7pm cut off?

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D4nc3rEm
D4nc3rEm Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all!

I've heard many a time that cutting off your eating day at 7 or 8pm really aids with weight loss. Was wondering if anyone does it or has done it in the past and if you found it to be helpful or too restrictive? Is it something I should try? X

(I'm new to this whole mfp thing, but feel free to add me! I'm looking to build up a little community of people to motivate and be motivated by!
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Replies

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited October 2016
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    No way. Not I. Sometimes I just have to have yogurt or an egg or something later at night (within my total calories). So far I'm 50 lbs. down, so this has not been a problem for me.

    I have a feeling this myth came from people who had been having a snack at night which put them beyond their calorie needs (not an uncommon thing) and simply the act of not adding those night calories onto their total calories during the day helped them lose. It only makes sense that unless you start stoking up at dinner time in retaliation, then not *also* eating later means fewer total calories for any given day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Keep in mind that most people out there aren't counting calories...these kind of "rules" are used by many people simply to control calories...but there is no "magic" in the cut off itself...meal timing itself is irrelevant...it's just a way to exercise control over what's coming in.

    Also keep in mind that a lot of people eat heavily in the evenings...snack, meals, deserts, etc...it would make sense in the context of calorie control to "cut off" at a certain point to have greater control of what's going on...unfortunately though these things get misinterpreted and go from a control mechanism to some kind of "magic"
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    It's a non-issue. What if you worked the nightshift or graveyard?
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    It's simply another one of those things that may help people who don't actually watch what (or more specifically, how much) they're eating. As long as you're using MFP to count your Calories - and you're in a Caloric deficit - you're fine. You'll just as much weight eating up until midnight as you will if you stop at 7PM - provided your Caloric intake is the same.
  • DrewInPR
    DrewInPR Posts: 16 Member
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    I agree with most on here; it really does not matter when, but how much, etc. That being said, I do try not to eat after 8 PM. When I eat dinner earlier, I sleep much better, and this seems to help with my weight loss overall.
  • petstorekitty
    petstorekitty Posts: 592 Member
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    OP: it's kind of bs due to the time. 7pm is a given out time because *most* people have this 9-5 schedule. The idea behind "no eating after 7pm" is to give your digestion system time to digest!
    I'm not sure if it truly aids in weight loss, but as a person to tends to eat too often and often too much, I notice that when I give myself 12 hours between my last "evening" meal and my first "morning" meal I do feel better.
    hope that helps! IME, weird diet solutions are just weird stuff people say. Everyone is different :):)
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Ridiculous! And Why 7pm? Do these people not work?! I just wish I had that much free time to be done with my day by 7pm.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    Ridiculous! And Why 7pm? Do these people not work?! I just wish I had that much free time to be done with my day by 7pm.

    That's what I always think. I don't get home before 8, often later.

    If you have dinner complete by 7, however, I suppose I don't think it would be that restrictive, as I don't usually eat after dinner (and maybe dessert), but there's no need for it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    Ridiculous! And Why 7pm? Do these people not work?! I just wish I had that much free time to be done with my day by 7pm.

    That's what I always think. I don't get home before 8, often later.

    If you have dinner complete by 7, however, I suppose I don't think it would be that restrictive, as I don't usually eat after dinner (and maybe dessert), but there's no need for it.

    I ate dinner at 5 last night because we were out and about and our eating schedule had gotten thrown off and everyone was hungry and cranky...I didn't know what the heck to do for the rest of the evening...it was like the most boring Sunday night ever and I just kept watching the clock for when I could just go to bed...
  • KristinHR01
    KristinHR01 Posts: 51 Member
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    If I stopped eating by 7pm I would NEVER eat dinner. Timing doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is burning more calories than you consume, eating at a deficit.

    Though if I stopped eating at 7pm I probably wouldn't wake up 2 times in the middle of the night to pee.... hmmmmm
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
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    I'm trying to have a cut off point in the evening but rather than a fixed time it is a simple 'no more food once I've washed the dishes and shut the kitchen' rule. This is simply to stop me snacking. I find one snack leads to another. I have poor control over snacking moderately, but I'm kinda good with being super strict with myself and not even starting to snack - if that makes sense.
  • teetertatertango
    teetertatertango Posts: 229 Member
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    Let's see...if I cut off at 7PM I would never drink alcohol and no junky party food...yep, that would shave off a few calories here and there. Heck, I might not even eat dinner some nights and that would DEFINITELY reduce my caloric intake!

    The only magic in the 7PM cutoff is that a lot of uncontrolled eating goes on in the later hours...the examples I mentioned above, mindless snacking in front of the TV, etc.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited October 2016
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    D4nc3rEm wrote: »
    Hey all!

    I've heard many a time that cutting off your eating day at 7 or 8pm really aids with weight loss. Was wondering if anyone does it or has done it in the past and if you found it to be helpful or too restrictive? Is it something I should try? X

    (I'm new to this whole mfp thing, but feel free to add me! I'm looking to build up a little community of people to motivate and be motivated by!

    If that was true, my 90-ish pound weight loss must have been a farce.
    If weight gain occurs after 7pm, I feel very sorry for the nightshift workers....

    Yes, you should try calorie counting and using a digital food scale to weigh all food that isn't liquid.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
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    It's definitely BS.
    For the past 6 years, I typically eat the majority of my daily calories after 7pm. Since I've always been a night-time eater this allows me to eat the way I naturally want to and has made staying lean even easier than before.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    Meal timing isn't important. I regularly have a chocolate chip cookie or 2 at 10:30pm and I've lost weight with no problem.
  • Anvil_Head
    Anvil_Head Posts: 251 Member
    edited October 2016
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    For 99% of people, meal timing is completely irrelevant. And if you have to ask if you're in the other 1%, you're not.

    It's personal preference. If you don't like eating late at night or that's when you snack endlessly, don't do it - but if it fits your lifestyle and you're staying within your calorie goal, there's nothing wrong with eating right up until you fall asleep. Eating after you fall asleep presents a choking hazard though.
  • ashjongfit
    ashjongfit Posts: 147 Member
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    If you are prone to night snacking, sometimes a cut off time works for you. Otherwise its not a magical thing that kick starts weight loss. I eat even 30 minutes before I go to bed and I've lost just fine
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
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    I think that rule is about fasting, but I mean, I'd rather eat later and skip breakfast to fast than not snack at night. The idea of fasting is to give your body a break from digesting and just let it do a full reboot, which it does at night naturally while you're sleeping anyway.

    I have a whole drawer full of snacks that I eat at night if it fits my calories and macros :) Dark chocolate, almonds, quest bars, stuff like that.

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