dinner to finish up. Or maybe you find a large lunch gets you through to a 300-calorie good snack for dinner.

There is no right or wrong answer. It might just take some experimenting to figure out what is best for YOU in particular. So spend a few days checking in with yourself every few hours. Am I always starving at 2 pm? When do I start hankering for lunch? How late can I go without breakfast, or do I need a big breakfast as soon as I wake up? Do I get the munchies an hour before bed? Keep track and you'll figure out when you require the most calories, then you can spread them out accordingly.

For me (I have 1400 calories a day), I can usually do a 400 calorie breakfast, about 500 for lunch, and a larger dinner, with very little snacking. Or some days I might need a snack to boost me over the hump at 3:30, then I cut out a bit on dinner. But you might be totally different, and that's okay! Do what feels right--but stay UNDER your calorie goal!

You can add me if you want,my diary is 1500 calories and open

+1 on the idea of experimenting to see what distribution of meals/calories works best for you.

I'm at 1400 net (usually 1700-something gross because I eat back my conservatively-estimated exercise calories). I typically do 3 meals around 400, 400-500, and 500-600 with random small snacks (usually protein) if I feel hungry. I, personally, *must* have a decent breakfast with protein, or I get all crave-y later in the day. But everyone's different.

Another thing to experiment with is learning what makes you satiated. (It should *not* be necessary to feel hungry all the time, let alone famished. You may not feel stuffed full, but should be able to feel satisfied most of the time, once you figure this out.)

If necessary, taper down your intake gradually, while logging conscientiously, to figure things out. You want this to be healthy & sustainable over the long haul.

Some people report needing large-volume foods to feel satiated (think things like cabbage, high volume, low cal, for this case). Some need protein (I'm one of these, so satisfying go-tos include greek yogurt & soybeans (I'm vegetarian, BTW)). Some require high-fiber foods (like oatmeal, beans). Some can't feel satisfied without some carbs (like bread, potatoes), while others find eating carbs just makes them want *more carbs*.

So, experiment for a while, learn about cslories, learn what your body needs, don't be *too* hard on yourself right off.

You can do this!

Try to allow yourself a decent amount of calories when you know you'll need them. I can resist temptation pretty easily up to about noon, so I eat meals around noon, 3, and 6 with a snack in there when I need it. That way I'm able to eat a full meal at my hardest time of day, mid-afternoon.