Are You Trying Hard To Lose Weight? Our Expert Nutritionist Suggests This Super Simple Trick To Lose Weight

Are you aware of the common old age phrase, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." Well! Do you abide by this rule? If not, then you must. Let us explain you why. Dinner meals should always be small and light as compared to our breakfast or lunch. This is because we become less active as the day progresses. This is why it is also said, breakfasts should never be skipped. Moreover, one should always have nutritious breakfast. For those who think skipping dinner can help in weight loss, this is not true. Dinner is also an important meal, the only thing one should keep in mind is that dinner should be light. Skipping the last meal of the day will result in a very large gap between your between breakfast and dinner. Skipping your dinner could lead to ravenous hunger, acidity, nausea, blackouts and disturbed sleep.

For those who think skipping dinner can help in weight loss, this is not true.
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However, the timing of your last meal can significantly impact your health. Recent studies suggest that late-night eating, especially after 5 PM, could adversely affect metabolic and heart health. Its not just what you eat but also when you eat that matters.

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Delhi-based nutritionist Nmami Agarwal in her recent Instagram post said, "Avoid eating large meal before bed time to decrease gastroesophageal reflux and weight gain." Eating a heavy and large meals just before bed time can make you feel uneasy. Just like drinking excess alcohol slows you down the next day in the same way eating a large, heavy, high-sugar or a fatty meal at night can overload your digestive system thus storing excessive fat in your body. This further leads to weight gain. It does not get adequate rest through the night, thereby making you slow both physically and mentally the next day.

Nutritionist Nmami Agarwal adds, "Lot of us are often curious to know about the right dinner time and the portion size one must have! Well, the curiosity is no bad to have especially when we can sense the logic behind it. Every food and meal takes time to get digested and when eaten just before the bed time, the digestion process might hamper the sleep while making your digestive work at the time of sound sleep, letting calories stored as fat in muscle due to lack of body/ physical inactivity (unutilized calories) which later on leads to ultimate weight gain. Hence, it is suggested to have small meal in dinner and to keep a gap of good two hours between dinner and bed time."

Also read: Having Rice For Dinner? Here's What Rujuta Diwekar Has To Say About It

The key here is to maintain a right balance. You should eat a light, wholesome, and small dinner every night. This will even help you fall asleep easily. You will wake up fresh and feel energetic even the next day. This will also aid in your digestive health and lastly help you lose some weight.

Some healthy dinner options could be a chicken salad, stir fry vegetables, vegetable stew, fruit platter, khichdi made up of lentils and rice, whole egg and multi-grain bread or a pseudo-grain. 

Also read: Do You Eat Early Dinners? Beat Hunger Pangs With These Healthy Snacks You Can Munch On Before Bedtime

(Nmami Agarwal is nutritionist at Nmami Life)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.