The last meal of the day is usually the one that causes the most confusion and the one where people fail the most, especially those who want to lose weight. The lack of time, accumulated fatigue, or simply those myths that circulate online lead many times to making bad decisions, which in reality do the opposite of helping. To avoid more confusion of this kind, José Ruiz, a fitness expert and professional at Malagaentrena, revealed in an interview with THE OBJECTIVE what the most common mistakes we make at night are and how we can resolve them in a simple way.
According to José Ruiz, the dinner moment usually fails for two main reasons. The first is a day-long organization problem: arriving at the last moment with accumulated hunger and a lack of control. Many people eat very little throughout the day and, when night falls, they go after whatever they find in the fridge. On the other hand, the second major error has to do with diet myths: having only a salad for dinner, leaving out protein, with the false belief that this will help you lose weight faster. The expert warns about the consequences of this: “That tends to generate hunger and poorer recovery.”
What should the ideal dinner look like if you train?
For José Ruiz, the expert from Malagaentrena, you don’t need to measure every calorie of the foods you eat, especially when your goals don’t go beyond improving both physically and internally: “you don’t need to live weighing every gram if you’re not a competitive athlete.” The truly important thing is to eat with common sense so that the body recovers well after exercising. Therefore, an ideal post-workout dinner has to be balanced and include protein to protect the muscles, vegetables or fruit, a bit of healthy fats, and some carbohydrates if the effort has been very intense.
This is very easy to prepare at home, and the expert gives us three very simple examples: the first option is to eat fish such as salmon or hake with boiled potatoes, a salad, and olive oil; the second is to make an omelet with vegetables accompanied by whole-grain bread or sweet potato and a Greek yogurt for dessert; and the third is to combine chicken, turkey or tofu with rice, pan-fried vegetables, and a piece of fruit. In the end, what we should keep in mind is the advice the specialist leaves us, who reminds us that the post-workout dinner doesn’t have to be perfect; it has to help you recover and fit into your day.
