What is your largest meal each day?

quiksandy
quiksandy Posts: 246 Member
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
What, typically, is your largest meal each day?

I've heard the phrase "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper".

I never do this, however. I tend to eat a lighter breakfast and my lunch and dinners are about equal with snacks in between all meals. So, what do you do?
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Replies

  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
    Dinner - always.
  • jocelynna
    jocelynna Posts: 137 Member
    What, typically, is your largest meal each day?

    I've heard the phrase "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper".

    I never do this, however. I tend to eat a lighter breakfast and my lunch and dinners are about equal with snacks in between all meals. So, what do you do?

    I generally follow your routine...light breakfast, equal lunches and dinners, and snacks.
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
    What, typically, is your largest meal each day?

    I've heard the phrase "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper".

    I never do this, however. I tend to eat a lighter breakfast and my lunch and dinners are about equal with snacks in between all meals. So, what do you do?

    My meals typically increase in size.

    300 cals for breakfast, 400 cals for lunch, 600 cals in the evening, on average, but that doesn't take into account days when I'm burning over 500 calories doing exercise. In those cases, I add to my evening meal and have snacks later on, because I won't know how many calories I have spare until the evening and I then have to make sure I eat some back.

    If I have a cooked breakfast, I don't want to eat again for the rest of the day, so I do understand the 'breakfast like a king' saying, but cooked breakfasts aren't sustainable and I've yet to find another breakfast that fills me up to that level.
  • Pangui
    Pangui Posts: 373 Member
    I eat a light breakfast, a big lunch and then a medium to light dinner, depending upon how many calories I have left over. I rarely snack, but if I do, it's just a piece of fruit or veggie. This is a big improvement over what I used to do, which is no breakfast and a large lunch and dinner.
  • SwankyTomato
    SwankyTomato Posts: 442 Member
    Hi! New to this board and this site. I just started it last week.

    Right now I am just entering what I eat and not worrying about cutting back yet. I am going to give it another couple of weeks and then go in and adjust.

    I used to "believe" you should eat like a king at breakfast but now I think that it is probably not a good idea. I have realized I need to cut back my breakfast calories. I am eating 600/day easy and then some.

    That does not go over well if I am trying to do 1200/day.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    lunch by far...i eat up to 800 calories at lunch, the rest of my meals are between 200-350 calories
  • gaylelynnbell
    gaylelynnbell Posts: 248 Member
    Sometimes lunch but usually it's dinner. Most days though, lunch and dinner are within 50-75 calories of each other.
  • kaybrose730
    kaybrose730 Posts: 143 Member
    I normally eat equal meals.. about 300 a piece.. but dinners tend to go over that so just have to make sure i workout!
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    Mine varies between lunch and dinner.

    Todays dinner of Salmon and veggies was even less than my breakfast, and I'd had pasta bolognese for lunch.

    But some days I just have a roll/sandwich for lunch so dinner is the big one.

    I like to vary it and keep my body guessing :)
  • Nsdnjbl
    Nsdnjbl Posts: 66 Member
    usually by dinner, im starving so-- I eat the most at night
  • Jeeenjohnson19
    Jeeenjohnson19 Posts: 54 Member
    Definitley breakfast. Around 600 cals for breakfast, 450 for lunch and 350 for dinner. And i'll snack in between if its a gym day.
  • quiksandy
    quiksandy Posts: 246 Member
    Another thing I sometimes do is I get paranoid of going over in a day so I eat lighter at breakfast and lunch and then find myself with a bunch of calories left over for dinner. But then I don't feel like some huge dinner so I tend to eat a regular-sized dinner and just allow myself a late snack or a dessert!
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Another thing I sometimes do is I get paranoid of going over in a day so I eat lighter at breakfast and lunch and then find myself with a bunch of calories left over for dinner. But then I don't feel like some huge dinner so I tend to eat a regular-sized dinner and just allow myself a late snack or a dessert!

    Same here :happy:

    My biggest meal is always lunch or dinner. I'm never hungry in the mornings so even just eating breakfast every day has been a hard habit for me to get into. Now I finally always eat breakfast, but it's always very light (100-200 calories). Then I have plenty left over for lunch and dinner when I have a huge appetite!
  • SandyMilton
    SandyMilton Posts: 130
    For most days, lunch will inevitably be my largest meal of the day. I really don't like eating large dinners.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    I do about 200-300 for breakfast, then about 300 for lunch, 100-200 snack, then I use up the rest with dinner and snack after that. Though I have only been on here for about a week. But a lot of small calorie meals are better then a few big calorie meals, it helps with stabilizing your metabolism.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    Another thing I sometimes do is I get paranoid of going over in a day so I eat lighter at breakfast and lunch and then find myself with a bunch of calories left over for dinner. But then I don't feel like some huge dinner so I tend to eat a regular-sized dinner and just allow myself a late snack or a dessert!

    I think the secret is planning - I knew I was going to have a low dinner, so made sure I had a higher lunch.

    but you must be doing OK, you've lost 20lb, that's great!
  • paigemarie93
    paigemarie93 Posts: 778 Member
    Dinner, I always leave myself a big amount of calories for my dinner.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    From http://www.leangains.com/

    10. Myth: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch a queen, dinner like a pauper."


    Truth

    Also connected to this saying, is the belief that you should reduce carbs in the evening as they will be less likely to be stored as fat. While this might sound good on paper, there's nothing to support it and a lot that shows it to be wrong.

    The strongest argument against this are the numerous studies available on body composition and health after and during Ramadan fasting. This meal pattern of regular nightly feasts has a neutral or positive effect on body fat percentage and other health parameters. This is quite an extreme and telling example. People literally gorge on carbs and treats in the middle of the night to no ill effect. And yet, in the bizarre world of bodybuilding and fitness, people worry whether it's OK to eat 50 grams of carbs in their last meal.

    If the scientific data on Ramadan fasting aren't enough, there are plenty of other studies showing no effect on weight loss or weight gain from eating later in the day.

    In one study comparing two meal patterns, which involved one group eating more calories earlier in the day and one group eating most calories later in the day, more favorable results were found in the group eating large evening meals. While those who ate more in the AM lost more weight, the extra weight was in the form of muscle mass. The late evening eaters conserved muscle mass better, which resulted in a larger drop in body fat percentage.


    My biggest meal is always dinner :] I love having a huge meal! I'm never hungry in the morning so i skip breakfast and save for later when I wanna eat!
  • JennieAL
    JennieAL Posts: 1,726 Member
    Varies.
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
    It depends on how hungry I am... I've always been a big breakfast eater, so on days I wake up famished, I'll eat a big breakfast. If I'm not that hungry, I'll eat light and go from there. I always leave room for snacks... I'm a huge snacker, so I try to eat smaller portions at my meals!
  • thatsnumberwang
    thatsnumberwang Posts: 398 Member
    Snacks :-) Breakfast used to be first (probably 600 calories, no joke -- my cereal bowls are the size of mixing bowls) but since I've started measuring cereal breakfast is probably about tied with the rest of my other meals.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    I typically eat continuously from about 6pm until bedtime. When I run out of calories I go to bed.
  • Buckeyt
    Buckeyt Posts: 473 Member
    Totally depends

    Some days its a 600 plus calorie breakfast others its dinner. It's never lunch though.
  • Helenatrandom
    Helenatrandom Posts: 1,166 Member
    Dinner is the only meal I eat with my husband. I guess I'm a "social eater". I prefer a larger dinner with him, a lighter breakfast, and a lunch a little bigger than breakfast.
    I've heard the saying you mention, but will only do that if he is home (or my uncle is visiting) and I can make a big breakfast for both of us.
  • AmandaLou4319
    AmandaLou4319 Posts: 73 Member
    My largest is breakfast, it took about a week but it makes sense....

    I eat about 300 calories for my last "meal", by the time morning comes, I eat a larger meal to get going.
  • JennyLiz729
    JennyLiz729 Posts: 2
    Dinner is my largest meal of the day, because otherwise I'd start snacking late at night.
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    Breakfast. I wake early, am naturally very active in the morning, and walk about 5 miles before breakfast every day. That's also when I'm hungriest. And I've found that (for me) a big breakfast reduces or eliminates cravings and snacking issues later in the day.
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    Dinner because I have more time to cook in the evening, and because I am done with my workouts. I don't like to spend too much time in the kitchen cooking for breakfast or lunch. Exception = eating out for lunch.
  • MrsGreen1985
    MrsGreen1985 Posts: 53 Member
    my meals tend to get larger through out the day

    Small breakfast, medium sized lunch and large (ish) meal for dinner.
  • damonmath
    damonmath Posts: 359 Member
    I've heard the phrase "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper".



    This is me!
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