Just want to say that the phenomenon of eating dinner late is not an American thing – most Europeans eat dinner MUCH later than most Americans. Also – for me, although I do eat a healthy, balanced breakfast that includes complex carbohydrates along with protein and fruit, I have to be careful not to overdo it. If I eat too much at breakfast, I find it a set-up to eat too much throughout the day. So yes, eat a healthy meal first thing, but it’s not carte blanche to overeat.
The other day I was talking with my friend Mike.
Mike is a good guy, but frankly, his diet sucks.
Now, it’s not that Mike eats junk all day; in fact, the foods that make up Mike’s daily diet aren’t half bad.
Mike’s problem is something different: his timing is WAY out of whack, and unfortunately, it’s a problem that 99% of Americans share.
Take a look at the typical American diet and here’s what you get:
- Breakfast is the smallest meal of the day, if consumed at all.
- Lunch is a decent, moderate sized meal.
- Dinner is by far the largest meal of the day, often times consumed late at night.
The problem with this set up? It has you eating your largest meal of the day in the evening hours when metabolism is at its lowest point.
Essentially, the timing and size of meals in the average diet are the exact opposite of what they should be.
To fix this, use what I call the “Mirror Your Metabolism” approach.
Metabolism is highest in the morning, so make breakfast (not dinner), your largest meal.
Beyond that, carbohydrate tolerance is also at its peak upon awakening, which simply means that your body is more apt to handle a high carbohydrate intake in the morning hours (carbohydrate tolerance is at its lowest point in the evening).
This means that you can GET AWAY with a high carb, high calorie meal in the morning, with this meal actually stoking your metabolism to burn more calories throughout the day.
Do you want to eat a big breakfast? Go right ahead; it will benefit both your body and metabolism greatly.
On the other hand, dinner should be the smallest (not largest) meal of the day, and should also limit carbohydrate.
Summary – Here’s how to mirror both your metabolism and carbohydrate tolerance for optimal results:
Breakfast – Large sized meal, higher carb intake
Lunch – Moderate size meal and carb intake
Dinner – Light sized meal, lower carb intake
Follow these recommendations and I guarantee you’ll be able to eat even more total daily calories, while at the same time losing body fat even faster.
Want to learn another surefire way to boost metabolism? Believe it or not, my buddy Kyle Leon just posted a new metabolism trick that can’t even be stopped by “bad genetics”…and he SHOWS you proof. See for yourself:
==> Metabolism trick to OVERCOME your genetics (actually works)
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what about for bulking?
I found that not only does making the last meal of the day a little lighter helps, but also not eating after 8 PM made a huge difference in my results! I have to have a light high protein snack before bed so my sugar doesn’t wake me up in the wee hours of the morning, but the general results is amazing!
i think that this makes sense. it is great advice for those that are interested in really burning those extra calories.
i am the singer in a band here in cologne germany. so for me it is important to be ‘not fat’.
gotta be honest. at 37 years, i have put on a few pounds to many. according to the doctor, i am excesivly overweight. it is not so easy to see on me, but i know it is there. if i take of my shirt, then you can tell.
i will be trying the mirror idea. will post back soon.
peace, love, and guitars from cologne germany,
ace kincaid.
Breakfast – eat like a king
Lunch – eat like a prince
Dinner – eat like the jester
So this means that I can start the day with a large amount of oats and veggies (plus some vege oils). As carb tolerance is much increased following a decent workout, then I can follow an evening training session with liberal amounts of brown rice mixed with veggies and protein sources.
Could this be why I have no trouble in maintaining around 5% body fat but still build strength and muscle bulk?
Like your sooper-dooper sets Joel. I’m finding the secondary exercise seems to much aid recovery. Probably helps flush the lactate from the main set.
I’m finding that I can add more sets every three or four days without duress.
I totally agree with Joel on this and as long as you’re in charge of your day it’s not a problem to follow these guide lines. The problem arises when you have to attend a family function and/or a 2-3 day religious family tradition thing. In that case, supper is usually on the late side and the dishes not the best choice!
Just had 2 days of this with the in-laws, istening to their “you HAVE to try this” or that or the other, and “it’s healthy, it’s home made” sure, it’s home made but full of sugar (even in meat dishes and salad dressngs) and one so-called vegetable dish was all squashes (“but squash is a vegetable”).
We still have on more un-controlled meal, but at least it’s at a restaurant where no one will be offended if we dont eat up :) and I’m ordering a piece of chicken or veal wih a salad – no dressing, bring me oil and vinegar to add myself!
Even those who know about healthy foods, have little or no clue what it actually means to make a healthy meal; not to mention to figure on the amount of calories they ingest of these healthy foods.
Hi, im sorry to say this but this doesnt have cientific studies, i im doing the oposite , im eating the largest meal in night but the diference between me and the american diet is that i am eating 90% of the food paleolitic, thats mean that i only eating carbs like onions, almost all greens, pumpkin and not carbs like oat, rice, etc….and i have better results than the tradicional fitness diet but ot has 1 contra: its really expensive because of the veggies but its the best type of eating i ever tryed
This is really a good trick.
I have done it for some time..I am having my carbs at morning and usually i like to eat more protein for my dinner, because I come from the gym and my body is really craving something that will do good for my body!
I was once a fool that didn’t have breakfast and ate starchy carbs at dinner. The past year I have been eating breakfast (1 cup oatmeal and 1 cup of nonfat plain yogurt) and limiting dinner to fiberous carbs only. Along with working out I have lost 37 lbs this year compared to 30 lbs the previous year when I was skipping breakfast to loose weight. I turned 51 today and hope to be down to my goal 195 next year at this time (25 lbs to go).
Everyone is different so it’s important to listen to your body’s cues. My body happens to agree with Joel. I could eat a satisfying meal at dinner and be good to go but if I consumed the same meal for breakfast, I’d be hungry again in no time.
Hi Joel :). What if you just can’t manage more than oats and banana in the morning? I really struggle with big breakfeasts
I ear 6 small meals a day, but I agree breakfast is usually my biggest. I’ve also noted even when I “overeat” at breakfast it doesn’t seem to affect me as much as overeating at night. Good points.
I have the same trouble as Jacqueline; never hungry in the mornings. Is it possible to change this, say, by gradually eating bigger breakfasts?
Breakfast like a king
Lunch like a prince
Dinner like a pauper.
(and don’t forget a couple of small meals in between to keep the furnace burning!)
If only I could practice what I know to be true!
(sorry – just saw Chad’s post, great minds think alike)
My question is, my husband and I go to spin class first thing in the mornings (6am). Should we try to fuel before the class or is it better to wait until after?
What about the “Warrior Diet” by Ori Hofmekler? He say’s to not eat much at all during the day and eat a lot in the evening. I get so overwhelmed with all the diet information out there. I’ve been doing “eat stop eat” by Brad Pilon and it has helped me loose 6 stubborn pounds in a month.
well i work nightshift and i only manage to sleep for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening before i go to work so what and when should i be eating: i normally have food when i get home from work and also before i go and then something halfway through shift
Well, I balance my meals and have a fruit, fibrous veg and protein for b’fast, then lunch and dinner consisting of protein and a salad with a portion of fibrous veg such as broccoli or spinach. In between i have 2 snacks made up of fruit and a portion of protein or nuts. The thing is that I am not seeing much difference in weight loss although I do not crave sweet stuff anymore. Started training harder lately as advised by Joel and hope to see results soon.
The one time I lost weight on a vacation was when we went to Germany – their biggest meal is mid-day, and evening is a light “abend-essen” usually at home, not out. An afternoon snack was often on the agenda with my husband’s realtives. This plan still works best for me, if I eat more than 4 or 5 times it is usually too much total, but that one snack lets me have a late, light dinner. That is pretty counter-cultural around here though! My one blessing with food is that my appetie is lower at night even if I have fought with it all day, unless I have just really starved all day for some reason, like traveling or being wildly excessively busy. I kind of alternate high protein vs high carb breakfasts, not the biggest meal of the day by any means though, but I can NEVER skip! If I have to fast for a blood test or something, I pretty much have some food in my hand to eat as soon as its done. I’m not real active or with it first thing in the AM, I’m a severe non-morning person (any ideas about that- its a pain!) so I have to kind of ease into my days, and maybe that’s why the biggest meal at lunch would make the most sense for me.
Thanks for your write up. It served to convince me that what i heard about “eating breakfast like a king” is correct. I don’t have to feel guilty about breakfast, & i can increase my breakfast amount.
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...