Does meal timing matter?

jamesbetz1
jamesbetz1 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If you eat a lot at night vs. In the morning while keeping the same calorie intake, will it affect your weight loss? What about its impact on daily energy levels, especially during workouts?

Replies

  • abitofbliss
    abitofbliss Posts: 198 Member
    Many will agree that when you eat does not affect your weight loss as much as what deficit you're getting from your daily calorie intake.

    Personally, I eat a huge breakfast after fasted cardio then smaller meals throughout the day. I have been losing weight steadily.

    Good luck on your journey!
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    No it doesn't affect weight loss. As far as impact on performance, that depends on each individual. Experiment and see what works best for you.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    Overall calorie intake is what matters for weight loss, not meal timing.

    You can distribute your calories any way you wish throughout the day. You may need to experiment to find what works best for you.
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Meal timing has pretty much found to be irrelevant. Meal timing consistency might have some validity though.
    Alan Aragon has done a lot on this topic
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    Not unless you have a medical issue or medications that require you to eat at certain times. It's really about experimenting and making note of when you feel your best. 2 meals, 5 meals, skip breakfast, eat a huge breakfast. That's up to you.

    And exercise depends on the person. I feel queasy and not energized when I eat before I exercise. I do like coffee about an hour before though!
  • DamnRod
    DamnRod Posts: 106 Member
    Eat a small healthy snack whenever you feel empty
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    The main concern regarding meal timing should be how does it fit into your lifestyle, energy levels, and performance needs. It does not have any significantly measurable effect on your metabolism.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    jamesbetz1 wrote: »
    If you eat a lot at night vs. In the morning while keeping the same calorie intake, will it affect your weight loss? What about its impact on daily energy levels, especially during workouts?

    Energy levels maybe, weight loss, no.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
    Many people will tell you your body doesn't know what time it is when it's hungry. I don't put much stock in the timing of eating. (There's lots of people who won't eat past a certain time.)

    Not eating past a certain a time does help in that I don't have indigestion or heartburn as much in the middle of the night. But that's about it.

    There have been studies that show that by having a heavy lunch and light dinner, you're more likely to lose weight than if you have a light lunch and heavy dinner on the premise that you have the rest of the day to get some exercise in....merely by going to work or doing whatever regular activities you do is supposed to help burn off the breakfast. With me, it seems to be of negligible help.

    Basically eat whatever you want whenever you want - just be sure to log it.

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