Myth or True: Eating after 6pm

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  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,208 Member
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    KingFish1997 wrote: »
    Is eating post 6pm harmful to dieting or does it make a difference? I've heard that it's not good cause it all turns into sugar. Educate me.

    So what happens when Daylight Savings Time starts or ends ... all of a sudden your time limit drops back to 5 pm or moves up to 7pm? Or does the body know to make the time adjustment and the cut-off time remains at 6 pm?

    Or what if you travel? 6 pm your time might be 1 pm somewhere else in the world ... do you have to stop eating at 1 pm then?

    There's nothing magic about a time on the clock. It's all about how many calories you've eaten that day ... or really even that week or that month. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you'll lose weight.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Depends on your point of view.

    The idea that eating calories after a certain time of day is somehow worse than eating the same calories earlier is a complete and total myth.

    It's true from a different point of view - for those who don't directly regulate calorie intake (i.e. those who don't count calories), cutting out late-night snacking can help them lose weight. It does so because (and only because) it is a quick change that can help them eat fewer total calories over the course of the day.

    There are a ton of different things out there you'll hear that have an effect only because they indirectly reduce total calorie consumption in those who aren't counting calories. You don't really have to care about them if you're directly recording and planning your calorie input.
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 667 Member
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    I eat most of my calories after 6. Most of the time, I'm having calories right up until bedtime at 1 or 2 a.m--I usually have milk, protein powder, & some Hershey's syrup right before I go to bed. I lose weight consistently with no problems as long as I stay in my deficit.
  • Countryboy_83
    Countryboy_83 Posts: 946 Member
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    That's horse poo
  • quiltlovinlisa
    quiltlovinlisa Posts: 1,710 Member
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    I have trouble with late night eating, however, if I leave enough calories for a snack between seven and eight pm, then it's much easier to not overeat before bed (usually I'm in bed at ten).

    Figure out what works for you.
  • RWClary
    RWClary Posts: 192 Member
    edited April 2016
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    KingFish1997 wrote: »
    Is eating post 6pm harmful to dieting or does it make a difference? I've heard that it's not good cause it all turns into sugar. Educate me.
    In general this is a myth, but....
    Anybody else have night cravings?
    It stinks to do well all day only to blow out the diet at 10pm.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
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    I try not to eat after a certain time unless I'm extremely hungry or to the point I won't be able to sleep without a snack. I've always heard you should feel slightly hungry when laying down to sleep but not so hungry you gotta have food. And if you have the calories left for the day then why not.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Myth.

    You know, in many countries (that don't have the obesity epidemic that we have in the US) people don't sit down to dinner til 8 or 9pm.
  • lindaloo1213
    lindaloo1213 Posts: 283 Member
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    Myth. I eat pretty mich anytime of time. (I work nights). I eat whenever I am hungry.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,208 Member
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    RWClary wrote: »
    KingFish1997 wrote: »
    Is eating post 6pm harmful to dieting or does it make a difference? I've heard that it's not good cause it all turns into sugar. Educate me.
    In general this is a myth, but....
    Anybody else have night cravings?
    It stinks to do well all day only to blow out the diet at 10pm.

    I plan for this.

    Dinner at about 8 pm.

    First snack at about 10 pm.

    Second snack at about midnight.

    And if I'm still up at 1 or 1:30 am, and if I have enough calories, I might even have a third snack. Like I did last night, for example. :)

  • KingFish1997
    KingFish1997 Posts: 14 Member
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    Machka9 wrote: »
    RWClary wrote: »
    KingFish1997 wrote: »
    Is eating post 6pm harmful to dieting or does it make a difference? I've heard that it's not good cause it all turns into sugar. Educate me.
    In general this is a myth, but....
    Anybody else have night cravings?
    It stinks to do well all day only to blow out the diet at 10pm.

    I plan for this.

    Dinner at about 8 pm.

    First snack at about 10 pm.

    Second snack at about midnight.

    And if I'm still up at 1 or 1:30 am, and if I have enough calories, I might even have a third snack. Like I did last night, for example. :)

    Thank you
  • gcaracciolo2
    gcaracciolo2 Posts: 130 Member
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    The bulk of my calories are consumed after 7pm :)
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    I'm usually up at around 8 or 9 am, I have my first meal sometime between 12:30 and 2 pm, dinner at or after 7, a snack, then another snack or small meal after midnight. The 80 lbs I just dropped can't be wrong. The key is to find out what meal sizes and times suit you, your appetite, and your lifestyle, and plan out your calories accordingly.
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
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    Myth. Though granted I can't eat after 8pm as it screws with my sleep patterns but that's a weird thing my body does. If you can eat after then, rock on!
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Must be a myth since I'm losing weight, I'm eating dinner at midnight today- maybe a late night snack at 1am then bedtime.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,091 Member
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    It is extremely rare for me to eat dinner before 6 pm and next to never that I don't eat anything after 6 pm.

    Lost weight as planned and then maintained for 2 years doing above.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
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    If this were true, the entire country of Spain, where people regularly eat at midnight, would be morbidly obese.

    In South America, where dinner at nine or ten is completely normal? Also not a continent of fatties.

    I always have dinner after nine because I am generally still at the gym until at least that time. I have lost over 90 pounds and have maintained that loss.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    Myth. The reason why it exists is because people MEET their calorie requirement at dinner and then continue to eat after dinner. That then becomes a calorie surplus.
    Timing of meals DOESN'T matter. Just total calorie count at the end 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
    9285851.png
  • KingFish1997
    KingFish1997 Posts: 14 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Myth. The reason why it exists is because people MEET their calorie requirement at dinner and then continue to eat after dinner. That then becomes a calorie surplus.
    Timing of meals DOESN'T matter. Just total calorie count at the end 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
    9285851.png

    Well put. Thank you
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    How does a steak turn into sugar?

    What is going on in the world?....

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