You've probably heard that late dinners lead to extra pounds.
But what if there is a precise time after which food turns into fat, and before which it burns like in a furnace?
It turns out that your metabolism is controlled by a biological clock, and one wrong step can stall your weight loss for months.
The secret is to finish your dinner 3-4 hours before bed. For example, if you go to bed at 11:00 PM, your last meal should be between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
Why is that? At night, the body switches to recovery mode, not digestion mode. If the stomach is empty, energy is taken from fat reserves, not from the sandwich eaten at night.
But there is a nuance: not all products are equally useful even at the “right” time. Carbohydrates after 6 p.m. are taboo. They sharply increase insulin, which blocks fat burning.
But protein and vegetables are allowed. Chicken breast with broccoli, baked fish with zucchini or cottage cheese with cucumber are ideal options. They saturate without overloading the gastrointestinal tract.
Fun fact: If you have dinner too early (for example, at 5 p.m.), you risk waking up at night from hunger and breaking down. The golden mean is 4 hours before bedtime.
What about snacks? Even a small piece of chocolate before bed can ruin your efforts. Sugar causes a surge in cortisol, which interferes with sleep and causes your body to store fat.
But if hunger is unbearable, drink a glass of kefir with a pinch of turmeric. Milk protein will satisfy your appetite, and the spice will reduce inflammation, which often disguises itself as hunger.
Experiment: Try eating dinner at 7:00 PM for two weeks and compare the results with the period when you ate at 9:00 PM.
Morning puffiness will likely disappear, your waist will become more visible, and your sleep will become deeper. These are signs that your metabolism is working like clockwork.
And yes, skipping dinner is a bad idea. Hunger will slow down your metabolism, and you will eat more the next day.
Remember: time is more important than calories. Set it up and the fat will start melting itself.
