Ratio for breaking up your calories per meal?

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mablesyrup
mablesyrup Posts: 286 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you wing it? Or do you plan a set amount of calories for each meal?

What's a good ratio to break your calories up for breakfast/lunch/dinner and an afternoon snack?

I haven't been planning well and usually end up with what I end up with for dinner- today I was out running errands and ended up going for chinese food for lunch- when i came home and logged the calories- i'm left with 300 and some for dinner. *ooops*

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  • mablesyrup
    mablesyrup Posts: 286 Member
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    Do you wing it? Or do you plan a set amount of calories for each meal?

    What's a good ratio to break your calories up for breakfast/lunch/dinner and an afternoon snack?

    I haven't been planning well and usually end up with what I end up with for dinner- today I was out running errands and ended up going for chinese food for lunch- when i came home and logged the calories- i'm left with 300 and some for dinner. *ooops*
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
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    I like to keep my calories per meal in ranges 300-500 per meal.

    Not to mention I eat the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch which i am not bored with at all.

    Breakfast raisin bran with 1/2 banana with 1/2 cup of milk - (depending on how much cereal and what kind of milk it ranges) 285-400 calories

    Lunch- Turkey and Cheese sub/hoagie (i call them hoagies others call them subs lol) with a half a bag of baked bbq chips 450 calories

    Dinner whatever we are having
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    For meals I try to do 500 or less, for snacks I try to stay around 300

    But that's me, I'm a pretty big male, smaller women might want to be a little lower then that.
  • tomyhealth
    tomyhealth Posts: 181
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    I wing it most of the time. I am kinda boring I have the same breakfast every morining which is 325 calorie. My snacks are always 60 to 100 calorie bags. Most of the time I do drink water for my lunch. I guess after thinking about this I kinda do plan out my day. Sorry thats not much help to you.

    Do you post all your meals at the end of the day or after each meal? I post after each meal so by lunch I know what kind of workout I need to do after work.
  • calicowgirl0582
    calicowgirl0582 Posts: 89
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    I try to keep my meals to around 300 and snacks no more that 100, but then again, I drink alot of starbucks, soda, etc., so that's where my calories add up (although I gave soda, coffee, and expresso up for lent, so maybe I will drop a decent amount more over the next 40 days!)
  • wildkat318
    wildkat318 Posts: 326 Member
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    300 calories is about I what I usually spend on breakfast so maybe you can have breakfast for dinner? I eat every three hours (5 mini meals) and divide them pretty evenly among my 1450 calories. I'm never hungry, have great energy and feel very satisfied. I personally don't eat my exercise calories (but it seems most on this site do) but if I feel like or snack or something in the evening, I'll have one, knowing I'm covered.

    I plan and log my meals in advance and generally have about the same thing during the week, makes it stress free. I mix it up a lot on the weekends and will cook and plan menus for the upcoming week so everything is on hand and I don't have to worry about it.

    This is just what works for me, your mileage may vary! Best of luck! :drinker:
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
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    I try to stay under 300 for breakfast and lunch, then 400 for dinner. I need to have a snack every few hours and those are normally around 100 calories or so.
  • shannahrose
    shannahrose Posts: 585 Member
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    breakfast 200
    lunch 400
    snack 200
    dinner 400
    snack 200

    sometimes i go over on dinner, but i just make up for it by eating less after dinner. and if i exercise, i might add 100 calories to lunch and dinner or something.
  • davesrig
    davesrig Posts: 6
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    Yah, kind of the same idea as everyone else except I take it one step farther...I will log everything that I know I will be eating in advance which allows me to know how many calories I have left. I will even log my workouts in advance (obviously a little risky if your plans change) which will allow me to make sure I have enough energy for the workout but yet don't over eat.
    At the end of the day I can make any adjustments to the log as necessary. Big thing is I don't want to be surprised at the end of the night in a negative way due to my lack of planning.
  • Mangoaddict
    Mangoaddict Posts: 1,236 Member
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    Breakfast - 200-300
    Lunch - 300-350
    Dinner - No more than 400

    Snacks between 100-120

    Hope this helps!
  • Anna_Banana
    Anna_Banana Posts: 2,939 Member
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    Breakfast - 200-300
    Lunch - 300-350
    Dinner - No more than 400

    Snacks between 100-120

    Hope this helps!

    This is about how mine range. I usually have 3 or 4 snacks a day.

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