How to balance out your calories

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hia11rlb
hia11rlb Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, everyone

How do you think your calories should be balanced out? I tend to always eat the most calories in the evening for dinner which I know is the wrong thing to do! My friend says she does it in 200-300 portions for each meal or snack. Is this a good idea?

Thanks

Replies

  • Microfiber_wechange
    Microfiber_wechange Posts: 640
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    I tend to always eat the most calories in the evening for dinner which I know is the wrong thing to do!

    What makes it wrong?
  • Jomalone2
    Jomalone2 Posts: 129 Member
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    I tend to eat mine up by mid-afternoon then have none left by dinner. I don't know if what time of day you exercise has anything to do with it or not. I'd like to know too.
  • honeysprinkles
    honeysprinkles Posts: 1,757 Member
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    It's different everyday, but I do better when I save more of my calories for the evening because I always get hungry later in the day!
    Just eat when you want, it won't make a difference!
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
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    There's nothing wrong with eating most of your calories at night. I tend not to eat until 12 or 1PM, eat very little through the afternoon, and then have the majority of my food around 8PM. I've tried the "eating little meals all day" thing and it made me feel absolutely horrible; I'd never do it again. It's merely a matter of personal preference.
  • ZombieSlayer
    ZombieSlayer Posts: 369 Member
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    I tend to always eat the most calories in the evening for dinner which I know is the wrong thing to do!

    How is this wrong? It's what I've been doing the whole time I've been losing; especially now that I'm doing intermittent fasting. I break my overnight fast with lunch and finish with a bowl of ice cream before bed.
  • Josephina57
    Josephina57 Posts: 170 Member
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    I use one third of my calories for dinner usually. The rest is spread out over 4 small meals/snacks. Works for me, why is it wrong?
  • SuzieZimm
    SuzieZimm Posts: 238 Member
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    I once heard that phrase, "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper." I don't know if there's any health merit in following that advice, but personally, I feel better when i have a nice big breakfast (big being calorie-heavy, like 400-450---usually oatmeal with protein powder, honey, banana, etc.) and finish with a lighter dinner. If i have a big dinner, I just feel like a blob when I go to bed, and usually that makes me miss out on the nice lean feeling when I wake up the next day.
  • Athena98501
    Athena98501 Posts: 716 Member
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    Not actually necessary, and trying can set you back. I have very little appetite in the first two thirds of the day, so I eat when I want to eat. I've tried dividing the calories between meals to see if it would balance my appetite in the evening--it didn't. I was still famished in the evening, but out of calories (read miserable). Now I leave most of my calories for the evening, and I'm perfectly satisfied and losing weight.

    That said, it is important to eat something very early in the day, to get your metabolism going (or so I've read). And important to eat something for fuel before exercising. Other than that, when you eat makes no difference if you're staying within your calorie budget.
  • hia11rlb
    hia11rlb Posts: 5
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    Sorry, I was just told that it was wrong to eat all your calories in one sitting because you can't burn them all off, but it is obviously a myth. Thanks for your help :)
  • badapdos
    badapdos Posts: 132
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    It doesn't matter, you should just eat when you're hungry :)
  • T_Marie4
    T_Marie4 Posts: 104 Member
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    I don't think it's "wrong" - I tend to do the same thing, but I do think it's better to to snack in between meals to help evening appetites -when I do this, I am not starving and I'm not eating majority of calories at night. I have a bad habit of not eating on a regular schedule or eating regular at all - like today, only 200 calories at breakfast, it's 2 pm and still haven't had lunch - oops! Sometimes busy schedules make it hard to eat at the 'right' time or divide calories up evenly - don't sweat it! As long as they are quality calories and not junk food then I think that's more important. . .just my opinion, but do what works for you!
  • SpazzyMal
    SpazzyMal Posts: 276 Member
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    There's nothing wrong with eating most of your food at night, assuming you're not just mindlessly snacking and wrecking your diet somehow. Your body can't really tell what time of day it is and doesn't shut down completely after a certain time of the night! If that's how you prefer to eat and how you feel best, then there's not really anything wrong with it.

    Myself, I tend to have a breakfast of a smoothie that comes in around 300-400 calories, then in a couple of hours I have lunch of about 500-600, then my dinner of about the same. I throw in a snack either before or after dinner, depending on when I eat dinner. But that's just me; you should do whatever works for you!

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