You May Be Doing Dinner All Wrong
We all look forward to having a nice, warm meal after a long day at work. Dinner is comforting and often the meal we go out to eat with friends for a fun night out. Bring out the appetizers, the main course, and dessert. But what you eat, the portions, and the time can affect weight gain. You don’t need to skimp out on dinner but if you’re looking to loose weight or eat healthier, follow our tips for having a guilt free dinner.
Timing is key
You may be eating dinner at the wrong time. If you eat too early before bed you will most likely get hungry again, which will lead to snacking. But if you eat too close to bed time, your body won’t be able to digest all the food before you sleep. Everyone’s metabolism is different but generally you should eat every 3 to 5 hours. If you had lunch at 12, have a snack around 3, and dinner at 7. This will give your body enough time to digest, but to not get hungry again before bed.
You may be too hungry
Having a super busy day can sometimes keep us from having lunch. But if you don’t eat all day, you will most likely eat too much at dinner. Also, when your that hungry, you will eat anything, making it more difficult to think of and put together a healthy meal.
Too much meat
Yes, there is such thing as too much protein. Protein is great for muscle repair and is very essential to your body, but eating meat before bed is not a great idea. Roast beef, stews, steak and roast chicken all sound very delicious and comforting for dinner, but they are difficult to digest. If you eat a thick steak, you’re probably eating too much and the excess is going to get stored as fat. Especially because you will not be expending any of that energy before bedtime.
Avoid fried foods
Frying anything just adds unnecessary fat and calories. Fried zucchini does taste great but your getting nothing out of that zucchini when it’s covered in grease. Better options are baking, boiling, grilling, sautéing, or roasting. Boiling and grilling will add the least amount of unnecessary fat.
Water over soda
Carbonated beverages will make you bloated. Wine, in fact, will also cause bloating and is full of sugar. They both also have unnecessary calories. It’s okay to have a drink with dinner, but try to keep it at one glass. Water is the best drink to have with dinner. Because dinner tends to be the heavier of meals, water is a good way to balance out the sugar and sodium intake.
