How do you allot your calories?

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

There is no "left over" calories in my day unless I bust my @zz at the gym to earn it. If I do that, then I eat back half of those cals with protein, which is usually meat or eggs. If I have say 300 cals I just earned and I ask myself do I want like half a muffin or a decent piece of lean beef, the beef wins hands down. Or I could make a vegetable omelette.

My breakfast, lunch, and bed time snack are pretty much the same or similar calorie variants so without exercise I usually have the same amount of calories to play with for dinner.

Jessie24330 wrote: »

Do you just eat what you want for each meal and then plan later in the day with what have left over? Or do you start each day with a certain amount for each meal/snack? I've always done the first but I'm starting to think that there may be a benefit to saying "I'm gonna eat xxx calories for breakfast, xxx calories for lunch, xxx calories for dinner and xxx calories for snacks". I hope this makes sense.

When I logged, I pre-logged...I didn't have a set amount per meal...it was just pre-logged so that I could see that it would all fit and that I wouldn't have to forgo a meal later or have some unsubstantial meal just because I had gone over earlier in the day.

I find it best for me to have small breakfasts and lunches, as I prefer to eat more at dinner and still have enough left for an evening snack.

I seem to sleep best if I eat later in the day rather than bigger breakfasts and smaller dinners.

I usually plan breakfast and lunch M-F... Weekends I'm off schedule. But still try to just eat balanced.
Breakfast- 300cals
Lunch - 375-450
Dinner - 500 ish
Plus maybe 200 in snacks

I pre-log sometimes a week in advance. I'm a nerd like that.

I eat all my calories after 5:00 pm. Large dinner and a snack.