Don't eat past 8

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I've always been told you shouldn't eat past a certain time,7 or 8. But tonight I had to eat at 9. I'm still under my calories but hate going to bed after I eat. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?? It has it helped them to put a cut off time on their eating?? Thanks
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Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    when you eat has zero impact on weight loss..
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Meal timing or frequency is irrelevant to weight loss.
  • TheBeachgod
    TheBeachgod Posts: 825 Member
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    Zero truth. You'll be fine.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I don't think it matters what time you eat
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    Meal timing ONLY matters inasmuch as it affects satiety. For example, some people find that spreading out smaller, more frequent meals help them stay full, while others find that eating only one or two larger meals help them stay full (I'm in the latter camp.)

    Your stomach doesn't have a clock. People have varying schedules. Some even work all night and sleep all day. It's most definitely a myth.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,018 Member
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    No truth whatsoever. As long as your within your daily calorie goal, you can eat anytime that makes your schedule work more efficiently.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
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    I eat all my food late now and I've never been so happy. I sleep better, and have more energy in the morning. I'm losing weight slowly but this is finally a lifestyle I can stick with for the rest of my life. My kids have noticed how much happier I am too.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I used to think it was bad to go to bed with a stomach full of food because your metabolism slows down somewhat when your sleeping... so would struggle to burn off that food efficiently.
    But everyone here says that's not true, so will go by that :)
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    I will say that I've noticed if I eat too heavily too close to sleep, I wake up with a mild stomachache in the morning.

    Or if I have sweets (ie. ice cream) too close to sleep, I will wake up very hungry, whereas if I eat my dessert much earlier in the evening, I don't get hungry again until the next afternoon. I'm sure this is due to blood sugar fluctuations, but basically as long as I don't go to bed within a couple of hours of eating, I'm fine.

    This is probably not the same for everyone though, but the moral is to pay attention to your body, and try to keep the behaviors that are most conducive to weight loss/maintenance.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I will say that I've noticed if I eat too heavily too close to sleep, I wake up with a mild stomachache in the morning.

    Or if I have sweets (ie. ice cream) too close to sleep, I will wake up very hungry, whereas if I eat my dessert much earlier in the evening, I don't get hungry again until the next afternoon. I'm sure this is due to blood sugar fluctuations, but basically as long as I don't go to bed within a couple of hours of eating, I'm fine.

    This is probably not the same for everyone though, but the moral is to pay attention to your body, and try to keep the behaviors that are most conducive to weight loss/maintenance.

    Yes yes yes!! If I eat a big meal later in the evening or sweets too close to bed time I wake up famished. I thought it was just me!
  • EatPaleoStyle
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    Just Google about meal timing and weight loss, you may be surprised... One of the reasons you may want to eat 2-3 hours before bed is because having food to be digested (depending on what type of food) is going to cause different sleep problems and if you don't sleep you get high cortisol and then you gain weight, just once example.

    For the sake of simplicity let's keep it as it is VERY important to get good sleep patterns.
  • jodiekouns
    jodiekouns Posts: 23 Member
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    Great comments! Thanks everyone! I'm a month in and I'm just trying to reach my goal. Ty all so much
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I've lost 95 lbs, and for most of that I've eaten around 9 or after. I just always get home late. (I've lost at the predicted rate or more quickly.)
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I have an actual job and such - therefore I am not even home by 7 or 8. I usually eat dinner around 9. Hasn't had any impact on my weight loss. Consider this - if eating after 7 really made you fat nearly everyone with a day job would be fat and we won't even talk about the shift workers. Compete nonsense.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Doesn't matter in terms of weight loss. I eat after 8 pretty often.
    If I eat a lot near bedtime it affects my sleep though. Other people aren't bothered.
  • ktdid626
    ktdid626 Posts: 185 Member
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    I'm a night shift nurse. I eat 24/7 as long as it's within my calorie count, AND if I'm hungry. Losing 1 lb /week successfully here. I am glad I don't pay attention to what everyone else says.
  • chatnel
    chatnel Posts: 688 Member
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    Be careful if you eat past midnight though as you could turn gremlin
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    Rubbish! its all about calories in/calories out, doesn't matter when you have them.