Myth or fact: late night eating causes weight gain?

sophiahenry39 · May 2015

well I tend to eat more at night as I'm working in the morning n afternoon but I always keep them within my 1200 calorie goal ,I would have fruits for breakfast and some vegetables for lunch dinner is usually some cookies or chips which are bad I know. (my work requires me to be on my feet for 7.5 hours straight)

shrinkingletters · May 2015

Calories are calories no matter what time of day or night.

malibu927 · May 2015

Only if you eat enough to take you over your maintenance

thankyou4thevenom · May 2015

If you end up eating more than you should you'll gain. If they're within your goals then you won't.

LadyFencer · May 2015

There were some recent mouse studies showing that mice gained weight more if they didn't have a long period of fasting. The mice that either stayed the same or lost (I forget which) stopped eating earlier in the day, even with the same calorie intake. So it's not true that calories are calories no matter when you eat them. I have read that sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating late in the day, but I haven't verified it.

3bambi3 · May 2015

LadyFencer wrote: »

There were some recent mouse studies showing that mice gained weight more if they didn't have a long period of fasting. The mice that either stayed the same or lost (I forget which) stopped eating earlier in the day, even with the same calorie intake. So it's not true that calories are calories no matter when you eat them. I have read that sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating late in the day, but I haven't verified it.

Sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating 10,000+ calories a day.

OP, meal timing is inconsequential to weight loss.

lemurcat12 · May 2015

Only if it leads to overeating. Some people tend to lose control at night or snack more then, so for them it might be helpful to have a firm stop to eating. My only late night eating is my planned dinner and dessert (fits in my calories) so I've lots lots of weight regardless of timing. I don't think skipping dinner because I tend to work late or skipping my evening workouts so I could eat a little earlier would have been helpful.

LadyFencer · May 2015

3bambi3 wrote: »

LadyFencer wrote: »

There were some recent mouse studies showing that mice gained weight more if they didn't have a long period of fasting. The mice that either stayed the same or lost (I forget which) stopped eating earlier in the day, even with the same calorie intake. So it's not true that calories are calories no matter when you eat them. I have read that sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating late in the day, but I haven't verified it.

Sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating 10,000+ calories a day.

OP, meal timing is inconsequential to weight loss.

OP, Google "mouse studies meal timing weight gain" for actual scientific studies rather than thoughts on message boards. Meal timing matters. 'Cause science.

stevencloser · May 2015

LadyFencer wrote: »

3bambi3 wrote: »

LadyFencer wrote: »

There were some recent mouse studies showing that mice gained weight more if they didn't have a long period of fasting. The mice that either stayed the same or lost (I forget which) stopped eating earlier in the day, even with the same calorie intake. So it's not true that calories are calories no matter when you eat them. I have read that sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating late in the day, but I haven't verified it.

Sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating 10,000+ calories a day.

OP, meal timing is inconsequential to weight loss.

OP, Google "mouse studies meal timing weight gain" for actual scientific studies rather than thoughts on message boards. Meal timing matters. 'Cause science.

Yeah because it had nothing to do with the fact that during the daily exercise sessions the restricted mice ran for twice as long and thus burned more calories.
Actually reading studies is better than reading what a journalist thinks they say. 'Cause science.

jeffpettis · May 2015

LadyFencer- Google is not always your friend. I am very familiar with the study you are referring to and in a nutshell as stevencloser stated, the study actually showed that the restricted mice burned more calories from activity therefore lost or maintained their weight. This is the problem with most "studies", the control group and the study group must do exactly the same thing except whatever it is your trying to actually study. In other words both groups of mice should have been doing exactly the same activity with the only difference in the groups being meal timing. So in essence the study actually proved calories in calories out. Also, when most "journalist" report on these studies they then interpret them exactly how they want to make their story and most of the time they didn't even read the study themselves.

So to the OP, meal timing does not matter. If you ate all your daily allotted calories in one meal but still remained under your calorie goal you will lose weight. Period. Of course if you eat all these calories right before you go to bed at night then jump on the scale as soon as you wake up in the morning you will probably be disappointed, but you have to remember that what you are seeing is water retention and undigested food not fat gain.

3bambi3 · May 2015

LadyFencer wrote: »

3bambi3 wrote: »

LadyFencer wrote: »

There were some recent mouse studies showing that mice gained weight more if they didn't have a long period of fasting. The mice that either stayed the same or lost (I forget which) stopped eating earlier in the day, even with the same calorie intake. So it's not true that calories are calories no matter when you eat them. I have read that sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating late in the day, but I haven't verified it.

Sumo wrestlers gain weight by eating 10,000+ calories a day.

OP, meal timing is inconsequential to weight loss.

OP, Google "mouse studies meal timing weight gain" for actual scientific studies rather than thoughts on message boards. Meal timing matters. 'Cause science.

LadyFencer · May 2015

Um, those studies don't all say that. Are you counting on people not reading them?
I read scientific studies for a living so I'm well aware of problems with reporting in mainstream press. The mouse studies (there are more than one Jeff) aren't that easily dismissed.
Also, I looked up info on sumo wrestlers. Like all professional athletes who work out for hours a day, they eat a lot of calories. They also eat later in the day and sleep after meals. So it could be a combination of factors.
Calorie counts are measured in machines. We are not machines. OP, why don't you try giving up late night snacking for a month and see how it affects you?

3bambi3 · May 2015

LadyFencer wrote: »

Um, those studies don't all say that. Are you counting on people not reading them?
I read scientific studies for a living so I'm well aware of problems with reporting in mainstream press. The mouse studies (there are more than one Jeff) aren't that easily dismissed.
Also, I looked up info on sumo wrestlers. Like all professional athletes who work out for hours a day, they eat a lot of calories. They also eat later in the day and sleep after meals. So it could be a combination of factors.
Calorie counts are measured in machines. We are not machines. OP, why don't you try giving up late night snacking for a month and see how it affects you?

So the studies don't say this?:

However, there were NS differences between the low- and high-MF groups for adiposity indices, appetite measurements or gut peptides (peptide YY and ghrelin) either before or after the intervention. We conclude that increasing MF does not promote greater body weight loss under the conditions described in the present study.

or this?

There was no significant effect of the feeding frequency on the rate of weight loss, fat mass loss or fat-free mass loss. Furthermore, fat mass and fat-free mass contributed equally to weight loss in subjects on both gorging and nibbling diet. Feeding frequency had no significant effect on SMR after two or four weeks of dieting.

or this?

There was no significant effect of meal frequency on 24 h EE or ADMR. Furthermore, BMR and ACT did not differ between the two patterns. DIT was significantly elevated in the gorging pattern, but this effect was neutralized by correction for the relevant time interval. With the method used for determination of DIT no significant effect of meal frequency on the contribution of DIT to ADMR could be demonstrated.

or this?

We conclude that any effects of meal pattern on the regulation of body weight are likely to be mediated through effects on the food intake side of the energy balance equation.

or this?

In the short term, meal frequency and a period of fasting have no major impact on energy intake or expenditure

I must be seeing things...

Why don't you post some scientific studies saying that meal timing/frequency matters for weightloss.

Edited to fix quoting.

kgeyser · May 2015

LadyFencer wrote: »

Um, those studies don't all say that. Are you counting on people not reading them?
I read scientific studies for a living so I'm well aware of problems with reporting in mainstream press. The mouse studies (there are more than one Jeff) aren't that easily dismissed.
Also, I looked up info on sumo wrestlers. Like all professional athletes who work out for hours a day, they eat a lot of calories. They also eat later in the day and sleep after meals. So it could be a combination of factors.
Calorie counts are measured in machines. We are not machines. OP, why don't you try giving up late night snacking for a month and see how it affects you?

She's staying within a 1200 calorie goal, which is already low for a woman. Given that her first two meals consist of only fruit and veggies, which contain little to no fat or protein and barely any carbs, I don't think the problem is that she is eating late at night. What's most likely happening is that she's barely eating during the day, and ends up making less than ideal choices nutritionally at night or overeating because she's freaking starving.

OP, how are you measuring your intake? You shouldn't be gaining on 1200 calories with your activity level. If you share your stats (height/weight/age/activity level/exercise), we can help you figure out what your intake should be and how to balance that throughout the day so you don't go overboard at night.

LiftAllThePizzas · May 2015

LadyFencer wrote: »

I read scientific studies for a living

For who, Daily Mail?

MartinTrea · May 2015

Recently, I figured out that I was eating more after work than during and before. I adjusted my intake during the day to allow for this without exceeding my daily calorie goal. I am losing weight at good clip again. Bottom line, I lose weight no matter what as long as I am under my calorie goal.

Michael190lbs · May 2015

We are so brain washed

jeffpettis · May 2015

Besides all this meal timing nonsense, and I am just making an assumption since you didn't specifically say it in your original post, if the reason your asking about meal timing is your not losing weight then the real issue is you are simply not in a deficit. You must be very accurate with logging and more importantly with making sure what you are logging is correct. It doesn't take much daily error to blow a deficit in the course of a week. That being said, in the grand scheme of things, meal timing still doesn't matter.

Myth or fact: late night eating causes weight gain?

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