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Week 3 Weight Challenge: Dinner Meal Needs Careful Attention

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on September 15, 2015

Week 2 Weight Challenge reviewed the importance of not skipping breakfast because your metabolic rate is fastest in the morning hours. When we reach the later meal in the day, it is important to avoid eating your largest meal at this time. The main reason is that your metabolic rate slows down later in the day. As a result, we tend to burn our calories at a much slower rate and this can lead to weight gain. This is because we do not use our calories as efficiently later in the day as we do in the early hours.

Try to eat your meals at home with your family. Numerous research studies have shown that sharing meals with family reduces obesity risk and fosters a healthier relationship between family members. Children learn healthier eating habits and can learn healthy cooking skills. Cooking meals at home can reduce your calorie intake when you avoid calorie packed meals purchased from carryout restaurants. The Environmental Nutrition publication has reported that people who cook at home consume 200 or fewer calories daily than those who eat out. The food eaten out also adds 3 grams of saturated fat and 300-450 mg sodium to your daily intake. Also watch to see how you feel after you eat the meal. Often after a packaged meal is taken out of the bag and wolfed down, people find that they do not feel as full as they do when they have a home prepared meal. Eating a salad before the meal is also helpful in providing more fiber that can fill you up and leave you feeling fuller. If you do purchase a meal, try to add a salad that you make at home. Added salads from restaurants increase the cost of the meal substantially and can be made more cheaply and more nutritiously at home

If you arrive at home later in the evening after your family has eaten, try not to hit the door and run for the fridge. One way to handle late night meals is to have a larger snack at work in the late afternoon that will hold you over until you arrive home. Ask your spouse to save leftovers for you to eat later. If you live alone, it might be helpful to eat your larger meal at lunch to avoid extreme hunger when the evening meal is delayed. Easy dinner meal choices could be a sandwich and a cup of soup, leftovers from the night before, cottage cheese and fruit with a whole wheat roll, and an occasional frozen meal with a salad and piece of fruit.
Too Busy to Diet has many ideas for sack dinners and quick and easy to prepare dinner meals. These will help those who come home tired and frustrated and use the refrigerator to reward themselves after a hard day at work.