With the majority of Americans suffering from various degrees of obesity, countless diet plans have been designed through the years and new ones are forever cropping up. On the web or elsewhere, the sheer volume of information about losing weight and often conflicting advice on how to do it can leave you confused and bewildered.

As a general rule, it’s not safe to make general statements when you’re talking about how to lose weight. Because of individual differences in physiological make-up, genetic factors, lifestyles, etc., what weight-loss advice works for some people will not work for others. This article will discuss one such advice – and that is to avoid eating carbohydrates in the evening.

This advice is apparently based on the fact that carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of energy. If you eat them for dinner, most of the calories would not be burned and end up being stored as fat because you would just be going to bed soon after.

What matters, however, is not what kinds of food you eat but that you eat less during the last meal of the day. It won’t do to simply replace the carbohydrates you usually have for dinner (pasta, rice, or bread) with fries or pizza even if they add up to the same number of calories.

Another thing to consider is that not everybody operates on the same day-to-night cycle. Not everybody goes to bed at the same time, and some people have to work by night and sleep by day. If your work shift starts at midnight, the "last meal of the day" could very well be your breakfast, so you will need a lot of carbohydrates to start your "day."

What do you do after dinner? While most people are likely to relax and spend the time watching TV, reading, or the like, others may have scheduled their gym time or some other strenuous activity after dinner. Any vigorous activity calls for lots of carbohydrates to provide energy. But this doesn’t mean that if you’re not very active, you don’t need carbohydrates as much. Carbohydrates contribute to muscle mass, and the less muscle mass you have, the slower your metabolism will be – resulting again in more weight gain.

If going without carbohydrates during your last meal of the day is recommended (professionally), you can easily substitute other nutritious food from the protein group. The following are excellent choices: low-fat milk and cheese, yogurt, fish, turkey or chicken (without the skin), lentils.

Finally, don’t get to thinking that if one should eat less during the last meal of the day, eating nothing at all would be even better. You will not be able to sleep well because of hunger pangs, and your metabolism will slow down.