how do you distribute your calories through the day?

purdieang
purdieang Posts: 43
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,
I'm pretty new to this, Im eating around 1600/day without eating back excercise calories. I find I'm really hungry at dinner time and it's my largest meal of the day. Just wondering how others distribute their calories for the day - I am wondering if I should try 4 x 400 cal meals rather than a big 700 dinner. Thanks in advance

Replies

  • ElizmaKnowles
    ElizmaKnowles Posts: 43 Member
    My allowance is 1440 - breakfast is usually round 400 - 450 and lunch round 300. I try not to have more than 600 for dinner and the rest I use for snacks, usually one mid morning (I have breakfast before 07h00 thus feel peckish from around 10h30) and then another mid-late afternoon to make sure I am not starving by the time I get home and start dinner.
    Try to eat at least half of your exercise calories back to avoid starvation.
  • Whisperinghorse
    Whisperinghorse Posts: 202 Member
    I have a big breakfast 600-650cal, abiggish lunch 550-600cal then a smaller dinner 400cal ish... I eat at 715am, 1pm and 630pm but if I get hungry in between I wont deny myself a snack or two!
  • Daffydilly
    Daffydilly Posts: 29 Member
    Hello, and welcome!

    I'm at 1200 for the day. I usually have up to 300 for breakffast, 300 for lunch and the remaining 600 for dinner and snacks. Obviously it doesn't always work out like that and I'm not manic about it but that seems to be the general trend for me.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I am currently eating 3200 calories a day but regardless to that number I am a type 2 diabetic and have it under control now with diet and exercise. So my meals are split up to allow me to maintain my blood sugars. I eat 3 main meals and 3 snacks a day but my calories are spread out like so: Breakfast 800-900 calories ( I exercise in the morning so I gear up for that) Lunch 600-700 then Supper 700-800 and my 3 snacks total 700-800 which are usually the same every day (Pistachios and almonds, glass of chocolate milk at bedtime and my protein bar after my workout). There is no set rule you have to eat at any given times but this is what works for my weightloss and my diabetes.... Best of Luck....
  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
    Thats a really good question, i think its key to reaching your goals

    Just looking at mine over the last 3 weeks, I think I am having too much at breakfast lunch and thats leaving me short later in the day. Love to get some qualified advise about it.
  • CaseRat
    CaseRat Posts: 377 Member
    6 'meals' of around 500-600 calories to total around 3,200-3400 a day :)
  • slimpaul4369
    slimpaul4369 Posts: 10
    i do strict and re feeds but normally i have breakfast at 6pm lunch/dinner 3pm dont eat nothing after 5pm and only drink water
  • kym117
    kym117 Posts: 315 Member
    I am on 1200 cals a day and I like to split them as followed:
    300 cals for breakfast
    300 cals for Lunch
    400 cals for dinner
    200 cals for snacks throughout the day.
    I have found that this keeps me eating throught the day without getting too hungry at any point.
  • groovyfirechick
    groovyfirechick Posts: 188
    I'm on 1540 a day. I have breakfast at 6am usually 300 calories. Then I go home from work (I work overnights) and sleep from 8am-4pm. Dinner is usually around 530pm....my biggest meal usually 800 calories. When I get to work at 10pm I usually have another meal which I call "snacks" to finish out the rest of my calories.
  • FR89
    FR89 Posts: 186 Member
    Weekday diet!

    porridge (oat so simple pot.. original)... or 1 toast with peanut butter so just below 200cals for that..

    Lunch: depending on how hungry i am .. but I try to have a light lunch.. sandwich..soup..panini or small portion of what ever I have.. so about 400/500cals..

    an BIG dinner for about 500/600cals... use up all my cals for dinner.. helps if you exerciser because that makes me hungry so i save a doof amount for dinner.. oh and try to have that between 6-7 .. and if i feel hungry after gym i have a fruit!

    i've been doing that for past 2 weeks and i can start to feel a difference... that me changing my eating habits for better..

    Oh and i dont really have snacks.. just have tea or water in between.....

    Good luck xx
  • summer827
    summer827 Posts: 516 Member
    Right now I'm trying to lose some body fat, so I've restricted my calories. I'm in the 1500-1600 range for now, too. I also am hungriest in the evenings...used to be a bedtime snacker of junk...that piled on some pounds for me. Now I arrange to have supper as my largest meal. Yesterday was a pretty good representation of where I am in the calorie distribution...About 400 calories for breakfast, 500 for lunch and 750 for supper. Also had a protein shake. I earned extra calories from exercise, so I applied those to anything I ate after the gym and netted 1550 calories.
  • purdieang
    purdieang Posts: 43
    thanks for that, seems we all do it differently, guess its just finding what works for each individual. Am having trouble working out why I'm eating 1600 cals + exercise cals and am only trying to lose 15 kg, there are other people out there eating only 1200 - this MFP better have it right so I'm not wasting my time here! lol
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    my breakfast is usually 100-150 lunch is 350 -500 and dinner is about well the rest 800 or so
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    I eat around 1800 most days (finals are throwing my numbers around though -.-)

    I skip breakfast, eat at 2 (500 calories) then usually dinner at 6 (700-800) then a snack at 9 (500)
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
    Breakfast usually clocks in between 300-400. I probably should eat more for breakfast, but I don't. Ha.
    If I have an early morning, I'll usually have a light snack around 10.
    Lunch can be anywhere from 300-500.
    I usually have another snack around 2:30 or 3, and this ranges from 50-250 calories, depending on how hungry I am.
    Dinner is also usually somewhere between 300-500 calories.
    I also will usually have a snack before bed, since I get hungry by 8 or 9.

    This obviously all varies depending on my work out routine too. Days I have long runs I eat way more than on day I do pilates or lift. It just depends.
  • pat6250
    pat6250 Posts: 90
    I am on 1395 calories, so I try to keep breakfast and lunch to around 300 each, because I like a larger dinner to get me throught the night without hunger, and I leave some for a mid morning or afternoon snack. I insert the snack where needed, it depends on what time I had breakfast and lunch. Late breakfast means no morning snack, if I have one, it will be in the afternoon. If I was super busy and missed lunch, then I will have a late afternoon and evening snack with the calories I would have used for lunch. That is why logging on MFP helps me so much, I keep to my calorie allowance on the majority of days, and I know how much to eat for workouts.
  • Mommyof3texans
    Mommyof3texans Posts: 347
    I distribute mine fairly evenly over the day with breakfast, lunch and dinner being slightly bigger than my snacks in between. I try to make sure I'm getting protein each time I eat though. Feel free to peek at my diary to see.
  • glennstoudt
    glennstoudt Posts: 403 Member
    Hi all,
    I'm pretty new to this, Im eating around 1600/day without eating back excercise calories. I find I'm really hungry at dinner time and it's my largest meal of the day. Just wondering how others distribute their calories for the day - I am wondering if I should try 4 x 400 cal meals rather than a big 700 dinner. Thanks in advance

    300, 300 1200. It makes no difference at least to me how it is distributed. There are occasional snacks and such. But it's about the total, over time, day by day. Burn em up move em out rawhide. I am thinking about sending all my calories to Washington and having them redistributed. That might be good for weight loss.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I try to balance things out, but do tend to leave a few extra for dinner. It's the main meal I eat with my hubby, and I may want wine, so I want to have calories for that. Otherwise, I spread it out pretty evenly. Just a few leftovers for the end.
  • AndreaHogston160
    AndreaHogston160 Posts: 4 Member
    I am on 1600 calories a day. I split my day up like this. Breakfast-300
    Snack- 150-200
    Lunch- 300
    snack- 150-200
    Dinner- 500
    snack- 100

    Having several small meals like this keeps me from feeling like I am hungry. i feel like I am always eating and this cuts down on having and giving into bad craving.
  • Sheila_Ann
    Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
    My nutritionist and trainer told me that I should eat my workout calories. At one point I wasn't and was not losing anything. I'm now back to losing around a pound a week. I'm at 1200 calories a day plus whatever my workout calories are that day. I do around 300 for breakfast and I tend to eat a big lunch and something light for dinner. Good luck! :drinker:
  • shaunte92
    shaunte92 Posts: 127 Member
    Right now I'm trying to consume around 1200 calories a day. Breakfast 250-300. Lunch 300-400 Dinner- 300-350 Snacks: 200. I'm trying the whole, eat heavier earlier in the day because your metabolism is kicking *kitten* thing. However, I just incorporated eating breakfast into my fitness routine a few weeks ago, because I'm generally not hungry then and I'd felt like it was a waste of calories. Also, it kind of made me sick lol. But since I've been making time/forcing myself to eat breakfast, I don't feel the need to snack nearly as much. I try to make lunch my biggest meal of the day, because of the reasons I just gave for not liking breakfast all that much, and dinner(usually just protein and veggies) small because it's later in the day. I usually have my snacks after dinner and/or between lunch and dinner.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    2500-3000, and I usually eat after 4pm, and before 9pm. Weekends I eat when I want...but it usually is within an hour or two +/- those times.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    I prefer breakfast to be my largest meal as I don't like to eat heavy in the evening closer to bed time. Plus I workout early in the day and it helps with my endurance. I eat between 1200-1400 depending on my exercise that day and I do 300 for B-L-D and inbetween meal snacks of 150-200. If its a heavy lifting today like today was heavy legs I'll eat closer to 400 for breakfast. I try not to eat anything after 7:30 pm if I'm not working that night.
  • w8sarge
    w8sarge Posts: 4,100 Member
    I eat 1600 calories a day too, but I do eat back most of my exercise calories (ususally 4 or 5 times a week, burning an average of 500 calories per workout). If I didn't, I might take somebody's arm off! I don't aim for particular numbers for my meals, but I've lately taken myself in hand on my snacking, trying to keep total for snacks under 600 calories a day.

    When I don't have a workout to provide me with extra calories to eat, it is very hard for me to stay under calorie limit.

    Good luck on your journey. Finding out how best to manage calories is a process. Keep working at it and you'll keep improving!!
  • purdieang
    purdieang Posts: 43
    thanks to you all for taking the time to reply
  • Mitchlou84
    Mitchlou84 Posts: 135
    I am on 1300 a day, but I eat my exercise cals, therefore I usually get about 1700-1800.

    I will eat around

    Breakfast 200-300
    Lunch 400-500
    Dinner 700-900

    Whatever is left for snacks.

    I eat light during the day, but workout in the evening just before my dinner, I like to know that I will eat a good dinner that makes me feel comfortably full. It works for me

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