When you think about getting fit, do you hold your stomach flabs and call them as “six packs”?

Have you desperately tried to lose weight and failed? Like, trying a new diet for a month or hitting the gym for a week, only to go back to the same old rut. 

Comment below if you have tried & failed at losing weight. 

If you are someone in this rut, this simple dinner routine secret I am about to share can help you. It is so easy to start and hard to stop. 

I lost 11kgs without any diet or exercise with this secret. 

If you try this routine from now on, you will lose weight without any diet or exercise. The secret is: 

Cut down your dinner by half. 

And if you got this, you don't even have to read even this entire article. 

But, if you are curious, I have broken down the entire routine into steps. Try it out for at least a month or two to see the results. 

Step 1: Be Aware Of Your Dinner Portion Size

The next time you mix the rice with curry and roll it in your mouth, be aware of your portion size. 

If you have the habit of scrolling your phones while eating, keep it aside. 

The stock market, the goofy videos will wait till you finish your dinner. 

Here are a few things you can note

1. Observe your dinner portion size.
   • Do you eat 4 rotis or 5? 
   • Do you eat 3 slices of pizza or 4?
2. The time you eat your dinner.
   • Do you have dinner at 8PM or 10?
3. Your current weight before starting this habit.

When I started this routine, I noticed the following: 

1. Usual Dinner portion size:
   • If it is roti: 2 full tandoori rotis / 4 small roti
   • If pizzas were ordered I had 4 medium slices
2. Dinner time: Mostly after 9PM.
3. Weight: 65kgs. (I was 5 feet 1 inch tall.)

Step 2: Gradually Downsize Your Dinner Portion To 50% in 2 weeks

Now that you know what you eat for dinner, for the next 1 week, cut it down by 25% or ¼. 

So, if you are taking 4 rotis and 1 full bowl of rice, cut it down to 3 rotis and ¾ bowl of rice. 

And to balance the rest of the food, drink water. 

The trick here is, to make the change so subtle that your body can follow your new routine. 

Just by doing this one trick, you can cut down 100 calories from your diet. (1 roti=80-100 cal)

Continue this activity for the entire week, till you get comfortable with the diet. 

Heads Up: Manage Hunger Temptations 

Temptation Challenge:

• Remember, you will feel hungry at night, so drink water.
• After 2-3 days, your body will start craving those extra calories.It will tempt you to eat an extra sweet or snack at night.

So, here is a trick. 

Solution:

• When you feel hungry, drink water.
• Promise your body that you will reward it with some mouth watering, tasty breakfast the next day.
• Don’t sit and watch a late night movie. Go to sleep.

With the new routine, your body will get tired and will need sleep to burn out the fat for energy. 

And when you eat less at night, you will be able to sleep faster. 

Step 3: Fulfil Your Promise & Mind The temptations

After waking up, remember to drink at least 1L of water to make your stomach feel full.  

Now, go ahead and eat your favorite breakfast. 

Like, if it's idli+vada or dosa whatever it is, have it. Eat your breakfast like a king.  

Again, while eating, don’t use your phone. Instead, bring your awareness to your plate. 

Headsup: Be Mindful Of Your Temptations 

Challenge:

• Your body may trick you and ask you to eat an extra vada, for the roti you skipped last night.

Solution:

• Tell your body that it won’t get an extra vada. Instead, it can break the existing vada or dosa into small pieces and chew each piece longer.
• This way, you will trick your body into actually thinking that it's eating an extra food item.
• As you do, enjoy every flavour of the food. Dip the dosa in sambar, enjoy the smell and taste.

Chew your food long and eat it slowly. By 15-20 min, you will get your first burp. This is actually an indication that the body had enough. 

Now, you may not feel 100% full right now. But after 10 min of having your breakfast, you will feel full, light & more energetic. 

Follow the same routine for your lunch or tea time: 

Be mindful of what you eat. Enjoy the flavours. 

If your body pushes you to take an extra roti or scoop of rice, trick your body by chewing the food. 

Now when the dinner time comes, stick to your revised dinner routine and repeat the process. 

Slowly as you get used to the 75% dinner routine, bring it down to 50% after 2 weeks. 

So, for example if you were eating 4 rotis and 1 bowl of rice, bring it down to 2 rotis and ½ bowl of rice after 2 weeks and maintain this for a month or two. 

Once you get used to this routine, try different items like fruits or salad bowl options for dinner. 

The idea is keep the breakfast and lunch the same and alter only the dinner. 

So, What really happens? And Why Does This works? 

Dinner is a time when we don’t need to take in a lot of calories. (Assuming that you do a desk job)

What really happens?

• When you eat heavily at dinner, it becomes hard to sleep.
• By cutting down the dinner, you can reduce the calories & sleep fast.
• Your body will be tired & for energy it will start burning your fat while you sleep.

Why does it work?

• This routine starts by bringing a small change in one area (ex: dinner). You can do this easily.
• And you can also reward your body by eating your favorite breakfast or lunch. In that way, your body will listen to your request.

And the best part is, when you follow this routine, you are not following a new diet. 

Instead, you are creating a new habit, thereby becoming your new version.

Wherever you go, whether it be for a party, or for dinner, you will remember to eat only 50%. 

You will still eat pizzas, and the cheesy pastas, but you will eat in less quantities. 

Basically, you will cultivate a dinner awareness and this will easily help you lose weight without any fancy diet or exercise. 

Conclusion

Have a motto to eat only 50% at dinner, especially if it's after 8PM. 

The secret to weight loss is to not cut down your food or be someone you are not. The secret is to create your new self image. 

Don’t buy the “oh. I can’t stick to a routine” BS. 

Remember that if you are born and reading this, you are a winner. 

And I hope this dinner routine reminds you that you can win the things you set out to achieve. 

Just as a friend of mine told me, “ Remember to enjoy the journey”, enjoy the food you eat. 

I hope this article was useful. If it was, let me know by liking this article and commenting your thoughts.