Hey everyone,

I'm usually cooking each day for lunch and I'll eat something like salad and bread for dinner. I thought about switching that, though. Is that a good idea? Is it unhealthy to eat like this?

Any thoughts?
Greetings,
Pete

[shifuimam]

I think it's probably less healthy to eat too little for lunch and overeat at dinner, especially since your metabolism slows the closer you get to bedtime.

Do you feel unhealthy? Do you weigh too much or too little? Are you sluggish? If your overall physical health is good, you're probably doing just fine.

[Snow-i]

5 Well-Known Tips for Healthy Eating (That Don't Work) | Cracked.com

Check out #3. That study actually suggests that it's better for you.

[subego]

There seems to be a general agreement you want to go bigger to smaller as the day progresses, but the Italians tend to do the opposite, and it doesn't seem to kill them any faster.

[Waragainstsleep]

If you eat more while you're more active then you have more time to burn it off surely?

[Spheric Harlot]

If you do the same things, you'll burn off the same number of calories, regardless of when you added them to your system.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

If you do the same things, you'll burn off the same number of calories, regardless of when you added them to your system.

This.

The bigger question how you'll "handle" a lighter lunch in the beginning.
You need to be careful not to add additional calories by giving in to in-between meal snacking.

Eventually, you'll get used to it though.

-t

[el chupacabra]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I think it's probably less healthy to eat too little for lunch and overeat at dinner, especially since your metabolism slows the closer you get to bedtime.

Do you feel unhealthy? Do you weigh too much or too little? Are you sluggish? If your overall physical health is good, you're probably doing just fine.

yup
It depends what your goals are (trying to lose weight or training for sports, do you have reflux, etc), since it's not inherently unhealthy to eat more for dinner than lunch. As a general rule it's considered not a good idea to eat filling portions right before bed for a number of reasons. But a normal sized meal 2 hours before bed is fine.

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

If you do the same things, you'll burn off the same number of calories, regardless of when you added them to your system.

Well yes, but most people will be more active in the afternoon than the evening and if you are generally inactive throughout both, the fact that you are awake for longer means you should burn more calories right? Thats why its not great to eat a huge meal at midnight and then go straight to bed. No time to properly digest (with the aid of gravity)

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

Well yes, but most people will be more active in the afternoon than the evening and if you are generally inactive throughout both, the fact that you are awake for longer means you should burn more calories right? Thats why its not great to eat a huge meal at midnight and then go straight to bed.

That makes little sense to me. For one, those calories from solid food take a number of hours to be absorbed by the digestive system after you've eaten, so if you're up longer, you're probably not burning the calories you just had for dinner, but those that have been stored in your body.

For another, performing X task will consume Y calories. Whether that energy has just been added to the system, or was added to the system twelve hours ago, is not that relevant, is it?

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

No time to properly digest (with the aid of gravity)

Take a good look at how the intestine is laid out in your body. Gravity is completely irrelevant to digestion. Peristalsis does the work.

[subego]

Do astronauts get tummy twisters?

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Take a good look at how the intestine is laid out in your body. Gravity is completely irrelevant to digestion. Peristalsis does the work.

I was thinking more of the stomach than the intestines.

[Spheric Harlot]

The stomach is just a muscular bag with sphincters at either end. It's not affected by gravity.

[subego]

Tell that to my muffin-top.

[jmiddel]

There is a saying: eta breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner as a pauper.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by jmiddel 

There is a saying: eta breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner as a pauper.

And it's stupid.

-t

[angelmb]

There is a saying: eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner as a pauper.

And it's stupid.

Gym credo called into question.