Eating dinner late in the evening

DeguelloTex

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

Kalikel

Meal timing doesn't affect weight loss. Just don't blow your calorie deficiency.

I know this is an oft-quoted popular myth on MFP, but it's really not true.

It's not to say you won't lose weight while in a deficit, but meal timing definitely affects the physiology of nutrition.

There may be other factors involves like satiety, energy, concentration, indigestion, medication, and performance but the actual timing of meals does not affect weight loss. It is bogus to believe the position of the sun to the earth is related to weight loss.

Tell that to the NIH.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24666537

All it says is that there is a lot of evidence to support the fact that it ought to be studied, which - Duh!

When so many intelligent, reasonable people say the same thing, you have to wonder. Well, I do. The "That's not how Science works!" crowd might not.

I wish the "That's not how Science works!" group would figure out that curiosity and imagination are the backbone and heart of Science...not studies. Studies are the hands of science. Science requires an open mind.

One thing that Science isn't: sitting around and saying, "Well, nobody has it done it or proved it, so it can't be." That's lazy, not Science. Science is imaginative and industrious. It's exciting, hopeful and inspiring.

That feeling you have when you buy a lotto ticket and wonder what you'll do if you win - the extremely cautious dreaming and itty bitty anticipation? The eagerness to get the result. The deflation and resignation when it isn't what you'd hoped or the exhilaration if it is. That's Science.

I'll take the guy who wonders, "Maybe" over the guy who says, "That's not how Science works!" every single time.

Still on the fence, but leaning further into the "Don't eat late!" camp.

Kalikel

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

That does not, in any way, prove that eating late has no effect on weight for you, much less for anyone at all.

All it shows is that you can eat late and lose weight, which nobody has disputed.

maidentl

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

Same here. Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus. You can eat after eight and still lose just fine.

DeguelloTex

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

That does not, in any way, prove that eating late has no effect on weight for you, much less for anyone at all.

All it shows is that you can eat late and lose weight, which nobody has disputed.

Yes, it does. Perhaps you didn't read it carefully enough.

My caloric deficit predicts a loss of X pounds per week. I lose X pounds per week. If eating late at night slowed my weight loss, I wouldn't lose weight at the predicted rate; I would lose more slowly. But I don't.

Now, it is at least conceivable that eating late does slow my weight loss, but does so within the margin of error of the stated caloric information for the food I eat, but such a slowing not even a remotely a concern -- and would be utterly undetectable --in the real world.

Kalikel

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

That does not, in any way, prove that eating late has no effect on weight for you, much less for anyone at all.

All it shows is that you can eat late and lose weight, which nobody has disputed.

Yes, it does. Perhaps you didn't read it carefully enough.

My caloric deficit predicts a loss of X pounds per week. I lose X pounds per week. If eating late at night slowed my weight loss, I wouldn't lose weight at the predicted rate; I would lose more slowly. But I don't.

Now, it is at least conceivable that eating late does slow my weight loss, but does so within the margin of error of the stated caloric information for the food I eat, but such a slowing not even a remotely a concern -- and would be utterly undetectable --in the real world.

Either you want to stick by your original statement that you've proven eating late has no effect on weight OR you you accept that it's still possible that eating late could have an effect. There are three camps: It does, It doesn't and It might. Gotta pick one. You picked two: It doesn't and It might.

I will skip the rude, personal comment.

DeguelloTex

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

That does not, in any way, prove that eating late has no effect on weight for you, much less for anyone at all.

All it shows is that you can eat late and lose weight, which nobody has disputed.

Yes, it does. Perhaps you didn't read it carefully enough.

My caloric deficit predicts a loss of X pounds per week. I lose X pounds per week. If eating late at night slowed my weight loss, I wouldn't lose weight at the predicted rate; I would lose more slowly. But I don't.

Now, it is at least conceivable that eating late does slow my weight loss, but does so within the margin of error of the stated caloric information for the food I eat, but such a slowing not even a remotely a concern -- and would be utterly undetectable --in the real world.

Either you want to stick by your original statement that you've proven eating late has no effect on weight OR you you accept that it's still possible that eating late could have an effect. There are three camps: It does, It doesn't and It might. Gotta pick one. You picked two: It doesn't and It might.

I will skip the rude, personal comment.

It's might be that weight loss elves affect weight loss. That doesn't mean it's a realistic consideration even if it can't be disproven.

My caloric deficit predicts a loss of X and I lose X, therefore eating late doesn't slow my weight loss. That's definitional. My weight loss simply is not slower than the caloric deficit predicts. It's not my fault if you can't understand or accept that.

lemurcat12

The don't eat after 8 (or 6 or 7 or whatever it is) makes no logical sense. It relies on the idea that your digestion stops while sleeping and that everyone has a similar bedtime. The first alone is sufficient to show it's nothing but an old wives tale (or whatever the nutrition version of that is). The second is obviously false and only matters if eating soon before bed affects your sleep (it does not affect mine, but on that people differ).

The "don't eat after 7" has one more explanation, from before the "your metabolism slows down while you sleep" - it makes sense, but not in and by itself - food choices at night are typically calorie dense; if you tend to eat a big dinner, and/or if it's hard for you to stop eating at night, it can make at difference to adhere to such a rule; unless you move that big meal to earlier in the day, and/or start grazing all day instead. Myths are often based on half-truths, and this rule obviously originated in a time without calorie trackers

I'm not sure how that works. For me, I'm never home at 7, but let's say I was and ate dinner then. Chances are I'd want to eat at 10 and would have to fight it. Whereas by eating at 9 or so, it never even crosses my mind to eat in the evenings. I never really thought of this as a reason to do it--I don't have a choice, since I'm not foregoing a home-cooked meal so I can eat at my desk at work at 6 pm--and I understand for a lot of people 9 pm is a ridiculous time for dinner due to children or bed times or whatever, but when I started reading lots of people saying that avoiding evening snacking was a challenge for them, I realized that my meal pattern was actually helping me not have that issue.

If "don't eat after 7" really means "don't snack after dinner if it makes you go over your calories," well, sure. But I am not more apt to do that merely because I regularly eat after 9.

Kalikel

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

Because I am losing weight at the rate predicted by my caloric deficit.

That does not, in any way, prove that eating late has no effect on weight for you, much less for anyone at all.

All it shows is that you can eat late and lose weight, which nobody has disputed.

Yes, it does. Perhaps you didn't read it carefully enough.

My caloric deficit predicts a loss of X pounds per week. I lose X pounds per week. If eating late at night slowed my weight loss, I wouldn't lose weight at the predicted rate; I would lose more slowly. But I don't.

Now, it is at least conceivable that eating late does slow my weight loss, but does so within the margin of error of the stated caloric information for the food I eat, but such a slowing not even a remotely a concern -- and would be utterly undetectable --in the real world.

Either you want to stick by your original statement that you've proven eating late has no effect on weight OR you you accept that it's still possible that eating late could have an effect. There are three camps: It does, It doesn't and It might. Gotta pick one. You picked two: It doesn't and It might.

I will skip the rude, personal comment.

It's might be that weight loss elves affect weight loss. That doesn't mean it's a realistic consideration even if it can't be disproven.

My caloric deficit predicts a loss of X and I lose X, therefore eating late doesn't slow my weight loss. That's definitional. My weight loss simply is not slower than the caloric deficit predicts. It's not my fault if you can't understand or accept that.

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

DeguelloTex

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

It has no effect on weight that is any different from eating at any other time of day.

Kalikel

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

It has no effect on weight that is any different from eating at any other time of day.

Great. Solidly in a camp. Yay that.

I still think it's possible, but I respect your opinion.

DeguelloTex

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

It has no effect on weight that is any different from eating at any other time of day.

Great. Solidly in a camp. Yay that.

I still think it's possible, but in respect your opinion.

Do you have any credible sources which have demonstrated that it might make a difference?

Kalikel

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

It has no effect on weight that is any different from eating at any other time of day.

Great. Solidly in a camp. Yay that.

I still think it's possible, but in respect your opinion.

Do you have any credible sources which have demonstrated that it might make a difference?

You don't need to demonstrate that something *might* make a difference. Unless someone proves that it does or does not, the possibility just exists.

There might be another solar system. There might be a heaven. There might be a snake in my pool, but until I go out there and look, there is no way to know.

Possibilities aren't proven; they just exist.

lemurcat12

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

It has no effect on weight that is any different from eating at any other time of day.

Great. Solidly in a camp. Yay that.

I still think it's possible, but I respect your opinion.

Here's my thought:

If someone thinks it might make a difference, a personal experiment is a good idea. Try varying eating times and holding everything else equal. Do one for a month and the other for a month. If nothing else it might provide incentive for two months of on goal eating.

For me, that I lose as predicted eating whenever I want suggests that it does not, at least, interfere with weight loss, and I see no reason why I'd lose more rapidly than the prediction says I should eating differently. More importantly--and related to the OP's question, I think--it would be a huge difficulty for me to rearrange my schedule so that I could eat everything before 7 (or whatever it's supposed to be) or to eat over half my calories for breakfast, etc. This added difficulty (like the claims that you must eat 6 mini meals instead of what I consider normal), would make compliance with my eating plan FAR more difficult. Thus, I would be unlikely to do that, and possibly interfere with my own success, unless I thought eating normally was interfering with my ability to lose.

To sum up, my guess is that any minor difference in weight loss based on eating at 9 instead of 6 (and I think if it were other than minor we'd have some better evidence, and my own loss would be less than it is) is going to be outweighed by the fact that personal preferences in eating styles and times are going to affect sustainability and compliance. Thus, I think it's bad, especially in the absence of more evidence than we currently have, to tell people that they must eat all meals between 6 and 6 or must eat breakfast or eat 50% of calories for breakfast, etc. It makes it more complicated and burdensome than it needs to be, and there's inadequate evidence to support those positions.

If scientists want to study it, great, although a lot of these studies do seem to be about relatively small differences on the individual level (see the low carb vs. "low fat" study that got so much buzz recently), and ones that still may not matter for an individual. If individuals want to experiment with what works best for them, well, they should.

Kalikel

Since I am so stupid, boil it down for me.

Are you saying that eating late does not have any effect on weight? Yes or no?

It has no effect on weight that is any different from eating at any other time of day.

Great. Solidly in a camp. Yay that.

I still think it's possible, but I respect your opinion.

Here's my thought:

If someone thinks it might make a difference, a personal experiment is a good idea. Try varying eating times and holding everything else equal. Do one for a month and the other for a month. If nothing else it might provide incentive for two months of on goal eating.

For me, that I lose as predicted eating whenever I want suggests that it does not, at least, interfere with weight loss, and I see no reason why I'd lose more rapidly than the prediction says I should eating differently. More importantly--and related to the OP's question, I think--it would be a huge difficulty for me to rearrange my schedule so that I could eat everything before 7 (or whatever it's supposed to be) or to eat over half my calories for breakfast, etc. This added difficulty (like the claims that you must eat 6 mini meals instead of what I consider normal), would make compliance with my eating plan FAR more difficult. Thus, I would be unlikely to do that, and possibly interfere with my own success, unless I thought eating normally was interfering with my ability to lose.

To sum up, my guess is that any minor difference in weight loss based on eating at 9 instead of 6 (and I think if it were other than minor we'd have some better evidence, and my own loss would be less than it is) is going to be outweighed by the fact that personal preferences in eating styles and times are going to affect sustainability and compliance. Thus, I think it's bad, especially in the absence of more evidence than we currently have, to tell people that they must eat all meals between 6 and 6 or must eat breakfast or eat 50% of calories for breakfast, etc. It makes it more complicated and burdensome than it needs to be, and there's inadequate evidence to support those positions.

If scientists want to study it, great, although a lot of these studies do seem to be about relatively small differences on the individual level (see the low carb vs. "low fat" study that got so much buzz recently), and ones that still may not matter for an individual. If individuals want to experiment with what works best for them, well, they should.

I've never suggested people not follow their bliss, as I believe everyone should.

I was lambasted and called names for saying that since so many rational, intelligent people (who were never fat) swear by it, I cannot discount the idea and am on the fence. Amongst the chorus of name-calling was the "That's not how Science works" claim.

Yeah, bro, that is how Science works.

There is so much nobody knows about the body. So much they're just learning is there to be discovered and more yet that nobody has fathomed.

Refusing to consider the possibility is cool. Everyone is entitled to believe what they believe, for whatever reasons they choose. It's no excuse for ridiculing others, though. Even if they're right, there still isn't any reason to ridicule others. But doing it with absolutely no reason except for your closed-mindedness and saying it's In The Name Of Science...

Geez.

Branstin

Meal timing doesn't affect weight loss. Just don't blow your calorie deficiency.

I know this is an oft-quoted popular myth on MFP, but it's really not true.

It's not to say you won't lose weight while in a deficit, but meal timing definitely affects the physiology of nutrition.

There may be other factors involves like satiety, energy, concentration, indigestion, medication, and performance but the actual timing of meals does not affect weight loss. It is bogus to believe the position of the sun to the earth is related to weight loss.

Tell that to the NIH.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24666537

NIH is already aware so perhaps you should spend more time over at NIH:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1905998
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8383639
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11319656

Branstin

I eat late every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss one bit.

How do you know?

I look at myself in the mirror every day :P

The fact that you've lost weight isn't actually an indicator that meal timing hasn't affected you "one bit."

I have never made the contention that you can't lose weight when eating late. I am making the distinction between losing weight and blanketdly stating that "meal timing does not affect weight loss."

Other than the study you posted about rodents, where are the studies based on humans that concluded that meal timing effect weight loss for the general population? Until you find one, I stand by my statement. Meal timing does not affect weight loss.

cwolfman13

Meal timing doesn't affect weight loss. Just don't blow your calorie deficiency.

I know this is an oft-quoted popular myth on MFP, but it's really not true.

It's not to say you won't lose weight while in a deficit, but meal timing definitely affects the physiology of nutrition.

There may be other factors involves like satiety, energy, concentration, indigestion, medication, and performance but the actual timing of meals does not affect weight loss. It is bogus to believe the position of the sun to the earth is related to weight loss.

Tell that to the NIH.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24666537

NIH is already aware so perhaps you should spend more time over at NIH:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1905998
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8383639
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11319656

I was just about to post these...thanks...

cwolfman13

There are three camps: It does, It doesn't and It might. Gotta pick one. You picked two: It doesn't and It might.

Actually, there's a fourth camp...the one that says, that it might possibly make some difference...but really, that difference is so minuscule as to largely be irrelevant and certainly not worth all of this hand ringing derp people do over it.

But hey...it's MFP...nobody does derp like MFP right?

Kalikel

There are three camps: It does, It doesn't and It might. Gotta pick one. You picked two: It doesn't and It might.

Actually, there's a fourth camp...the one that says, that it might possibly make some difference...but really, that difference is so minuscule as to largely be irrelevant and certainly not worth all of this hand ringing derp people do over it.

But hey...it's MFP...nobody does derp like MFP right?

This is the second time I've seen the word "derp" and the first time was here. I don't know what it means.

The example you give is not a fourth thing. It the "It's possible" camp, with tacked-on assumptions about the difference would make and additional commentary about not caring.