What do you eat at night/ how late?

wandererlust

So I actually have a few questions I would like opinions on...

What are your dinner staples? (How large of a meal do you eat?)
Do you snack after dinner? (What?)
If you have a cutoff time of food before bed, when is it?

I am trying to get away from snacking at night, mostly because I think I do it solely out of habit while winding down. What do you do? If you're a snacker, how do you handle that or get yourself to knock it off! Tips are very much appreciated...

cwolfman13

I don't have dinner staples...I just eat dinner and I like variety and enjoy cooking. I usually eat dinner around 8:30. It's generally the largest meal of the day for me. I go to bed around 10.

cookielover_96

I usually eat at dinner 5pm or 3 hours at least before sleeping. I am a huge snacker, by that I mean, I munch on some treats right after a meal... a snack "buffet", it's like my dessert. I handle that by logging what I ate. It kinda helps to limit.

seltzermint555

I usually have a pretty big dinner, around 600 calories and sometimes a bit more. But I do not snack in the evening. I'm really OCD about my dental hygiene routine and I usually eat around 5-6 pm and then clean my teeth at 6-7 pm so I'm done w/ eating at that point. It is extremely rare for me to eat anything after 7 pm, but with a fairly large meal and just not being a snacker in general, I'm always good 'til breakfast (at 7 am).

Dinner varies a lot but typical in my household is some sort of stir-fry (Thai or Indian spices), or casserole with pasta or rice, a protein source (my husband doesn't eat meat so it's often lentils, tofu, etc), tons of vegetables and a little bit of cheese or other sauce involved. Homemade thin crust pizza with tons of veggies & fresh basil. Fish, sweet potatoes, and salad.

Afterward for 'dessert' we often have a couple of small cookies like Biscoff ginger cookies, and cups of hot tea. My husband snacks on nuts around 8-9 pm but I am never tempted because it's too much of a hassle to redo my 10 minute dental routine. Yeah I'm weird about that...but it works for me!

MonkeyMel21

I usually eat a big dinner (biggest meal of the day) and that's it, no snacks afterwards. I eat around 6 to 7 and go to bed around 9 or 10.

geneticsteacher

Dinner between 5 - 6, the largest meal of the day. I usually eat what ever I have made for the family, but measure my portions. I always save enough calories for a snack between 9 - 10, usually high fiber cereal or crackers.

MikaMojito

Main meal of the day is dinner, so I try to save calories for that. I often go to bed very late and do desk-work till 10 or later, so I do sometimes snack but I try to pre-log that. I often buy small snack-pots of pudding (Alpro Dark Chocolate is yummy) and eat those very slowly.

I don't have staples as such but it's some sort of protein (chicken, fish, eggs, on rarer occasion beef, pork or tofu) plus vegetables. Lots of those. When my boyfriend is staying with me there's also carbs, mostly potatoes or rice.

lemurcat12

My dinner is usually 350-550 calories unless I go out. I tend to eat pretty late, around 9-10, because I get off work late and sometimes exercise after work if I get off earlier. I don't snack at night ever -- eating late means that I never want to. I often add in a little dessert or extra (like a piece of cheese) immediately after dinner, though. That depends on calories I have available and could be 100-250 calories.

What I eat: a source of protein, often fish or some other kind of meat; lots of vegetables, usually multiple kinds; usually but not always some kind of starch (potatoes, pasta, sweet potatoes). If I don't have the starch I will likely have some kind of fruit. These all could be put together in some sort of dish (like pasta with a sauce made of smoked salmon, cauliflower, asparagus and some olives, plus olive oil), or just be separate, like salmon with butternut squash, green beans, and beets.

bioklutz

What are your dinner staples? (How large of a meal do you eat?)
I usually eat between 700-900 calories for dinner. My favorite dinner is a turkey burger with hot sauce, cheese & bun with tater tots tots on the side.

Do you snack after dinner? (What?)
I always have a snack after dinner. What I have depends on how many calories I have left.

If you have a cutoff time of food before bed, when is it?
I don't have a stopping time.

speeno

I like to eat every couple of hours so, breakfast at 7, usually scrambled egg on toast. a snack at 10 usually 150g of cottage cheese, maybe an apple. lunch would be chicken or fish with salad or vegetables plus 150g greek low fat yogurt, 3pm nuts, seeds and raisins, evening meal around 6pm, again either fish, chicken or turkey with salad, veg, rice or couscous. then a snack in the evening before 8pm, this varies according to my macros, but if I feel like some chocolate I will have 25g of dark chocolate, or maybe pb on rice cakes.
View my diary and you will see exactly what I eat. (I am maintaining at the moment.)

wandererlust

@seltzermint555 I may not be quite as OCD as you but I have noticed a lot of times it is easier to not eat something else after I have gone to the trouble of brushing and flossing!

wandererlust

@geneticsteacher do you not see a negative impact eating cereal/crackers late? I feel like it makes a difference when I'm eating something with a lot of carbs very late. (Which is of course what I crave!)

wandererlust

@speeno that sounds similar to the times/types of foods I eat when I am really on track. I'll add you to peek your diary!

(Anyone else who would like to add me as well, please do!)

Test_Ryder

I usually have my last meal anywhere from 8 - 12am depending on how busy I am. That meal can be upwards of 1000 cals simply because I have an appetite during the night hours rather than the day hence why I'm getting the bulk of my calories much later in the day. This is great for fat loss too due to less insulin spikes throughout the day.

Dreysander

My go to for dinner is a bunch of different veg (lately it's been brussels sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, zucchini), roasted or sautéed with some sort of protein - chicken, turkey, egg and a bit of cheese on it. I'm raising my calories so I'm also going to add a bit of pasta to that.

Dessert has been a vanilla Light and Fit Greek yogurt, 100g of blueberries and a Ghirardelli peppermint bark square lately. Going to add a banana to that. I usually eat supper at 7, dessert right after. I'm usually finished by 8ish then I don't eat again until 6:30 the following morning.

SweetestLibby

I don't have dinner staples. I eat a pretty decent mix of a lot of things. I don't get home until between 7:30 and 8:30 so dinner is between 9 and 10 and is between 300-500 calories. I don't have a cut off time for eating and if I have calories left I'll have dessert before going to bed.

geneticsteacher

wandererlust wrote: »

@geneticsteacher do you not see a negative impact eating cereal/crackers late? I feel like it makes a difference when I'm eating something with a lot of carbs very late. (Which is of course what I crave!)

No, as long as I am within my calories for the day I continue to lose weight. I seem to sleep better if I have a snack in the late evening.

CooCooPuff

I usually end the day with something sweet, like ice cream, around 830. I also enjoy a good decaf at 9

ModernRock

At first I was trying to eat 500 breakfast, 500 lunch, 500 dinner and up to 400 calories in snacks throughout the day. I found that I still wanted to eat at night regardless of how much I had eaten for breakfast and lunch. I like to eat later in the day.

As long as you aren't setting yourself up to binge eat after you've hit your calorie goal, or have some digestion issue, then you are good to go. No problem. (We'll, other than my co-workers asking if I'm starving because they rarely see you eat. I'm not.)

Lately my typical day has been:

+300 for breakfast (examples: eggs, cheese, yogurt, oats)

+300 for lunch, (examples: protein bar, banana, salad with nuts and full fat dressing)

+1400 (plus any activity/exercise calories) spread out between when I get home (around 4pm) and midnight. I love to cook and constantly try new things from my library of cookbooks. Perhaps the only standards are a serving of ice cream and an adult beverage of some type!

I've lost 39 pounds since the start of September. I never ate less than 1650 the first month and never less than 1900 since October.

wandererlust

Wow @ModernRock great job! I am eating about 1300 a day and want to make sure that even if I'm within my range that eating late or right before sleeping isn't tripping me up.

zoeysasha37

wandererlust wrote: »

@geneticsteacher do you not see a negative impact eating cereal/crackers late? I feel like it makes a difference when I'm eating something with a lot of carbs very late. (Which is of course what I crave!)

I have lost all my weight and maintained it for 2+ yrs while eating my largest meal directly before bed. I eat about 190g of carbs per day and most of those right before bed.
Carbs don't cause people to gain weight or not lose weight. Weight loss comes down to calories not carbs.
Of course people with certain medical conditions watch carbs closely , but I have no medical conditions so they are not a problem for me.

ekahnicole

What are your dinner staples? (How large of a meal do you eat?)

My dinners are usually between 350-450 calories but of course that varies at times. If I'm cooking at home, usually it's a protein (chicken or fish more often than not) with some kind of greens/vegetables and then either beans or a little rice. I like to throw some cheese into the mix if I have the calories for it as well.

Do you snack after dinner? (What?)

Very very rarely. I might have one small thing around 8pm if I'm still feeling hungry, or I might treat myself to something like a cup of hot chocolate.

If you have a cutoff time of food before bed, when is it?

I've never set a cut off time but it's extremely rare for me to eat anything past 7ish, usually 8pm at the latest.

For more context I generally eat dinner around 6-7pm and I go to sleep between 11pm-1am and over the last 3 years I've lost 160 lbs.

wandererlust

thorsmom01 wrote: »

I have lost all my weight and maintained it for 2+ yrs while eating my largest meal directly before bed. I eat about 190g of carbs per day and most of those right before bed.
Carbs don't cause people to gain weight or not lose weight. Weight loss comes down to calories not carbs.
Of course people with certain medical conditions watch carbs closely , but I have no medical conditions so they are not a problem for me.

Thanks for the input! I know carbs have such a bad rep but I don't buy into the low carb diets and won't be removing them from my diet.

wandererlust

Wow @ekahnicole that is excellent! I really feel like I should not save a bunch of calories just to have a huge thing right before bed but based on a lot of these responses I might be overthinking it.

speeno

geneticsteacher wrote: »

wandererlust wrote: »

@geneticsteacher do you not see a negative impact eating cereal/crackers late? I feel like it makes a difference when I'm eating something with a lot of carbs very late. (Which is of course what I crave!)

No, as long as I am within my calories for the day I continue to lose weight. I seem to sleep better if I have a snack in the late evening.

your body doesn't know what time it is, as long as you are within your allowance you will be fine.

Gisel2015

Dinner (between 6:30 and 7:30PM) is between 400 and 600 calories, depending of what I had for breakfast, lunch and snacks. I prepare a variety of meals all with protein (chicken, fish, pork chops sometimes beef or turkey) and vegetables. Complex carbs such as brown rice, sweet potatoes or quinoa are added if I am hungry and if my calories or carbs allotment allows it. I eat desert after I am done with the kitchen, if I still have calories left; that is my after meal snack. I don't snack late at night, I don't need to. I don't like to eat right before bed; my stomach doesn't like it either. I go to bed around 11:30PM so I have plenty of time to digest my food.

CooCooPuff

CooCooPuff wrote: »

I usually end the day with something sweet, like ice cream, around 830. I also enjoy a good decaf at 9

I didn't read your first question, but my dinner is typically just some vegetables, some beans, and a can of sardines or chicken with fruit. It's quick to prepare, doesn't require much outside of chopping up the veggies, and tasty. It's usually between 400-500 calories.

fishshark

we eat dinner late here.. around 9-11 (i dont work and my husband is an athlete so not a 9-5 schedule) so thats pretty much the last time i eat.

ModernRock

wandererlust wrote: »

Wow @ModernRock great job! I am eating about 1300 a day and want to make sure that even if I'm within my range that eating late or right before sleeping isn't tripping me up.

Thanks. I find eating less for breakfast and quite a bit less for lunch a totally acceptable trade-off to eat what seems like only slightly less after work than what I had previously been eating. Keep in mind that the food I eat hasn't been as much of a problem as the portion sizes. My experience might be different than somebody learning to eat less on top of learning to eat more filling and nutritionally dense foods.

Some people create rules for themselves that aren't necessary, but do work for them. More power to them, but if they present it on these discussion boards without that full disclosure and qualification, then they can expect getting taken to task.

RodaRose

I have a carby snack an hour before bed like two pieces of toast with butter or a 120 calorie yogurt with a little drizzled honey or 8 ounces of unsweetened apple sauce.

88meli88

After I put my kids to sleep, it is finally quiet and time for myself and I LOVE snacking during that time....Now that I am losing weight, it is a greek yogurt, a piece of fruit or if I have already reached my calorie limit, I sip on strong ginger tea from fresh ginger..... This after dinner snacking is what got me into trouble int he first place, raiding the kids nutella, chocolate, or cookies and putting away many 100s of calories after dinner. I thought doing away with it was too hard and I might fail, so I budget for it and I go for these healthy options.