Is It Better to Graze or Eat Dinner?

I remember growing up I had a normal sit-down dinner with my family. But as the years have gone by, many of my dinners have turned into graze-fests.  Unless I’m with friends or my boyfriend, I rarely eat dinner. And I know I’m not alone in this habit! So is it bad not to eat a real dinner? We’ve all heard it’s best to eat mini meals versus larger meals. So wouldn’t grazing be a better choice than eating dinner? Maybe – but likely not! This habit of grazing for dinner can pack on the pounds if you aren’t careful.  Check out my tips for how to control your evening graze-fests.

Sound familiar?
I  find that many of my clients who are trying to lose weight are also grazers. I recently heard … “I can’t understand why I don’t lose weight. I don’t even eat dinner. I might snack on some hummus and tortilla chips, then some frozen yogurt and maybe a handful of nuts.” Or maybe “I’m too tired to make diner whenI get home from work, so I’d rather have a few snacks”. Sound familiar?

Problems with grazing instead of eating dinner
1. You don’t realize how many calories you are actually consuming when you graze. Try this – write down everything  you eat and drink for one night. Weigh the cheese and nuts, measure the hummus, count the crackers, measure the frozen yogurt, etc. Then calculate the calories (caloriekingcom is a good site). I bet you will be surprised with the amount of calories you end up eating!

2. Lack of mindful eating. Think about a dinner where all your food is on a plate. You sit down at a table and eat slow. Pay attention to how the food is making you feel. Are you getting full? How does the food really taste? Now compare this to grazing. You probably aren’t paying attention to the food. I bet you are watching tv or on the computer. Your brain doesn’t even realize you are getting full and you aren’t really enjoying the food, both of which lead to more food consumption.  (pic credit)

3. You feel entitled to eat more because you really “haven’t had dinner”. Enough said on this one!

4. The foods you graze on tend to be low in water and fiber and are probably high in calories. Not many people graze on carrots and celery (though this isn’t a bad idea). More likely it’s chips, sweets, cheese, etc. Calories add up … quickly.

5. Your eyes aren’t helping you to feel full. Here is an example to explain this.  Studies have shown that we consume significantly fewer calories from unshelled pistachio nuts vs. shelled nuts. It is theorized that seeing the empty shells help you eat less. The same principle could be applied to grazing as you don’t see all the food on a plate in  front of you like you would if you had a real dinner.

Suggestions to tame your graze-fest:
1. Try to eat a real dinner and plan a snack for ~ 100 -150 calories at night. That’s it – no more!

2. For all you busy people, keep some healthy foods on hand for an easy dinner. Don’t make cooking a big ordeal. Eggs, rotisserie chicken, tofu, lean burgers or turkey burgers (can be frozen) can be a base. Stay tuned for a post on easy dinners.

3. Incorporate vegetables into your evening meal or graze-fest. Local and organic is always best but frozen veggies are a good backup. I often pick up a vegetable from the street vendor right outside of my apartment. Wash and cook with a little olive oil – takes 5 minutes. Vegetables provide fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. They’ll help you to feel full with minimal calories.

4. If you think your chances of eating a real dinner are slim, at least calorie budget your graze. A woman watching her weight may want to stick to 500 calories and a man could consume 700 calories (these are just estimates).

5. Portion out those foods. For example, if you want to have hummus and crackers, measure out the hummus and crackers … and put the rest away!

6. Write out ahead of time what your graze-fest will contain.

7. Keep problem foods out of the house. Buy individually portioned foods if needed.

8. Use your eyes to help you feel full.  It is quite possible that if you put all your snacks out on a plate versus continually snacking from the larger container that the visual cue of seeing the food may help you feel more satisfied with less food. (pic credit)

9. While I bet many of you will continue to eat while watching tv, at least pay attention to what you are eating. No mindless eating!

Bottom line, I wouldn’t say eating a real diner is necessarily better than grazing IF you are careful with what and how much you graze on. Include some nutritious foods and keep tabs on how many calories you take it.

Do you graze or eat dinner?