Eat after certain hours?

Red13

Just curious what everyone does when it comes to nighttime eating. Sometimes I'll have calories left towards the end of the night but I feel like I shouldn't eat after 7-8 o'clock. I heard somewhere that a late snack should be carbs but that doesn't seem right cause your body would have a harder time burning it off that late at night, right?

Red13

Just curious what everyone does when it comes to nighttime eating. Sometimes I'll have calories left towards the end of the night but I feel like I shouldn't eat after 7-8 o'clock. I heard somewhere that a late snack should be carbs but that doesn't seem right cause your body would have a harder time burning it off that late at night, right?

GoGetterMom

Depends on your program and what works for you. I am a late to bed & early to rise girl, so the program I chose (because I am actively going till 11pm) allows me to eat at night if needed, but then again, I am only doing 200-300 calories per meal/snack and I am still having a tough time just getting 1200 calories a day....

PrincessLaundry

I'm currently eating a bowl of chocolate mint chip ice cream and it is almost 9:00 PM...

And it's fantabulous!

Jules4506

I was told by my doctor that you should be done with food intake 2 hours before bed. I set a personal goal of 8 p.m. to be done eating by. I typically go to bed between 10 and 11. Some nights are harder than others but I do try.

tonianne98

Eating after certain hours is purely myth. Your body will digest the food regardless and has nothing to do with time of day. The reason many people say it's bad for you, is that you tend to eat bad things late at night - ice cream, chips, etc - things that you'll eat a lot of without realizing it. Also, if you go to bed at midnight, there's no harm in eating at 8pm - you still have 4 hours before going to bed! And I don't know about everyone else, I'm hungry every few hours and that's just setting yourself up for more failure.

Just be sure to eat something good for you "after hours" just like you would with any other snack!

AdreaDawn

Whatever nutrition is in your blood and not used up after a certain time frame turns into fat. If you are not active more of that nurtrition will be turned into fat and so for that reason you should not eat for about 2 hours before bed. Yes, typically late night snacking is worse food, but it has ALOT to do with how many calories you are burning after you eat, and late night eating, if you go to bed after you will not burn enough to compensate. ONLY eat at night if you are under 1200 cal for the day to keep your metabolizm up!!!

jlwhelan1

There is no magic hour. Eat when your body needs fuel!
I eat early.
I eat late.
I usually eat a light meal around 10 or even 11 p.m.
I eat something every 2 hours or so that I'm awake.
If I don't eat before bed I usually wake up hungry an hour or so later or, worse, lay awake trying to sleep. Its not worth it...when I'm hungry I eat.

I've done this for many years, my dh does this, and our kids have a light snack before bed. We're all healthy weights and healthy BMI. Remember eat to fuel. A person going to bed directly after a heavy meal is asking for a bad night's sleep at the very least.

I've posted a study that touches on this in the past...I don't feel like doing the research to find it again right now...(heading to bed.)

Mely

Eating after certain hours is purely myth. Your body will digest the food regardless and has nothing to do with time of day. The reason many people say it's bad for you, is that you tend to eat bad things late at night - ice cream, chips, etc - things that you'll eat a lot of without realizing it. Also, if you go to bed at midnight, there's no harm in eating at 8pm - you still have 4 hours before going to bed! And I don't know about everyone else, I'm hungry every few hours and that's just setting yourself up for more failure.

Just be sure to eat something good for you "after hours" just like you would with any other snack!

I mostly agree with this although I wouldn't say it's entirely a myth. I think the logic is not to eat big meals at night b/c most people are more sedentary and you don't burn it off as quickly as during the day. In many cultures lunch is the main meal and not dinner for this reason. Dinner is usually a light meal. However, if you are active at night (I often excercise in the evening) then I don't see anything wrong with eating healthy food. I personally eat half my dinner b/f I excercise and the other half later with possibly a small healthy snack. I am trying to stop eating 1-2 hours before bed. Last night I ate my entree at about 7pm, went for a walk from 7:45-8:15 and ate a salad with low fat feta cheese at about 9:00 pm. At 10:00 I craved something sweet so I had a nectarine. I went to sleep around 11:00

obliged

Eating after certain hours is purely myth. Your body will digest the food regardless and has nothing to do with time of day. The reason many people say it's bad for you, is that you tend to eat bad things late at night - ice cream, chips, etc - things that you'll eat a lot of without realizing it. Also, if you go to bed at midnight, there's no harm in eating at 8pm - you still have 4 hours before going to bed! And I don't know about everyone else, I'm hungry every few hours and that's just setting yourself up for more failure.

Just be sure to eat something good for you "after hours" just like you would with any other snack!

I mostly agree with this although I wouldn't say it's entirely a myth. I think the logic is not to eat big meals at night b/c most people are more sedentary and you don't burn it off as quickly as during the day. In many cultures lunch is the main meal and not dinner for this reason. Dinner is usually a light meal. However, if you are active at night (I often excercise in the evening) then I don't see anything wrong with eating healthy food. I personally eat half my dinner b/f I excercise and the other half later with possibly a small healthy snack. I am trying to stop eating 1-2 hours before bed. Last night I ate my entree at about 7pm, went for a walk from 7:45-8:15 and ate a salad with low fat feta cheese at about 9:00 pm. At 10:00 I craved something sweet so I had a nectarine. I went to sleep around 11:00

sorry, we only learnt this today in human phys so still working on understanding it, but as the disclaimer says, i aint a doctor

at night you are supposed to be sleeping, you may be at rest but your body is not.... you have a base metabolic rate - your rate of metabolism when you are at rest, because your metabolic reactions never actually stop
after a meal your body is in an "absorptive state" for up to four hours afterwards and after this time it goes into a "post-absorptive state" until one eats again, however at night, depending on when you ate last one can go into fasting mode until they eat again the next morning -hence why the first meal of the day is "break"-"fast"

the timing would mainly depend on (from what i understand) whether you're diabetic or not because of your blood glucose levels (however the body has ways of preventing this - as well as your meds if you're on any - and its only for a few hours), and whether they go up too high or drop too low
so technically i think it doesnt really matter what time you finish eating, it just depends on what and how much you are eating.
but some people do have preferences, so i say just figure out what works best for you and work from there

*also, i dont know if this means if you have a larger meal at night whether you will be less hungry in the morning or not than what you would be if it was a smaller meal, but again that depends on what you're eating

abjones80

Doesn't matter when you eat. the body is constantly burning. Obviously your hourly caloric burn will be less at rest then it is while you're up, or standing around, or exercising. But a calorie is a calorie, eaten or burned. doesn't matter when. And the rule is always the same when you boil down to brass tacks... Calorie in, calorie out!

So long as you take in less than you burn, you'll lose weight. Period. Technically you could eat 1200 calories of chocolate cake everyday, and if you BMR is 1500, then you'd still create a 300 calorie deficit each day, and lose almost a pound each week. Of course what your body will LOOK like will probably not be what you're aiming for.... but you will lose weight, WHY? calorie in, calorie out.

But of course if you're looking for muscle tone and tightness, you'll have to taylor your diet to fuel those elements in the body IE protein for muscles, water and fiber, for leanness and tightness, etc. You are what you eat, trust.

But in terms of WHEN you eat, it doesn't matter. what matters is YOU and when YOU tend to eat the wrong things. For example, my favorite foods are breakfast foods, i know not to go to a waffle house, b/c i'll order the superslam platter, two pecan waffles, extra syrup and butter, and double hashbrowns. So the morning is when i have to be careful. Whereas at night, i'll eat a small bowl of cottage cheese just before bed to give my system a "slow drip" of fuel through the night, and protein for muscle repairs while i sleep and i'm fine....

But if you know boredom, anxiety, or cravings hit you at night, i'd say save your last meal til bedtime. that way you still eat what you planned to, and you get the feeling of eating a lot and feeling full at night.... probably the feeling you're looking for when you want to binge on late night snacks, huh? Good luck.

Katy009

My family typically eats dinner at 8:30 to 9 p.m. every night. Sometimes later, but never earlier than that.