Concern with a Very small Breakfast

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roweman07
roweman07 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My wife and I are starting a 1400 calorie meal plan. I am planning 300 calories breakfast, 300 for lunch, and 400 for dinner with 200 calorie snacks. Now, the problem is, my wife gets ill if she eats very much for breakfast. So, if she eats something like half of an apple for breakfast should we just redistribute those calories throughout the day to snacks or a meal or should I bump up lunch to 400 calories...? I'm having a little bit of trouble putting the meal plan together overall. We live in the middle of nowhere so we don't have access to a nutritionist. Thanks for all your help in advance, I really appreciate it!

Replies

  • SheilaCali
    SheilaCali Posts: 737 Member
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    Read the "most helpful posts" section in the "getting started" heading. Lots of solid info there about how to do this well. So much depends on your activity level too, so I'm guessing you need to bump your cals up. Good luck!
  • megs_1985
    megs_1985 Posts: 199 Member
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    She doesn't have to eat breakfast if she doesn't want to. All that matters is the calorie count at the end of the day so she could have a larger lunch or an extra snack.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
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    Just move those calories to later in the day.
  • ZoneFive
    ZoneFive Posts: 570 Member
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    When you eat your calories and how you divide your meals is entirely up to you. There's a wide array of successful mealtimes and snacks amongst everyone here at MFP, and no reason you should have to follow any program but what suits you. Stick to your calories (and your macros if you follow them), and you should both be fine. You're under a doctor's supervision, so what he or she says should guide you best.

    Wishing you both lots of success and good health!
  • SolotoCEO
    SolotoCEO Posts: 293 Member
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    I use a protein shake for breakfast. Gives me the nutrition I need and tastes great. That might be something to consider. Best wishes for a successful plan!
  • roweman07
    roweman07 Posts: 3 Member
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    Okay guys, thank you for all the kind words! I really appreciate the reassurance.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    She doesn't need to eat breakfast, especially if it makes her sick.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,890 Member
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    roweman07 wrote: »
    My wife and I are starting a 1400 calorie meal plan. I am planning 300 calories breakfast, 300 for lunch, and 400 for dinner with 200 calorie snacks. Now, the problem is, my wife gets ill if she eats very much for breakfast. So, if she eats something like half of an apple for breakfast should we just redistribute those calories throughout the day to snacks or a meal or should I bump up lunch to 400 calories...? I'm having a little bit of trouble putting the meal plan together overall. We live in the middle of nowhere so we don't have access to a nutritionist. Thanks for all your help in advance, I really appreciate it!

    She doesn't need to eat breakfast at all if she doesn't want to.

    I stop eating about midnight ... and I don't eat again until 10:30 am. Sometimes later. Today my "breakfast" was at about 11:15 because I had a 10:30 meeting and I couldn't be bothered to eat before it.

    And my "breakfast" is 100 cal. :)

    I eat more later in the day. That works for me.
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
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    It does not matter when you eat your calories as long as you eat at a deficit to lose weight. I agree with the other poster in that you should log what you are eating now, using a food scale, for several weeks and then adjust that.

    Roweman07, what is your starting and goal weight? Do you feel comfortable sharing what medication you are on that is causing your appetite to be suppressed? I am concerned that 1,400 calories will not be enough to meet all your nutritional needs.

    JoLightensUp wrote: »
    There are no kale smoothies happening in this house. :)

    Hahaha I asked my husband to try one bite of beets last night but it was a no go :(

  • TheHawk007
    TheHawk007 Posts: 270 Member
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    Do you and your wife have any type of "restrictions"? I'm type-2, so I have to have X amount of carbs per day, with a lower amount for breakfast, two snacks, lunch, and dinner. I have lower carbs for breakfast, then split the rest during the day, with most for Lunch and Dinner
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,393 MFP Moderator
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    roweman07 wrote: »
    My wife is helping me plan her meals overall. We are going through dozens of recipes looking for things that she is okay with eating. I am far from picky.

    To clarify about myself, I am on a medication that causes me to eat very little. When we start this I'm actually going to be forcing myself to eat. Before everybody jumps on my case about this my doctor is fully aware of this and I see him very regularly to make sure that everything is okay. I take Topamax for migraines and we did not start this drug lightly and it's been a five-year battle before we decided to go this route.

    I was just hoping to get a general consensus of what people with more personal experience think.

    The reason for peoples concern is regarding the fact that males needs more calories vs their women counterparts since we have higher metabolic rates driven by more muscle (in a general sense). And the ability to get adequate nutrients (especially protein) is very difficult at those levels. So if your goal is to reduce the impacts to your muscle base, it's generally recommend to aim for higher numbers. What people don't realize is how important muscle is... not only is it what makes you lean, but drives metabolism. So loss of muscle will decrease the amount of calories you burn a day (making it easier to rebound), weaken your body and make it harder to get lean. And in all honesty, it's a lot easier to maintain muscle than build it.

    If your concern is how to get nutrients due to hunger, you can always use the below thread to give you ideas of foods to increase your intake: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

    My wife doesn't eat breakfast (for the same reason as your wife), so we just backload her meals throughout the day.
  • ptrcmcc6
    ptrcmcc6 Posts: 103 Member
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    I think it's great you two are doing this together as a team and a support system but, I also think you should plug your stats in on here as individuals so your wife, at least, can get the amount of calories she would need to eat per day to lose weight. You said your doctor approved 1400 calories a day for you, which is fine, but 1400 calories for your wife (depending on how much she wants/needs to lose) could quite possibly be a maintenance level for her. If so, she would surely get frustrated when she sees you are losing weight and she is not. As for how you split those calories up per day, it is not written in stone you must eat breakfast. She can have a cup of coffee or tea while you eat and save those breakfast calories for later in the day. Wishing you and your wife all the best on this journey...... :).
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    Meal timing is irrelevant when it comes to weight loss. You could eat all 1400 calories for dinner or spread them throughout the day, or anything in-between.

    I usually skip breakfast, have a small lunch at noon (400 cals), then eat a large dinner (800-1000 cals) at 6pm. Sometimes I choose to work a couple small snacks into my day, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I eat breakfast on weekends.

    As long as you're regularly sticking to a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight.

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