Find out the truth about this diet myth once and for all…

No carbs after 6pm? Diet advice from Women’s Health & Fitness
This diet myth was definitely started in the noughties, and has evolved from the perception that large meals at night time cause weight gain because you’re not engaging in activity that taps into carb stores to burn them.

Overrule

Carbs cannot tell the time. Let’s finally dump this erroneous notion,” says Nutritionist Kathleen Alleaume, author of What’s Eating You?.

“The time of day you eat carbohydrates makes no difference whatsoever to your weight. Whether the kilojoules come from protein, fat, or alcohol, again, it is excess kilojoules, not maligned carbohydrates that are to blame for weight gain.”

Make it good

Successful weight loss is about monitoring your daily energy intake versus outtake. If you enjoy having some carbohydrates at night, don’t freak out when someone puts some rice on your plate, just stick to your one serve and account for it in your daily intake. As Allaeaume says, “the bottom line is carbohydrates do not make you fat. The amount you eat does”.

If you consume more than you burn, you will put on weight, it doesn’t matter if that is before or after 6pm! Bingley-Pullin recommends that “a more realistic aim would be to eat a light dinner of mainly protein and no starchy carbs (rice, pasta, potato, bread), and try to not to have dinner within 2 hours of going to bed”.

Next: Find out your ideal weight, browse low-fat recipes and choose a healthy eating plan. Start today!

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