How Many Calories Should You Eat for Breakfast?
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- May 20, 2019
- 2 min read
How Many Calories Should You Eat for Breakfast?
We have all heard about the important of breakfast as a main meal of the day. But does that mean that you should consume more of your daily calories in the morning? Exactly how many calories should you eat at breakfast? The answer depends on a few factors.
How to Calculate Your Daily Calorie Intake
Before you figure out how many calories you need to have on breakfast, first you need to calculate how many calories do you really needs daily? This depends on two factors your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and your activity level. If you want to lose weight then you need to consume less than your daily needs.
You can use an online calculator to estimate your daily needs. After this you can divide total calories into meals and snacks.
How Many Calories Should the Average Person Eat for Breakfast?
Many women who are trying to lose weight consume about 1,200 to 1,400 calories per day. Men often consume 1,600 to 1,800 calories per day.
Many people simply divide their calories evenly between three daily meals to keep their breakfast, lunch and dinner calories simple.
If you follow a popular commercial diet, like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem you'll find that calories are divided fairly evenly between three meals and also allow for one or two daily snacks. That means that a woman might eat 300 to 400 calories at each meal and then eat two 100-calorie snacks in the late morning and afternoon. A man would consume 400 to 500 calories at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then enjoy two 150-calorie snacks during the day.
But if you dont follow any specific diet then you need to divide calories intake according to your needs when you feel you want more energy and calories. So for example, if you wake up and you feel hungry than you need to have high calorie breakfast rich in protein and fiber instead of picking up unhealthy snacks.
Sample Breakfast Calorie Counts
For example if a woman has an early workout then she needs less calories in the morning and here is a sample calorie distribution.
Pre-workout snack: 100 calories
Post workout breakfast: 400 calories
Lunch: 300 calories
Dinner 300 caloriesSnack: 100 calories
The pre-workout snack provides her body with needed energy for workout and the breakfast or the post-wokrout snack helps in refuelling her body.
But if she has a big dinner then she needs to consume less calories throughout the day. She might divide her calories like this to reach a 1200 calorie target:
Breakfast: 200 calories
Snack: 100 calories
Lunch: 300
Snack: 100
Dinner: 500
Do Breakfast Calories Count More?
Breakfast is an important meal as it energize people, fuel their bodies and make less chance to eat more throughout the day.
But this is not the case for everyone, so before dividing your calories, you need to evaluate your eating habits and then decide whichis the best way of dividing your needs.
You need to know, that breakfast calories count as other meals, so if you consume too much then you will not lose weight!!
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