Supper = Half of my daily intake !

I am eating about 1500 cals per day but I have noticed that most of my calories are consummed at supper. Is that bad? Well I know it probably isn't the best thing but how big of a no-no is this? The rest of my meals are pretty spread out during the day. I try to eat every 3 hours.

That happens to me occasionally, but it's definitely not something to shoot for-- just for comfort sake. Since spending half on any one meal probably leaves you hungry at some other part of the day.

What are these meals that cost 750 calories? 

Your meals should taper off later in the day. You really need to turn your calorie intake upside down (most in the morning, least at night). If you aren't already try 5-6 smaller meals.

If you can't do any of that at least get in some exercise after your dinner. Go for a long walk or go to the gym etc etc.

 

 

No offense, but all the things shirley just suggested are myths.

Well rice and veggies... but it is a considerable amount of vegetables lol. I am afraid that I am not getting enough calories but I can't seem to bring myself to eat more without binging. I am supposed to eat about 2200 cals just to maintain my weight and this is not counting the calories I burn when I go to the gym. :S 

i pretty much always consume half my calories at supper (at least). i eat 3 meals a day, breakfast is very light (100-200 calories) and then a good size lunch and i always eat lots for supper! i find that that's what works for me though and i have been able to lose weight no problem. i find i have less self control at home so if i allow myself to eat more when i get home i stay under my calories. it hasn't put a hault to my weight loss what so ever. so although most diet books don't recommend it...find what works for you and your lifestyle.

eat whenever you want. i work out late at night and the gym leaves me starving so i eat more at dinner too. the time of day you eat doesn't matter for weight loss, at least it didn't for me.

I don't think it is bad and it is usually true for me too.  I think that people have to find their own patterns that work for them for their new way of life to be sustainable.  I eat breakfast, lunch and lots of snacks, but I don't feel satisfied unless I have a big ole filling yummy dinner most nights.  I don't think it is that big of a deal.  I am never excessively hungry and it makes me happy.  Also, unlike a lot of people, I never really want a post dinner snack.

I'd say on days that I have work, I eat half, if not more of my calories in the evening when I get home.

Original Post by feanor:

No offense, but all the things shirley just suggested are myths.

 No they aren't.

It's fact that higher frequency smaller meals keeps your metabolism at a higher level than 3 large meals.

It's fact that your body needs less calorie close to bed time and therefore these should be limited.

And it's just plain common sense that if you're getting half of your calories in your last meal of the day and aren't willing to change this then you need to do some form of exercise before or after to minimize the effect of this.

 What mgallagher3 says makes sense and backs up what I said. If you go to the gym your body is ready for a large meal so that would be a great way to keep your meals the way they are. But you can't just eat whenever you like for the best results. 

  

I think that what most people forget when they say that you shouldn't have a big dinner is that most people nowadays don't eat dinner and then go to bed an hour or two later.  I eat dinner between 6-7 and I am usually awake until 12-1.  Six hours is plenty of time to digest dinner before falling asleep.

I think it matters more that you eat healthy and that you eat in a pattern that fits for you than anything else.  If you are creating a healthy lifestyle and not just a diet, you need a pattern that works for you. 

Original Post by shirleysugar:

Original Post by feanor:

No offense, but all the things shirley just suggested are myths.

No they aren't.

It's fact that higher frequency smaller meals keeps your metabolism at a higher level than 3 large meals.

It's fact that your body needs less calorie close to bed time and therefore these should be limited.

And it's just plain common sense that if you're getting half of your calories in your last meal of the day and aren't willing to change this then you need to do some form of exercise before or after to minimize the effect of this.

What mgallagher3 says makes sense and backs up what I said. If you go to the gym your body is ready for a large meal so that would be a great way to keep your meals the way they are. But you can't just eat whenever you like for the best results.

 

Uh, yeah.. they really are. The eating 6 meals a day is good to keep down hunger, and to train yourself to eat small amounts and be satisfied. But the metabolism benefit is NEGLIGIBLE, and its also disputed in the scientific community whether any benefit exists at all.

Your body may need less calories at night compared to during the day, but consider this. You eat 3 or more times during the day, and then go 8 hours WITHOUT food while sleeping. So according to your logic, you would want to stock up on calories right before you go to bed, because you DO use calories when asleep. Except your logic isn't correct, because it doesn't matter when you eat if you are eating less then you are burning.

Your plain common sense doesn't MAKE sense because eating a large dinner or eating at night is not going to magically make the food turn into fat if the body still needs more calories.

=__________=

For me, it doesn't matter what the right or wrong way is. I do what works for me. I am very busy during the day and don't eat many calories. I look forward to my dinner when I am home and always save some calories to have as snacks in the evening. That way I feel I am treating myself and my weight loss has been steady since I started. What we need to remember is that we are in this for the long haul so we need to keep ourselves happy as well as healthy !

I've been eating a large portion of my calories (30-50%) for dinner for the past month and have lost 11 pounds as of yesterday.  I really don't think it has affected me negatively.  Because I tend to snack more in the evening I think it's better to eat a large meal and be full enough to avoid snacks, then to try to spread out my meals evenly through the day and set myself up for disaster later on.

Thankfully I work nights!

So I eat a very light "breakfast" at 3:30-4pm; "supper" at 6-7pm (which is usually half of my calories ~700), snacks at 10p & 1a, and "lunch" at 4:30a. If I exercise it's at 8a before I go to bed. It's really the best time I have to do it, because my fiancé isn't home.

it really depends on when you sleep in relation to when your dinner is, and if it is your last meal of the day

last meal of the day 

eating small, more frequent meals has been studied for decades in relation to sleeplessness, heartburn, schizo-affective disorder, high blood cholesterol, insulin levels, stomach size, calorie consumption and who know what else...

snacking versus one big meal 

the first i heard of not eating after sundown, when to eat your largest meal and such was after a study of buddhist monks. industrialized nations are great at picking up little tidbits like this and incorporating them into our culture before proper scrutiny explains the why and wherefore.  like eating yogurt for hundreds of years, and thinking that suddenly probiotics are a new fangled thing.

I also have this issue, but I agree with the majority of the posters.  I eat out/take in almost every night, and because of that I budget half of my calories for dinner and a snack at night.  If it is working for you, it's certainly not something you have to change.  While the issues with metabolizing it are up in the air scientifically, one thing is for sure, a calorie is a calorie no matter what time of day you are eating it.  And if you eat 1500 calories all at breakfast or all at dinner or spread throughout the day you are pretty much going to have the same result.

I'm on a 1200 cal diet and i divide them up in 300 cal inc. 300 for breakfast 300 lunch 300 dinner....and the left over 300 is for snacks in between.... Now it doesn't always work that way.. But I get it as close as possible.... I was not eating breakfast and then eating a small lunch then I would go crazy for dinner and found it hard to stop ... So I changed things and it has been working out great..... No more hungry monsters waiting for me at the dinner table....

i think a lot of people have a hard time eating a higher-calorie breakfast, get lunch on the fly, and scarf down snacks during the day.  dinner may be the only meal where you have both the appetite and the time to eat something substantial. 

i don't think it's ideal.  for me, i'm much better off to have two small meals by 11 or so (often totalling 1/2 my intake), a larger "dinner" early in the afternoon, and a small meal in the evening.  if i let myself get hungry, i'll often do something stupid at night (chicken wings or half a pizza, typically).  i also sleep much better if i eat light in the evening.  seems to help my body go into shut-down mode. 

but that's just what works for me.  obviously there are a lot of opinions.  i don't pretend to have the always-and-final-absolute truth.

Caleum,

I too have trouble getting enough calories in. I am afraid to eat adequate food because I'm terrified of a binge. The doctors are consistently trying to drill into my head that excessive restricting causes bingeing.

One doctor suggested (hypothetically) I not feed my dogs for one day and then see how much they gorge the following day. I was horrified at the mere thought of not feeding my dogs, yet it is something I force on myself daily.

I'm hoping calorie counting will enable me a slow and successful increase in food without an increase in weight.

Best of luck to you.

I'm on the same calorie intake you are. I try and spread my calorie intake out throughout the day. i usually shoot for 400 or so per meal because i also eat snacks, which usually consist of fruit or a small treat(like a small piece of choc.) if i'm feeling like i could use a little pick up.

 

Eating smaller meals does keep your metabolism higher. So even if you are losing weight no problem now, think of how much faster you could lose it if you switched over to smaller portions spread out throughout the day. It might be working well but think of how much better it could be in the long run. Eating smaller portions also helps your stomach adjust that way you have a lower tolerance for overindulging and it encourages you to not do that.  I'm not an expert but this si what works for me and we're both on the same intake so i figured i'd stick my 2 cents in. :)