What my trainer said about late night eating....

droppin_lbs

Hi Everyone!

We always hear so much about how eating late at night is a big diet no-no.

Today my personal trainer and I were chatting and I asked him if eating late at night is any better or worse for weight loss then eating the same food at any other point in the day. He said that a calorie consume is a calorie consume, the time of day or night does not really make a difference - he felt that this thinking was intended as a tool to help people limit calories.

What do you guys think??

ashleyjea1985

Probably true...

Jena_72

my past trainer basically said the same thing your body "shuts down" once you go to bed. I think it is to get people to really watch it at night well for one we need rest when we are on this journey so going to bed earlier can't hurt. But also as many of us know, once you start eating especially at night it is hard to stop! eh just go to bed!! lol :bigsmile:

pullright

I agree with your trainer. Overeating is the problem. Say for example all you ate all day was a Whopper burger (you wouldn't) you would still stay lean no matter what time you ate it if you was in calorie defecit. The only trouble with late night eating is you tend to comfort eat and overeat. I don't eat much in the day and save my calories for the evening when I relax.

eillamarie

Your metabolism slows during the day, so by eating late @ night your body isn't able to burn off what you're eating like it would be able to if you had eaten it around, for ex, lunch time.

rescuepete

What Dr. Oz says, "The average American goes to bed around 10:00 p.m. You need to have two hours of time between when you eat your dinner and when you go to bed. When you eat late at night, a couple of things happen. First of all, you're more likely to be eating in front of the TV, which means you're distracted and likely to eat more. You also tend to get high-calorie snacks in the late night hours. Try to move your meals up a tiny little bit whatever way you can to make 7:30 p.m. your ideal cut off time."

red01angel

What Dr. Oz says, "The average American goes to bed around 10:00 p.m. You need to have two hours of time between when you eat your dinner and when you go to bed. When you eat late at night, a couple of things happen. First of all, you're more likely to be eating in front of the TV, which means you're distracted and likely to eat more. You also tend to get high-calorie snacks in the late night hours. Try to move your meals up a tiny little bit whatever way you can to make 7:30 p.m. your ideal cut off time."

You stole my answer

But he's right. You're way more likely to indulge in high calorie items such as ice cream or chips than carrot sticks when you're sitting in front of the TV and snacking at night. The whole "body shutting down" thing is a myth and, frankly, bad science.

droppin_lbs

Thank you everybody for the great input. I don't indulge at high cal foods at night...usually I toss 8oz milk, 1 banana, and ice in a blender and have a shake - very simple and yummy.

Now I can do so guilt free....as I matter of fact....slurp...slurp...yum!!!

Great success to you all...good night :yawn:

kelika71

Well, I'm not a doctor, scientist or any other guru saying do this or that. What I can tell you is that I'm about to get off of all my prescribed meds. Still not enough to convince you? Look at my ticker at what I've lost so far. I pretty much eat right up to bed time.
Ya know what? I'm also not one of those saying I'm starving, either.
I'd listen to your trainer.

Good luck!

nsueflorence

Well, I'm not a doctor, scientist or any other guru saying do this or that. What I can tell you is that I'm about to get off of all my prescribed meds. Still not enough to convince you? Look at my ticker at what I've lost so far. I pretty much eat right up to bed time.
Ya know what? I'm also not one of those saying I'm starving, either.
I'd listen to your trainer.

Good luck!

Yes do whats right for your body. You don't stop burning cals when you are sleeping. If I am hungry I CAN NOT get to sleep. So sometimes a snack at bed time is a must. Stay in your cal limit if you are trying to loose weight. Don't eat junk in front of the TV. I think this is the main point that needs to be gotten across.

binary_jester

We are now discussing 2 different things. You talked about metabolism. Your trainer is correct. Your body does not turn food consumed right before bed into fat. It doesn't just sit there and it is digested before bed as it would at lunch. I try and eat cottage cheese before bed for the protein.
Now eating before bed might upset your sleeping rhythm, you might binge, etc. Those are separate points.

sbilyeu75

I agree with your trainer. There's been twice that I've tried not having a little snack before bed and I ended up waking up with the shakes in the middle of the night. I don't see what the big deal is, as long as you keep track of it.

On a side note, I think Dr. Oz is creepy. Why does he think everyone want to touch nasty old dead body parts?

kelsully

I tend to eat the majority of my calories for dinner and evening snacks. I am almost always under my calorie goals and I will make a decision to have a snack after the kids are in bed based on how many calories I have left. If I have more than 100-150 left I will snack. Yes this is when I have an ice cream sandwich or reese's PB cup but I can moderate my portions pretty well. My before bed snack is the only time that I can really eat those foods and enjoy them When I eat snacks during the day it is mindless hunger talking...that is when carrots are great ...at night I eat slow and demand no one talk to me until my treat is gone..I want to focus my energy and enjoyment on my treat, .not eat it mindessly.

I think this is yet another case of doing what works for you. This works for me. It may start a binge for others. I personally have a bigger issue with walking away from my morning cereal without playing the mik/cereal ratio game.

Peschuntz

My trainer said not to eat at night since the body slows down and doesn't burn calories as efficiently. I have also heard the opposite, it doesn't matter when you eat, what counts is the amount of total calories you consume in a day. As a psychotherapist, regardless to which theory you subscribe I know this to be true: Defenses tend to be lower at night when you are tired, judgment isn't as sharp as when you are wide awake, rendering it more difficult to put on the proverbial brakes.

soysos

from looking at a lot of the other posts here I can see I have a different philosophy when it comes to diet. I am not a nutritionist nor do I claim to be. I am a cook, I am a culinary student, and I have more than one digestive disorder. I have always had a strong passion for food, and I have done a lot of research on the subject, especially when it comes to nutrition.

my research has lead me to the conclusion that maintaining a heathy weight is not a factor of energy. its not about calories in vs calories out, and its not about when you eat those calories. the real secret is satisfying the body. as long as your getting adequate nutrition and you listen to your body, and most importantly stop when its satisfied, then it would be impossible to gain weight, you would naturally stay at your ideal weight.

this brings me to my big point, the idea that since your not really move while asleep your metabolism slows down is false. the metabolism if anything speeds up. when we sleep hair and nails grow at an accelerated rate cells and tissues are being repaired and replaced, the essential organs are in high gear all of the waist from the day, not to mention the moisture loss. all of these thing require a lot of energy, not to mention raw building materials like protein. so if your eating and sleeping on a regular schedule and find your routinely hungry come bed time that means in preparation for going to sleep your body needs something probably protein, in this case either have your last meal later in the day, or have a light snack before bed.

kintegra

I normally don't even get home from the gym till almost 8pm, THEN that is when I start making dinner. Look at my ticker as well...I'm over halfway to my goal! Before I started this journey I usually ate dinner between 5 & 7pm....now that is my gym time, so dinner is much later & I'm losing it! So yes....I have to agree with your trainer. It doesn't matter what time you eat....a calorie is a calorie no matter when you eat it!

superwmn

I eat when I'm hungry no matter what time it is and have successfully lost 92lbs

Charmagne

TaraMaria

All I can add to this is what worked for me. I had been loosing weight incredibly slow. PAINFULLY slow. When I cut out the late late night snacks, which were generally the worst foods for me of the day (like reeses or anything else of a chocolate nature) I began loosing weight much more quickly. I stopped eating anything but a natural item like a veggie three hours before bed.

The choices I was making were not good. Now that I've lost the weight I can now eat something closer to bed (usually a bread or carb) and not have it hurt my weight loss or have me gaining anything. I would not tell anyone to save calories to eat before bed. I still attempt to forgo the snack after dinner. But now that I workout so much more and usually in the evenings its hard to not need something. I've started eating my calories earlier in the day though so I don't have an excess at night. Eating highly processed sugars at night were NOT beneficial to me and caused my weigh loss to be at a TOTAL stand still. But everyone is so different. I was also dealing with autoimmune issues as well. )

SHBoss1673

So, couple of things here. First, anecdotal evidence isn't really evidence. By that, guys, I simply mean that while you may have success at doing it one way over another, that doesn't make it statistically a better way to do it for everyone. Second, biologically speaking, your digestive tract doesn't slow down at night, but your body does burn fewer calories during most of the night. this is mainly because of the combination of reduced brain activity (the brain is a large contributor to total calories burned) and reduced muscular activity. Since food is digested and used primarily between 1/2 and hour and 3 hours after consumption on average; this can lead to slightly higher energy storage than during waking active hours. Third, dietary habits can play a big part in weight gain, if you eat healthy foods at night, and give your body a little while to digest before you go to sleep, then I can't see how eating a moderate sized snack a few hours before bed is an issue in and of itself.

I'm not saying don't eat at night, all I'm saying is that it's not a myth that eating right before bed may be problematic for some people. I'm also not trying to invalidate anyone's success, but you can pick out 100 successful MFP members who've lost large amounts of weight, and find 100 different strategies they developed to become successful. That doesn't mean they are all right for everyone, the idea is to follow the basic guidelines, and do small modifications to fit your needs and lifestyle. This is why Registered Dietitians are paid for their services, because the nutritional requirements of a person is complex and wide ranging, trying to put us all into the same box is a recipe for disaster IMHO.

shreddin_mama

I'm going with your trainer. i can see overeating being a problem. but a banana and milk sounds good for a bedtime snack

MiloBloom83

I'll eat right up to bedtime also. I also exercise (run) around 9:00pm or later in the nicer months, now 7:00-9:00 is more practical since i have to do it while the community center is open. I'm usually eating exercise calories, i have not noticed any bad effects from this, inspite of my habit of eating ice cream.:happy:

firedragon064

I read somewhere you have more chance to get a heart attack if you eat close your bed time.
My b/f eats a FULL meal before he goes to sleep. I keep telling him eat 2 hours before he goes to sleep but he said No!
and die while in sleeping is a good way to go.

SHBoss1673

I read somewhere you have more chance to get a heart attack if you eat close your bed time.
My b/f eats a FULL meal before he goes to sleep. I keep telling him eat 2 hours before he goes to sleep but he said No!
and die while in sleeping is a good way to go.

Um. Never heard of that one. Heart attacks come from arterial plaque. I'm not sure I can see the link between eating and a heart attack, at least not in that sense.

KittMahan

I agree with the trainer. I try to keep low calorie things in between me and the high calorie things, especially in the evening. For instance, the cakes and puddings are kept behind the apple slices and sugar free jello in the fridge. I practice "near-sightedness" at times such as this as best I can.

The time of eating is not so important as the content and volume I think...