How to Make Lunch Your Largest Meal & Lose Weight

For many Americans, dinner is the largest meal of the day. At that point, most of your daily activity is complete. Using lunch as the bigger meal can be an effective technique for losing weight and feeling good. Having your largest meal in the middle of the day, when you are the most active, will provide your body with the calories that it needs during the activity. However, you will still need to eat sensibly and track your food intake to lose weight.

Instructions

• 1

  Start a food journal. No matter what meal is your largest, you will need to track the foods you consume. Free online programs like FitDay and Spark People allow you to easily access your journal from anywhere.

• 2

  Plan your meals in advance. Sit down on the weekend and make a list of what you want to eat each day. This can help you create a shopping list and prepare things in advance so they are ready during the week.

• 3

  Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats. If you are eating more calories during the lunch meal, you want to make sure that they are filling, nutritious calories.

• 4

  Eat one to two snacks. Having a small snack an hour or two before lunch or dinner will prevent you from feeling like you are starving when you sit down for the meal.

• 5

  Have lunch sitting down at a table. If you eat lunch in the car or sitting at your desk working, you will not be concentrating on what you are eating. Mindless eating can result in more hunger later. Your largest meal of the day needs to be one that you are focused on.

• 6

  Incorporate more physical activity into your day. If you don't feel like you have enough time to workout, try parking your car further away or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.