How do you allot your calories?

I pre-plan dinners for the week in the weekend - log those dinners plus a portion for lunch the next day and shop accordingly. Whatever calories are left over I fill with breakfast (smoothies, egg cups, etc.) and snacks. If I know I'm going out for a meal (which happens at least twice a week) I tend to allot 500-1000 calories for that meal plus drinks and adjust to lower calories the rest of the day. If I know where we're going to eat and can get a hold of the menu before we go I try to figure out what healthier options are before hand. Vacations, parties and get together's I throw caution to the wind and just enjoy.

I eat 400 breakfast, 500 lunch, by the time i get home i have 1100 calories left. Me and the wife decide whats for dinner and i will guesstimate (pre log, adjust oz or grams) dinner. Dinner is usually 500-600 cal. Then i save the rest for snacks. I make sure to get to 1700, and some days leave it at that, some days i go all the way to 2000.

I roll with it. If I'm invited out at lunch then I reorganise accordingly, life isn't planned!

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

generally speaking, ill plan for my highest calorie meal (usually dinner), and then plan everything else around that.

Same here. I loosely plan ahead for the next day; only log ahead sometimes if I'm incorporating new things. If I eat a big meal in the morning, I feel like I don't want to stop eating all day. So, my calories are spread out randomly over the day for whenever I feel like eating with my biggest meal in the evening. This works best for me, cuts down or eliminates any night time snacking, with the added bonus of impromptu dinner or drink invites more easily managed.

ETA: Because I eat randomly, I don't have my diary broken up into breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks. I split mine into time periods ex. 5:00AM -9:00AM, 9:00AM - Noon, etc.

Breakfast, snacks and lunch are pretty standard so that is easy and then pre-log a dinner.
If it is an unusual day - usually weekend and/or family events I pre-plan around it. But I do admit, as a 950+day logger I have developed these skills and food management strategies over time. Was not easy at the start of my jouney. Now it is second nature

I try to do a mix of both. Three 700 calorie meals, but adjusting the other meals to compensate for any overages or deficits from other meals [like if I only have a 600 calorie breakfast, I'd adjust either lunch or dinner to be 800 calories instead, and vice versa].

I do not pre log anything. I do preplan meals. Around Thursday or Friday I start thinking about what I would like to eat the next week for lunch and breakfast. 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches for the week. For example my breakfasts this week were 1.overnight oatmeal and 2. Potato ham skillet; for lunch 1. bbq chicken and 2. spaghetti with meat sauce. Then I make a list of ingredients I need to make those things and cook them on the weekend sat or sun. I have pre-prepared breakfast and lunch for the week and because I entered the ingredients on recipes I know exactly how many calories the whole recipe has and can portion appropriately. Now I know how many calories are going to be in my breakfast and how many in my lunch so no matter what I do I wont go over calories during the day with my main meals. For dinner I have things in my house that I can prepare easily like turkey burger or tuna or frozen pizza. When I come home from work I log in my food and then I know what I will be able to eat for dinner based on my calorie intake thus far. Using this method I usually have 500-600 cal left for dinner and snack. I am on 1650 cal per day.

I'm on 1440. I started thinking this would work out to 350 calories for each of three meals plus a snack.

Yeah, not so much. As most say, breakfast and lunch are on my own and predictable, whereas dinner is a family meal and I have to eat what others who are not counting calories eat... And also what they are willing to eat (read: picky kid and meat & potatoes man). So, I will go way over for the day if I budget for all meals equally.

Thus I tend to go with a predictable 160 calorie oatmeal for a late breakfast (as late as I can tolerate), or a basic omelet at around 200, and bank the rest of those calories for dinner. Then lunch is one of a variety of low calorie options depending how much prep time I have. Generally it will come in around 350 or 400.

That leaves me about 800 for dinner and snacks, which is still tight some days when I'm stress snacking in the afternoon at work. When this happens, I will either make an alternate dinner for me or adjust portion sizes to hit (close to) budget.

When I have plans to eat dinner out, I try to just keep breathing and enjoy the food and company b,ecause heck if I can manage to pull off a 500 dinner in a restaurant.

But balance is important, and savoring special occasions without falling completely off the wagon is a good and important skill for me to practice.

I love snacks so that section usually ends up being my highest calorie section. I don't preplan all of my snacks but breakfast/lunch/dinner I always plan out for the week on mondays so I can buy all the exact groceries I need for the week and I rarely switch it up after I've planned it.

I usually keep my calories split up like:
Breakfast: 200ish
Lunch: 350-500
Dinner: 300
Snacks: 400-700