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Going to bed hungry

AmyOwl73
AmyOwl73 Posts: 45 Member
edited November 13 in Debate Club
I know this is a hotly-debated topic, but I thought I would share a little observation that I made...
Earlier, I Googled "how to go to bed hungry", since I am a big time late-night eater... The results were literally 50/50... Every other result said "do it and you'll burn fat". The other half said , "don't do it because you'll sabotage your efforts".. it's no wonder people are so confused. At least I'm confused.. and frustrated.

FWIW, I am going to TRY to go to bed hungry tonight to see what effect it has on me. I guess that's the only reliable answer I'm going to get.
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Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I don't know. I go to bed with a full tummy. I really like it. It's comfortable for me to eat up until bed time. Meal timing doesn't really matter for weight loss given you are in a calorie deficit.
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  • NicoleMarie35
    NicoleMarie35 Posts: 2 Member
    I just go to bed too if I get hungry. I eat dinner at a really normal time, but like someone else replied, if I stay up too long after that I'll get hungry again, so I'll just go to sleep if I start to feel like I need food. Being a little hungry before you go to sleep doesn't hurt anyone.
  • freakymistkd
    freakymistkd Posts: 586 Member
    I guess it probably depends if you're going to bed really hungry or if it's more of a hmm I could eat something.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    AmyOwl73 wrote: »
    I know this is a hotly-debated topic, but I thought I would share a little observation that I made...
    Earlier, I Googled "how to go to bed hungry", since I am a big time late-night eater... The results were literally 50/50... Every other result said "do it and you'll burn fat". The other half said , "don't do it because you'll sabotage your efforts".. it's no wonder people are so confused. At least I'm confused.. and frustrated.

    FWIW, I am going to TRY to go to bed hungry tonight to see what effect it has on me. I guess that's the only reliable answer I'm going to get.

    I dont understand what you are trying to say. Going to bed full or hung has zero bearing on whether you are going to burn fat or not. If you are in a calorie deficit for the day then you will burn fat, if you are not then you won't; I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp…

  • trinty425
    trinty425 Posts: 108 Member
    I think it really depends on HOW hungry you are. If you are sooo hungry your tummy is growling at you it will definitely have a negative effect on your sleep and your mood the next day. But, if your just "I could eat, but I could wait" kinda hungry then that is fine. I often will have a cup or 2 of decaf hot tea in the evening after dinner to help curb late night snacking. I know when I do avoid eating shortly before bed / after dinner I generally sleep better and feel good the next day.
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I eat dinner late, like 9 or 10. So no, I don't go to bed hungry. I'm not really hungry anyway, though--I'd think I was eating wrong if I was hungry much, for me it's just a signal that it's my habitual mealtime or more likely that it's past it.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    If you have calories left I don't see the point of going to bed hungry.
    If you don't have calories left you might drink a glass of water and wait 20 minutes or so.
    If you are always hungry at night maybe rethink your calorie goal, plan a snack, eat more protein foods.
    I can see people who are being very restrictive believing they can't eat at night and the next day eating even more.
  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
    Why not just save enough calories to have a bed time snack? Personally, I can't sleep if I'm hungry. There's also no reason why you should have to go 12 hours without eating. Don't eat after 7 pm? What if you're not having breakfast until 7 am? That's basically fasting for half the day every day. I don't see why that's necessary or desirable, and I don't even consider it a healthy thing to do.
  • Jack_NYC
    Jack_NYC Posts: 64 Member
    lisawinning4losing wrote: »
    Why not just save enough calories to have a bed time snack?

    I agree. Nothing wrong with a little fruit or a glass of milk before bedtime. No need to suffer.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    I believe it has been shown time and again that timing is irrelevant to weight loss and really whether you go to bed hungry is personal preference. I don't like to go to bed hungry, I have a tea and a snack in the hour before bed. Otherwise I wake up hungry. However, if I eat big right before bed, I get whacky dreams.
  • Ericaj573
    Ericaj573 Posts: 20 Member
    edited March 2016
    Kriss_tastic wrote: »
    =/ i've never understood why people are going to bed hungry. Plan your day better, honestly, if youre hungry then you need to figure out why. Save some calories for at night, have a snack, If i had to lose my last 93 pounds forever starving at bedtime i would of lost my mind.

    Couldn't have put it better myself!
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!

    you just created a calorie deficit….going to bed full or not has 100% nothing to do with it.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!

    you just created a calorie deficit….going to bed full or not has 100% nothing to do with it.

    Same amount of calories as when I ate it later in the evening.

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!

    you just created a calorie deficit….going to bed full or not has 100% nothing to do with it.

    Same amount of calories as when I ate it later in the evening.

    so you just magically started burning more calories because you were not as full before bed? Sorry not buying it…

    were you using a food scale during this time?
    logging every bit of food?
    etc, etc...
  • Numerio
    Numerio Posts: 29 Member
    The trick is to eat before bed! But just eat the right foods before bed; slow-digesting protein, like cottage cheese or a piece of skinless chicken, coupled with low-carb fruit or vegetables
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!

    you just created a calorie deficit….going to bed full or not has 100% nothing to do with it.

    Same amount of calories as when I ate it later in the evening.

    so you just magically started burning more calories because you were not as full before bed? Sorry not buying it…



    were you using a food scale during this time?
    logging every bit of food?
    etc, etc...

    1. Could be magic? Who knows. I like eating all of my food during the day. so all my allotted calories were burned up...er...eaten... usually by 3pm.

    2. Yep.

    3. Yep.

    It could be hard for you to understand...not knowing any of my health history. So I'll give you that.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Numerio wrote: »
    The trick is to eat before bed! But just eat the right foods before bed; slow-digesting protein, like cottage cheese or a piece of skinless chicken, coupled with low-carb fruit or vegetables

    Others told me I would sleep better if I had some carbs before bed. What's the reason behind your recommendation?
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    I cant sleep if I go to bed hungry, I always eat at least 200 calories less than an hour before going to bed
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,401 Member
    Going on 1am, and I'll eat a little more before going to sleep. Spread your calories out through the day as it suits you. For me, that doesn't include being hungry when I go to sleep.
  • Numerio
    Numerio Posts: 29 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Numerio wrote: »
    The trick is to eat before bed! But just eat the right foods before bed; slow-digesting protein, like cottage cheese or a piece of skinless chicken, coupled with low-carb fruit or vegetables

    Others told me I would sleep better if I had some carbs before bed. What's the reason behind your recommendation?

    Slow-digesting protein repairs muscles while you sleep, and low-carb vegetables help you sleep.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Numerio wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Numerio wrote: »
    The trick is to eat before bed! But just eat the right foods before bed; slow-digesting protein, like cottage cheese or a piece of skinless chicken, coupled with low-carb fruit or vegetables

    Others told me I would sleep better if I had some carbs before bed. What's the reason behind your recommendation?

    Slow-digesting protein repairs muscles while you sleep, and low-carb vegetables help you sleep.

    The others said carbs would help me sleep.

    Weird to call vegetables low carb, as they are mostly carb -- they are just low calorie. But the one thing I usually have before bed is protein and vegetables (that's always part of my dinner, which is late) so whatever. (Cottage cheese doesn't seem all that slow digesting, and I don't eat boneless skinless chicken breast much, because there are much tastier protein options.)

    Your claims are inconsistent with the other stuff I've read about nutrient timing (protein plus carbs after a workout or within a few hours of one), but since I don't think I'm at a level where I really need to worry about nutrient timing I'm not going to fret much.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    allaboutthecake wrote: »
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!

    you just created a calorie deficit….going to bed full or not has 100% nothing to do with it.

    Same amount of calories as when I ate it later in the evening.

    so you just magically started burning more calories because you were not as full before bed? Sorry not buying it…



    were you using a food scale during this time?
    logging every bit of food?
    etc, etc...

    1. Could be magic? Who knows. I like eating all of my food during the day. so all my allotted calories were burned up...er...eaten... usually by 3pm.

    2. Yep.

    3. Yep.

    It could be hard for you to understand...not knowing any of my health history. So I'll give you that.

    Does your health history allow you to defy physics?

    ? ? I don't understand your question.

This discussion has been closed.

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