No matter what you have during the day, you should keep your dinners light and healthy. Post 7 pm in the evening, the metabolism of our body becomes very weak. Sticking to healthy dinner ideas will keep your digestive system light. You wouldn’t put extra pressure, feel bloated, or have an uncomfortable sleep. Here, we will give you tips to make your dinners light and healthy, in order to maintain a good eating cycle.
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How eating a light dinner can change your life?
Bodies don’t have an actual clock until you tame it the way you want it to be. But our bodies have internal rhythm and schedules bodily functions accordingly. This is known as ‘circadian rhythm’ and it helps our body adapt to environmental changes, activities, sleep, digestion, and more.
According to the regulation of the metabolism of our body, heart health, and sleeping cycle, we need to consider what we eat for dinners. Going light for dinner, sleeping two hours after that, and eating right can make a huge difference. Find out all the main reasons why you should consider finishing off your dinner by 7 pm.
1. Weight loss
If you restrict meals between 6 am and 7 pm, it can reduce the overall calorie intake drastically. You have more chances to consume few calories if your eating time cuts down. Having a long duration or the possibilities of an overnight fast increase fat loss as your body reaches ketosis. It is a condition the excess fat fuels you. So, your body is using up the fat to help you function during the time you don’t eat.
Experts say that early dinner improve the chances of digestion and aids weight loss. Our bodies are wired to the movement of the sun. So, as late as you eat, the higher the chances of food lying on your intestines. It affects the digestion process and doesn’t make you healthy.
People who consume their dinner early, reach satiety value way ahead of time. Their bodies utilize the food in the right way and also every bit of what they eat. If you don’t put the calories to use, it gets stored as fat.
2. You need good sleep
If you overstuff or eat right before you’re sleeping, the chances of indigestion and heartburn increases. The process becomes harder for you to fall asleep. Most experts will warn you to keep away from munchies during bedtime.
Eating late at night leaves your body on ‘high alert’ and interferes with your circadian rhythm. The process prevents the body from getting powdered down. Healthy dinners ideas are not only about eating the right good, but also the right time. Having food early helps you digest better, gives you good sleep, and wakes you up fresh.
3. Healthy heart
People who have problems like PCOD, thyroid, diabetes, or cardiovascular issues, should have light dinners and early ones. Most of us have food rich in salt all through the day. Having too much of that during the night can retain water and cause bloating. It provokes your chances of having higher blood pressure levels.
If we hog during dinners, we can have an overnight blood pressure. You should avoid complex carbs and switch over to healthy dinner ideas that includes brown rice, oats, bran chapatis. You should also keep a minimum of two-hour gap between your dinner and bedtime. Most people who consume dinner really late can suffer from non-dipper hypertension. In this case, their pressure tends to change drastically overnight. In an ideal situation, our blood pressure should drop by 10% during the night to help us rest well. If the pressure is high, you have more risks of facing heart problems.
Healthy dinner ideas to cook quickly
If you’re planning to finish off your dinner by 7 pm, you will want to know how healthy dinner ideas and cook quickly. Here, we give you some tips that can help you quick fast and eat healthy every night:
1. Be wise with kitchen equipment
There are many light diet recipes that save time due to the right kitchen equipment. You should invest in instant pots and slow cookers. These are super simple to use and perfect to cook go-to meals. Instant pots make a great kitchen tool that speeds up cooking time and can get your dinner ready quickly. You just need to know some recipes that you can make in them. Meatballs, soups, and oats are perfect ones to try in these pots.
2. Prepare way before time
Suppose you want to make Chicken Enchiladas for dinner, you will want to prepare for it before time. The recipe is easy to assemble but takes time. It is smart to prepare the enchiladas on a Sunday night and refrigerate them. You can have them the following night and all you need to do is put it in the oven.
3. Know a few 20-minute meals
If it takes you one hour to make dinner every night, you will be running late for your diet. It is really difficult to wrap up work and cook by 6 pm in order to have the last meal by 7 pm. You should know a few 20-minute recipes in order to deal with your busy night. From Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw, to salads, and soups, you can make many meals in a short span of time. Don’t resort to buying fast food that you can get on the go. Try to know a few quick recipes to stay healthy and eat well.
4. Ask the family to help out
Kids are getting older? Probably it is time to ask them for a helping hand in the kitchen. Children who understand what it goes into making every dish has fewer chances to complain about the food they don’t relish. Don’t just select recipes that need minimal work but ask your family members to lend you a hand. You might make a recipe that includes a lot of ingredients, your partner can help you chop them down while you do all the fire-work!
5. Know a few one-pot recipes
All of us love to make one-pot meals as they are hassle-free and quick. You should look out for recipes that have tomatoes and spinach in them. These ingredients can blend with a lot of things and are pretty inexpensive to make. You will not need more than 30 minutes to assemble the ingredients and put them all in the pot.
6. Plan go-to dinner
There are some super-fast meals like lemon pepper shrimp that can be a quick meal to cook at home. You don’t need to buy a burger and snack on the go. You can simply keep items like butter, spices, orzo, and shrimp and make a quick meal within 15 minutes. These are some of the healthy dinner ideas that maintain your diet, give you a tasty treat, and is equally healthy.
7. Cook meals that you can store
Although refrigerating meals and having them later is the not the healthiest option, you can do this during extreme work pressure. There are some crockpot recipes that you can slow cook on Sunday nights to have them on Monday evenings. You can match a batch of roasted vegetables and toss them into burritos. Stack grilled chicken frittata to have them for breakfast, and so on.
8. Repeat meals
If you don’t have a problem to repeat meals during a week you can always make a larger portion and have leftovers. A parmesan salad with celery and romaine can be a perfect dish to make, eat and store.
Healthy dinner recipes
It is time we look into some of the best recipes that you can cook for dinner. These are not just variant but also healthy, quick to make, and some can be stored for future consumption. Check out these healthy dinner ideas to stay fit and eat on time:
1. Scrambled eggs inside tacos
Eggs are one of the healthiest foods that you need to add to your regular diet. If it gets too boring to have them boiled as the time, make scrambled eggs. An ideal way to have this is by adding them to tacos. They will not only be tasty but also keep your full although the night. It gives you great nutritional value and satisfies your tastebuds.
2. Spicy tomato soup
Tomato is another healthy ingredient that we tend to skip because not everyone likes it raw. You can always make a spicy soup and serve it with flatbread. It will keep you full and add nutritional value.
3. Chicken in orange with spinach salad
Adding a citrus fruit to chicken might seem daunting at first, but the combination is really amazing. You ought to try this out and add the right portion of spinach to make it a complete salad. You can store this dinner and have it as a leftover the next day.
4. Grilled eggplant pizza
Eggplants on pizza might have been a dish your mother made you eat when you were a child. Kids these days only know the ones that have excess cheese and chicken pieces. If you want to revive this recipe or simply have pizza on a diet, try this one. It is a veggie-packed pizza that includes the right portion of parmesan.
5. Fried rice in the Mediterranean style
If you want to have fried rice and give it a healthy twist, you need to try out Mediterranean recipes. These have originated from the Greek coasts and are healthier options to regular boiled rice. To make sure it is healthy, you should cook the rice in advance and dry it out before the final prep.
6. Bean and avocado burrito
Times when you’re in a hurry but don’t want to compromise on the taste, you got to try bean and avocado wraps. They are delicious and take less than a half-hour to make. You can easily carry them with you to work for lunch if you have some leftovers on the night before.
7. Shrimp treat
If you don’t seafood or shrimp specifically, you should often make a hearty bowl full, of shrimp with quinoa. Make it like a salad where you can replace chicken with shrimp and you’re good to go. This protein-packed meal will keep you full all night long and also makes your tatsebuds happy.
8. Ratatouille Salad
Ratatouille is a French dish filled with the goodness of vegetables and makes a delightful salad. The recipe is easy to follow and is added with mozzarella. Every bite will make your savor the dish and you’d also have learned the famous French recipe.
9. Salad with apple, farro, and carrot
Farro is probably not a common ingredient that you add to your grocery list, which also makes this special. If you want to follow the healthy dinner ideas but try something new, add farro to your list. It goes really well with crispy apples, dried cranberries, zesty arugula, and makes the perfect salad you can ask for. Don’t miss out on the carrots as they take the taste to the next level.
10. Walnut and pear salad
Walnuts have lots of antioxidants in them and give your body the kind of healthy fats you need. Sprinkle them on a plate full of pear and celery, and then add a pinch of cinnamon to it. This can be a healthy dinner when you don’t have more than five minutes to cook and you need to finish your meal by 7 pm.
11. Chickpea soup
Add chickpeas to your diet to have a new variant for protein. Make a light soup out of it and add kale to it. If you have some sold chunks of chickpea leftover, toss them over tacos and add your favorites veggies to have it the following morning. Chickpea soups are really tasty and can suit a vegan diet.
12. Salmon and creamy feta
Salmons are yet another healthy addition and you can make another Mediterranean-style dish for dinner. Toss slices of cucumber inside the creamy puree and add Greek yogurt to it. The goodness of lemon juice and feta adds to this satisfying dish.
It is time you try these healthy dinner ideas and satisfy your taste as much as you keep your gut happy!
