1500 calories a day - how many per meal

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christyblamch
christyblamch Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
I know 1500 calories is what I should aim for but how do you split them over breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks. Thank you!

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  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
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    Depends on what works best for you, in the end.

    Do you eat breakfast? Do you like a big breakfast? If so, how hungry are you at lunchtime?

    Do you prefer your evening meal to be the largest of the day? Are you a snacker?

    Your answers to those questions (and there are many more questions you could ask yourself) should help you figure out what split to start with, within your 1500.

    Also, bear in mind that you don’t need to do the same thing every day. You can be as flexible as you wish to suit your daily life. Doesn’t matter at all, as long as over time your intake averages out at around your 1500 calorie target.
  • Lullaby2021
    Lullaby2021 Posts: 121 Member
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    christyblamch wrote: »
    I know 1500 calories is what I should aim for but how do you split them over breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks. Thank you!
    If you want some ideas/reference. Look at my diary it is public. I have about the same budget you do. Mine is 1,460 on non active days. on active days it go up by 200 or more. My calories amount are not made specific to any meal. I eat more on one meal. If I'm more hungry at a meal.
  • edwardsc60
    edwardsc60 Posts: 57 Member
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    I tend to split mine 350 for breakfast (home made porridge with skimmed milk, a piece of fruit and a treat topping of my choice - 10g walnuts, syrup or chocolate chips). That along with a coffee tends to make 350.

    I use 350 - 450 for lunch. Sliced ham or cheese triangles along with maybe roast butternut squash or sliced grilled courgette or steamed tenderstem broccoli. Raw mushrooms (I really like these!), pickled onion, pickled beetroot, celery / carrot / mange tout etc.. Perhaps a spoon of hummus to dip or some seeds or some soy sauce or sweet chillie on the veg. It makes a big bowl of interesting colours, flavours and textures to eat. I can't have everything from the list for 450kcal but I can have enough of the "nice" bits to add interest to the plain veg.

    I use 500 - 700 for dinner. Stir fry veg and noodles, baked potato with veg and a piece of fish or meat, home made curry with rice, spaghetti bolognese etc... As long as I weigh my portions I can easily get a good big warm filling meal for 600kcal.

    Anything I have left gets spent on a yoghurt or a biscuit with a cuppa either at a hungry part of the day or more often in the evening when watching TV. I often pre-plan the days meals in the morning to be SURE there is a biscuit left for the evening. I weigh everything even when I know I need to go over the calories that day (happens maybe once a week but I still only go over by a couple of hundred). I don't eat back my exercise calories.
  • manj39
    manj39 Posts: 3 Member
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    Hello there new to this. I am desperately trying to lose weight. I have put on 1 stone in the last 2-3 years.
    I have started doing this 1200 calorie counting. Of course i am only human and have had some bad days. But i don't seem to be losing any weight. I am also struggling to find foods which are low in carbs fat and protein. I find it doesn't matter what i choose to eat i seem to go over in these 3 sections. Can someone advise me ?
  • martaindale
    martaindale Posts: 2,086 Member
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    My meals tend to be pretty even throughout the day. I meal prep and I can’t recommend it enough for making food decision easy. I plan for 6 days a week and don’t plan or really even count on Saturday. I lost 50 lbs doing this and have maintained for almost 3 years. I cook and organize on Sunday and am currently planning for 1600 cals/day.
    For me, breakfast is 3-400 cals and is the same every day of a given week. It varies based on what I feel like eating (oatmeal, egg dishes, bagels).
    Lunch and dinner are 3 meals each about 4-500 cals. I make 4 servings of each and rotate them throughout the week so I am not eating the same exact thing 2 days in a row. I usually have a combo of a salad, a soup, and some other entree. Occasionally I mix in something that will make some extra and will freeze well to keep a few things in ready to go for busy weeks where I may not have time to do a full prep.
    Snack is 200-300 cals and is the same every day of that week but varies week to week. I do all kinds of things for snack. Little bento boxes with hard-boiled egg, cheese, fruit; Kodiak muffins; granola bars; bagels; popcorn; whatever sounds good and fits in the calorie range I need.
    Dessert: I save 100 cals every day for dessert, usually a popsicle because I love ice cream.

    YMMV of course. Even if a breakdown like this doesn’t work for you, I always mention meal prep because it really does make things so east during the week and I credit it with my success while not feeling like I have to think about my weight or food all the time.
  • Walkywalkerson
    Walkywalkerson Posts: 453 Member
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    I aim for around 1600 and usually skip dinner because of intermittent fasting
    I don't fast at weekends and go over my calories but on weekdays I'm often under so it balances out ( sometimes 🤣)
    It all depends on what works for you - I find that continously grazing on food throughout the day makes me hungrier and stresses me out thinking about calories etc ..
    I like a big meal or 2 meals that satiate me and then I can stop eating for the day and close the kitchen 😊
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited November 2021
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    Depends on what works for you. There really is no perfect formula that fits everyone.

    For me, it's about 25-30% for breakfast (if I'm having breakfast), 40-60% for lunch, about 20% for dinner, and about 10% for snacks (if I'm having snacks). When I don't have breakfast I bump up my lunch and/or snacks. I like a light dinner, so that's usually around the same calories unless I'm going out.

    If I have something substantial planned, I skip breakfast and snacks which frees up to 40% of my daily calories to use on a high calorie meal in satisfying portions. It's like a jigsaw: I put in the most important pieces first, then try to fit the rest of the day around them.
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
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    Aim for 300-500 per meal and adjust from there
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    edited November 2021
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    whatever works for you. I gain on 1500 but everyone is different and has different needs ;)

    how you split your calories during the day doesnt matter, whether you eat them in one big meal or 10 snacks.
  • Tealady02762
    Tealady02762 Posts: 7 Member
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    I aim for 1600 each day

    400 breakfast
    350 lunch
    350 dinner
    500 snacks (typically a 300 calorie snack between lunch and dinner and a 200
    Calorie snack after dinner/before bed)

    One thing I love about premium is being able to set calorie goals per meal. It helps me plan meals better.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
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    1500 a day is about my typical loss calorie allotment.

    I used to just skip breakfast - almond milk in my coffee was it - but I'm about 2lbs from the low end of my maintenance range now and I starve, fast, if I try that now. So for me I front load HEAVILY now - 500-600 breakfast, 300ish (light) lunch, and the rest just works itself out as it will.

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