Which meal should take in the most calories?

"Experts" recommend your breakfast being your "big" meal but I tend to spread them out throughout the day. I'm up long hours, drive for a living and need the constant energy from several meals/snacks throughout the day...

Dinner is my favorite meal, so that's where i spend the majority of my calories. I ate 1000 calories after 9 pm last night.

Do what you like with your calories.

It doesn't matter at all, just do what makes you feel best. I tend to eat roughly half of my daily calories around noon and the other half around 9PM, with a little wiggle room for coffee or some fruit/vegetables in the middle. Works for me, but wouldn't work for everybody; find what works for you and do that.

I also agree that it depends on what works best for you and your body. I eat 5-6x a day and i have noticed that all my meals are generally around the same amount of calories (200-400 for meals and 150-250 for snacks). But, i like my breakfast to be the largest meal in terms of calories and usually have a protein shake mixed with natural peanut butter and fruit, which keeps me full most of the morning until my mid-morning snack. I usually have a smaller scale dinner after i work out btwn 6-8pm (lean protein like salmon, turkey or chicken breast, green veggies and a 1/4 of a baked sweet potato) and then just drink water and green tea for the rest of the night unless i'm really hungry and need a last small snack around 9:30pm.

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I am the one in the black t-shirt :happy: I am on 1380 calories. I have a medium breakfast, BIG lunch and small dinner, it is working for me! My energy levels are great! It is whatever works for you!

I eat 6 times a day and try to make all of my meals about the same size ~300 cals each.

Me too - although I go slightly higher and aim for a 2000 total now

There's no "answer" to this question. Don't eat more than your body is going to burn off. If I know I'm going to Zumba that night, I eat a larger snack at my 3:00 time. I then skip dinner, because I can't exercise with it full. Then afterwords, have a snack size dinner, since there isn't time to burn that off before going to bed.

But, in my opinion, lunch should be bigger than dinner. Breakfast should be really decent sized as well, since it kick starts your metabolism for the day.

I've *heard* that your body actually continues to burn calories...even while you're sleeping!!! :bigsmile:

No, really!?!?!??!?!?!!!??????

Yes really...contrary to the popular belief that the moment the sun goes down your body goes into non-calorie burning mode! I've read SOOOO much about it on MFP!

This is entirely a matter of personal preference. Aside from behavioral effects, which differ from person to person but shouldn't be ignored, and medical conditions aside, total daily intake is all that matters. Partition your meals however you like.

what he said,

while you should eat breakfast and a hearty one, it doesn't have to be the one with the most calories. Eat often is best. And don't eat to heavy late at night.

I'm currently trying to bulk so I find that if I don't take in half my daily total calories at breakfast, I fall short as the day goes on. I'm really hungry at breakfast and it's after I workout so I take advantage of that to eat a lot more. Plus, the heat kills my appetite so this way lunch and dinner are not such a chore to hit my targets. That's what works for me.

that makes good sense!