We all have heard how important breakfast is. However, it is just as important when, how, and what we eat for dinner when it comes to losing weight.
From my experience, most people don’t eat enough throughout the day and then arrive at dinner famished ending up eating way too late and too much.
So here are my tips for making dinner all it can be:
- Don’t starve before dinner! In order to keep your blood sugar and energy levels consistent throughout the day eat 5 smaller meals every day. I suggest breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, and then dinner. The time between dinner and lunch is too large and most people end up in a slump in the afternoon. At that time a snack is important, which can consist of simple things like fruit, nuts, or half a peanut butter sandwich, for example. This way you won’t be starving to death when you arrive at dinner, which will help you eat smaller portions.
- Eat smaller portions at dinner time! Following the advice above, you will now eat smaller portions for dinner, allowing you to save the leftovers for lunch the next day. This will save you time and money and assure that you will have lunch the next day and that it will be a healthy and balanced meal. The key to any diet and weight loss program is planning. This tactic will get you a step ahead of the game.
- Eat 2 – 3 hours before bed! When you have a large meal and then shortly thereafter go to bed, you are telling your body that the energy of the meal isn’t needed right now, and it should just go ahead and store it as fat for possible future demands. Of course, with our sedentary lifestyles the possible “future demand” never happens, and so we gain weight steadily. The remedy is to eat smaller portions, as mentioned in the above point, and to eat at least 2 hours before bed time, with 3 hours being ideal.
- Include protein with dinner! When you sleep at night, your body is in a state of rejuvenation and repair. For these processes it needs the proper nutrients. Protein is a fundamental nutrient. Our bodies are mostly made of water and protein. Protein is responsible for the growth and repair of tissue. Another benefit of protein with dinner is that you won’t likely wake up in the middle of the night for those binges in front of the refrigerator, since protein is also one of the most satiating nutrients.
- Don’t have starchy carbohydrates for dinner! While all the previous advice can be used for health as well as weight loss year round, this advice is recommended mainly during times you want to lose weight. It ties in with not eating too late because your body won’t be able to use up the energy provided before going to bed. If we keep dinner lighter by not eating starchy carbohydrates we assure that our bodies won’t store the excess energy as fat. Examples of starchy carbohydrates are rice, potatoes, and bread. Do include, however, fibrous carbohydrates in every meal! This will keep your metabolism up and insure you get the fiber needed for the digestive processes. Examples of fibrous carbohydrates are broccoli, green beans, carrots, and Brussels sprouts.
By incorporating just these five small changes to your diet you will be off to a good start for losing weight. So, go ahead and try it and let me know what you think or how it works out for you!
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