When do you eat? and does it matter?

myssjaxson

We have all heard the "don't eat after 8pm" thing or the "breakfast is the most important meal" and so on.

My question is, does it matter what time of the day you eat? My problem is eating at night. I will eat even if I'm totally full if its night and I'm bored/getting ready to go to bed. Will it affect my health if I eat a little for breakfast, then eat the rest/majority of my calories at night? I know that when I eat a snack in the morning then I'm good for the day, when I'm busy my hunger doesn't bother me at all.

So, what time of the day do you eat? Do you do even meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner or do you do it differently? And does it matter when you eat as long as you eat?

abatonfan

Meal timing won't create a calorie deficit (and cause weight loss in itself) -a calorie is still a calorie whether you eat it at 8AM or 8PM. Meal timing does help with weight loss/maintenance if you adjust your meals so that you eat more around times when you are hungrier/more likely to eat.

I personally find it easier to stick to my calorie goal while eating smaller and more frequent meals/snacks, but there's many on MFP who find it easier to only eat 1-2 big meals a day or save up most of their calories for grazing during the evening.

cecsav1

I eat all day long. I may be part Hobbit! Lol. If I have the calories, I'll eat right up 'til bedtime.

SoDamnHungry

I also like to eat at night and am not really hungry in the morning. Some days I don't eat until around noon. It's never stopped me from losing weight.

muscleandbeard

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

livingleanlivingclean

muscleandbeard wrote: »

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

Baloney.

OP, it's personal choice! I eat anything from 1-4 meals usually. I get less hungry with bigger meals less frequently, I feel constantly unsatisfied and hungry with many small meals. I like eating at night and eat half of my calories after 8pm. Today my first meal was 12:30pm...thats not unusual for me

Carlos_421

muscleandbeard wrote: »

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

Bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus bogus.




Double bogus.

robertw486

I eat the majority of my calories, usually up in the 75-80% range, after dinner time. I've done it for years and it has had no negative impact on my weight or energy levels. I'm often still eating after midnight if I'm up, including tonight.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

glassyo

muscleandbeard wrote: »

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

Excess calories get stored as fat. Not the time or type you eat them.

OP, I eat lightly during the day. Maybe 300 or 400 calories worth of food (protein and carby stuff mostly) and the rest at night starting a couple hours before and right up until bedtime. And my calorie goal is usually under 2300 calories a day.

Eat what you want, when you want, as long as you eat less than what you're burning and you'll be fine.

ninerbuff

muscleandbeard wrote: »

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

Yeah no. Undying myth created by the fitness industry. One gets fat over consuming calories REGARDLESS of time. It's impossible (barring any health issue) for one to get over weight when one is in a calorie deficit at any time of the day.

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

AnvilHead

muscleandbeard wrote: »

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

1) When in a caloric deficit, there is no net storage of fat. Regardless of when you eat it, what the macro composition is, how fast or slow you eat it, or whether you eat it standing on your head or lying on your back. The only dangerous thing about eating late at night is if you fall asleep while you're still eating, which presents a choking hazard.

1a) When you sleep is when your body burns the highest percentage of fat. Your metabolism works 24 hours a day. It still has organs to provide nutrients for, damage to repair, etc. Just because you're asleep doesn't mean your metabolism goes night-night too.


2) Protein elicits a blood glucose response nearly identical to that of carbohydrates. I'd gladly link to a research review proving this, but nobody clicks links to learn anything about anything anyway so I won't bother.

elite_nal

muscleandbeard wrote: »

Try not to eat at night. When you're sleeping your body releases hormones that help you heal and rest. Having food in your stomach while sleeping adds unnecessary strain on your digestive system. Also, while you sleep, your body burns the least amount of calories and therefore is most likely to store additional calories as fat. Although calories in vs calories out should be your main focus, things such as macronutrients and timing are also important. Foods you eat before and after your workout are least likely to be stored as fat because they fuel your body and help you recover. If you absolutely have to eat at night, aim for protein. Protein doesn't spike your insulin nearly as much. Basically, simple carbs and sugar at night = fat gain.

Totally disagree and very misleading.

Fat loss/fat gain is determined by your overall net energy balance. As long as your total calorie intake remains constant, it makes no difference whether you burn/store more fat earlier in the day or burn/store more fat later in the day. The net result will be the same regardless of nutrient timing. It is a basic matter of energy consumed versus energy burned.

As long as you’re tracking your total protein/carb/fat intake accurately each day, you can eat whenever you feel like it without worry.

Every day, your body expends a certain number of calories (calories are just a measurement of energy) to fuel natural bodily processes (such as breathing, digestion and circulation) plus all of your additional activities. In order to lose body fat, you have to create a “calorie deficit” by taking in fewer calories than you burn. This stimulates the body to tap into its excess fat stores to obtain a source of fuel.

As long as that calorie deficit is consistently in place, the specific timing of your carbohydrate consumption will NOT make any difference in the overall picture.

Fat loss and fat gain is not an “on/off” switch. Both processes are happening simultaneously.

As I've said from a similar thread...Even if eating before bed does cause you to store a higher percentage of calories as fat at that time due to inactivity, it will still end up being burned the following day when your activity level rises. Again, it all just comes down to your total net calorie intake versus your total net calorie burn over the big picture.

EvgeniZyntx

While meaning timing does have some minor influence on substrate utilization it generally doesn't matter.
Focus on minor and generally doesn't matter.

If late night snacks make you blow your calories, then yes avoid eating after a certain time.

But track, stay consistent and timing doesn't matter.