1200 calories or not eating late at night

Which is more important.  I know I should have 1200 calories a day, but sometimes after dinner I only have around 900.  Should I go ahead and have a late night snack?  I have been trying to not eat anything too late at night and I'm not hungry after dinner.  So do I eat even though I'm not hungry and try to hit the 1200 mark or do I not eat and stay at the 900 mark????

Eating right can be so confusing!

Melanie

well you should strive to eat more during the day, but if you can't make sure to get those 1200.  900 will send you into starvation mode.  But you might find that you will weigh more in the morning if you eat late at night.  I think mostly because the matabolism slows down in your sleep and it takes longer to digest the food. 

I say take snacks along with you during the day, like crackers or energy bars or something, to try and get your calories up to 1200, before bed time.

I say definitely eat!!! calories are calories, it doesn't matter what time you eat them. If you don't want to eat late, then you should try to up your calories during the day, maybe add an extra snack or two.  good luck!

FOR SURE EAT! 900 cal is nothing. 1200 is nothing, but if that is where you are at, at least eat that!

eat!  getting enough cals to sustain your bod is important.  Oh, and if you think you can't eat that much, just eat a piece of toast with like 2 tablespoons of peanut butter on it.  it'll get you all caught up and it's healthy(ish)

Heaps of people have the same problem, (including me, well I used to)
I just plan how many cals I want to have er meal. If I miss about 100 for whatever reason, say at lunch, I plan that at dinner and use it to give me an extra 1/2 cup of smething healthy but with more calories. I go to bed rather late, so I often have a hot chocolate with a biscuit earlier on in the evening. The PB thing is good. Although it adds to your fat, its good fat. Try buying some natural or salt reduced type however.

If you're still consistantly missing, try adding things during the day; a handful of nuts to a salad, eat a carrot with peanut butter. Its better to reach the goal then consistantly be under.

Goodluck

I think I'd split the difference and have a small, low calorie snack late night.

Melanie,

Unless you're really really petite, eating less than 1200 calories a day (for a woman, 1500 for a man) can be dangerous, and detrimental to actually losing weight.  Your body goes into starvation mode and begins to store fat.  Not exactly the plan.

According to this website someone wanting to lose fat should aim for a caloric deficit of at least 500 calories below maintenance level but no more than 1000 below maintenance.  Depending on what your maintenance level is (mine's 2400) you could consume a lot or very little compared to others or the federal RDA.  Use the Expenditure Tool when you're logged into your account here to see how much you need in a day to live.  Subtract 500-1000 calories from that to set your target intake.

To add those 300 or so calories into your diet, I'd recommend eating a healthy, small-yet-calorie-dense snack after dinner, something like nuts (chopped pecans have almost 70 calories per tablespoon).  A handful with a cup of milk (90-100 cals in skim) would take care of a pretty big deficit without adding bad fats or lots of processed stuff, while giving you good nutrients that you might need anyway.

Anything else rich in healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado) would be calorie-rich but in a small amount of food, which would mean not eating a whole meal right before bed.

If you want to avoid eating before bed altogether, then add those small amounts of calorie-rich foods to your meal (sunflower seeds and/or avocado on a salad, for example, or my favorite: pecans on a baked sweet potato. Yum!).  That will bring your calories up without adding a lot of bulk to your diet.

--------------------------------------------- --
Disclaimer:  This is my opinion, formed by telling you the opposite of what I have to do.  I have a hard time getting by on less than 1800 calories (at 5'10") and am forever shaving calories off here and there, while trying to maintain both variety and abundance in my diet.  I do not pity you, but I don't envy you either.  I'm content with my struggle, and am grateful I don't have to worry about eating too little.

Thanks for all your help!  I am definatly NOT a petite person.  I need to loose around 100 pounds. 

 I guess its been so hard because I have to be on a very low fat diet for health reasons ( I am having gallbladder problems and scheduled for surgery in 11 days)  My doctor told me to eat very little fat.  So theres not alot that I can eat that is low fat.  I snack on fruit, yogurt or fat free-sugar free pudding and none of that has very many calories. 

I am doing better today.  So far I have had 563 calories and we are probably eating out tonight. 

Thanks again for all your help

Melanie

Ah, now I see the problem.  The milk might still be a good solution, since a mug has about 135-150 calories in it.  It's a start.

Oh, and see this thread I just found:

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/1223 0.html

Good, comprehensive dieting advice, from the makers of this site.

EDIT: This is a member post, not official site stuff.  Oops! 

(Out of idle curiosity, how much fat are you allowed in a day?  I'm just nosy -- if you don't want to say, no offense taken. :) )

I'm not sure how much fat I can have.  The first doctor I saw said no fat, but that is nearly impossible so I just try to keep it as low as possible.  Today I have had 19 and thats because we went out to dinner.

Melanie

Hi there! I have read recommendations that you should try to get at least 20% of your total calories from fat. You need fat to bond with vegetable and fruit vitamin molecules and for you body to absorb those nutrients, it needs fat to do so. Try to get your fat content from good fats, such as olive oil, fish and nuts.

There is a lot of other great tips in this thread:
http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/8532 .html

Your first doctor said "no fat"?

Okay, that's puzzling -- I mean, you need some fats to keep yourself healthy.  Maybe he/she could give you some dietary guidelines to follow.  I'd think that if what you ate was so important to your health pre-surgery, a doctor would have some sort of recommendations for you...
 
//nosy off