What to do when very few calories are left for dinner?
geltner1
Posts: 85 Member
Some days, after I log in breakfast and lunch, there are 200 calories left for dinner. How do you manage that?
3
Replies
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Cauliflower rice as the bulk of the meal w/ an egg18
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Exercise... go out for a walk, etc....., but I make sure I plan for my dinner and eat less earlier or make sure I get enough exercise to accommodate a larger breakfast or lunch. Otherwise as far as eating... beans and rice...10
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I try to eat fewer calories for breakfast. Two scrambled eggs is about 140 calories, add in some steamed broccoli and half an ounce of cheddar cheese and I have enough food to get me to the next meal. So my advice is to eat less at the front end of your day. OR, use something like this meal as your dinner. There's no law against eating breakfast food for dinner.8
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Eat less at breakfast and lunch... Preplanning is helpful!9
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3oz of chicken breast with a pile of veg. Either that or be ok with going slightly over and having a smaller deficit for the day.
In the future maybe try pre-logging your food to prevent this scenario from repeating itself.8 -
Usually If I have eaten my calories like this it was planned early on to have a larger bfast or lunch ..pre-planning does wonders.1
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Cry, stuff myself with eggs whites and vegetables, or just go over for that day because it's not a big deal.24
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unsweetened apple sauce with a little cool whip on it. non fat greek yogurt is surprisingly low call, even 200grams
I add a couple Tbl of cool whip & a scoop of flavored protein or that "healthy meal" powder or powdered peanut butter. a huge salad with protein to fit withing your calories, maby add a hard boiled egg & low cal dressing.3 -
also lots of steamed veggies with some kind of protein, peanut butter powder on some of the cheap bread, that's 110cal for 2- make 2 open faced sandwiches. When I use peanut butter powder, I don't need jam. That's what I do when I have too few calories & lots of time before bed2
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Big salad. Lots of veggies, low-calorie dressing, some lean protein if you can fit it in.
Veggie sandwiches are also a valid option, as @Evamutt suggested, if your bread is reasonably low calorie. Spread on some Laughing Cow cheese or a low-calorie dressing/spread for extra flavor.
An apple or banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter is about 200 calories, as are some protein bars.
Or you could just eat half a pint of Halo Top.9 -
If that's an issue you're having consistently you might want to pre-plan a handful of breakfasts and lunches that are a little lighter. Sometimes I even pre-log meals in the morning so I can see if I have room for extras. Like, if I know I'm having pizza for dinner or going out to eat, I might go for a salad or soup for lunch instead of a big sandwich.
If it's not a common problem, going a little over once in a while isn't the end of the world. However, if you want to avoid that, I love having soup and/or salad for a low-cal dinner, especially soup because you can have quite a lot of the broth and veggies for very few cals- I find it very filling! Another filling, low-cal dinner is zoodles with marinara sauce and chicken sausage.12 -
Meh, just go over that day and don't worry about it. It only becomes a problem if that happens every day.15
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At lunch I eat around 250-300 calories for a meal of 2 oz. meat & full plate of vegetables. 200 calories makes the protein more challenging, but for volume I'd stir fry (w/ only a wisp of spray oil) a mixture of bulky, low cal vegetables like cabbage, kale, spinach, bean sprouts, mushrooms, broccoli, onions or whatever you prefer and scramble an egg into it. You can season with soy sauce or wine vinegar. Actually lunch today was only 200 calories and high in protein....1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 2 ounces canned tuna, 1 tablespoon low fat mayo, 1 branch celery, 1 green onion, and one small pickle. Most common breakfast foods work as well if you don't over do it. My breakfasts are usually 250-300 calories. I try thinking ahead and pre-logging so that I know where I stand all day long. I have certain limits at each meal so I usually stay under them so that there are no surprises at dinner time...or worse snack time.1
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I had that very experience tonight. Too many goodies at the office this time of year! I just made myself a tuna sandwich on ~40 calorie bread with a pouch of Buffalo-style tuna. Add a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese and it's under 200 calories (and has 22 grams of protein).4
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I row for 30 mins. That adds about 330 cals to my calorie allotment.10
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Go over a little and plan better for tomorrow.2
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A giant bowl of steamed broccoli with sriracha topped with sautéed mushrooms and garlic. About 250 cals.4
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You can always resort to the old low calorie Cabbage Soup recipe (very good, by the way). Also a blended cauliflower soup which has a creamed texture to it but contains no dairy. These are both very low calorie options (under 100 calories per serving) and will rescue your day. You can then plan for a better tomorrow!6
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I agree with a lot of the people here. Pre-plan and eat lighter for breakfast and lunch. I really want my snacks and a good dinner, so that's what I do. But if I end up with few calories for dinner, I generally go over and make up for it another day. That's what maintenance is all about!0
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Fried egg on toast is my go to!2
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Go run for 30 minutes, that should clear up about 500 calories.9
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I try to plan my meals in advance, but sometimes things happen. If I don’t have enough calories for dinner I just skip it. Probably not the healthiest option but that’s what I do. I’d rather eat earlier in the day.2
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a nice rye and ginger for me.4
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Eat the 220 calories and be hungry until the next day when it's time to eat again. I had this problem when I started counting calories and using that method, I quickly learned to correctly budget or pre-log so I didn't end up hungry.3
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Egg drop soup.2
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spiralize a zucchini, steam for 3 mins and top with hot sauce1
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Usually.... I just say fk it and go over. I'm not the best person to give advice here because my weight loss is super slow.
Soup is a good low calorie option though, I'll occasionally have that. Or just try to under-eat the next day if I go over. Or I might drink coffee to suppress my appetite.3 -
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How many calories in total do you aim for in a day?
What is your normal distribution - how many for breakfast, lunch, dinner and do you work in snacks as well?
Does the way you have your calories distributed fit with your lifestyle, does it fill you up at the right time of day?
Do you exercise? If so, do you log and eat back those calories?
How often does this happen where you are running short on calories for dinner?3 -
I count calories weekly, so I don’t have a problem being over in a given day. But, if I do go over on a given day I’m super conscientious not to do so two days in a row.4
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