I’ve noticed that many people recommend skipping dinner or eating very light meals at night for weight loss. Is skipping dinner actually beneficial, or can it negatively affect metabolism and sleep? What would you recommend as an ideal dinner for someone trying to lose weight?

A healthy body is the outcome of the right diet accompanied with right amount of physical and mental activity.

A regular routine to work out your physical body and healthy practices for mental health are important, especially during the current pandemic period when our schedules are upside down.

I suggest you start a physical workout with walking --  from easy walks in the morning/evening to brisk walking over a month.

Thereafter you can start slow surya namaskar, under guidance. It's great to bring your overall posture in shape.

Thereafter, you should also try dand baithak; again a routine in itself to keep you healthy and strong. Start slow with four or five each and you can gradually increase.

Don’t overdo anything to lose quick weight -- an exercise routine of 40 to 60 minutes is enough for a day. Include a minimum of 10 to 20 minutes of pranayams, not only to ensure mental peace, but also to relax your body after the workout.

Diet should comprise of small frequent meals to increase your metabolism.

Include nutrient dense foods with high protein and fibre to increase satiety value and provide essential nutrients.

As you are busy at work, include healthy foods like buttermilk, fruits and nuts as fillers in between meals.

Avoid skipping meals as this will lower your metabolism.

Excess calories at dinner will get converted to fat and will result in weight gain.

Have a bowl of salad before dinner and include fibre rich foods to add bulk to your diet.

Have a cup of skimmed milk at bed time in case you still feel hungry.

Milk has the amino acid tryptophan, which helps in inducing sleep and provides protein which is slowly digested and raises the satiety value.