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brb_2013
brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
edited March 2016 in Food and Nutrition
Hi!

I saw my doctor yesterday and he gave plenty of helpful advice for how to get my weight under control. But we disagreed on one point: he thought I should focus on a small dinner, because that's when my body needs the least amount of energy.

I have read here and elsewhere about meal timing not being important and while I can cut out junk and make good choices, dinner is my favorite meal. It's with my partner, we sit down for over an hour and it's usually a nice big meal. I eat a small lunch to balance it out and I think I will find success.

I'd really just like to make as few changes to dinner as possible, we are adding more veggies and I already make sensible purchases at the store so we do pretty well as far as nutrition and content of our meals.

Is my doctor correct, or will I be okay with my preferred schedule?

ETA: If you have articles to support your point I'd really appreciate it!!

Replies

  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    Sleeper1968 wrote: »
    Meal timing is fairly unimportant as long as you're within your calorie goal. Some people benefit from lots of little meals a day, some from one wee one and one big one, and some fast and blow the lot at night. It really doesn't matter - what works for you is more important.

    I guess I know this, I'm just concerned now that my Doctor has said otherwise. I should have asked him for some evidence for his suggestion!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Was this advice only about losing weight, or about improving your health. If you are trying to address other medical issues, like diabetes or prediabetes, timing does matter and you do not want a large meal before bed. It is one of the cases where being active after eating makes a difference.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    Was this advice only about losing weight, or about improving your health. If you are trying to address other medical issues, like diabetes or prediabetes, timing does matter and you do not want a large meal before bed. It is one of the cases where being active after eating makes a difference.

    No I have no health conditions, it was purely weight loss talk. I am actually a very healthy fat chick!
  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
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    I have no research to show, but I can say I've lost 36lbs since Jan 6th eating approx 1500 calories AFTER 5pm.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    no articles for you.. am almost dont with my masters in nutrition (i will going on to study wildlife and marine veterinarian.. so i will never be a nutritionist just something i did after culinary arts and then hospitality management degrees) anyway... i literally save up majority of my calories for dinner.. its my favorite like you. weight losss is steady (i only had 15 lbs to lose) Nothing in all my years of school said meal timing is important in otherwise healthy people not dealing with diabetes or other diseases in which insulin/blood sugar is important. i had a 800 calorie dinner today with todays calories at 1500
  • Dominicj569
    Dominicj569 Posts: 30 Member
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    Doctors arent particularly knowledgeable people sadly
    They sit in room for many hours being told things, and spend many more hours reading books they were told to read.
    If the lecturer was wrong, or the book was wrong, or they just remember poorly, what they tell you is little different to what the man in the pub says. If its something politically charged, like obesity, what they tell you is simply whatever the government decided policy should be.


    However
    "A nice big meal, for an hour" sounds like a lot of calories, it might not be, but I'm imagining a royal banquet....

    I have a protein shake for lunch and a fairly indulgent evening meal, but I am still limited to about 1500 calories.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    Dominicj569 wrote: »
    Doctors arent particularly knowledgeable people sadly
    They sit in room for many hours being told things, and spend many more hours reading books they were told to read.
    If the lecturer was wrong, or the book was wrong, or they just remember poorly, what they tell you is little different to what the man in the pub says. If its something politically charged, like obesity, what they tell you is simply whatever the government decided policy should be.


    However
    "A nice big meal, for an hour" sounds like a lot of calories, it might not be, but I'm imagining a royal banquet....

    I have a protein shake for lunch and a fairly indulgent evening meal, but I am still limited to about 1500 calories.

    i wouldn't minimize what being a dr is.. yea there are a lot of not great drs out there but to say its sitting in a room, reading, and writing lectures ks laughable. They amount of time and effort put into becoming a dr.. especially one with a specialization is astounding. Drs ARE out there curing illness, putting disease in submission, and saving peoples lives in and out of the ER...Is the run of the mill family dr the best person for nutritional advice probably not.. but to minimize being a dr to sitting in rooms listening to people is lame.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    brb_2013 wrote: »
    Hi!

    I saw my doctor yesterday and he gave plenty of helpful advice for how to get my weight under control. But we disagreed on one point: he thought I should focus on a small dinner, because that's when my body needs the least amount of energy.

    He is correct in that the hours following dinner usually involve sleep and hence a lower consumption of energy. Rather than storing overnight to use the next day you could be drawing from storage.

    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20460/abstract
    "High Caloric intake at breakfast vs. dinner differentially influences weight loss of overweight and obese women".

    Conclusions

    High-calorie breakfast with reduced intake at dinner is beneficial and might be a useful alternative for the management of obesity and metabolic syndrome.
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
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    I eat small in the morning and stuff myself at dinner, don't count calories and lose weight. It can be done if you're honest with yourself about your daily meals. My dinner is also early in the day.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    no articles for you.. am almost dont with my masters in nutrition (i will going on to study wildlife and marine veterinarian.. so i will never be a nutritionist just something i did after culinary arts and then hospitality management degrees) anyway... i literally save up majority of my calories for dinner.. its my favorite like you. weight losss is steady (i only had 15 lbs to lose) Nothing in all my years of school said meal timing is important in otherwise healthy people not dealing with diabetes or other diseases in which insulin/blood sugar is important. i had a 800 calorie dinner today with todays calories at 1500

    Thank you so much!! I appreciate your educational background and your own experiences as well. I'm so sure I can be successful if I can keep my yummy dinners. Haha.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    Dominicj569 wrote: »
    Doctors arent particularly knowledgeable people sadly
    They sit in room for many hours being told things, and spend many more hours reading books they were told to read.
    If the lecturer was wrong, or the book was wrong, or they just remember poorly, what they tell you is little different to what the man in the pub says. If its something politically charged, like obesity, what they tell you is simply whatever the government decided policy should be.


    However
    "A nice big meal, for an hour" sounds like a lot of calories, it might not be, but I'm imagining a royal banquet....

    I have a protein shake for lunch and a fairly indulgent evening meal, but I am still limited to about 1500 calories.

    We don't just shovel food for an hour. You take a bite, put the fork down, talk about your day, etc. I just mean dinner is more than the food for me, it's how my partner and I reconnect at the end of the day. If we had to stop eating foods we both love, or had to majorly change it, we'd have a tough time. Maybe someday we'll see more healthful things to change but just at the beginning it's probably best not to change too much too soon.

    Just the past two days we've had big salads to start dinner and then have at least half the portion we'd usually chow down because we get so full from our colorful salad (that takes us each 25 minutes to eat). It's just so much more than the food is why I don't want to change it so much.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    brb_2013 wrote: »
    Dominicj569 wrote: »
    Doctors arent particularly knowledgeable people sadly
    They sit in room for many hours being told things, and spend many more hours reading books they were told to read.
    If the lecturer was wrong, or the book was wrong, or they just remember poorly, what they tell you is little different to what the man in the pub says. If its something politically charged, like obesity, what they tell you is simply whatever the government decided policy should be.


    However
    "A nice big meal, for an hour" sounds like a lot of calories, it might not be, but I'm imagining a royal banquet....

    I have a protein shake for lunch and a fairly indulgent evening meal, but I am still limited to about 1500 calories.

    We don't just shovel food for an hour. You take a bite, put the fork down, talk about your day, etc. I just mean dinner is more than the food for me, it's how my partner and I reconnect at the end of the day. If we had to stop eating foods we both love, or had to majorly change it, we'd have a tough time. Maybe someday we'll see more healthful things to change but just at the beginning it's probably best not to change too much too soon.

    Just the past two days we've had big salads to start dinner and then have at least half the portion we'd usually chow down because we get so full from our colorful salad (that takes us each 25 minutes to eat). It's just so much more than the food is why I don't want to change it so much.

    I completely understand that. My husband and I NEVER have dinner together :( I have mine at 5ish whereas he holds out as long as he can and has his at around 7.

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