When you’re trying to lose that extra weight, you have to be very particular about your dinner. Unplanned, unhealthy dinner will just not help your weight loss plan. That however doesn’t mean that you have to starve yourself with skimpy salad or soups. You can have healthy, filling and diet friendly dinner mostly using locally available ingredients. Let’s see what all can you eat to maintain a healthy balance in your dinner.
Factors that determine what you should have for dinner
- Hours to bed time
- Diet type
- Fasting hours (if you’re following intermittent fasting)
- Health goals
- Hunger levels
1. Only Seasonal Vegetables
- Meal type
- Steamed veggies
- Grilled or sauted veggies
- Vegetable soups
- Vegetable stew or full cooked sabzi
- Boiled veggies
- Plain salads
- Don’t have raw veggies if you’re suffering from indigestion
- Do not overcook your veggies as it’ll destroy the nutrients
- Factors
- Hunger level : Low
- Hours to bedtime : 1 hour
- Diet type : Low carb, Low calorie, Detox
- Health goals : Cleansing, weight loss
- Fasting hours : Less than 12 hours
- Sustainability : Occasional (not a long term option)
- This is not a complete and balanced meal
- May lead to nutritional deficiency and health issues in the long run
2. Vegetable with good quality lean protein
- Meal type
- Veggies with grilled panner. Tofu
- With lentils
- Dal veggies soup
- Chana veggies soup
- Steam or grilled veggies with egg whites (1 whole egg), chicken breast or turkey, lean fish
- Factors
- Hunger level : Moderate
- Hours to bed time : 2 hours
- Diet type : Low carb, high protein, low calorie
- Health goals : Muscle prevention, weight loss
- Fasting hours : Less than 13 hours
- Sustainability : For some time (not long term)
3. Veggies with lean protein and healthy fat
- Add 1-2 tsp of any visible healthy fat
- Meal type
- Veggies with grilled panner, tofu, lentils
- Fat in moderation
- Chana veggies soup
- Steam grilled or baked veggies with egg whites (1 whole egg), chicken breast or turkey, lean fish and healthy fat
- Factors
- Hunger level : Moderate
- Hours to bed time : 2-3 hours
- Diet type : Low carb, high protein
- Health goals : Muscle prevention, weight loss
- Fasting hours : More than 13 hours
- Sustainability : For some time (not long term)
4. Veggies with lean protein, healthy fat and complex carbs
- Meal type
- Veggies with grilled panner
- Tofu, lentils, roti, whole grains
- Quinoa, buckwheat, dal veggies soup
- Chana veggies soup
- Steam grilled or baked veggies with egg whites, chicken breast or turkey / lean fish
- Some fat with roti or daliya
- Factors
- Hunger level : Moderate
- Hours to bed time : 3 hours
- Diet type : Balanced diet
- Health goals : Sustainable fitness, maintain weight
- Fasting hours : More than 14 hours
- Sustainability : Long term
5. Milk
- If it is with dinner, there has to be a gap of 40-50 minutes
- Milk is a complete meal in itself
- Avoid combining it with the main meal
- It may lead to indigestion in the long run
- Add spices and herbs to the milk to make it more nutritious and digestible
Some pointers
- Avoid consuming just protein
- Avoid consuming something like just a light soup
- Avoid having sweets daily
- If you a poor digestive system, avoid raw vegetables