More and more people are learning about the advantages of time-restricted feeding. This means eating only within a certain time frame.
Some individuals choose to skip breakfast and start their meals later in the day. Others prefer to eat breakfast, healthy snacks, and lunch then skip dinner.
You may think of skipping dinner as a form of reverse fasting. Instead of fasting during the day and eating at night, you fast at night and eat during the day.
Some of the benefits you derive from this approach relate to food scheduling and planning. The effect food has on your metabolism, sleep patterns, and mood also contributes to this strategy’s effectiveness.
The benefits also include moderate calorie intake and hunger control. Here are the advantages in detail.
Benefits of skipping dinner
1. You eat less (fewer calories)
When all is said and done, you need a diet plan that helps you eat less. Weight loss happens when you take in fewer calories than you consume. All diet plans under the sun follow this ultimate rule because it is basic biology.
Skipping dinner eliminates the need to consume an entire meal and all the calories that come with it. Therefore, you are more likely to lose weight.
Keep in mind you should eat more or less the same foods that you normally eat for breakfast and lunch. That way, you are not overdoing it during the meals that you are allowed to eat.
2. It aligns your metabolism with the circadian clock
The circadian rhythm refers to the natural sleep and wakefulness pattern. Human beings have a circadian clock that works in tandem with the sun.
The cells, organs and biological processes in our bodies are wired to operate during the day and switch off at night. When it gets dark, your body minimizes digestive functions and works on restoration and repair.
Therefore, it makes sense to eat during the day when your digestive genes are active and at their prime and avoid eating at night (dinner) when digestion is slow. It pays to live in harmony with what nature intended.
3. Stabilizes hunger
You have to control hunger when losing weight. If you are constantly hungry, it increases the chances of getting off your diet and binging. Usually, people binge on unhealthy foods.
In this study, it was shown that people who ate within a 6-hour window from 8 am -2 pm had less variable hunger levels. In other words, they were not feeling extremely hungry in one instance and very full in other instances.
This makes it much easier to adhere to a diet program. Eating all of your calories before 3 pm heightens blood sugar control and boosts insulin sensitivity too.
4. Increases fat burning
If you have been fasting for close to 14 hours, your fat-burning ability reaches peak levels. This is because, for the first 12 hours, the body relies on glycogen. Glycogen is the form of glucose that the body stores.
However, after 12 hours, the body starts to rely on another source of fuel; which is fat. You thus increase your chances of losing weight when you use the fat reserves in your body.
5. Eliminates the need to overcompensate
Most people who engage in time-restricted feeding are usually in danger of binging. If you don’t eat at all during the day, your appetite grows continuously as the day progresses until it becomes almost uncontrollable in the evening when you sit down to eat. Chances are you’ll go overboard.
Skipping dinner can reduce the chances of bingeing. Since you will be sleeping after skipping this meal, the effects of hunger are less likely to bother you. You will not be conscious of your lack of nourishment and this will make you more likely to stick to your plan.
6. You sleep better
Sleep has is critical in weight management because hormones that regulate mood, appetite and metabolism are released as you rest. You thus need quality sleep.
However, if you eat too late at night, it can be difficult for your body to switch off. It would be too busy digesting what you have consumed and you would have a feeling similar to jet lag.
Skipping dinner ensures that you don’t send the wrong signals to your system. As a result, you get deep quality sleep.
7. Reduces your risk of breast cancer
In this study, it was shown that prolonged nightly fasting reduces the risk of breast cancer. During the research, women were subjected to prolonged fasting during sleep phases. It was established that their positive prognosis for breast cancer came from certain preconditions.
First, prolonged nightly fasting reduces inflammation and increases the regulation of glucose. It also reduces a person’s risk of obesity and improves quality sleep. These are qualities that make one less likely to develop cancer.
8. Reduces bloating
Most people get bloated at night because they ate too close to bedtime. This means that their digestion occurs while they are lying down.
When you digest food from such a position, stomach acid has a higher chance of traveling up. The result is excessive gassiness and bloating as well as nausea and vomiting. You may want to skip dinner if you’re dealing with menopausal bloating.
9. Helps you exercise in a fasted state
If you skip dinner, you’ll most likely be in a fasted state when you wake up. This puts you in a prime condition to rely on fat as a source of energy during your morning workout. The result is faster and more intense weight loss.
This study showed that there were minor differences in weight loss between groups that did overnight fasted exercise versus those that did not.
10. Saves time on meal planning
In case you follow an eat-all-day regimen, chances are that you have to use a lot of your time to plan meals. Not everyone has this luxury.
More often than not, if you haven’t planned your meals, then chances are that you will buy a convenient and unhealthy option. Skipping dinner means that you don’t have to make those decisions and fall prey to such negative habits.
11. Allows post-workout eating and a healthy breakfast
After you’ve finished exercising, in the morning, chances are you’ll be feeling ravenous. Anyone who tries to skip breakfast at this moment is likely to fail miserably or bear the consequences through lethargy, excessive hunger and general irritation.
The no-dinner plan leaves room for breakfast, which powers you up for the day and rewards you for an intense workout. (Of course, you have to eat a healthy breakfast).
12. Improves your mood and concentration
Skipping dinner often means that you’ll have breakfast. When you eat breakfast, you set the stage for proper brain functioning. By default, this means better cognitive functioning, better concentration, and a better mood.
If you skip dinner, you would be fine because your body does not need to concentrate or have energy when you are sleeping.
The Bottom Line
In every weight loss journey, it is important to choose habits that make the process easy. One of them is skipping dinner. You would align your body with its natural circadian rhythm, sleep better, and set up your metabolism to lose more weight.
If you want to experience mind-blowing weight loss, skip dinner and then do these 28 stunningly simple fat-burning exercises.
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