I've been tracking my food intake on fitday and find that I can eat 1/3 my calories (400-550 calories) for breakfast @7am , then I'm not really hungry again until around 1-2 pm. I've found that if I eat this way, I'm not really starving for dinner when I get home which stops me from nibbling my way trough fixing dinner. You know how it is a taste of this, a nibble of that and by the time dinner is ready to eat you've basically eaten enough for dinner but because you really weren't paying attention you eat a regular dinner anyway.

But I've also learned I really have to pay attention to triggers-those annoying treats that people bring into the office, the suprise pizza lunch for birthdays...etc.

Anyone else find eating early prevents over eating? How are your calories spread out through the day?

Just curious.

Sarah in MD

Hi Sarah,

I am one of those ones that needs to save as many calories as possible for the evening. It isn't easy with my schedule though. I'm a teacher on a fixed schedule. I'm up by 5:30 am and by 11:30 am I've had breakfast and lunch, but I have a whole lot of hours to go.

The thing that seems to work for me is to keep my calories as low and my protein as high as possible for both breakfast and lunch. Then, in the evening, when I can slow down and actually enjoy the bites I'm taking I still have some calories to do so.

The good thing, I think, is that you've found what words for you. And, yeah, I dread those annoying treats, too.

I never stop eating. Breakfast is 300 calories or so of oatmeal + wheat bran. I am a teacher, as well, and I eat 10 baby carrots or so during each passing period in the morning, then half my 200 grams of roast chicken and some frozen strawberries during lunch, then the other half of my chicken during my planning period, and then what's left of the carrots throughout the afternoon. When I get home I eat popcorn or vegetables every hour or two, and some meat in there somewhere, and maybe some cheese (though that doesn't fill me up, so I am cutting it out when what I have is gone).

People talk about "six small meals". Except for breakfast, I really don't have meals at all--I just nibble nibble nibble. My husband feeds himself. About the only thing we both eat is coffee.

I used to save them all up and have a big dinner, but that usually led to bingeing, and I never lost any weight that way. Since I started my present diet, I do about 300 for breakfast, 500 for lunch and 600 for dinner and then use the rest on snacks. If I don't eat constantly, I end up wanting to binge.

I've recently tried three meals and a mid afternnon snack each of about 300-400 cals. This seems to work well for me.

I do a 250 breakfast at 8, 300 cal lunch at 12:30, 100 cal snack before/after gym at 5:00, use 600 or so for dinner (lets me eat with everyone else!) and save myself 100 cals for a dessert/after dinner snack so that I can eat something when my fiance wants to go out for ice cream or opens a bottle of wine.

I don't actually divvy up my meals by calorie, but it usually ends up like this:

250-350 for breakfast. I used to eat a high-fiber cereal for b'fast, but nowadays I'm eating more eggs or egg beaters for breakfast. It's experimenting, really, and not any problem that caused it.

morning snack 100-200 calories. usually fruit, e.g. apple or orange

lunch. varies quite a bit. a big salad is usually my go-to; salads include things like beans, sunflower seeds, and cranberries. sometimes other protein, too. sometimes bean or lentil soup. usually 300-450 cals or so.

afternoon snack. sometimes fruit, sometimes nuts; 100-200 cals

Dinner varies more than the other meals. often ends up 500-600 calories. Usually protein of some kind. I try to include veggies of all types - broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, squash, greens, whatever. Occasionally a slice of multigrain bread, but not often.

I switch things out to see if eating different things at different times of the day makes a difference. I consistently make sure I have snacks and do not ever feel like I am over-hungry of deprived.

my total is generally 1400-1500 per day. sometimes a little more or less.

hope this helps -

I usually spread mine over 6-7 "mini meals" or snacks over the course of my day, works for me

Well, for me it's not actually working. Because after dinner I still tend to mindlessly eat. I'm needing to pay closer attention to what and why I'm ieating. Like do what your supposed to do and eat only when really hungry.

I will admit that there are times I do eat (snack) when I am not hungry because if I didn't, I wouldn't get in enough calories and I have already been there, done that, got the smashed up scale to prove it lol. And for me, I don't have a rule where I can't eat after dinner or not eat after 7pm or not eat 3 hours before bedtime, etc, etc. I keep myself on my 6-7 meals schedule and I don't have any issues of getting hungry or having a binge (99.99% of the time, no one is perfect) because I am allowing myself to eat a lot of times throughout the day.

Again, I am speaking only about me and no one else

I just count every single calorie that goes in, and knowing that I only have so many to work with keeps me on track. I don't want to undo what I've worked so hard to achieve thus far, and I know I still have a very long way to go--someone on here has this with their signature: "nothing tastes as good as being thin feels"--truer words were never spoken!

I usually don't eat very many calories in the morning and have bigger lunch and dinner. I think i'm going to start adding on another 100 calories or so to breakfast, mix it up a bit.

I too save my calories for the evening. I'm a student and often don't go to bed until 1-2 am. If I ate a lot during the day I'd pig out in the evening anyway. Bearing in mind that I only have 1300 calories a day, I usually have 150 or so calories for breakfast, 50-100 for a snack, 100-200 for lunch, and the rest varies depending on what I make for dinner. Dinner is usually around 300, I guess, and the rest is nibbling throughout the evening.

It's really variable for me. I usually eat a small 200 calorie breakfast because eating a lot in the morning makes me feel ill. Sometimes I'll have a snack under 100cal before lunch... lunch is usually 300-400 calories maybe another 100 cal snack before dinner dinner is usually 500-600 calories and then depending on how many I have left I'll have desert.

Today I spent 700 calories on lunch out with a friend so I'm having soup for dinner to balance it out .

I have 175 for breakfast, then a BIG lunch - about 650-750 and supper is 300-400. I sometimes have a small snack - a yogurt, or a piece of fruit 1/2 oz of almonds. Weekends are tougher, my schedule is not as routine and because I'm home with food around more, I'm more likely to snack, but I'm working on that. I do switch things up and have a smaller lunch if I'm going out in the evening, but when I'm on my own schedule, my main meal is lunch.