Late dinner - is it really that bad? He althy late dinner options

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Everyone who watches their appearance knows that eating after six o'clock is highly undesirable, as a late dinner causes weight gain. But almost everyone is faced with the fact that it is not always possible to come home on time, and it is often necessary to spend time preparing dinner, which further delays its start. What to do in this case? Is it really so bad to eat in the evenings, or are some foods still allowed to have a snack before bedtime?

At what time is it permissible to have dinner

What time will a late dinner not be considered harmful? For those who follow the “no eating after six” rule and suffer because of it, good news awaits. Nutritionists say: in order not to get better and feel good, you need to eat 3-4 hours before bedtime. That is, if a person goes to bed at 12 o'clock, which is related to his work or household chores, it is quite acceptable for him to have dinner at 8 or 9 o'clock.

Also,as experts say, if you really want to lose weight, you can’t starve your body, leaving it without food for more than 12 hours. Such intermittent fasting can lead to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and stagnation in weight, and sometimes even to its addition. The latter is due to the fact that, while starving for a long time, the body is forced to use nutrients from the muscles. This means that as soon as food enters it, it immediately converts it into fat.

In addition, a violation of the diet leads to a slowdown in metabolism, and this is directly related to whether you can lose weight or not. Therefore, it is very important to follow a diet and be sure to have dinner - ideally 3 hours before bedtime. It should be remembered that from a late dinner, which took place on time, you can only get better if it consists of harmful products.

Late dinner options

After work, where breakfast consisted of a cup of coffee, and lunch from a bun with tea, it's hard to deny yourself and not eat a serving of mashed potatoes and a couple of cutlets for dinner. But it is precisely such a menu that will not be very useful for digestion, since it consists of starch and proteins, which are very poorly combined with each other. What is considered ideal for an evening meal? Nutritionists insist that it should account for no more than 20% of daily calories.

What can you eat for a late dinner? The body basically tells itself what foods it wants to see on the plate. But again, to maintain he alth, it is very important that they bring only benefits to the body. So, if you want to eat a piece of a loaf with butter, it is better to replace it with low-fat cottage cheese and whole grain bread, if a meat dish, it is desirable that it was not a fatty cutlet, but a piece of boiled beef and vegetables. Kefir or yogurt is also very useful, since the lactic acid bacteria contained in the product take care of the microflora of the stomach and comfortable bowel cleansing.

Dinner should be as light as possible and at the same time quite satisfying, only in this way the sleep will be strong, and in the morning there will be a great mood. However, do not forget that if you drink low-fat kefir after a hard day's work, it is possible that you will want to eat something more nutritious, and then it will be very difficult to refuse a sandwich with sausage. Ideally, the product chosen should take about 2-3 hours to digest, so heavy foods such as pork, sausages and canned meats should be avoided.

What should be dinner during a diet

Late dinner on a diet should be low-calorie, maximum 350 kcal. This, of course, cannot be a piece of white bread and sausage.

Do you have a late dinner routine every night? What to eat to lose weight? To prevent weight gain, it is desirable that the evening meal consists mainly of easily digestible proteins. The best option for an evening meal can be:

• cottage cheese;
• yogurt;
• kefir with cereals.

As for fruits, there is no definite answer to the question whether they can be eaten before going to bed or not. Yes, alonenutritionists claim that sweet fruits are an indispensable fiber for the body, and others that it is fructose and carbohydrates, which in the evening can provoke the appearance of body fat.

The serving size of a dietary dinner should be no more than 250 g, that is, fit in a glass. Naturally, the meal should be completed 3 hours before the planned sleep, so that the food can be completely digested and does not cause a feeling of heaviness in the stomach.

If ordinary cottage cheese or boiled fish do not suit you, you can cook, for example:

• pumpkin stew;
• stewed chicken with mushrooms;
• light chicken salad with cucumbers;
• it is not forbidden to drink tea, cocoa or coffee - the main thing is that sugar or other sweeteners are not added to them.

Dinner after workout

Often, training ends after six, as fitness or gyms are mostly visited by people after work. If the goal of training is to lose weight, it is advisable not to eat anything for two hours after physical exertion, since the body uses body fat to restore strength.

And in order to avoid a strong feeling of hunger in the evening, it is best to have a light snack before training (meal should take place 1.5 hours in advance). It is desirable that these be sources of carbohydrates:

• fruit with cottage cheese;
• porridge with a little vegetable oil;
• fruit and vegetable salads;
• whole grain cookies or crispbread.

HeavyIt is better not to eat foods like meatballs or sausage sandwiches, as the heaviness they cause in the stomach will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the workout. In addition, you should refrain from cakes and other high-calorie baked goods.

After coming home, two hours later, you should have a little snack. However, a late dinner after a workout should be very light. So, you can eat a fermented milk product - cottage cheese, yogurt or kefir - but always low-calorie. Going to bed with a feeling of hunger is not recommended, otherwise sleep will be restless and the body will not have time to recover.

Dinner depends on workout type

It happens that women, trying to lose weight, train hard, but still do not achieve what they want. Why is this happening? To begin with, you should accurately determine the purpose of physical activity. After all, there are those that contribute to the growth of muscle mass, and there are those that are aimed only at losing weight.

The role of dinner for the first is of fundamental importance, because if you need to build muscle, it is best to eat in the first 20 minutes after leaving the gym, and these should be protein foods (eggs, meat, cottage cheese). When eating in this way, a dramatic weight loss cannot be observed, as the fat mass will be replaced by muscles, which are much heavier.

If your workouts are all about weight loss and your dinner consists entirely of vegetables and low-fat dairy or meat products, weight loss will not be long in coming.

Is it worth itskip dinner

Most women in pursuit of a beautiful figure prefer not to eat at all. Instead of dinner, they can drink tea or, at worst, kefir. Is such a dinner replacement useful and what happens when the body is starving?

Scientists say that the cancellation of dinner, in principle, is not so terrible, the main thing is that the interval between meals should not be more than 12 hours. If breakfast after the last meal comes after 13-14 hours, the metabolism will slow down and, in addition, there may be problems with digestion.

Those who lose weight should remember that dinner can be harmful only if a person eats a lot of high-calorie foods, but if 100 g of low-fat cottage cheese is eaten, this will only benefit the body.

Late dinner: is it really that bad?

Whether a person is on a diet or not, he should remember that great harm is possible from a late dinner. This happens when it becomes very plentiful and satisfying, for example, after an evening feast. True, if it ended three hours before going to bed, nothing terrible will happen.

But in the case when after this meal you immediately fell asleep, all processes in the body will slow down, including the processes of digestion. As a result, the food will linger in the stomach, stretching it. Moreover, nutrients will also remain in it, and decay products will enter the bloodstream, poisoning the body. As a result, in the morning the person will feel bad, even signs of poisoning are possible.

It should be remembered that it is in the eveningthe hormone insulin is especially active, so everything eaten before going to bed turns into fat, and this is not only a threat of excess weight, but also the possibility of problems with the cardiovascular and endocrine systems.

Basic Rules for Late Dinner

To feel great and look good, the evening meal should be done according to the following rules:

1. Eat at least three hours before bedtime.
2. After eating, do not rush to immediately lie down on the sofa, as light physical activity is needed to fully assimilate food.
3. You need to get up from the table a little hungry.
4. Serving should be no larger than a glass.
5. Dinner should be light, so it's better to have a hearty lunch.

What to do if it's dinner time and you don't feel like eating

This usually happens when the meal was too full or the person simply ate more than required. With three meals a day, dinner should account for 25% of the daily volume of food, breakfast - 35%, lunch - 40%. In any case, so that later during sleep you do not suffer from hunger, you should make yourself a low-calorie smoothie.

It can be made from fermented milk products, vegetables and fruits using a blender. So, you can combine cottage cheese, milk and apricots or banana, strawberries and cottage cheese. In order for the cocktail to be lighter and cooler, which is important during the heat, you can add ice to it.

How not to eat at night

Many people feel hungry at night, and even after dinner, the hand reaches for the refrigerator. In such cases, it is best to drink any herbal tea with lemon, preferably hot, as it creates the illusion of satiety.

Distracting from thoughts about food and a hot bath, which can relax so much that you immediately want to sleep after it. Brushing your teeth at night with mint toothpaste also helps.