"Eat breakfast like a king. Lunch like a prince. And dinner like a pauper."
My issue is, I do that ALL backwards! I do eat a lot for breakfast, but I consume the most calories at dinner time. I do this because I usually eat dinner around 7ish, and I don't wan't to be craving another meal again by 11 or so.
So what's your take? Do you eat the same amount of calories per each meal, or do you variate between them all?
My breakfast and lunch are about the same, but my dinner is always my biggest meal. I think perhaps if I lived alone I would try to do it differently, just to see, but with a husband, it's just too hard to make dinner my smallest meal...
My dinner is the biggest. I eat breakfast and lunch at home, alone. For dinner I have my husband to cook for so it's usually the biggest meal of the day.
I was told the same thing. I think its probably true- you're probably going to need more of a boost in the morning before you get going than you do before you go to bed right? that doesnt mean i stick to that haha
Lunch is my lightest, then breakfast, then dinner. If I eat large in the morning, it makes me want to eat large throughout the day. I really don't mind saving up my calories for the meal at the end of the day, and it hasn't affected my weight loss.
I've tried to switch over to a bigger breakfast, and a mid-morning snack, a moderate lunch, a mid-afternoon snack and then a fairly light dinner with no eating after dinner. I've lost 23 pounds so far. In the past I would try to have a smaller breakfast but would end up getting super hungry and nibbling on whatever was around about 3 pm. Now I'll have a bowl of granola with plain yogurt and fruit, or a whole wheat waffle topped with berries and some organic chicken sausages for breakfast. Probably averaging about 450 calories at breakfast would be my ballpark guess. I like waking up hungry - before if I ate more for dinner or ate later in the evening I would wake up and not be hungry, so I would eat breakfast even if I wasn't hungry b/c I know that I was supposed to.
So this has been my experience. I think it is just finding what works for each individual given schedules and family/work commitments and what your body is asking for.
I don't know who came up with that saying but it might have been a european. People in Europe tend to eat a large meal in the day time and have a very light meal at night.
My largest meal is usually lunch if I can help it. I like going on walks in the evening so I would rather not eat something too heavy. I snack on fruit after I come back from my walk.
i'm trying to do as what your trainer said as well. But it's hard. At least i'm trying.
But then again, i know most of people do that backward. And the fact that they're still losing is a good fact
My breakfast is usually around 300-350 calories, with lunch (11:30) and dinner (6:00) around 500 each. I also usually have a 200 cal or so snack around 4:30. I very rarely eat anything after dinner.
Dinner seems to be my largest meal- but also I have tried to cut down snacking afterwards as much as possible- I'm afraid if I eat too small of a dinner I'll be starving later. I usually eat dinner around 5:30 pm and go to bed around 10pm, plenty of time to digest most if not all I eat anyways it seems.
Dinner is my largest meal of the day (breakfast is typically 200 calories, dinner is typically 500 calories). Didn't stop me from losing weight or keeping it off. Do what you feel like doing.
Gotta echo Glory - do what works for you! I have never been a big breakfast eater so that's always been my lightest meal, but lately I've tried to incorporate more protein and fat into my b-fast. It keeps me fuller longer. I.e. if I eat all carbs for breakfast, I'll be starving again by 9:00, but this morning I had two eggs on a lf tortilla with a sprinkle of cheese at 6:30 and it kept me full until noon.
Like most of you, I also cook for my DH so that used to be our heavier meal when it involved a lot of starches. Now I've tried cutting back on those and as a result, the meals have gotten lighter. For instance, tonight we're having grilled ham steak, grilled corn on the cob and salad for around 400 calories. That's still enough to fill me up!