Umm... Exercise Calories and Bed Time

blueeyeddragon2115

So I have been trying to eat at least half of my exercise calories. I try not to eat all of them but sometimes I do but then again there are days where I’m not hungry. I know I should eat at least my daily allotted calories and so I do. But some nights I have had a hard time eating all my calories and then I have all those extra calories from exercising. Now I’m sure almost everyone has heard that you are supposed to stop eating three hours before you go to bed. I feel bad about not eating back some of those calories but I don’t want to eat before I go to bed. So I was wondering if it was better to go hungry or eat those calories?

knittygirl52

There's no law that says you HAVE to eat them. I do, but I know about what I'm going to do for exercise and work it throughout the day. If it's too near the end of the day, I usually say, "Oh well, maybe I'll lose faster."

JPotvin

3 hours....hmm...I have a nightly small bowl of ice cream to eat some of my exercise calories. I use one of my toddler's bowls...perfect amount without the guilt!

horizonflight

I'm running into a similar problem and since I just started this I don't really know the exact number of calories I burn a day by exercising which poses a problem. I don't fill out the tracker until it's night time when it's already too late to eat the exercise calories. Although I have noticed a lot that usually your body burns a lot of calories during the sleep/rest cycle. I've weighed myself at night and weighed 151lbs and woken up the next morning and weighed 147... weird.

jrich1

So I have been trying to eat at least half of my exercise calories. I try not to eat all of them but sometimes I do but then again there are days where I’m not hungry. I know I should eat at least my daily allotted calories and so I do. But some nights I have had a hard time eating all my calories and then I have all those extra calories from exercising. Now I’m sure almost everyone has heard that you are supposed to stop eating three hours before you go to bed. I feel bad about not eating back some of those calories but I don’t want to eat before I go to bed. So I was wondering if it was better to go hungry or eat those calories?

It doesnt matter when you eat, it doenst make sense your body doesnt use a calorie any different at 7pm than at 10pm, I have always eaten right up til bed.

ladybug91254

There was actually an article this morning (Yahoo news I think) that said exactly that thing. That it is a myth that we shouldn't eat past 6 pm, 8 pm or whatever. The body burns calories all the time.

horizonflight

Well my tracker told me I had 408 calories to eat to make up for those that I lost through exercise. But I'm not hungry.

lilchino4af

Well my tracker told me I had 408 calories to eat to make up for those that I lost through exercise. But I'm not hungry.

If you're not hungry, then don't eat. Listen to your body. When it gets hungry in a few days and you're going to go over, remember those 408 cals from today you didn't eat. It all evens out in the long run.

tmcowan

Due to a hetic schedule I usually exercise at night and it's not uncommon for me to eat dinner afterwards which is sometimes at 8:30. I have read conflicting things about not eating 3 hours before bed. I know that if I eat dinner earlier (5:30-6:00) and then go out and burn 600 calories and don't eat, I can't fall asleep and get up to grab something at 1am. I don't think that refraining from all food 3 hours before bed is necessary you just may not want to have a 5 course meal and then go to bed.

Tarreemha77

I eventually went out and got a heart monitor watch to see how and what my body was using calories especially during my workouts. You do realize that you don't always expel the same amount of calories during a workout right? Target sells watches for 40$

somethingvague

Everyone is different. I have started to swim from 8pm-9pm each night, and I HAVE to have a snack afterwards or else I'm too hungry to sleep. But would I have a full meal this close to bed?- No. It's all about moderation and listening to your body. If you're hungry - eat. It doesn't matter what time it is.

And yeah, I usually eat half or all of my exercise calories...and have found this has helped me lose weight more quickly. But if you're genuinely not hungry for the extra calories, then don't force yourself to eat.

Annista

When I was competing my trainer had me eating 4 oz of grilled/broiled fish or 4 egg whites right before bed time. Your body will work to burn the calories during the night as long as you eat protein, no carbs. It works and keeps your metabolism on fire!!!

horizonflight

I just ate a banana and an apple so maybe that will help. It is an ugly routine to go through during the day. I'm doing the math here and trying to figure out the point of cutting calories only to make them up by eating the calories you burned during exercise. Example:

Eat 2000 calories in one day and then burn 500 or so in a good workout versus eating 1500 calories then working out to find that you should be re-charging your body with the 500 calories you just burned to put you at a net of 1000 calories. You may as well just stay at a 2000 calorie diet (since 2000 calories is probably as much as an average person takes in a day) and just burn the 500 during your exercise since you have the same end result of 1500 calories in a day to keep your body working.

TateFTW

When I was competing my trainer had me eating 4 oz of grilled/broiled fish or 4 egg whites right before bed time. Your body will work to burn the calories during the night as long as you eat protein, no carbs. It works and keeps your metabolism on fire!!!

That's what I was going to say. Protein all the way. I have a protein shake with casein protein almost every night. Most protein powders are whey, which is fast digesting. Casein protein digests slowly so you get a constant stream of protein throughout the night to help your body build itself up after working out during the day. It's not that important to use this stuff if your not working out really hard, but protein is still the way to go. Definitely avoid any and all carbs for the last 3 hours before bed. Leave the carbs for the morning to get energy for the day.

TateFTW

Everyone is different. I have started to swim from 8pm-9pm each night, and I HAVE to have a snack afterwards or else I'm too hungry to sleep. But would I have a full meal this close to bed?- No. It's all about moderation and listening to your body. If you're hungry - eat. It doesn't matter what time it is.

And yeah, I usually eat half or all of my exercise calories...and have found this has helped me lose weight more quickly. But if you're genuinely not hungry for the extra calories, then don't force yourself to eat.

This is a prime example of when protein comes to the rescue. I agree that if you're hungry, you should eat, but choose what TYPE of food you eat depending on the time of day and what you still have left to do.

horizonflight

Everyone is different. I have started to swim from 8pm-9pm each night, and I HAVE to have a snack afterwards or else I'm too hungry to sleep. But would I have a full meal this close to bed?- No. It's all about moderation and listening to your body. If you're hungry - eat. It doesn't matter what time it is.

And yeah, I usually eat half or all of my exercise calories...and have found this has helped me lose weight more quickly. But if you're genuinely not hungry for the extra calories, then don't force yourself to eat.

This is a prime example of when protein comes to the rescue. I agree that if you're hungry, you should eat, but choose what TYPE of food you eat depending on the time of day and what you still have left to do.

Since I just ate a banana I was completely wrong in doing so since it contains carbs... but the apple was alright... am I getting it right? For values on different fruits/veggies/meats go to: http://www.ourcivilisation.com/fat/appb.htm so you can see the intake of protein versus carbohydrates... I'm new to this dieting thing and never really had to pay attention to the scale until after I had kids and my world was over...

LuckyLeprechaun

I've weighed myself at night and weighed 151lbs and woken up the next morning and weighed 147... weird.

you exhale, all night long, breaths full of water vapor. You also likely get up and empty your bladder, which can be a significant amount as well.

it's not unheard of at all for your scale weight to fluctuate this way...

Cytherea

So I was wondering if it was better to go hungry or eat those calories?

*Don't* go to bed hungry. It makes it harder for you to sleep and you wake up ravenous! If it is getting late and I know I'm going to bed fairly soon, I eat something small and light. Nothing too heavy. Sometimes I'll have a few bites of my husband's cereal. Piece of fruit or some veggies. Nothing crazy, certainly not a whole meal, but just to put something in my stomach.

Lots of people say that the "not eating before bed thing" is a myth and it doesn't matter. I asked a similar question a while back and that was very much the response that I got. Not sure what I think about it (haven't done the research or anything) but I do think that not eating can cause more problems if you are hungry!

alantin

I have never understood why you shouldn't eat in the evenings.
I'm often home around 21:30-22:00 from my MA training and hungry like you only can be after intensive training session.
Not eating would be insanity!

MzBug

A yogurt works well for me, even if it is just an hour before bed. Just enough to give the stomach something to work on that has a bit of protein in it and satisfy the urge for a treat.