When to Eat Your Main Meal

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Time2Change42015
Time2Change42015 Posts: 25 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I still live with my parents and we all eat together in the evening. It is never generally an outright unhealthy meal and rotates between the below:
* Homemade Fajhitas
* Tuna Salad
* Chicken Salad
* Homemade Prawn Provencale (sp)
* Homemade Chilli
* Unbattered Fish and Roasted Veg
* Salmon, Spinach and Lentils
* Roast Dinner
* Pasta
* Homemade Veg Curry
* Quiche and Salad
* Gammon, Egg and Salad
* Chicken Wrapped in Bacon and Veg

But our portions are rather large. At work we have a free canteen with everything from full hot meals to salads to sandwiches to sushi.

I plan to try and reduce my portion size in the evenings anyway - though this is hard when my parents automatically make large portions. But my question is whether I am better off trying to eat my main meal at lunch time 2-3 times a week? Does anyone have any knowledge/experience of weight loss associated with what time of the day their largest meal is eaten?

Replies

  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,220 MFP Moderator
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    It doesn't matter when you eat, as long as you don't eat more calories than you burn. I tend to eat very sparingly for breakfast and lunch and then eat most of my calories at dinner time. :) It works for me - I've managed to lose and maintain 70 pounds lost. :) Calories can't tell time - so do what works best for you. Good luck!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    there are no real benefits to meal timing. however, you should try and eat a protein filled meal or protein shake within 30-60 minutes of working out to help your body recover.
  • Time2Change42015
    Time2Change42015 Posts: 25 Member
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    But I suppose my thinking was if I eat at lunch I burn calories throughout the rest of the day? So maybe burn some of it off? But if I eat a large meal at night all I do is go to sleep on it?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    It's all personal preference.
    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    there are no real benefits to meal timing. however, you should try and eat a protein filled meal or protein shake within 30-60 minutes of working out to help your body recover.

    Even this isn't really necessary.
    http://www.jissn.com/content/10/1/5
  • apparations
    apparations Posts: 264 Member
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    Do what works for you. Since it seems you will have less control over portions at dinner time, I would suggest compensating by eating less at breakfast/lunch when you have full control over what you choose. It's really all about what's easiest to work within your calorie limit. For me personally, if I eat a bigger lunch I tend to stress about having too few calories later in the day. I would rather not be tempted to go over my alottment in the evening because I ate too early!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Time2Change42015 wrote: »
    But I suppose my thinking was if I eat at lunch I burn calories throughout the rest of the day? So maybe burn some of it off? But if I eat a large meal at night all I do is go to sleep on it?

    You don't think you burn calories all night?
  • Time2Change42015
    Time2Change42015 Posts: 25 Member
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    tigersword wrote: »
    Time2Change42015 wrote: »
    But I suppose my thinking was if I eat at lunch I burn calories throughout the rest of the day? So maybe burn some of it off? But if I eat a large meal at night all I do is go to sleep on it?

    You don't think you burn calories all night?

    No obviously I know you burn calories just by being alive... but not to the same extent I do say running for my train or walking from my bus stop or walking up and down escalators in my journey home at night.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    If you don't burn it off that night you will the next day. There's no need to time exercise to food or worry about eating late. So long as you are in a deficit you will lose and if you have a calorie surplus you will gain, regardless of timing. My meals are 3 of roughly the same size, but I eat dinner late and never do much physical afterwards and have lost without any problem, even when I add 200 calories of ice cream at the end of dinner to finish up my calories.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    It's whatever works for you. Your metabolism never stops, you burn calories all day, so it really doesn't matter when you eat. I prefer a decent breakfast and a large lunch, personally, but we're all different.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Time2Change42015 wrote: »
    tigersword wrote: »
    Time2Change42015 wrote: »
    But I suppose my thinking was if I eat at lunch I burn calories throughout the rest of the day? So maybe burn some of it off? But if I eat a large meal at night all I do is go to sleep on it?

    You don't think you burn calories all night?

    No obviously I know you burn calories just by being alive... but not to the same extent I do say running for my train or walking from my bus stop or walking up and down escalators in my journey home at night.
    You burn x calories in every 24 hour period. Eat less than that and you lose weight, regardless of what time you eat.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,018 Member
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    Time2Change42015 wrote: »
    tigersword wrote: »
    Time2Change42015 wrote: »
    But I suppose my thinking was if I eat at lunch I burn calories throughout the rest of the day? So maybe burn some of it off? But if I eat a large meal at night all I do is go to sleep on it?

    You don't think you burn calories all night?

    No obviously I know you burn calories just by being alive... but not to the same extent I do say running for my train or walking from my bus stop or walking up and down escalators in my journey home at night.
    The majority of the calories you burn are from just existing and performing everyday tasks and thinking a meal higher in calories later in the day won't have enough time to be used up and be stored as fat is probably one of the biggest myths in the dietary landscape. Your body takes note of your total calorie consumption and uses those calories over a 24 hour period, and only when that total exceeds what it needs will anything get stored as fat. In other words, it doesn't matter when you eat, and ultimately comes down to how much you eat. I eat most of my calories later in the day.

  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Try cutting your portion size down by eating off of smaller plates. Also, if you can make a little time in the evening for some excercise. This will help burn off some of the calories you ate.

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