One of the most common questions my clients ask is whether they should eat evening meals or not, so as to avoid weight gain. Well, one thing is very clear that there are number of myths prevalent in the minds of people who want to lose weight, and they are not ready to leave it! While some start skipping breakfast, others say no to dinner, as they believe that skipping diet will help them shed some fat.
Let me tell you the truth behind it!
Try it multiple times, but skipping meals will never help you with weight loss. Instead, it will disturb your eating cycle for a few days, and then to bring things to balance, you’ll get back to your regular diet, rather consuming more. All this does nothing, but hampers your metabolism, for sure.
One needs to clearly understand that all three meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner – are of equal importance and should be taken timely. Our meals help us meet our daily energy and nutrient requirements. Everyone has a set appetite, and if you play with it, it will create disturbance in your body. Skipping your breakfast, lunch, or dinner and switching soup instead won’t help for long; you’ll automatically come to your daily routine in a few days.
Instead of skipping your meals, all you need to do is right shuffling. Replacement is the mantra! Replace your food with healthier ones, and see it work!
Coming back to the most-asked question of whether to have evening meals or not, here are things you can do to prevent weight gain without skipping evening meals!
• Dividing your meals across the day would help. Instead of three meals, take six smaller meals at equal intervals through the day.
• Planning your timings can also help. Have your dinner in time (between 8 – 9 p.m.) and hit the bed in time (around 10).
• Never encourage late dinners. The later you eat, more difficult it would be to digest your food. If you take your dinner in time, it would also help you get good, sound sleep.
• Be mentally prepared as to what to cook at what time. Make sure you have plans for your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and stick to your plans!
• If you feel hungry in between, rely on fruits, nuts, etc.
• Be disciplined; plan your routine, including meal timings, exercises, etc. It would help you in long run.
• Exercise daily.
• Avoid alcohol before dinner; it adds far more calories into you than you can anticipate.
Everything is possible if you enter into a disciplined routine in regard to your meals, exercises, and other chores. At last, I would say that there is no harm in taking evening meals if you are doing it all rightly. Best wishes for your weight loss efforts!