375 calorie meal needed

jennice23
jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
in Food and Nutrition
:# Ok! so according to this forum. I need to eat 375 at every meal except at snack. But I'm how I will do it. Any food ideas?l7c8ocj9tmvu.jpg
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Replies

  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    Hmmm...well, I don't eat like that because I enjoy a larger dinner portion. I'm at a 1200-1300 calorie per day plan and I like my dinners to be in the 400 calorie range. It doesn't really matter if your meals are perfectly even so you should work on finding the meal that you *need* to be larger for whatever reason and shave your other meals down. It is sort of difficult to have smaller dinner portions. Basically it's about 5 ounces of meat/protein and some veggie sides.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,242 Member
    Where did this forum say that? You can split your calories however you like. I tend to eat very light breakfast, light lunch, big dinner and some snacks.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    You can divide your calories however you choose, some people like one meal larger and others lighter. Some people choose to eat several small meals/day, and some people so Intermittent Fasting in order to eat all their calories within a certain time window.

    What are your stats? How much weight are you trying to lose? What rate of loss did you select? Do you exercise? Are you eating back some of the calories burned during weight loss so that you are Netting the calorie goal MFP provided you?
  • guinevere96
    guinevere96 Posts: 1,445 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Where did this forum say that? You can split your calories however you like. I tend to eat very light breakfast, light lunch, big dinner and some snacks.

    Me to a T! I tried doing the calorie limits on meals thing but couldn't make it work, I snack too much. Having an overall calorie goal is so much more attainable.

    But ultimately its up to OP what they choose to do
  • Sweets1954
    Sweets1954 Posts: 507 Member
    I don't think there is a "rule" that says that meals should be 375 each. As long as your daily total is what is should be you can divide your calories as you wish. I try to keep breakfast around 300-350 calories but sometimes I'm under 300. I tend to keep more calories for my evening meals as my husband cooks and I have no idea what he will fix, he is not the best in planning healthy meals.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited October 2016
    OP, BS.

    But in the spirit of it, my lunch yesterday was 424 calories. 9 were from 46 grams of asparagus, 210 were from a 106 gram slice of pork, and 205 were from 151 grams of my mashed potatoes seasoned with butter, milk, salt, and pepper. To have gotten my meal down to 375 with similar protein, you keep the meat and reduce the weight of the potatoes. Do the math. It isn't hard.
  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
    I'm trying to lose 40 pounds
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Where did this forum say that? You can split your calories however you like. I tend to eat very light breakfast, light lunch, big dinner and some snacks.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    ?

    Split up your calories however you please. Just stay in a deficit.

    My dinners usually ave about 350-400 calories. Shirataki mac n cheese with chicken sausage and laughing cow cheese sauce is my go to.
  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
    I don't eat cheese
    arditarose wrote: »
    ?

    Split up your calories however you please. Just stay in a deficit.

    My dinners usually ave about 350-400 calories. Shirataki mac n cheese with chicken sausage and laughing cow cheese sauce is my go to.

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    jennice23 wrote: »
    I don't eat cheese
    arditarose wrote: »
    ?

    Split up your calories however you please. Just stay in a deficit.

    My dinners usually ave about 350-400 calories. Shirataki mac n cheese with chicken sausage and laughing cow cheese sauce is my go to.

    You asked for food ideas and this poster shared a meal suggestion that she enjoys. If you need specific suggestions perhaps you should be more specific with your likes/dislikes.

    I think what people are focusing on more is why you believe every meal needs to be 375 calories. If you have 40 lbs to lose, you should set your rate of loss goal to 1 lb/week. MFP will provide you a calorie goal with no exercise built into it. If you do exercise, you should be eating back some of those calories (50-75% is a good start since many feel MFP overestimates calorie burns). You can eat any foods you like, and still achieve your goals within that deficit. The important things are to log accurately, and find a balance of foods that fill you up, provide you a variety of macro and micronutrients, and satisfy you.

    There is a recipe section with a number of ideas, many of which include calorie counts. I also find sites like cookinglight.com, Pinterest, and Skinnytaste to have a wealth of suggestions.

  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
    My fitness pal suggested I eat 375 calories at my meals times based on my 1250 calories intake per day. I asked if anyone new of any meals that was with in 375 calories. This is an open conversation. I simply said I don't eat cheese. I did not need anyone to tell me to pay them because they did not like my response to their food ideas. I was simply saying I don't eat cheese! Any more ideas? :/
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    jennice23 wrote: »
    My fitness pal suggested I eat 375 calories at my meals times based on my 1250 calories intake per day. I asked if anyone new of any meals that was with in 375 calories. This is an open conversation. I simply said I don't eat cheese. I did not need anyone to tell me to pay them because they did not like my response to their food ideas. I was simply saying I don't eat cheese! Any more ideas? :/

    Is this a premium feature that is telling you 375 cals/meal? I'm not a premium user, so I am not familiar with this per meal calorie suggestion. My calorie split tends to be:
    Breakfast: 250-350 cals
    Lunch: 400-600 cals
    Afternoon Snack: 200 cals
    Dinner: 600-800 cals
    After Dinner: 100-300 cals

    I'm in maintenance but the ratios were the same when I was in a deficit. I lost the weight I set out to lose and am currently maintaining the loss - the point being that you don't have to adhere to a set 375 cals/meal guideline.

    My suggestions were provided above - look at the recipe section, Pinterest, or other websites for ideas. When people offer you a suggestion, even if it isn't for something you enjoy, maybe try, "Oh gosh, thanks for the idea, but I don't eat cheese. Do you have any other ideas for me?".



  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
    Yeah that's the prem package
  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
    edited October 2016
    I'm sorry but if u don't have anything nice or positive to say, PLEASE don't respond on my post. Thanks you. And I will do the same
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    jennice23 wrote: »
    I'm sorry but if u don't have anything nice or positive to say, PLEASE don't respond on my post. Thanks you. And I will do the same

    Unfortunately you don't get to control who posts and what they post on a public forum. The advice you are getting is largely helpful - you may not care for the tone but people didn't care for yours either.

    If you want more suggestions about meal ideas - try giving people some ideas of basic parameters, as @amyrebeccah suggested. Are you vegan? Are you lactose intolerant? Do you just not care for cheese? All cheese, or just certain kinds? Do you love certain foods and are looking for ways to modify those recipes in order to fit them into a calorie alotment (whether 375 or something else).

  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    How much do you currently weigh? 1,250 calories seems awfully low.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    jennice23 wrote: »
    My fitness pal suggested I eat 375 calories at my meals times based on my 1250 calories intake per day.

    Did you ask it to do that? What information did you put in? It makes no difference at all how many meals you have or how many calories you eat per meal. I don't do premium, but when I did for a while I don't recall it saying that it mattered how many calories I ate for a meal (and if it does, it's wrong).

    That said, 375 calories is an easy number to hit. For example, for dinner, choose a protein source you like (I like fish, chicken, lamb, beef, legumes, pork, and many many others), add in a good number of vegetables (I think this is a good way to construct a healthy meal, anyway), and then whatever else makes it feel like a meal or satiating to you. Some potato or sweet potato is something I enjoy, or I make the meat and veg into a pasta sauce and have it with pasta. You will count and log the oils used with cooking, of course (I usually use a little olive oil). The more calories, the more you can add.
  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Oh, if you look more carefully, YOU are telling it what you want there (the percentages), and it's just doing the math for you. It's not saying there's anything special about the defaults or that all meals must be the same or that you need to have 3 and a snack.

    I think it makes things more complicated, but if you prefer being given a calorie goal for meals, go for it. Just don't think you have to hit the numbers -- if you eat more at one meal you'd just eat less at another.
  • jennice23
    jennice23 Posts: 17 Member
    edited October 2016
    This conversation got completely derailed.... does anyone know of any meals no more than 375 calories because I would like to stay within my goal plan. I have recipes just looking for different food ideas. My weight loss is going according to plan I would like to keep it that way
  • upoffthemat
    upoffthemat Posts: 679 Member
    People are just offering suggestions other than sticking to 375 calories per meal. Try different breakdowns and see what works best for you, but keeping one meal lighter and being able to up the calories for a meal or two certainly gives you some good options.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Oh, if you look more carefully, YOU are telling it what you want there (the percentages), and it's just doing the math for you. It's not saying there's anything special about the defaults or that all meals must be the same or that you need to have 3 and a snack.

    I think it makes things more complicated, but if you prefer being given a calorie goal for meals, go for it. Just don't think you have to hit the numbers -- if you eat more at one meal you'd just eat less at another.

    Premium should charge more for passive-aggressive users.

    :laugh:
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,170 Member
    I always plan half of my calories to be split between breakfast and lunch and the other half plus exercise calories go to dinner and an after dinner snack. But I am pretty flexible with it as long as I stay within my goal. If you want to eat a larger dinner then just eat a smaller lunch or breakfast. You can set up the percentages any way you want to.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited October 2016
    You can eat anything you want to add up to whatever calories you want, just weigh out your portion and make sure you eat the right amount. Plug the foods you like into your diary, play around with the portion size until it adds up to the calories you want, and then eat that portion. I usually pre-log what I want to have and then figure out in my diary how much of it I can have.

    If you are struggling to keep your calories that low, adding more veggies is always what I do to stretch out the volume of a meal without increasing the calories. When i really don't have many calories left, I'll make eggs and veggies, or a Lean Cuisine with veggies added.

    It's kind of hard to suggest foods when we don't know what you are currently eating, and 375 calories isn't really that low that you can't eat pretty much anything within reason.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    I like a 400-500 calorie dinner, so I eat smaller and more boring meals/snacks throughout the day to plan for that. I eat between 1250 and 1400 calories a day, depending on exercise.
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
    There's a group on here for info on low calorie recipes that you may find helpful.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    ?

    Split up your calories however you please. Just stay in a deficit.

    My dinners usually ave about 350-400 calories. Shirataki mac n cheese with chicken sausage and laughing cow cheese sauce is my go to.

    how do you make the laughing cow cheese sauce? i'm a fan of any kind of mac and cheese.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    jessiferrrb wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    ?

    Split up your calories however you please. Just stay in a deficit.

    My dinners usually ave about 350-400 calories. Shirataki mac n cheese with chicken sausage and laughing cow cheese sauce is my go to.

    how do you make the laughing cow cheese sauce? i'm a fan of any kind of mac and cheese.

    Take a few cubes and nuke them. Add a little milk if it's too thick. :)

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