Dinner during weight loss and what to eat for dinner

Dinner is one of the three main meals of the day, but it’s more of a bummer among the others. Especially when losing weight, there are concerns that a dinner that is too high in energy can complicate the fight against extra pounds. Although this may be true to a certain extent, in general the last meal of the day is rather demonized. Let’s zoom in on what it should look like.

The general rule is that dinner should make up 25–30% of daily energy intake. This means that if you eat 2,000 kcal a day, you should reserve around 500 to 650 kcal for dinner. The remaining calories will be used for breakfast, lunch and possibly snacks or a second dinner.

If you are used to having dinner at seven in the evening, but you go to bed after midnight, you can still have something light around nine. Anyway, if we’re talking about more than 500 kcal, it’s already a nice energy dose. For example, a baked salmon steak (150 grams) with baked potatoes (150 grams) and a vegetable garnish has 500 kcal.

The evening meal is like any other, therefore it should contain all the main macronutrients, that is proteinsfats and carbohydrates (4 essential reasons to eat carbohydrates). It is carbohydrates that many dieters avoid in the evening, but the only good reason that could lead to this would be that it is convenient for you to have, for example, a high-carb lunch and a high-protein dinner, because you like it that way. It has no other advantages. To lose weight, but also to maintain weight, the total daily energy intake is essential, i.e. a balanced ratio of macronutrients in the diet throughout the day.

As with other daily meals, you can stick to the rule of a healthy plate for dinner, which says that approximately a quarter should be a source of protein, a quarter should be a side dish and half should be vegetables.

The best protein for dinner is lean, easily digestible meat, for example chicken, turkey, but also lean pork, as well as fish, seafood, eggs, legumes or unsweetened dairy products, as the case may be vegan alternatives tempeh type.

Choose complex carbohydrates – they include whole grain pasta, rice, rice, pseudocereals such as quinoa or millet, but also potatoes or sweet potatoes.

A few drops of olive oil on vegetables, seeds or nuts in a salad, avocado can be a source of fat. If you choose dairy products or fish like salmon for dinner, you’re done with fats.

There is no food that you can only eat at a certain time of the day, therefore no explicit prohibition applies. But there are foods that are completely unsuitable, especially because they can affect sleep or digestion overnight.

In the evening, avoid fatty, spicy and heavy meals that take a long time to digest – they can disturb your sleep and generally make you feel unwell. Of course, the fact that the body burns less during sleep also plays a role in not gaining weight. The time of the last meal of the day is also important. It is recommended between two and four hours before bedtime.