Planning and Timing your meals properly

With corporates and call centers employing thousands and work timings changing drastically from the 9-5 pm to 9 pm to 5 am and anything the employer chooses – food timings and distribution throughout the days seems to be totally disturbed and upset.

The biggest damage seems to be to the waist line and weight. Young people are becoming overweight and obese over night. Those working late up to 8 or 9 pm get home only by about 10 pm, very tired and exhausted. They cannot think, plan or select food, they eat and over eat anything and everything they can lay their hands on. Invariably its fatty food, fried snacks to start with; parathas or fried rice, rich non-veg dishes and a dessert too is welcome. The justification is, “I have had a long day and worked so hard, I deserve to pamper myself with lots of goodies”.

The body however is screaming in protest, which of course is unheard. It is telling you that you have worked with your mind but you have not physically labored. You have not really burnt so many calories as you have just sat glued to a chair all day and now in minutes you will get into bed so please don’t over eat.

The body requires only 300 – 500 calories at dinner but when you overeat you can be eating 2000 – 2500 cals. in just one meal. 2 cups mutton biriyani, a side dish and 1c payasam is 2000 cals. Then when you sleep 1500 to 1700 cals. will be stored as pure fat.

Ideally dinner should be eaten at least 2 hours before you sleep and the meal should be with minimum fat. Then most of the digestion will be completed and your body will get a full nights rest. Other wise the digestion will go on for 6-8 hours into the night and morning. Fat takes 6-8 hours to get digested. So when you wake up you will feel very unrested and heavy in the stomach.

Then starts the next negative cycle. You can’t wake up early, wake late, don’t feel hungry, so either don’t eat breakfast or only eat fruits or a glass of milk or eat breakfast at 10 or 11 am instead of 8 or 9 am.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You have fasted for at least 8-10 hours and your brain and body require energy (petrol) to work and function properly. If you skip breakfast or make it sparse then you are bound to over eat either at lunch or snack at 6 or over eat at dinner. All this will surely deposit as fat.

If you eat a late breakfast 10 or 11 and then lunch at 12.30 or 1 pm, the calories of both meals will register together and it will appear as over eating and again fat will be deposited. There must be a gap of at least 4 hours between breakfast and lunch.

You can then have tea at 4 or 5 pm and a fruit at 6 or 7 pm and dinner between 8-9 pm. Eating heavy snacks at 6 or 7 pm and then dinner is very, very dangerous. Dinner should be a balanced meal of roti, dhal or pulses, curds and lots of fresh salad. Avoid fried food, avoid, non-veg and desserts. The ideal distribution is 40 % of calories in bed tea, breakfast and a 11 am fruit. 40 % calories at lunch, tea and 6 pm fruit and only 20% at dinner. Lunch must be the main meal of the day not dinner.