Healthy Weight Loss: Dinner Is The Key?

Adapting our food intake to the rhythms of our body can not only help us feel better physically, but it can also help us lose weight.

We constantly read tips to lose weight such as, for example, reduce calories, increase protein, eat several meals during the day, do not abuse carbohydrates or sugars, etc. But there is a way to lose weight progressively and healthily: control your dinner.

In this article we explain how and why we can lose weight day after day if we eat dinner in the right way.

Don’t skip dinner if you want to lose weight in a healthy way

We know that throughout the day our body changes its energy needs. Therefore, when waking up and after fasting during sleep, we will need a greater amount of nutrients than when we go to bed. This is because as we get closer to bedtime, our body slows down.

This does not mean that we should not have dinner, since during sleep our body continues to work on different processes that consume energy and nutrients. The reality is that  skipping dinner can be associated with a poor night’s rest or feelings of physical fatigue or dizziness upon waking.

How much can we have for dinner?

The amount will vary depending on the person and their lifestyle, but the important thing would be to achieve a good level of satiety without eating more than you should.

A fundamental piece when regulating our level of satiety would be the fact of chewing food properly. Since it is in the mouth where digestion processes begin, it is essential to prevent problems such as constipation by chewing food repeatedly before swallowing it.

In addition, eating more slowly helps our brain to be aware of how much we have ingested and thus regulate the hormones that control our levels of hunger and satiety (ghrelin and leptin). If we can control how we eat, we can help our body balance and tell us when we should stop eating.

Other factors such as stress or emotional problems can make us eat more and make it difficult for us to lose weight. Controlling these factors depends on each person and their circumstances, but if you are determined to lose weight it is important that you take into account what factors can cause your calorie intake to increase.

Lose weight by choosing satisfying foods

What is recommended for a healthy dinner are easy to digest foods such as those that are rich in vegetable protein or fruit, sources of simple sugars, avoiding, whenever we can, the consumption of fried foods, saturated fats or complex sugars that can make it difficult for us to slim down.

If we choose foods rich in fiber that are assimilated by the body slowly such as vegetables, fruits and vegetables or cereals, we will be offering a balanced energy supply to our body. A balanced and healthy consumption is essential when losing weight.

These foods are mainly vegetables, but we will also find a great help in algae. We can incorporate algae such as wakame, agar-agar, kombu, sea spaghetti, spirulina, klamath, etc. into our diet. They can be incorporated into stews or, in the case of agar-agar, make satisfying and healthy desserts.

What satisfying dishes can we prepare?

• Sauteed vegetables (broccoli, carrot strips, mushrooms, corn, hard-boiled egg).
• Vegetable and oat cream with kombu seaweed.
• Salad with sprouted seeds, apple and avocado.
• Andalusian gazpacho.
• Hummus (chickpea puree) or guacamole with carrot and cucumber strips.
• Vegetable soup and quinoa.
• Spinach with raisins and pine nuts.
• Zucchini cream with wakame seaweed and curry.
• Cold pea and chicken salad.
• Sweet agar-agar jellies with apple and cinnamon.

And those who are very hungry?

The rhythm of day to day sometimes makes it difficult for us to stick to our goals to lose weight in a healthy way, the rush and schedules can make our body suffer ups and downs and our feeling of hunger increases. This can lead us to consume fast and caloric foods.

In this case, we are advised to include a mid-afternoon snack and advance dinner times as much as possible so that our body progressively uses the calories we eat without having an intense feeling of hunger when dinner arrives.

Of course, the snack must also be healthy. We put some examples:

• Fruit or natural juice.
• Nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, etc.
• Dried fruits: dates, prunes, dried apricots, etc.
• Whole wheat bread sticks.
• Fresh cheese with quince.
• Whole wheat sandwich (which can be cheese, avocado, egg, etc.).

Images courtesy of Samuel Gardiner, diekatrin and Great British Chefs