What is the best way to distribute your calories throughout the day?
Is there an optimal way for optimal results?
Is there a certain amount of calories that one specific meal should have?
And if there is, should you have it at a specific time in the day?
When getting started with your fitness goals, these might be questions you've asked yourself.
And as you make changes to your nutrition, you're probably wondering if you're doing it right or if there is a better, more optimal way to get results.
First and foremost, I don't want you to stress. After reading this article, I hope you will know how to distribute your calories for your fitness goals in the best way for you.
First, You'll Need To Determine Your Goal
Let's look at how you can distribute your calories throughout the day between your meals if your primary goal is weight loss.
Before breaking down the numbers, I want you to know that the number of meals you eat per day will vary for everyone. However, generally, most people eat between 3-5 meals a day.
You'll Start By Determining Your Calorie Deficit
I'm going to use 1,800 calories for this example.
For fat loss, your overall calories and sticking to your calorie deficit will be the most important, but it isn't the only thing that matters. What these meals consist of matters, so what you include in these meals will help you with your fitness goals.
I hope this helps. ↓
Next, You'll Want To Determine How Much Protein You Need
Usually, I have my one-on-one clients just track their overall calories and protein, because it's easier to track two numbers than it is to track four numbers, especially if you're just getting started with tracking. And for fat loss, your overall calories and protein intake are the two most important numbers, and most people don't have any trouble eating carbs or fats, but protein seems to be a struggle for most. I also don't expect you to be perfect when tracking, and that's why a range can be better than trying to hit precise calories and macros.
If you enjoy tracking all three macros, feel free to do so. And I'll show you how you can distribute them throughout your meals.
Using the 1,800-calorie example, let's say your protein goal is 30% of your total calorie intake, which will be 135g of protein. And the remainder 75% of your calories will be split between carbs and fats, 35% will be fats, and 35% will be carbs. (Remember, this is just an example, your fats and carbs percentages may be different and are interchangeable.)
The breakdown will look like this:
1,800-calorie
135 g of Protein (30% of total calories)
158 g of Carbs (35% of total calories)
70 g of Fats (35% of total calories)
The Next Step Is To Determine How Many Meals You'll Be Eating
If you usually eat three meals a day, you're going to divide your calories by 3, which will distribute your calories evenly between all three meals. You'll do the same for your protein, and the same for your carbs and fats if you decide you want to track them as well.
3 Meals a Day
The breakdown will look like this:
Breakfast = 600 Calories (45g of P, 53g of C, 23g of F)
Lunch = 600 Calories (45g of P, 53g of C, 23g of F)
Dinner = 600 Calories (45g of P, 53g of C, 23g of F)
Now let's say you usually enjoy eating a bigger breakfast. Increase your breakfast calories and decrease your calories for your other two meals.
It might look something like this:
Breakfast = 800 Calories (55g of P, 60g of C, 30g of F)
Lunch = 500 Calories (40g of P, 50g of C, 20g of F)
Dinner = 500 Calories (40g of P, 50g of C, 20g of F)
Enjoy having a bigger Lunch?
Decrease your calories for your Breakfast and Dinner and increase your calories for your Lunch.
It might look something like this:
Breakfast = 500 Calories (40g of P, 50g of C, 20g of F)
Lunch = 800 Calories (55g of P, 60g of C, 30g of F)
Dinner = 500 Calories (40g of P, 50g of C, 20g of F)
And you'll do the same if you enjoy having a big dinner.
Make sure you reduce the calories in your Breakfast and Lunch so you can enjoy those extra calories in your Dinner.
It might look something like this:
Breakfast = 400 Calories (35g of P, 44g of C, 15g of F)
Lunch = 400 Calories (35g of P, 44g of C, 15g of F)
Dinner = 1000 Calories (65g of P, 70g of C, 40g of F)
This is how you can distribute your calories throughout the day between 3 meals.
But what if you like to snack?
Using the 1,800-calorie example, you'll distribute your calories between 3 meals and two snacks.
5 Meals (3 Bigger Meals & 2 Snacks)
And it will look something like this:
Breakfast = 500 Calories (32g of P, 36g of C, 18g of F)
Snack 1 = 150 Calories (20g of P, 25g of C, 8g of F)
Lunch = 500 Calories (32g of P, 36g of C, 18g of F)
Snack 2 = 150 Calories (20g of P, 25g of C, 8g of F)
Dinner = 500 Calories (32g of P, 36g of C, 18g of F)
Or, if you need or want a bigger snack than 150 calories, you can slightly reduce your calories from your bigger meals to about 400 each, which will allow you to increase your snacks to about 300 calories each.
But what if you don't eat Breakfast?
What if you don't eat Lunch?
Or what if you don't eat Dinner?
Regardless of what meals you skip and what meals you eat, you'll still want to distribute your calories accordingly.
Now, if you're only eating once or twice a day, you might realize how hard it can be to meet your protein goal. And you could be mindlessly grazing throughout the day, which means you're eating extra calories that aren't accounted for, which also means you're not really eating only once or twice a day. You might want to pay more attention to this if your goal is fat loss and you "think" you're eating only once or twice a day, but you're still not losing any weight. Eating only one or two meals a day is usually not sustainable, especially if you are starving by the time you get to eat and you tend to go over your calories. If this is the case, add a snack between meals or eat a bigger breakfast to hold you over for your next meal.
Here are two examples of how you can do this.
4 Meals (2 Bigger Meals & 2 Small Meals)
Meal 1 = 600 Calories (38g of P, 45g of C, 23g of F)
Snack 1 = 300 Calories (30g of P, 34g of C, 12g of F)
Meal 2 = 600 Calories (38g of P, 45g of C, 23g of F)
Snack 2 = 300 Calories (30g of P, 34g of C, 12g of F)
Or:
3 Meals (2 Bigger Meals & 1 Small Meal)
Meal 1 = 800 Calories (50g of P, 55g of C, 25g of F)
Snack = 200 Calories (35g of P, 48g of C, 20g of F)
Meal 2 = 800 Calories (50g of P, 55g of C, 25g of F)
Note: This strategy and the strategy of saving most of your calories for Dinner may help if you're planning to go out to eat. Then saving most of your calories for your evening meal will be wise. This way, you can still enjoy your evening out and still be able to stick to your calories. Now you don't need to skip any meals but keeping your meals throughout the day on the lighter side, filled with lots of protein and veggies, will help you, especially when you are in a calorie deficit and need to be strategic with your calories.
Now, What If You're Trying To Build Muscle.
Making sure you're eating accordingly to build muscle matters, but trying to fit all your food into one or two meals will be really tough and uncomfortable for your digestive system. And not optimal for building muscle, so spreading your calories and macros throughout the day will be best.
For this example, I'm going to use 2,300 calories.
The breakdown will look like this:
2,300-calorie
173 g of Protein (30% of total calories)
230 g of Carbs (40% of total calories)
77 g of Fats (30% of total calories)
3 Meals a Day
Meal 1 = 767 calories (58g of P, 77g of C, 26g of F)
Meal 2 = 767 calories (58g of P, 77g of C, 26g of F)
Meal 3 = 767 calories (58g of P, 77g of C, 26g of F)
4 Meals a Day
Meal 1 = 575 Calories (43g of P, 58g of C, 19g of F)
Meal 2 = 575 Calories (43g of P, 58g of C, 19g of F)
Meal 3 = 575 Calories (43g of P, 58g of C, 19g of F)
Meal 4 = 575 Calories (43g of P, 58g of C, 19g of F)
5 Meals a Day
Meal 1 = 460 Calories (35g of P, 46g of C, 15g of F)
Meal 2 = 460 Calories (35g of P, 46g of C, 15g of F)
Meal 3 = 460 Calories (35g of P, 46g of C, 15g of F)
Meal 4 = 460 Calories (35g of P, 46g of C, 15g of F)
Meal 5 = 460 Calories (35g of P, 46g of C, 15g of F)
(Note: The math is off on some of these examples because I've rounded up or down. The difference is so minuscule to matter, and it's nearly impossible to precisely nail the calorie and macro totals.)
Now To Answer Two FAQs
Is there a certain amount of calories that one specific meal should have?
It isn't that each meal has to have a certain number of calories, and you have to hit every number and every macro perfectly to the T. But planning ahead will help you meet your calories and macros, especially your protein. As I mentioned, this is a struggle for some. Planning ahead also allows you to distribute your calories according to your schedule for the day.
Let's say you know you're going to have a long meeting at work and you won't be able to eat for some hours. You might want to eat a bigger Breakfast or make sure you eat a snack before your meeting to hold you over to your next meal.
And this brings us to the next question of meal timing.
Should you have your meal at a specific time of the day?
Regardless of your goal, you'll want to make sure that you're hitting or at least getting close to your daily calorie and protein goal. That's why a calorie and protein range is best.
Depending on your day, if you'll be Strength Training, it will help if you sandwich your workout between two meals or at least two snacks. Now, this isn't because you'll lose your progress, nor is the effort you're putting in the gym for nothing if you don't and are unable to. So you don't have to worry or rush to drink a protein shake 15, 20, or 30 min after your workout. But eating a pre and post-workout meal or snack 1-2 hours before and after will help you reach your daily protein goal and calories, especially if you're trying to gain muscle. This will also help you with your energy levels during your workouts. So if your workouts are consistently suffering, you might look at your meal timing and sizes, especially around your workouts.
I Hope You Found This Helpful
As you can see, you'll take your overall calories and divide them between how many meals you'll have per day. You'll want to make them fit your meal schedule and your lifestyle.
You'll need to play around with how you distribute your calories throughout the day until you find something that works for you and helps you stay within your calorie range.
But planning your meals and having a strategy or at least some idea of how many calories your meals will have will be super helpful for your fitness goals.
Want more nutrition and training advice? Please reach out to me with any questions you may have.
Coach Deb
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