no food after a certain time

Ready2Rock206

I think that rule is ridiculous and the people who can follow it have entirely too much time on their hands. I have a job and a life - not eating after 5 or some other made up magic time isn't at all realistic. I'm not even home until 9 or 10pm.

lizzocat

while timing doesn't matter, do what works for you. Personally, I am hungry all day until I get home, so I usually eat 90% of my calories while at work, and then have either a snack or a light 300 calorie meal at night. A lot of the time, I don't eat at all after 5:00 pm. I don't do this as a 'rule' but rather, I listen to my body.

ninerbuff

You should cut off eating when you've reached your daily calorie limits. Whatever time that may be.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MeiannaLee

When I was 15 I stopped eating after 7pm and lost about 20 pounds that way.
But its all about deficit. I must have been eating less than I was burning.

glassyo

Mycophilia wrote: »

I don't eat any food after I've fallen asleep at night. I prefer being lucid so that I can enjoy the food.

I have totally nodded off while chewing food at my computer.

I'm not even kidding.

OP, unless it interferes with your sleep, you can eat up to and including being in bed. Just watch out for crumbs.

southhamptonmike

If I'm short on calories during the evening , I will have yogurt and maby some flax seed and walnuts; If I ate my limit of calories then I just go to bed without anything else.

Regaining_life

Not really. I tend to eat 5 times a day and that includes a small snack around 9.30 pm. I always factor a snack in at that time because it stops me from raiding the cupboards and indulging in unplanned chocolate and sweets (I'm a night time grazer!)

CjF1960

Being a diabetic, I find that my morning sugar readings are much better if I don't eat after 7:30 in the evening, especially have to go easy on the carbs in the evening.

urloved33

i eat when i am hungry. period.

Azuriaz

I prefer to do this for the rather stupid reason that late night eating tends to show up on the scale (as water/other not so nice stuff weight). And since I'm still way too dependent on that stupid thing for my progress reports, I hate seeing a number go up rather than down.

mpat81

I have a light snack a few hours before bed, then I brush my teeth! I know I won't eat anything else lest I have to brush again. Not because I think you shouldn't eat close to bedtime, just to keep from snacking for the sake of something to do.

cmtigger

Mycophilia wrote: »

I don't eat any food after I've fallen asleep at night. I prefer being lucid so that I can enjoy the food.

I sleepwalk, and have found evidence of minor sleep eating in the past. Luckily it hasn't happened in a while unless I leave something easy to eat on my nightstand, but in college I'd find soda cans and such, and I lived alone.

amb3rj0y

No, I just eat when I am hungry. Just choosing healthier options now. As long as you remain in a calorie deficit or within your ww points (I'm doing weight watchers), you should be fine.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Mycophilia wrote: »

I don't eat any food after I've fallen asleep at night. I prefer being lucid so that I can enjoy the food.

I try to follow this rule, but it's a tough wagon to stay on. Thankfully, most of my food comes in wrappers so I can tally up the damage when I wake up.

hamptontom

there's a lot of "do whatever you want" in this thread so far, and frankly, i don't disagree. BUT...

based on some of what i've learned from some of the same individuals who've participated in this thread, here's another way to think about this.

i feel kinda dumb for not having figured this out before a conversation with @ninerbuff a while back, but when you exercise, when you engage in activity throughout the day, you're burning calories that you've consumed as fuel that are "in the pipe" at that point in time. he pointed out to me that people have this misconception that they're burning fat stores when they exercise, but the only time you're truly burning fat stores is when you're asleep - because at that point in time, your fat stores are your bodys' only source for caloric energy.

so...with that being said...wouldn't it stand to reason that if you eat and then go to bed, that you're impeding your body's tendency to draw from its reserves because you've just given it active fuel before bedtime?

keep in mind, now - that, as everyone pointed out - if you're eating at a deficit, you're accomplishing the primary goal necessary for weight loss in the first place, and maybe this theory is much ado about nothing.

but it seems to stand to reason that you're forcing your metabolisms' hand in the direction of burning existing fat stores if you go to sleep on as empty a stomach as possible...wouldn't it?

ninerbuff

hamptontom wrote: »

there's a lot of "do whatever you want" in this thread so far, and frankly, i don't disagree. BUT...

based on some of what i've learned from some of the same individuals who've participated in this thread, here's another way to think about this.

i feel kinda dumb for not having figured this out before a conversation with @ninerbuff a while back, but when you exercise, when you engage in activity throughout the day, you're burning calories that you've consumed as fuel that are "in the pipe" at that point in time. he pointed out to me that people have this misconception that they're burning fat stores when they exercise, but the only time you're truly burning fat stores is when you're asleep - because at that point in time, your fat stores are your bodys' only source for caloric energy.

so...with that being said...wouldn't it stand to reason that if you eat and then go to bed, that you're impeding your body's tendency to draw from its reserves because you've just given it active fuel before bedtime?

keep in mind, now - that, as everyone pointed out - if you're eating at a deficit, you're accomplishing the primary goal necessary for weight loss in the first place, and maybe this theory is much ado about nothing.

but it seems to stand to reason that you're forcing your metabolisms' hand in the direction of burning existing fat stores if you go to sleep on as empty a stomach as possible...wouldn't it?

Reasoning isn't incorrect in thought. Digestion, type of intake (macro) will likely cause a different body reaction (hormonally) with storage. But in essence, one in deficit won't worry too much about it.
I will say that having alcohol in the system before bed isn't a great idea.............even in deficit. Unlike food that takes time to digest and store, alcohol is directly absorbed into the bloodstream. Since alcohol can't be stored, it has to be metabolized. No other fuel source is used till this happens. So no fat burning at night sleeping if you've got a substantial amount of alcohol to metabolize.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

stevencloser

hamptontom wrote: »

there's a lot of "do whatever you want" in this thread so far, and frankly, i don't disagree. BUT...

based on some of what i've learned from some of the same individuals who've participated in this thread, here's another way to think about this.

i feel kinda dumb for not having figured this out before a conversation with @ninerbuff a while back, but when you exercise, when you engage in activity throughout the day, you're burning calories that you've consumed as fuel that are "in the pipe" at that point in time. he pointed out to me that people have this misconception that they're burning fat stores when they exercise, but the only time you're truly burning fat stores is when you're asleep - because at that point in time, your fat stores are your bodys' only source for caloric energy.

so...with that being said...wouldn't it stand to reason that if you eat and then go to bed, that you're impeding your body's tendency to draw from its reserves because you've just given it active fuel before bedtime?

keep in mind, now - that, as everyone pointed out - if you're eating at a deficit, you're accomplishing the primary goal necessary for weight loss in the first place, and maybe this theory is much ado about nothing.

but it seems to stand to reason that you're forcing your metabolisms' hand in the direction of burning existing fat stores if you go to sleep on as empty a stomach as possible...wouldn't it?

It's not only when you're sleeping, it's whenever you're more or less at rest and at a deficit.
Say you're eating a 500 kcal meal for lunch, then nothing for the next 10-12 hours because your dinner is right before bed for some reason. If your maintenance is 2000 kcal, that's about 833-1000 calories in the time between you eating (probably a bit more since I'm fairly sure you burn less calories while sleeping), the deficit from that would be taken from your fat.

macabr

AlciaMode wrote: »

Some studies suggest that taking a break from eating, a short fast, for about 14 hours is beneficial to weightloss. Hence why many people do not eat for some hours prior to going to bed.

I've read that as well, and my nutritionist advised me to consider that as well. It may be helpful but that calorie deficit is all important.

eccentric88

jasminemabry wrote: »

Has anyone cut off eating after a certain time, and how about if you work 2nd or 3rd shifts how do you set a cut off time

I have done this before and it works. When you are doing other shifts, can you eat at a certain time, and cut off a certain time before going to bed. Say 2-3hrs before bed is a cut off?

eccentric88

Azuriaz wrote: »

I prefer to do this for the rather stupid reason that late night eating tends to show up on the scale (as water/other not so nice stuff weight). And since I'm still way too dependent on that stupid thing for my progress reports, I hate seeing a number go up rather than down.

I found that when eating at night I am still slowly losing weight but my waist line continues to go up. Perhaps I do not eat a good enough supper..got to figure out how not to eat at night, I get tired then eat...then ok.