Losing/gaining weight depending on when last meal is eaten?

roxazaloah

Just a quick thread post regarding a strange (to me) happening. If I eat my last meal before 3-4 PM, and drink water or have something very light (i.e. yogurt) afterwards, why do I lose more weight than if I eat my last meal anywhere from 5-7pm?

My day usually starts at 4:30AM, I try to eat breakfast (as light as it is, I'm just too tired to think about eating first thing in the morning). I start work at 6AM, and go on my 1-30 minute break at 11 or 11:30AM. I try to eat somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-500 cals, some days are worse than others. I finish my work day at 2PM. Lately, I've started going back to the gym from around 2:30-3:30, or depending on the day, extend it to 4 or 4:30.

I am easing back into cardio, walking on the treadmill or cycling the elliptical. I haven't yet gone back into weight lifting, but am eager to start tomorrow morning before work.

If I eat a 5-700 calorie meal after 5 pm, I tend to gain in the area of 1-3 lbs overnight. If I eat the same kind of meal before 5pm, I LOSE anywhere from 1-3 lbs overnight.

Why is this? Should I be looking to eat less fat, or better quality dinner (ie, more veg, less fattening things, more GOOD proteins) or just eat dinner EARLIER in the day, BECAUSE my day starts at 4:30 AM??? I have been driving MYSELF, and at times, my fiancee nuts because he usually gets done with work after 5 a LOT of the time, and wants to eat a heavier dinner -WITH- me.

Thanks in advance for any advice or help, please feel free to ask for more info if needed. FYI: I have not yet spoken with a doctor about this, I'm trying to get a doctor established since I don't have a primary care physician where I moved to yet.

MelodyandBarbells

Overnight weight gain is completely inconsequential, and paying attention to it is an excellent path to looney town. Focus on staying within your calorie goal and long term results instead. Meal timing is absolutely irrelevant. Just eat less, move more, and watch the L.B.s go!!

SamLD88

I find that if I eat after 7, I see some gain in the morning. If it bothers you, just set a final time to eat each night and stick to it. That way, your morning weight will be more steady. But don't worry too much about it. Your body is just digesting, and if it hasn't fully digested last night's meal, you're going to weigh more (solid food vs. its byproducts of gases, liquids, and some solids).

serindipte

Digestion and, well.. poop. The longer it's been since you ate, the longer you've had to eliminate the food in your intestines.

titcomb22

Eating later in the day can cause your body to hold on to the weight because instead of using it for the rest of the day like your body could be, your body is going to bed and your digestive system shuts down for the night. Giving yourself a cut off time 3 hours before you go to bed will give your digestive system a break and you will see increased weight loss

megsmom2

Eating later in the day can cause your body to hold on to the weight because instead of using it for the rest of the day like your body could be, your body is going to bed and your digestive system shuts down for the night. Giving yourself a cut off time 3 hours before you go to bed will give your digestive system a break and you will see increased weight loss

wrong. seems logical, but wrong. your body doesn't shut down at night...even your brain. overnight weight gain is most likely just the water and solids that haven't made it through your system yet..totally inconsequential.

Kalikel

A lot of people say they gain weight if they eat at night. Reasonable, bright people. People who were never fat. It might just be something people say, but so many people say it that I wonder if there isn't something to it.

I don't eat for hours before I sleep, anyway. I just realized I have three before I sleep and three after, lol. It wasn't an intentional diet thing, just how it worked out. But if I could, I might try a couple months of eating late and a couple months of not eating late, just to see how it worked out for me.

It won't hurt to not eat late, so if you want to skip it, do that.

bethoves

Make your last meal salt free. Of course the only salt-free foods are fruit and rice, so just do the best you can. If you can have a fruit salad for dinner, you'll digest it quickly, so you won't be carrying it with you to the scale in the morning, along with the water retention that salt gives you.

IrisFlute

Mealtime is absolutely relevant. Read this research study:

http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

OP is off-base with her idea about losing or gaining 1 to 3 lbs overnight -- you can't meaningfully track your weight by the hour -- but she's actually correct about the fact that you will lose more weight overall if you eat earlier in the day.

LAT1963

Sounds off-the-wall, but look up the "superstitious chicken dance".

It's really easy to fall into superstitions about weight loss--meal timing is a common one. It really doesn't make a difference--the balance sheet of calorie intake and metabolic burn are what matter.

add: this article's first paragraph concisely sums up what I'm talking about--searching the term gives too many irrelevant results:

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40032017?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104530955067

leahraskie

I don't think the time of day matters when you eat, although you should eat more earlier during the day because that's when you'll probably be out doing things and being active which requires more calories at once, eat for energy. As long as you don't eat over your calorie goal or burned some off it's the calorie in vs calorie out.

The problem with eating closer to bed is that snacking and cravings kick in because you're usually doing nothing, and you totally want that huge bowl of ice cream or all that bag of chips. Which just happen to be high calorie so you can go over your goal substantially.

SteampunkSongbird

I'm an insomniac and almost always still awake in the wee early hours, I regularly snack any time 'til around 4am, and it's had no noticeable effect on my weight loss. I log in an accurate 24 hour windows; if I have a biscuit at 11.50pm on say a Tuesday, I log it accordingly. If I have another one after midnight, say 12.01am when mfp has registered a new diary day, i.e Wednesday, I log it for that new day. My digestive system doesn't care what time it is, if I'm hungry or just fancy a snack, I have something, regardless of the time, and that system has been working fine for me personally (staying within my daily calorie limit, of course.)

GeeWillickers

Mealtime is absolutely relevant. Read this research study:

http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

OP is off-base with her idea about losing or gaining 1 to 3 lbs overnight -- you can't meaningfully track your weight by the hour -- but she's actually correct about the fact that you will lose more weight overall if you eat earlier in the day.

That study deals specifically with obese patients with metabolic syndrome. You are making a huge leap to conclude that the OP is correct about eating earlier in the day. There are a few interesting studies listed here that are the opposite http://www.leangains.com/2011/06/is-late-night-eating-better-for-fat.html

Mealtime is irrelevant and weighing yourself daily is pointless given how many variables are at play.

KaleDOG

My guess is that the body digests the meal overnight and the weight of that meal is broken down?.

Michifan

Biologically there is some evidence that lying down can affect digestion in a relatively tight number of hours. And there is also research that biasing calories in the morning is more effective than the other way around.

But I think many people that are eating late are just snaking and that is causing additional calories that they didn't plan.

Calliope610

Weight loss is not linear.

Just pay attention to the overwhelming trend, not the normal daily fluctuations. Are you losing weight overall? If so, great. If not, re-evaluate your daily (or weekly) caloric requirements vs your caloric consumption and caloric exertion and make the necessary adjustments.

Icandoityayme

I just exercise an hour or so after dinner and I don't worry about it. I sleep like a log and find in the morning I have good news on the scale most of the time. You still have the water retention and so to have to consider but it works for me. I usually have dinner around 6:30 pm.

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

Overnight weight gain is completely inconsequential, and paying attention to it is an excellent path to looney town. Focus on staying within your calorie goal and long term results instead. Meal timing is absolutely irrelevant. Just eat less, move more, and watch the L.B.s go!!

This^.

I've notice the same thing but it has no bearing whatsoever on long term weight loss.