Ki Fit

Many people believe that eating their main meal in the evening or eating carbs after 6pm will be their dieting downfall. In fact eating in the evening won’t prevent weight loss, but consuming more calories than you burn throughout the day will! Why? Well, we all have a set number of calories that our body needs to maintain our weight. Staying within your caloric requirements will result in your weight remaining stable. Eating 500kcal less than your expenditure on a daily basis will result in a 500g weight loss per week. Consuming more calories than your body needs will result in weight gain. This will happen regardless of when you consume those calories!

It is possible to gain weight by eating later in the day, but not for example, because of a slowing down of your metabolism as you are about to sleep. The reason that people say they gain weight from eating at night is because many of us get to 8 p.m., having already eaten enough food to cover our daily calorie allowance – yet still have dinner on top of this and then, proceed to lounge out on the sofa nibbling on high calorie snack foods such as crisps, sweets and biscuits while watching TV for the rest of the evening!

Interestingly, many studies have shown that people report that the hardest time of day for controlling their food intake is between dinner and bedtime. It is therefore vital that you not only get into the habit of planning ahead but also have access to accurate data that gives you insight into your energy balance. This will ensure you have enough calories left for your dinner.

If you find that you are eating a lot in the evening two simple tips to help you along the way are:

• Take a look at what time you have dinner and decide how much food is reasonable for you to have between then and bedtime.

• Set a plan for what you will eat and select a time to stop eating. There’s no magic behind it- it’s simply another gimmick to control your overall calorie intake.

Ultimately, if you want to lose weight, the most important thing is to stick to your daily calorie allowance and ensure that you are burning more calories than you consume on a daily basis. It does not matter what time of day you consume these calories.

We would always recommend spreading your calories evenly throughout the day, as this will not only keep those energy levels high but prevent hunger pangs from kicking in! For many of us, eating in the evening is the norm, it fits in with our working and family life and is also an important part of our social life! There’s no reason why you can’t still have a decent dinner AND still have absolute control of your weight loss goals.