I have been preparing my "dinner" meal in the early afternoon and eating a small meal at the traditional dinnertime.

This is helping me feel healthier and continue my weight loss. I was finding myself starving during the day saving the majority of my food consumption for a nice delicious dinner. However I expend the majority of my calories during the day so it makes sense that I should eat the majority of my food during the day.

You would think this would be obvious I wonder why they do it this way in other countries not in the US? Maybe that could account for some of the rise in obesity..

After all in the "old days" they used to burn enough calories during the day that they could eat a lot at night but most of us do NOT do the labor intensive things required back then to survive.

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I like that idea! That is how we ate when living in Germany. It makes much more sense to me. I would do it now if my husband could come home for lunch.

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I like the idea too. OP you are so right about people back then working hard during the day and coming in for a home cooked meal. Back in those days people cooked healthier meals too. I was a child of the 80's and know this for a fact..

Im going to give this change a shot and see how it works for us. My husband works midnight and sleeps through dinner. This could totally work for me and the kids!

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Yep, I've always heard that you should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper.

The current term for this kind of eating is *blue zone* eating, an interesting concept anyone can google for more info.We've been doing a huge breakfast (sometimes tradtional evening meal foods), lighter mid day meal and lightest meal of all in the evening.
Seemed worth a try for us cuz with older kids early in the a.m. seemed to be the only time we could come close to all being together in the past few years. So trying the *blue zone* way (including as much local seasonal food as possible) has been good for us. We don't adhere to it 100% (maybe only 40-50% of the time at most), but with each passing year we get better at it and spend less on healthcare. We've even gotten to the point where we do CSA to make the most of local organic produce when it's in season, a la blue zone eating philosophy. (2 shares, ends up costing less than $24/week for a fam of 7, but only lasts a few days, still...). Other than dh getting anaplasmosis early in the summer (something diet can't really prevent, and we live in Tickville), I can't remember the last time any of us were seriously (really bad cold or worse) flattened by some evil bug. We live in an unhealthy 60's house, but since chainging the way/order we eat our meals it seems to have had a positive effect.
Hooray!
Of course, the caveat is: your mileage may vary ;-)
M

My boyfriend who is Middle Eastern eats a light breakfast...one cup of tea and toast with peanut butter. His heaviest meal is lunch which changes from day to day, unlike breakfast which is the same every morning, and a light dinner of maybe a bowl of soup and some bread.

This is how he eats.. even here in the western world. It's sooo hard for me to adopt this, I grew up eating the biggest meal at 6pm every night. And there is no way I can eat the same food for breakfast every day!

He's very healthy, very rarely has stomach problems...unlike me.
Hopefully one day I can change it up.

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I've been eating watermelon before and after every meal and it helped me lose 10 pounds now that the season is over I am not sure what to change it to

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I think this helps more than just weight loss. I have been doing a similar eating schedule for about 6 weeks since I went to a straight graveyard shift. When I get up in the evening I eat a dinner type meal and at around 2am I eat lunch which is usally a salad or sandwich. And when I get home I have breakfast which is usually a bowl of oatmeal or an apple with Peanut Butter.

I think this also helps me sleep better by eating lighter as the last meal of the day. I know it has helped the old acid reflux.

Another thing that we started doing really by accident is having meals that are just protein and veggies. No starch or carbs. We do this about 4 times a week.
Tonight dinner was grilled Salmon with steamed asparagas and a side of fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Yum.
Keep up the good work annadrose and keep the tips coming.

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Do you like grapefruit? Or maybe cantelope or honeydew. I would think any fruit (that you like) that has a higher water content would work. Fruit before and after is great, helps fill you up, high is fiber, naturally sweet etc. It all helps with proper digestion.

Pineapple is good too.

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