Early Dinners Cheat Sheet

By Cate Stillman

FOCUS

Simple + yummy

Dinner needs to be easy to digest. Humans are primates, and don’t produce much bile at night to digest food. Create a simple and yummy meal. The later you eat, the lighter it needs to be. Soups and salads… raw or cooked…. cold or warm, depending on season.

Plan ahead.

You have to schedule an earlier dinner. If you normally work out after work, you’ll need to move it to before work. You’ll have more time in the morning from going to bed earlier.

Know your triggers.

If you usually go out with friends for an 8 or 9 pm meal it’s going to be a trigger when you go to make plans next. Think about other ways or times to connect with your peeps.

Set a cut-off time.

Set a time. The hard-core of you will choose dusk. Others, might simply more your ingestion cut-off time back 30 minutes, until it ends up around 6 pm most nights. Having an exception here and there is a.o.k. But, aim for the cut off to be consistent at least 5 x a week.

After Dinner Time

You will have more time after dinner when you move your dinner earlier. Take a walk in summer. Play a game or work on a fun project in winter. Go to bed early.

Visualize.

Right now take a minute and see yourself eating a lighter, earlier dinner. Notice how it feels to have the food out of your belly when you go to sleep.

FOOD

Keep the meal simple.

Dinner used to be called supper… meaning a a “little supplement”. Not a show-stopper… but a little something. Soups, stews, fruit salads, green salads, marinated salads, one pot meals. Keep it simple.

Make a weekly meal plan.

If you don’t plan ahead you can’t change your momentum. Schedule a time each week on your day off. Put it in your schedule. Print a blank meal planner. Fill it out. Make a grocery list at the same time. Pin the planner to your fridge.

Don’t snack.

You won’t be hungry for an early dinner if you eat something besides a piece of fruit between lunch and dinner. Let your hunger develop for an early dinner.

Prepare food in the morning.

This one might seem impossible. Preparing food in the morning is easy when you plan ahead. You can use a rice cooker or a crock pot. You can bake root vegetables while you get ready for the day.