It DOES matter when you eat...

shartran

From MY experience anyways...As I know SO many of you (on this site) have said the complete opposite...(I agree that when you eat does not matter to your weight - Eat more calories...gain weight - no matter when you eat them)

My experience:
I use to have a large breakfast - am snack - smaller lunch - small afternoon snack - even smaller dinner and a very small snack before bed.

I now have begun to eat more of my calories at dinner and bedtime.

Same amount of calories, so my weight is the same, HOWEVER, my body shape has changed.... I've 'filled' out - tummy doesn't have a chance to digest my pm food and I end with a 'food baby' all day and now my limbs are larger - I've gained an 1/2 inch on my thighs and look like I've gained weight.

I think now that it really does 'pay off' to eat like King during the day and Pauper at night....for me anyways...

Curious though - what is your experience???

Hope the people that respond don't attack me...I'm just sharing my experience.

jamiesokd

I've wondered about people's thoughts on this myself. I tend to eat more during the evening hours, because that is when I have time, lol. Also, I find I tend to "hoard" calories during the day, in case I need them later - then I have to eat them all in the evening. I have been losing weight steadily, so it isn't stopping my progress, but I wonder if there would be a benefit to eating more earlier in the day.

alabella

Eating later at night probably just makes you appear more bloated. I seriously doubt it makes you any fatter.

sugarlemonpie

I think it's all up to you and your schedule. For me it works to have about the same amount of food for each meal, but snack more often while at work on fruits and vegetables.

I will say that I hate having a large dinner, or a large meal in general, because I feel bloated and uncomfortable for HOURS. I just can't eat like that anymore.

LoupGarouTFTs

It really doesn't matter when you eat, since your body is always digesting food.

Lourdesong

I notice if I eat too late I can retain water and feel bloaty the next day. Sometimes I might get heartburn if I eat fatty/sugary foods too late.
The main thing I notice, though, is that I feel heavier the next morning, compared to mornings when I eat light the evening before. Could have the same amount of calories or even less on the days I ate most of my cals in the evening, and I just don't feel light on my feet the next day the way I do when I eat light in the evenings.
I don't know about body composition, and I don't see why it would affect weightloss other than possibly making one more sluggish and therefore less active the next day.

yungibear

Interesring. I found myself eating small and smaller breakfasts because I tend to feel very hungry and snacky at night. To offset this, I ate less during the day and feasted at night. I haven't noticed any terrible side effects of doing this, but I suppose it's as how you stated that it is a personal experience.

nomeejerome

Meal timing is personal preference.

SugaryLynx

Personal preference. I eat most of my calories in the evenings because I'm hungrier then. I also feel better if I eat carbs before training and perform better with them. Others will have completely opposite experiences because well, we're all different. For weight loss, it makes zero difference. For fat loss, too. Timing is irrelevant. Eat a good balanced diet within your calorie goal, when you personally enjoy doing so and win.

Branstin

...but I wonder if there would be a benefit to eating more earlier in the day.

It won't affect your weight loss. Stick to your calories limit and eat as you wish.

jassnip

Just a small thought on eating when...to make Sumo wrestlers gain weight they have them eat carb heavy meals (lots of rice) and then lay down and take a nap....just a thought.

lemurcat12

My experience is that for me it doesn't matter. I tend to eat similar calories for each of my three meals and only snack if I have extra calories I need to fit in, but I've been eating dinner quite late because of my work schedule and have been losing at about 2 lb/week, higher than MFP projects. When I manage to eat earlier nothing seems to change, and my best loss week is probably the one where I was eating latest, although that's also because I was struggling to eat sufficient dinner at all because of not being used to what was a really crazy work week.

Having a real dinner not all that long before I go to bed also means that I don't feel like snacking in the evening, which is nice. I think any schedule that makes it easier to stick with your calories will work.

ruthejp13

I think the biggest difference between eating early verses late has more to do with activity. Yes, I tend to hoard my calories for night too. But if I eat too many during the day, I have a better chance of burning them before bed than if I exceed my calories late in the day.

I always seem to lose weight the day after an evening meeting when I eat at 6 pm to make the meeting by 7 pm and ride my bike there and back at 9 pm and have my bowl of ice cream at 10 pm. Days that I don't have my meeting, I eat dinner at 7:30 pm, ice cream at 10 pm and all my exercise was before 3 pm.

Yesterday I ate more at lunch than my entire calorie goal for the day. Because of that, I kept trying to burn more calories with exercise. I still kept eating even past 10 pm but didn't gain as much as I usually would if I ate over 1200 calories for dinner instead of lunch.

SugaryLynx

Just a small thought on eating when...to make Sumo wrestlers gain weight they have them eat carb heavy meals (lots of rice) and then lay down and take a nap....just a thought.

I would assume the less activity you do, the lower your TDEE is.... I could gain weight easier too if I sat on the couch and did nothing or napped

Madame_Goldbricker

Your body cannot tell the time. I work night shift 4 on 4 off my eating schedule is all over the place. It hasn't made any difference to my weight loss. Eat when you like and suits you.

Madame_Goldbricker

From MY experience anyways...As I know SO many of you (on this site) have said the complete opposite...(I agree that when you eat does not matter to your weight - Eat more calories...gain weight - no matter when you eat them)

My experience:
I use to have a large breakfast - am snack - smaller lunch - small afternoon snack - even smaller dinner and a very small snack before bed.

I now have begun to eat more of my calories at dinner and bedtime.

Same amount of calories, so my weight is the same, HOWEVER, my body shape has changed.... I've 'filled' out - tummy doesn't have a chance to digest my pm food and I end with a 'food baby' all day and now my limbs are larger - I've gained an 1/2 inch on my thighs and look like I've gained weight.

I think now that it really does 'pay off' to eat like King during the day and Pauper at night....for me anyways...

Curious though - what is your experience???

Hope the people that respond don't attack me...I'm just sharing my experience.

Interesting about the 1/2 inch increase on thighs though. As that would have zero impact from the eating schedule changes. If anything the only difference could be bloat like someone else suggested.

Edited to clarify - I'm of course referring to stomach not thigh bloat ;-)

PinkyFett

It really doesn't though. Calories even out. They don't know the difference between Monday and Thursday or night and day.

Only reason why I try not to eat at night is because it gives me gas and stomach upset.

_Zardoz_

From MY experience anyways...As I know SO many of you (on this site) have said the complete opposite...(I agree that when you eat does not matter to your weight - Eat more calories...gain weight - no matter when you eat them)

My experience:
I use to have a large breakfast - am snack - smaller lunch - small afternoon snack - even smaller dinner and a very small snack before bed.

I now have begun to eat more of my calories at dinner and bedtime.

Same amount of calories, so my weight is the same, HOWEVER, my body shape has changed.... I've 'filled' out - tummy doesn't have a chance to digest my pm food and I end with a 'food baby' all day and now my limbs are larger - I've gained an 1/2 inch on my thighs and look like I've gained weight.

I think now that it really does 'pay off' to eat like King during the day and Pauper at night....for me anyways...

Curious though - what is your experience???

Hope the people that respond don't attack me...I'm just sharing my experience.

Think about this logically. How does your body Know what time it is? Is it GMT or EST? What happens when you change time zones?Common sense dictates that it will have no effect. Yes personally eating at certain times may make you feel better but as weightloss goes there is no science saying that it effects it. I've lost 142 pounds having 3 meals a day with my biggest one around 9.30pm as that's what works for me. I have a friend who has lost around 120 pounds and she doesn't eat till after 1pm and just has two meals because that is personally what has worked for her. If your happy eating the way you do that's great if it works for you but I'm afraid there is no real evidence to say that eating at certain times will make you lose more weight.

caracrawford1

From MY experience anyways...As I know SO many of you (on this site) have said the complete opposite...(I agree that when you eat does not matter to your weight - Eat more calories...gain weight - no matter when you eat them)

My experience:
I use to have a large breakfast - am snack - smaller lunch - small afternoon snack - even smaller dinner and a very small snack before bed.

I now have begun to eat more of my calories at dinner and bedtime.

Same amount of calories, so my weight is the same, HOWEVER, my body shape has changed.... I've 'filled' out - tummy doesn't have a chance to digest my pm food and I end with a 'food baby' all day and now my limbs are larger - I've gained an 1/2 inch on my thighs and look like I've gained weight.

I think now that it really does 'pay off' to eat like King during the day and Pauper at night....for me anyways...

Curious though - what is your experience???

Hope the people that respond don't attack me...I'm just sharing my experience.

Everybody is different. Of course everyone's body responds differently to different things. In my case, eating an early dinner or eating earlier just tends to give more time to feel like munching on some more stuff before bedtime. I eat less the later I eat. I'm a night owl. If eating earlier works for you,well keep at it. I would be paying more attention to WHAT I am eating than WHEN I am eating. An excess of chili cheese fries at 11:00 pm will probably result in what you're talking about. An overabundance of lettuce at 11:00PM...not so much. If you TRULY are eating the same amount of calories are you also as active? Be honest with yourself. You'd be surprised how fast you can gain weight if you eat the same but slow down on the activity. When I was training for my seventh marathon, I really wasn't all that hungry after a 20 mile run, maybe a little after a shorter run such as a nine miler. The more I ran the less hungry I was. Well I took a little break from running, enjoyed a little more haagen dazs and put on 25. Now, although I'm not a big person, I want to get down to race weight. The weight can creep on before you know it. BTW, my weight creeper up all while still doingban hour of cardio six days a week.

ruthejp13

Your body cannot tell the time. I work night shift 4 on 4 off my eating schedule is all over the place. It hasn't made any difference to my weight loss. Eat when you like and suits you.

That's not completely true, your body can tell time - it's called circadian rhythm.

Northwestern Hospital University (and others) has been doing lots of clinical trials on sleep, obesity and circadian rhythms. I've been a Guinea pig in a several of them. Unfortunately, the most recent study that hit the news
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/04/morning-rays-keep-off-the-pounds.html
didn't appear to be causation but merely correlation. The funny thing was that the report came out when I was wearing the light and activity monitor for a different study.

The study I just spent the night in the hospital for with blood draws and hormone levels won't be published for another 2 years.

brynnsmom

I eat the bulk of my daily calories after 7:00 PM, but that's just what works for me. I think it's more mental than anything. Everyone's different and should subscribe to the plan that's sustainable and will make them successful.

Madame_Goldbricker

Your body cannot tell the time. I work night shift 4 on 4 off my eating schedule is all over the place. It hasn't made any difference to my weight loss. Eat when you like and suits you.

That's not completely true, your body can tell time - it's called circadian rhythm.

Northwestern Hospital University (and others) has been doing lots of clinical trials on sleep, obesity and circadian rhythms. I've been a Guinea pig in a several of them. Unfortunately, the most recent study that hit the news
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/04/morning-rays-keep-off-the-pounds.html
didn't appear to be causation but merely correlation. The funny thing was that the report came out when I was wearing the light and activity monitor for a different study.

The study I just spent the night in the hospital for with blood draws and hormone levels won't be published for another 2 years.

Oh I completely agree that the body does have an internal body clock per say. However I also believe that it can be pretty flexible in regards to adjusting & adapting to routines. As I stated I've worked night shift for quite some time. My general mode is 4hrs sleep on days I've worked the previous night. I set two alarms & don't use a blackout blind. However my body has 'trained' itself to wake up. However on days/nights I'm off work I can easily sleep a good eight uninterrupted hours. Its presumably all down to routines.

On days I'm off I'll eat at probably standard meal times. On days/nights I work I'll eat whenever or whatever time. I still stand by my body not being aware that its 1am & I'm eating a large curry. Or 5pm & I'm eating porridge & fruit. Those factors have no impact on weight gain nor loss.

I will acknowledge though that for individuals who are 'grazers/pickers/boredom eaters'. It could play a part as they can continue to eat purely from being awake. Although that boils down to caloric intake.

CyberEd312

Meal Frequency will have no bearing, in the end it all comes down to personal preference and what you can and will adhere too. You can eat your daily caloric intake in one sitting or spread out of several meals... Best of Luck

kgeyser

I really don't think it matters when you eat. The human body is constantly burning calories; it's not like you eat food and your body automatically starts burning that food, and then when it burns through that and starts using fat. We pretty much always have some food matter somewhere in our digestive tract, it's not like we ever really get "cleaned out" completely. Unless you are truly starving, in which case you have bigger problems to tackle than a meal timing discussion on the MFP forums.

From a behavioral standpoint, I think it's personal preference. I find the later in the day I start eating, the less I tend to eat overall, but that doesn't really work with my schedule. Eating before bed doesn't bother me. The only time I get bloated is if I eat too much food or eat something outside the realm of my normal diet, and even then, it's due to sodium/water/amount of food and clears up quickly; not because of timing. That's just my experience.

bajoyba

It takes, on average, 40-50 hours for the food you eat to make it from mouth to toilet. It's not as if your body merrily goes about digesting your food as long as you're awake and upright and suddenly shuts everything down and starts storing it all as fat just because it's bed time. The food you ate at breakfast is still being digested, absorbed, and passed through your system when you lay down to go to sleep that night. Whether you have your dinner at 6pm or 9 pm and go to bed at 11pm, your stomach and small intestine are still working on that meal while you sleep.

50% of stomach contents emptied 2.5 to 3 hours
Total emptying of the stomach 4 to 5 hours
50% emptying of the small intestine 2.5 to 3 hours
Transit through the colon 30 to 40 hours

You should time your meals in a way that makes you feel most satisfied. If you prefer to have a larger breakfast, do that. Personally, I'm not especially hungry in the mornings and like to eat a big dinner, so that's what I do. We eat late - generally around 8pm - which means dessert is around 10 o'clock at night.

Madame_Goldbricker

It takes, on average, 40-50 hours for the food you eat to make it from mouth to toilet. It's not as if your body merrily goes about digesting your food as long as you're awake and upright and suddenly shuts everything down and starts storing it all as fat just because it's bed time. The food you ate at breakfast is still being digested, absorbed, and passed through your system when you lay down to go to sleep that night. Whether you have your dinner at 6pm or 9 pm and go to bed at 11pm, your stomach and small intestine are still working on that meal while you sleep.

50% of stomach contents emptied 2.5 to 3 hours
Total emptying of the stomach 4 to 5 hours
50% emptying of the small intestine 2.5 to 3 hours
Transit through the colon 30 to 40 hours

You should time your meals in a way that makes you feel most satisfied. If you prefer to have a larger breakfast, do that. Personally, I'm not especially hungry in the mornings and like to eat a big dinner, so that's what I do. We eat late - generally around 8pm - which means dessert is around 10 o'clock at night.

^^Ahhh science! I like this answer!

ruthejp13

It takes, on average, 40-50 hours for the food you eat to make it from mouth to toilet. It's not as if your body merrily goes about digesting your food as long as you're awake and upright and suddenly shuts everything down and starts storing it all as fat just because it's bed time. The food you ate at breakfast is still being digested, absorbed, and passed through your system when you lay down to go to sleep that night. Whether you have your dinner at 6pm or 9 pm and go to bed at 11pm, your stomach and small intestine are still working on that meal while you sleep.

50% of stomach contents emptied 2.5 to 3 hours
Total emptying of the stomach 4 to 5 hours
50% emptying of the small intestine 2.5 to 3 hours
Transit through the colon 30 to 40 hours

You should time your meals in a way that makes you feel most satisfied. If you prefer to have a larger breakfast, do that. Personally, I'm not especially hungry in the mornings and like to eat a big dinner, so that's what I do. We eat late - generally around 8pm - which means dessert is around 10 o'clock at night.

^^Ahhh science! I like this answer!

me too