Does the time you eat affect weightloss?
Replies
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I personally am for new research all the time. But I also adhere to what current research has shown. If we're applying it to the OP's question at hand, current research has shown that meal timing is irrelevant when it comes to weight loss.I'm simply trying to point out that for some people it's more complicated than just telling them to eat at a calorie deficit. That's all that gets spewed around here and if it was that easy everyone on MFP should have a six pack but that doesn't seem to be the case. New research emerges all the time and I think it's a good idea to know a little more than just eat at a deficit and you'll be golden.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
No only this nutrition timing affects is pre workouts and post workouts.0
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I say if you are happy and losing weight doing what you're doing, then keep doing what you're doing. If you're not losing weight, then it's time to re-evaluate.
I think most people who see weight gain when they eat at night are just eating too much. Snacking after dinner was always my downfall. Now I choose my snacks wisely and log them.0 -
While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.0 -
Because your body magically turns those calories into fat exactly at 10pm? Even in a deficit? Please, tell me more, I'm intrigued.Well, in my case when I eat past 10:00PM, no matter if its within my calories range I DO gain weight. For me to lose weight my last meal must be at 7:00PM
You are sleeping before the body digested the foods. This whole eat before a certain time for dinner only work when you go to bed at a certain early time.0 -
While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.0 -
While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?0 -
The body digests 24/7 whether, sleeping or not. The MAIN reason why the whole "don't eat after 7pm" started was because people met their calorie goals by dinner, then kept snacking afterward and surplused causing weight gain.
Because your body magically turns those calories into fat exactly at 10pm? Even in a deficit? Please, tell me more, I'm intrigued.Well, in my case when I eat past 10:00PM, no matter if its within my calories range I DO gain weight. For me to lose weight my last meal must be at 7:00PM
You are sleeping before the body digested the foods. This whole eat before a certain time for dinner only work when you go to bed at a certain early time.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?
You do not wake up hungry. I wake up starving and if I do not eat within a half hour my body does something where my stomach feels awful to the point where I have to drink water slowly. There is debate going on now that is trying to figure out if eating smaller frequent meal is better than three standards meal. My nutrition class says it makes no difference but it does for me. I have no fact about it but I think skipping breakfast decline metabolism a lot and when you eat lunch it will digest very slowly because there is a such thing as starvation mode. There are articles on that. I know in me that my body definitely has a starvation mode point.0 -
I think most people who see weight gain when they eat at night are just eating too much. Snacking after dinner was always my downfall. Now I choose my snacks wisely and log them.
+1
It could also be water or sodium as well. Two days ago I was well within my calories limit and had a grilled chicken breast with cajun seasoning for dinner later than normal. Yesterday, I weighed myself because I knew the sodium was high. The scale went up 1.2 lbs. I drank 64oz. of water and this morning that weight was gone. I never panicked because I knew it wasn't fat weight.0 -
No.
OMG......your profile pic!!! EEEWWWWW0 -
The body digests 24/7 whether, sleeping or not. The MAIN reason why the whole "don't eat after 7pm" started was because people met their calorie goals by dinner, then kept snacking afterward and surplused causing weight gain.
Because your body magically turns those calories into fat exactly at 10pm? Even in a deficit? Please, tell me more, I'm intrigued.Well, in my case when I eat past 10:00PM, no matter if its within my calories range I DO gain weight. For me to lose weight my last meal must be at 7:00PM
You are sleeping before the body digested the foods. This whole eat before a certain time for dinner only work when you go to bed at a certain early time.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
True but the old tale about eating too close to bedtime to gain weight makes sense. Would you rather have your body recover and repair the days work or working to digest food then recover and repair.0 -
Thanks for the advice, whoever gave me some. I've read every comment.
Some of these people arguing have me rolling.0 -
No.
OMG......your profile pic!!! EEEWWWWW
Genius really0 -
No.
OMG......your profile pic!!! EEEWWWWW
Genius really
I also enjoyed it.0 -
Because your body magically turns those calories into fat exactly at 10pm? Even in a deficit? Please, tell me more, I'm intrigued.
Lmao. :laugh:0 -
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It doesnt matter when you fuel your body only that you do, appropriately.
BUT if you are someone who doesnt go to bed before midnight, you might want to frame your day around your sleep schedule. A day begins when you wake up and ends when you go to bed. Eating at 2am comes off the day before and isnt borrowing calories from the day to come. Just advice, take it or leave it.0 -
It sounds right, but clinical research doesn't support it.True but the old tale about eating too close to bedtime to gain weight makes sense.
Body is ALWAYS is constant repair. This is a non factor. One doesn't control involuntary actions by the body.Would you rather have your body recover and repair the days work or working to digest food then recover and repair.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?
You do not wake up hungry. I wake up starving and if I do not eat within a half hour my body does something where my stomach feels awful to the point where I have to drink water slowly. There is debate going on now that is trying to figure out if eating smaller frequent meal is better than three standards meal. My nutrition class says it makes no difference but it does for me. I have no fact about it but I think skipping breakfast decline metabolism a lot and when you eat lunch it will digest very slowly because there is a such thing as starvation mode. There are articles on that. I know in me that my body definitely has a starvation mode point.
Wut? I can't even... So very much misinformation.
If you wake up that hungry and feel what is called "tissue hunger" (feels like a black hole in your stomach, quite painful, will prompt you to eat absolutely anything to make it go away) then you're probably hypoglycemic. You might want to schedule a glucose tolerance test.
There is very little "debate" going on about smaller, more frequent meals any more. Study results trend in the direction of "it doesn't matter." What matters is total calories, not when or how frequently you eat them. Your nutrition class was right..
Your metabolism cannot decline just from skipping breakfast, especially if you are eating enough calories throughout the rest of the day. Starvation mode is widely held to be a myth according to the current science, and even if it wasn't, it takes a very long time of consistently undereating before you could even consider it as a problem. We're talking months of huge deficits, not a morning of skipped breakfast when you ate 1500 cals the day before.0 -
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....unless you're a GREMLIN!! Don't feed those after midnight !!
[/quote]
This...because that is SCARY! Although, I always wondered...when was it okay to feed them again? No feeding after midnight, but when did their "new" day start? If they wake up at 4 am and are hungry, is it okay to feed them then? These are the things that keep me awake at night
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Nope but if you eat at say 2am and weigh yourself the next morning you might be a little higher than if you stopped at 8pm and was able to go #2 first. That's the only way it could really effect it.0
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While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?
You do not wake up hungry. I wake up starving and if I do not eat within a half hour my body does something where my stomach feels awful to the point where I have to drink water slowly. There is debate going on now that is trying to figure out if eating smaller frequent meal is better than three standards meal. My nutrition class says it makes no difference but it does for me. I have no fact about it but I think skipping breakfast decline metabolism a lot and when you eat lunch it will digest very slowly because there is a such thing as starvation mode. There are articles on that. I know in me that my body definitely has a starvation mode point.
Wut? I can't even... So very much misinformation.
If you wake up that hungry and feel what is called "tissue hunger" (feels like a black hole in your stomach, quite painful, will prompt you to eat absolutely anything to make it go away) then you're probably hypoglycemic. You might want to schedule a glucose tolerance test.
There is very little "debate" going on about smaller, more frequent meals any more. Study results trend in the direction of "it doesn't matter." What matters is total calories, not when or how frequently you eat them. Your nutrition class was right..
Your metabolism cannot decline just from skipping breakfast, especially if you are eating enough calories throughout the rest of the day. Starvation mode is widely held to be a myth according to the current science, and even if it wasn't, it takes a very long time of consistently undereating before you could even consider it as a problem. We're talking months of huge deficits, not a morning of skipped breakfast when you ate 1500 cals the day before.
This ^^0 -
I mean the level of misinformation in his posts are incredible. But knowing the posting history it's not surprising.While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?
You do not wake up hungry. I wake up starving and if I do not eat within a half hour my body does something where my stomach feels awful to the point where I have to drink water slowly. There is debate going on now that is trying to figure out if eating smaller frequent meal is better than three standards meal. My nutrition class says it makes no difference but it does for me. I have no fact about it but I think skipping breakfast decline metabolism a lot and when you eat lunch it will digest very slowly because there is a such thing as starvation mode. There are articles on that. I know in me that my body definitely has a starvation mode point.
Wut? I can't even... So very much misinformation.
If you wake up that hungry and feel what is called "tissue hunger" (feels like a black hole in your stomach, quite painful, will prompt you to eat absolutely anything to make it go away) then you're probably hypoglycemic. You might want to schedule a glucose tolerance test.
There is very little "debate" going on about smaller, more frequent meals any more. Study results trend in the direction of "it doesn't matter." What matters is total calories, not when or how frequently you eat them. Your nutrition class was right..
Your metabolism cannot decline just from skipping breakfast, especially if you are eating enough calories throughout the rest of the day. Starvation mode is widely held to be a myth according to the current science, and even if it wasn't, it takes a very long time of consistently undereating before you could even consider it as a problem. We're talking months of huge deficits, not a morning of skipped breakfast when you ate 1500 cals the day before.
I will remember all my so called misinform and misguided information during these post when it is my turn to put up my success story because I will now put mine up very soon.0 -
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I mean the level of misinformation in his posts are incredible. But knowing the posting history it's not surprising.While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.
I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?
You do not wake up hungry. I wake up starving and if I do not eat within a half hour my body does something where my stomach feels awful to the point where I have to drink water slowly. There is debate going on now that is trying to figure out if eating smaller frequent meal is better than three standards meal. My nutrition class says it makes no difference but it does for me. I have no fact about it but I think skipping breakfast decline metabolism a lot and when you eat lunch it will digest very slowly because there is a such thing as starvation mode. There are articles on that. I know in me that my body definitely has a starvation mode point.
Wut? I can't even... So very much misinformation.
If you wake up that hungry and feel what is called "tissue hunger" (feels like a black hole in your stomach, quite painful, will prompt you to eat absolutely anything to make it go away) then you're probably hypoglycemic. You might want to schedule a glucose tolerance test.
There is very little "debate" going on about smaller, more frequent meals any more. Study results trend in the direction of "it doesn't matter." What matters is total calories, not when or how frequently you eat them. Your nutrition class was right..
Your metabolism cannot decline just from skipping breakfast, especially if you are eating enough calories throughout the rest of the day. Starvation mode is widely held to be a myth according to the current science, and even if it wasn't, it takes a very long time of consistently undereating before you could even consider it as a problem. We're talking months of huge deficits, not a morning of skipped breakfast when you ate 1500 cals the day before.
I will remember all my so called misinform and misguided information during these post when it is my turn to put up my success story because I will now put mine up very soon.
Are you saying that you're having success because you put your body into starvation mode?
Your success is due to the simple formula of calories in < calories out. It does not matter when those calories go in or out, as long as in is less than out. There's only one way that you could prove that your success was due to the time or frequency of your meals: if you are eating more calories than you burn, but eating them at such times and increments that you lost weight in spite of having a surplus of calories.0 -
Yes, contrary to what everyone seems to be saying here, there is a growing body of research that does seem to imply that when is an important factor, especially when you are trying to lose weight. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), in collaboration with the University of Murcia and Tufts University did a study, results released in 2013 that shows a correlation between amount of weight lost and when the participants ate. I can't share the full research article as it is only available for a fee, however, here's the excerpt - Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness
M Garaulet, P Gómez-Abellán, J J Alburquerque-Béjar, Y-C Lee, J M Ordovás and F A J L Scheer
Abstract
Background:
There is emerging literature demonstrating a relationship between the timing of feeding and weight regulation in animals. However, whether the timing of food intake influences the success of a weight-loss diet in humans is unknown.
Objective:
To evaluate the role of food timing in weight-loss effectiveness in a sample of 420 individuals who followed a 20-week weight-loss treatment.
Methods:
Participants (49.5% female subjects; age (mean±s.d.): 42±11 years; BMI: 31.4±5.4 kg m−2) were grouped in early eaters and late eaters, according to the timing of the main meal (lunch in this Mediterranean population). 51% of the subjects were early eaters and 49% were late eaters (lunch time before and after 1500 hours, respectively), energy intake and expenditure, appetite hormones, CLOCK genotype, sleep duration and chronotype were studied.
Results:
Late lunch eaters lost less weight and displayed a slower weight-loss rate during the 20 weeks of treatment than early eaters (P=0.002). Surprisingly, energy intake, dietary composition, estimated energy expenditure, appetite hormones and sleep duration was similar between both groups. Nevertheless, late eaters were more evening types, had less energetic breakfasts and skipped breakfast more frequently that early eaters (all; P<0.05). CLOCK rs4580704 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with the timing of the main meal (P=0.015) with a higher frequency of minor allele (C) carriers among the late eaters (P=0.041). Neither sleep duration, nor CLOCK SNPs or morning/evening chronotype was independently associated with weight loss (all; P>0.05).
Conclusions:
Eating late may influence the success of weight-loss therapy. Novel therapeutic strategies should incorporate not only the caloric intake and macronutrient distribution—as is classically done—but also the timing of food.0 -
Yes, contrary to what everyone seems to be saying here, there is a growing body of research that does seem to imply that when is an important factor, especially when you are trying to lose weight. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), in collaboration with the University of Murcia and Tufts University did a study, results released in 2013 that shows a correlation between amount of weight lost and when the participants ate. I can't share the full research article as it is only available for a fee, however, here's the excerpt - Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness
M Garaulet, P Gómez-Abellán, J J Alburquerque-Béjar, Y-C Lee, J M Ordovás and F A J L Scheer
Abstract
Background:
There is emerging literature demonstrating a relationship between the timing of feeding and weight regulation in animals. However, whether the timing of food intake influences the success of a weight-loss diet in humans is unknown.
Objective:
To evaluate the role of food timing in weight-loss effectiveness in a sample of 420 individuals who followed a 20-week weight-loss treatment.
Methods:
Participants (49.5% female subjects; age (mean±s.d.): 42±11 years; BMI: 31.4±5.4 kg m−2) were grouped in early eaters and late eaters, according to the timing of the main meal (lunch in this Mediterranean population). 51% of the subjects were early eaters and 49% were late eaters (lunch time before and after 1500 hours, respectively), energy intake and expenditure, appetite hormones, CLOCK genotype, sleep duration and chronotype were studied.
Results:
Late lunch eaters lost less weight and displayed a slower weight-loss rate during the 20 weeks of treatment than early eaters (P=0.002). Surprisingly, energy intake, dietary composition, estimated energy expenditure, appetite hormones and sleep duration was similar between both groups. Nevertheless, late eaters were more evening types, had less energetic breakfasts and skipped breakfast more frequently that early eaters (all; P<0.05). CLOCK rs4580704 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with the timing of the main meal (P=0.015) with a higher frequency of minor allele (C) carriers among the late eaters (P=0.041). Neither sleep duration, nor CLOCK SNPs or morning/evening chronotype was independently associated with weight loss (all; P>0.05).
Conclusions:
Eating late may influence the success of weight-loss therapy. Novel therapeutic strategies should incorporate not only the caloric intake and macronutrient distribution—as is classically done—but also the timing of food.
Not sure why you think the article requires a fee to read. Here it is right here, full version via ncbi:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3756673/
Should probably bother to read the whole thing if you are going to cite it as a source.0
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