Do you distribute calories evenly, decrease as day goes by, or something else?

mcbrainder
mcbrainder Posts: 73 Member
edited November 24 in Food and Nutrition
I'm trying to build a perfect meal plan on a 2000 calorie day. I've heard a lot of different things, but was wondering what others had to say about this.
Currently, my day looks like this:
Breakfast: 400 calories
Snack: 200 calories
Lunch: 500 calories
Snack: 200 calories
Preworkout/dinner: 500 calories
Before bed protein: 200 calories

I've also heard decreasing as the day progresses is good, but I work out in the evening and figure I need a good energy boost before my workout.

Does anyone have any advice/suggestions/adjustments to this? I'm working on building a solid meal plan for myself and I wanted to start here.

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Sure, sounds like a good starting place. Give it a shot and see if your appetite cooperates.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Sounds good to me. Whatever you like (and can stick with) will be fine.

    I spread mine out through the day. Lots of little meals. Works well for me. :)
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    My plan:

    Breakfast: 400 calories
    Lunch (with 1 snack): 6-700 calories
    Dinner: 4-500 calories

    I usually like leaving a little extra at the end of the day in case I'm really starving. I get really hungry in the morning, though, so I focus on high-satiety foods like oatmeal and eggs.
  • questionfear
    questionfear Posts: 527 Member
    I tend to try to leave room at night in case I am hungry. Typical breakfast is 350ish calories, lunch about 400-500, dinner anywhere from 400-700. Snacks tend to be either fruit or a Greek yogurt cup, so most sit between 100-130 calories.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    I just pre-log my main meals with the volume/type of food I know I'll need to be satiated, then leave the rest of the calories open for snackies or whatever. I don't really give much thought to how many calories are in each meal.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    About 75% of my calories are spread out over breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The remaining calories I usually eat as a couple snacks during the day.
  • rollerjog
    rollerjog Posts: 154 Member
    i eat 4 meals a day, i like to base my carbs around my pre and post workout meals, i take 30% of my carbs pre workout and 50% of my carbs post workout, i keep my fats low for pre and post workout meals, then the other 2 meals are the rest of the carbs 20%, the fats are higher in these 2 meals also, on the days I dont workout my protein, fat, and carbs are the same for all 4 meals im in a 500 calorie def on the days i workout and 500 calorie def on the days i dont workout, i have lost 31 pounds in 5 months i only workout mon, wed, fri
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i generally plan my day around whatever my largest meal will be (sometimes lunch, sometimes dinner). breakfast is usually small (coffee and yogurt)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I suggest re-evaluating frequently depending on how you feel. Over the years I have found that I can have a small lunch but my breakfast can't be skimped.

    I maintain better control of i have a late afternoon snack.

    If I am really hungry (not bored, not habitual, and not craving) I eat.
  • Iggy585
    Iggy585 Posts: 104 Member
    I try and get the biggest meal in for breakfast and slowly go downhill from there. Dinner is mostly a top up of my calories and macros.
    I used to frantically stuff down 1000 calorie dinners to try and hit my goals and that didn't work so well.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Forget arbitrary numbers and strict 'plans' and do it on the fly.

    Want a big breakfast? Eat a big breakfast. Not hungry during the day? eat later on.

    Eat when you're hungry, to aid adherence and athletic performance.

    For me, a 500 calorie main evening meal would need to be served with a side of pain and tears. So I eat big in the evening. Some people prefer to eat lots of little meals.

    It's all personal preference.
  • big_striker
    big_striker Posts: 15 Member
    Also on 2000 calories here. I have 5 meals throughout the day, nutribullet shake for breakfast, bagel with peanut butter mid morning, chicken and veg for lunch, rice and chicken late afternoon before workout then for dinner its another nutribullet shake and a meat source. That leaves around 300-400 spare calories so I have something different if I can. This morning I have porridge with fruit in addition to the nutribullet shake. On weekends I just see how I feel and schedule it around my day. I've tried many ways to eat and smaller regular meals works best. I get hungry no matter what a couple of hours after a meal so this keeps me fuller for longer and I can better manage cravings.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I eat when I'm hungry, but typically it's 400 for breakfast, 600-700 for an early lunch, 300 for a mid afternoon snack, and 400 for dinner (I'm on 1800, but it's a loose 1800 as I'm maintaining at 2200, so if I'm really hungry, I eat more).

    It really depends though, some days I have eaten 1500 calories by 1pm, some days I still have 900 calories for dinner...
  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    I tend to follow a gladiator-style diet in which I get about 1,000 calories evenly distributed throughout the day and the remaining 1,600-1,800 post-workout in the evening. It works best for me because I'm home in the evening and much more likely to binge eat.
  • mcbrainder
    mcbrainder Posts: 73 Member
    This is all great advice. Thanks everyone. I guess overall it's not a huge deal, but to go by what I feel I need when I need it. I'll stick with what I have for now. Thanks everyone.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I eat a 200ish calorie breakfast 7-10 AM. I am usually fine until lunch.
    Lunch at noon is 300-500 calories usually.
    Around 3-4 PM I might want a small snack. Maybe 50 -100 calories.
    Dinner is at 6-8 PM and is around 500-700 calories.
    I usually exerecise after dinner.
    Around 9-11 PM I often want a snack... about 100 calories.

    I didn't set out to spread calories out this way. I've observed that I feel best with this kind of pattern.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Sounds good to me. Whatever you like (and can stick with) will be fine.

    This.
    I spread mine out through the day. Lots of little meals. Works well for me. :)

    And I have the opposite approach -- prefer the traditional 3 meals, maybe one snack depending on workout time.

    My meals aren't that different in size although I've been experimenting with a smaller breakfast since I tend to have a much shorter time between breakfast and lunch than lunch and dinner.
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
    I need to eat every couple of hours but I eat my main meal in the evening
  • mommarnurse
    mommarnurse Posts: 515 Member
    Breakfast is always in the 300-400 calorie range for me. Lunch is usually 400-450 and dinner is usually about 500, with some 150 ish calorie snacks in morning and afternoon. I'm never hungry after dinner.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Do yourself a favor and ditch the ideas of "eat like a king for breakfast" and "the perfect meal plan"! They are both myths. Eat in a way that suits your preference. There can be lots of ways to do that. What you need is to get enough calories and nutrients, and be properly fueled for your workouts. Your meal plan should help you achieve those things, you are not supposed to bend to some rigid plan just for the sake of... what?

    I tell you this because I tend to obsess over finding "the perfect plan" for myself, and I need to constantly remind me of that there is no such thing, and of the purpose of meal planning.
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
    In the winter months I do the 16/8 IF and make my first meal lunch. It saves me plenty of calories for after my evening workouts. In the summer months I eat a bigger breakfast and lunch due to increased early outdoor workouts. Changing it up helps me not get bored:)
  • Winter_Girl92
    Winter_Girl92 Posts: 39 Member
    I am on 1780 calories a day. I usually skip breakfast, have 400 calories for lunch, 300 calorie snacks distributed over 5 hours and about 1000 calories for dinner. This makes me happy and I don't every feel deprived. I love eating a huge dinner haha.
  • vegemitesandwich
    vegemitesandwich Posts: 66 Member
    I'm around 1400 a day, and try to save my calories for later at night. It's stupid but I find if I log everything I'm planning on eating for the day and only have 100 calories left I get quite anxious, and worried that I'll be hungry and won't have any calories left. My thinking seems to get quite disordered quite quickly like that, so I find having a smaller calorie allotment for early in the day keeps those thoughts from occurring.

    If I have breakfast, I'll go usually 300 max, 300 for lunch and try to get my dinner around 500, max. That gives me still 300 to play with which again, does give me some anxiety but more of a manageable amount.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
    I actually tend to eat less in the day, and save it all for the evening.

    So, I currently aim at 1700. In a perfect work, I want to have at least 800 set aside for dinner and an evening snack, preferably 900. I eat dinner with my boyfriend who is not calorie-restricting and my somewhat picky six-year-old, so I like to have as many calories as possible to enjoy things like pizza or chicken with biscuits and veggies or a bowl of ice cream with them. And on days where I don't have my son and we eat lighter fare, I have even more dessert calories, lol. (Or a larger deficit, which'll make up for an inevitable snacky day during the week.)

    I tend toward small, light breakfasts (egg whites on toast, yogurt, small bowl of cereal), a small mid-morning snack (usually yogurt or apples or something like that). Lunch is a crap-shoot. Sometimes it's leftovers, sometimes it's a salad, but it will always have chocolate. :)
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    edited September 2015
    I use to eat six times a day and it sucked I never felt full or satisfied now I typically eat twice sometimes three times and a lot of my meals are well over 1000 calories I like it because I get to feel full twice a day..
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    not even
  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I'm flexible. I'm doing a small cut right now, but when I'm at maintenance, breakfast is 500-600, 250-300 cal snack, 600-700 lunch, 250-300 cal snack, the rest at dinner (to get to between 2300-2600).
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    I prefer to eat most of my calories at the end of the day. I never eat breakfast, have a light lunch, then whatever I want for dinner plus I have room for some snacks afterwards.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    I generally don't eat until 1pm, and am usually in bed by 9pm....so I eat all my calories (between 1500-2200 depending on how far I have run that day) between 1pm and 9pm.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I'm all over the place depending on the day.
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