Is when you eat important?

Hello_its_Dan

Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3756673/

annacole94

Food diary done by recall.
20 week study period.

Personally, I like breakfast and eat it all the time. I did that while gaining weight, too, though.

STC02

Not for me.
I usually have breakfast around 8.30am and on Tues and Wed have dinner after 10pm. I haven't noticed a difference and have been pretty consistent with my weight loss so far.

Michaelxo444

Not for me I can eat when ever with in my calories and drop weight

LisaMoxon155

Cos of the job i work i fit my meals in as followrd
Breakfast 815ish
Lunch 11am
Snack(maybe)3pm
Dinner 530 -6pm.
Snack if want one.

I try to do this even on my day off
Ive lost 15lb in 60days.

Doing the above makes sure im not hungry and temped by snacking

crzycatlady1

Over the past 5ish years I've done all sorts of meal timing/frequency schedules. I've consistently hit my weight management goals though, because I've continued to nail my calorie intake targets.

ladyreva78

The only timing I respect is no more food 2 hours before bed (acid reflux is a *kitten*).

Other than that... when I eat depends on my work schedule and it hasn't been a detriment to my weight loss.

csy108

They had the subjects self-report calorie intake and create their calorie estimates by recall? Hahaha!

Anyway, meal timing hasn't made any difference in my weight loss over the past 11 weeks. I actually started losing weight more linearly and feeling better since I pushed more and more calories toward the end of the day.

bwhitty67

Being since we are all so different, there is no good answer.

I currently am eating when hungry. So lunch is my first meal of the day, usually have an apple/babybel as a snack then dinner. All within my plan.

Hello_its_Dan

csy108 wrote: »

They had the subjects self-report calorie intake and create their calorie estimates by recall? Hahaha!

Anyway, meal timing hasn't made any difference in my weight loss over the past 11 weeks. I actually started losing weight more linearly and feeling better since I pushed more and more calories toward the end of the day.

But.....420 subjects you can't dismiss the data. Still something to test against in more studies. Maybe in a more controlled environment.

Unknown

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cross2bear

Timing is irrelevant - in Europe, people regularly eat their final meal after 9pm, and not every European is overweight. If timing were really important, every shift worker would be overweight. Its not what you eat or when you eat it, its HOW MUCH you eat.

Hello_its_Dan

cross2bear wrote: »

Timing is irrelevant - in Europe, people regularly eat their final meal after 9pm, and not every European is overweight. If timing were really important, every shift worker would be overweight. Its not what you eat or when you eat it, its HOW MUCH you eat.

Have you seen the majority of studies on shift workers? Most are pretty grim.

perkymommy

When I used to work 3rd shift I had a tendency to gain. I ate during the night and also didn't get enough sleep which made me hungry more often so I often overate.

lemurcat12

I bet messed up sleep cycles/resulting inadequate sleep and greater hunger is a huge part of the reason for shift workers.

cross2bear

Hello_its_Dan wrote: »

cross2bear wrote: »

Timing is irrelevant - in Europe, people regularly eat their final meal after 9pm, and not every European is overweight. If timing were really important, every shift worker would be overweight. Its not what you eat or when you eat it, its HOW MUCH you eat.

Have you seen the majority of studies on shift workers? Most are pretty grim.

I have spent the past almost 40 years working with shift workers in a variety of occupations. Timing is irrelevant.

GottaBurnEmAll

Hello_its_Dan wrote: »

csy108 wrote: »

They had the subjects self-report calorie intake and create their calorie estimates by recall? Hahaha!

Anyway, meal timing hasn't made any difference in my weight loss over the past 11 weeks. I actually started losing weight more linearly and feeling better since I pushed more and more calories toward the end of the day.

But.....420 subjects you can't dismiss the data. Still something to test against in more studies. Maybe in a more controlled environment.

Well, of course this is of interest to you, because you're all about habit and look for solutions that don't necessarily involve overt calorie counting.

If someone is controlling calories, meal timing is irrelevant.

I'm with lemurcat12 on this:

lemurcat12 wrote: »

I bet messed up sleep cycles/resulting inadequate sleep and greater hunger is a huge part of the reason for shift workers.

I know I'm hungrier on days after I've have a bad night's sleep.

I'll stick with my not eating until rather late in the day, clustering meals together, and controlling calories. It works for me and for controlling my appetite. I am simply not hungry early in the day.

dubird

Time of day you eat doesn't normally matter. Some health issues mean it's not a good idea to eat right before bed or you have to eat to take meds, and a lot of T2 diabetics eat at specific times to help regulate blood sugar. But it doesn't have an impact on weight loss.

Hello_its_Dan

lemurcat12 wrote: »

I bet messed up sleep cycles/resulting inadequate sleep and greater hunger is a huge part of the reason for shift workers.

I completely agree!