Does eating at night really contribute to fat gain?

kobbymfp

A friend of mine told me eating cocumber is great for losing weight. So I eat that at night. But I also heard eating at night contributes to fat gain. I've also read that it doesn't Matter what you eat and what time you eat as long as you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight. All this information has got me conflicted. Don't know what to believe

MegaMooseEsq

Nah. Eat whenever you want. Just don't eat too much.

msf74

kobbymfp wrote: »

I've also read that it doesn't Matter what you eat and what time you eat as long as you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight.

You should listen to this.

It's not eating at night which is the issue. It's that many people tend to over eat at night which cause them to consume more calories than their body needs to maintain itself on a consistent basis - which leads to weight gain.

livingleanlivingclean

Cucumber does nothing for weight loss. It's a food with calories, and whilst very low calorie, it contributes to your intake.

Eat what you like, when you like, to meet your calorie goal to lose weight.

MegaMooseEsq

So my understanding of the science behind the night weight gain idea (which isn't exact because I'm not a scientist) is that a substantial portion of your daily calories burned go toward just keeping your body running - all those internal processes that are running to keep you alive whether you're awake or asleep. People tend to think they are burning the majority of their calories during the day, but unless you're doing tons of exercise, that isn't really the case. There may be studies showing small differences on the margins here and there in terms of food timing and weight loss (such as eating breakfast vs. skipping it, the benefits of fasting, etc) but on an individual basis, the only thing that really matters is adherence to a diet that puts you in a caloric deficit. If you spend a lot of time chasing after the "best" way to lose weight but don't pay attention to what's personally sustainable, you are much more likely to fail than if you just figure out what works for you and stick to it long-term.

ninerbuff

It does if you've met your calorie goal by say 7pm and KEEP EATING.

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

RedSierra

kobbymfp wrote: »

A friend of mine told me eating cocumber is great for losing weight. So I eat that at night. But I also heard eating at night contributes to fat gain. I've also read that it doesn't Matter what you eat and what time you eat as long as you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight. All this information has got me conflicted. Don't know what to believe

No to the eating at night contributes to fat gain.

If it was true, then all the people who work night shift -- nurses, doctors, police, waiters, pilots, etc, -- would be overweight.

Need2Exerc1se

I lost weight (about 35 lbs) and have kept it off for 1.5 years and during all that time I ate about 80% of my calories after 8 p.m. I don't work the night shift, I just prefer to eat at night. I typically get up around 7 a.m. and go to bed around 11 p.m.

Unknown

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GottaBurnEmAll

I eat most of my daily calories within a hour of going to bed.

Still losing weight.

When you eat doesn't matter.

How many calories you eat over your day does. If you have the calories left at night, eat them.

GottaBurnEmAll

LizethChavez10 wrote: »

And cucumber is very healthy, you loose some calories while eating, not a lot, but some, and cucumber doesn't have almost calories, so you are almost loosing what you're eating

This isn't in any way true.

rainbowbow

eating at night only contributes to weigh gain if you've already eaten all your calories for the day and then eat EXTRA on top of them at night time.

ninerbuff

LizethChavez10 wrote: »

kobbymfp wrote: »

A friend of mine told me eating cocumber is great for losing weight. So I eat that at night. But I also heard eating at night contributes to fat gain. I've also read that it doesn't Matter what you eat and what time you eat as long as you are in a deficit, you won't gain weight. All this information has got me conflicted. Don't know what to believe

The problem here is that people normally don't have breakfast, or they just have a cup of coffee plus a donut or something like that, they don't eat until afternoon, and then, at night they have all the calories they didn't have during the day, so the body has a lot of calories, but people don't notice that.

Uh, I totally eat that way and have for years. My weight has stayed pretty steady for a couple of decades. That's NOT the reason. If people gain weight eating late, it's because they are EATING MORE THAN THEIR TDEE.

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

ninerbuff

LizethChavez10 wrote: »

And cucumber is very healthy, you loose some calories while eating, not a lot, but some, and cucumber doesn't have almost calories, so you are almost loosing what you're eating

Lol, a "negative" calorie believer. You're not speaking amongst rookies in fitness and nutrition here. There are many veterans like myself who are well aware of the woo that people try to pass on that have no real idea of what they are talking about.

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

Christine_72

Eating at night results in weight gain for me, not because of the act of eating at night, but because i usually go over my calories with high cal items, chips, crackers,cereal etc
However if i had plenty of calories left to fit these things in then no, there would be no weight gain from eating at night.

JLG1986

OVEREATING at night leads to fat gain, same as any other time of day. If you can snack in the evening and stay within your calorie goal, go for it.

JaydedMiss

I rarely eat before 3-6pm and once i do i hold out a few hours before eating again purely because i prefer eating at night....still lost 105 pounds in 13 months just fine. Overeating causes gains, Not a damn thing to do with when you eat.

I do beter not eating during the day knowing i have all these delicious calories to eat later on. So much easier on me thn running out and being like....well *kitten* im hungry but cant eat now....As long as i dont start eating my appetite is minimal XD

CharlieBeansmomTracey

nope I have eaten many times at night even after midnight and nope, didnt cause me to gain weight.helps me to sleep better though,but thats me

VeronicaA76

There aren't foods that magically make you lose fat. If there were, no one would be fat - we'd all eat the magic fat loss food and never have to worry about CICO, exercise etc.

There's nothing wrong with eating at night, so long as your daily intake is still at a deficit. I tend to eat a small meal right before bed, it helps me sleep better. Better sleep will help in weight loss as your body simply needs proper sleep in order to function. Note: I said HELP no CAUSE.

The only problem with eating at night is that people tend to 1. Overeat at night 2. Eat very high calorie snacks that put them over thier daily recommendation for calories.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

There aren't foods that magically make you lose fat. If there were, no one would be fat - we'd all eat the magic fat loss food and never have to worry about CICO, exercise etc.

There's nothing wrong with eating at night, so long as your daily intake is still at a deficit. I tend to eat a small meal right before bed, it helps me sleep better. Better sleep will help in weight loss as your body simply needs proper sleep in order to function. Note: I said HELP no CAUSE.

The only problem with eating at night is that people tend to 1. Overeat at night 2. Eat very high calorie snacks that put them over thier daily recommendation for calories.

even if they go over their daily calories,they still may not gain.some people do weekly calories.so you can overeat one day and if the rest of the week you are on point you will still lose weight. some people also will eat more on days they train and eat less on days they dont. its just a matter of preference. but if you are eating over maintenance every day then you will gain weight.

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xvolution

I'd say most of any "weight gain" is from waste that hasn't been fully processed yet, since most people do their weigh-in first thing in the morning. So no, it doesn't contribute to fat gain any more than it would eating before 9pm. Otherwise I'd be gaining a lot of weight, considering I work into the graveyard shift.

VeronicaA76

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

There aren't foods that magically make you lose fat. If there were, no one would be fat - we'd all eat the magic fat loss food and never have to worry about CICO, exercise etc.

There's nothing wrong with eating at night, so long as your daily intake is still at a deficit. I tend to eat a small meal right before bed, it helps me sleep better. Better sleep will help in weight loss as your body simply needs proper sleep in order to function. Note: I said HELP no CAUSE.

The only problem with eating at night is that people tend to 1. Overeat at night 2. Eat very high calorie snacks that put them over thier daily recommendation for calories.

even if they go over their daily calories,they still may not gain.some people do weekly calories.so you can overeat one day and if the rest of the week you are on point you will still lose weight. some people also will eat more on days they train and eat less on days they dont. its just a matter of preference. but if you are eating over maintenance every day then you will gain weight.

Very true. I meal prep, I know how much of everything is in my entire batch of slow cooker fajitas. I divide it up as equally as possible. Some might have more protien, some less. But for the week, it's spot on. It's still a slippery slope to say "I'll eat less tomorrow", it's a lot like "I'll start working out tomorrow".

CharlieBeansmomTracey

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

There aren't foods that magically make you lose fat. If there were, no one would be fat - we'd all eat the magic fat loss food and never have to worry about CICO, exercise etc.

There's nothing wrong with eating at night, so long as your daily intake is still at a deficit. I tend to eat a small meal right before bed, it helps me sleep better. Better sleep will help in weight loss as your body simply needs proper sleep in order to function. Note: I said HELP no CAUSE.

The only problem with eating at night is that people tend to 1. Overeat at night 2. Eat very high calorie snacks that put them over thier daily recommendation for calories.

even if they go over their daily calories,they still may not gain.some people do weekly calories.so you can overeat one day and if the rest of the week you are on point you will still lose weight. some people also will eat more on days they train and eat less on days they dont. its just a matter of preference. but if you are eating over maintenance every day then you will gain weight.

Very true. I meal prep, I know how much of everything is in my entire batch of slow cooker fajitas. I divide it up as equally as possible. Some might have more protien, some less. But for the week, it's spot on. It's still a slippery slope to say "I'll eat less tomorrow", it's a lot like "I'll start working out tomorrow".

for some it may be a slippery slope but for others they have no issues with it. Im not one of those people lol