Calorie HELP!

You can break it up however you want and lose weight as long as you're at a deficit.

Some people like big breakfasts and smaller dinners, some people like an even split, some people need snacks, some people skip breakfast. It's all about what works for your schedule and helps control your hunger.

Personally, when I was losing weight I ate about 1,300 calories a day plus my activity calories. I tried to have about 300-400 for breakfast and 300-400 for lunch because I love to have a big dinner. I hardly ever snacked because it didn't help me feel fuller -- I just preferred to eat more less frequently.

I consume however many calories I want for whatever meal that fits into my day? I generally preplan my lunches to around 250, and my breakfast can be 250-375, and then I use the rest for whatever (no lies, I use a lot of creamer in my coffee - worth it to me). Some days I eat my lunch later because I'm not hungry, so I may have a smaller dinner and a snack.
It's whatever works best for you, are you hungrier in the morning (some people aren't at all) or the evening, do you feel better if you have a good calorie spread throughout the day? It's a bit of trial and error to figure out, but we're all a little different.

I average 1500 cal a day currently, plus I add back about half of exercise calories. I like to eat more later in the day, so I tend to save up. I eat about 100 cal for breakfast (coffee and a square of dark chocolate), about 450 for lunch, with plenty of protein to fill me up for a while, and then about 500 for dinner. That leaves me with about 450 calories for snacks and my after-dinner beer or glass of wine. Or a bigger snack if I don't have a drink. Any exercise calories either go to a bigger dinner or whatever I need it for.

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I average 1500 cal a day currently, plus I add back about half of exercise calories. I like to eat more later in the day, so I tend to save up. I eat about 100 cal for breakfast (coffee and a square of dark chocolate), about 450 for lunch, with plenty of protein to fill me up for a while, and then about 500 for dinner. That leaves me with about 450 calories for snacks and my after-dinner beer or glass of wine. Or a bigger snack if I don't have a drink. Any exercise calories either go to a bigger dinner or whatever I need it for.

That sounds close to my daily eating. I intentionally eat less during the day because I do like to eat more at night.

caitlynforkzz wrote: »

Thanks everyone!
It looks like it will be a fun little game to try and figure out what works best for me, I had a low cal lunch and I am still starving! I will try for a bigger breakfast and go from there!

Me too. I try and drink a bunch of water to avoid temptation, and generally find something to distract myself.

These are ballpark estimates for how I do it:

Breakfast: 0
Lunch: 600 (35%)
Snack: 200 (12%)
Dinner: 700 (41%)
Snack: 200 (12%)

Total: 1700 (100%)

If I am going to the gym, I give myself a larger portion for lunch, then depending how much I worked out, I'll also increase my dinner portion.

That's what works for me to minimize hunger throughout the day.

"Have you done it a certain way and noticed a good weight loss?"

Any way you do it that keeps you at your net calorie daily goal will work. It's up to your preference. The time of day for your calorie intake won't affect the rate of your weight loss. So it's entirely about figuring out how you prefer to eat your meals/snacks.