Is it better to not eat past 7 at night ??

balletgurl16

i was watching an interview and this guy lost heaps of weight by of course changing his diet but also not eating past 6 or 7 at night , does this help you loose weight ?

Schwiggity

kr3851

I make it a point not to eat after I've finished my dinner. But that's just to curb my late-night snacking habits, and not for any other reason. In the end, it's all calories in, calories out. WHEN you eat this doesn't matter, in my opinion.

Feel free to shoot me down, as I'm sure you all will!

imateapotx

I agree with the above... I work 6pm - 10pm but cos of where I live I have to set off at 4pm I don't wanna eat tea/dinner at that time and when I did in past I found I was hungry and snacked at 10pm when I got home, I don't think it matters as long as you are sensible with your choices xx

change_happens

i was watching an interview and this guy lost heaps of weight by of course changing his diet but also not eating past 6 or 7 at night , does this help you loose weight ?

One of the weight loss books I have been reading, Bob Greene's Best Life Diet, says not to eat after seven. He says if you go to bed hungry, great! A little tummy grumble lets you know that your body will be pulling from fat stores while you sleep. (this is not word for word, but summarized in my own words)

tdotwitch

I think it depends on when you go to bed. If you stay up late then it shouldn't be a problem. They say you shouldn't eat 4 hrs b4 you go to sleep buuuuttttt I never did follow rules very well :laugh:

MakingAChoice

There is no specific time I follow. I do try to eat my last snack/meal an hour or two before bedtime though. If you go to bed hungry you are much more likely to get up in the middle of the night to eat. That is not something you want to be doing, if for no other reason than it interrupts your sleep. This 1-2 hour before bed 'rule' has worked pretty well for me.

Miss_Z_87

Yes - your metabolism slows down at night, therefore your body will store the 'unused energy' if you need to eat, have something high in protein (with minimal carbs) like a protein shake with water.

goron59

I think it's a nonsense generalisation. How does this rule know how you work, what time you go to bed, do you work nights, have you been able to eat at all in the last 12 hours?

It's as silly as the "8 cups of water" thing - same 8 cups for a 120 lb runner and a 300 lb couch potato?

Listen to your body.

trud72

i never eat past my dinner time(around 5.00pm),!

Schwiggity

So much ****ing bioscience!

mideon_696

also think this is nonsense...

when i dopped 9 kg earlier this year, my 6th and last meal of the day was ALWAYS around 10pm, right before bed.
with calorie restriction, i had no issues losing the weight i wanted to...

taso42_DELETED

nope

italianissima

I would have to agree with most everyone else- the timing isn't really so much the issue.
I will add this though: keeping your blood sugar stable is what helps with weight loss.
You don't want to starve and have your blood sugar dip too low- the spike up when you eat.
You don't want to eat too much and have your blood sugar spike- then dip low later.
Keep the blood sugar stable and you will feel great, and see results.
How do you do this? Eat small portions of protein and carbs often- for example eat 4 small meals and 2 small snacks.
This way you are eating 6 times a day, about every 3 hours- no starving and no up-down blood sugar.

For more information please read: The Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno
It's actually not a "diet." It teaches you how to eat clean as a lifestyle change.
Tosca has an amazing before-after story!

Hope this helps!

littlemili

No. I never eat dinner before 7 and a pretty great track record of losing weight. During college weeks I also tend to eat a carb-heavy dinner, and have a big proportion of my calories packed into it. I actually find I lose weight faster when I stick to 3 regular meals a day rather than many smaller ones stacked earlier in the day. Last night I had dinner at 11.30pm and this morning recorded a 1lb loss since 4 days ago.

sgv0918

I work days and nights all over the place. I don't have the luxury of deciding not to eat past 7p. But I'd just do what i want. Calories in is calories in. they don't have a watch

joyse

i was watching an interview and this guy lost heaps of weight by of course changing his diet but also not eating past 6 or 7 at night , does this help you loose weight ?

One of the weight loss books I have been reading, Bob Greene's Best Life Diet, says not to eat after seven. He says if you go to bed hungry, great! A little tummy grumble lets you know that your body will be pulling from fat stores while you sleep. (this is not word for word, but summarized in my own words)

Yes, that is exactly right. I never eat after 6 and by 10.30 when I go to bed I am slightly hungry. You just have to know your body. I have found that I lose weight easily during the night while eating this way. I can literally feel the fat moving from my legs. But maybe that is the case just with my body. In any way eating after 7 when your metabolism slows down isn't a good idea.

MissTomGettingThin

:drinker:

littlemili

But maybe that is the case just with my body. In any way eating after 7 when your metabolism slows down isn't a good idea.

Ok this is ridiculous - when your metabolism slows down depends on so many lifestyle factors. If you sleep til 10am, work/study til 6pm, then go to the gym before dinner at 9pm of course your metabolism isn't slowing down. If you are up at 5am to workout, and home from work/study at 4pm then if you sit on your bum in front of the TV from the minute you get home then yes, it will be slowing down. Fact is it's so marginal it makes no difference.

All these rules are just ways of restricting the calories that go in. If you don't allow yourself to eat after 7 you're saving a lot of calories from where you might have snacked, had dinner or a glass of wine. That is why people swear by it, just like they do by any other faddy idea.

BodyByButter

Just last night I was reading on the CDC websitE that it does not matter.

AmeChops

I don't tend to eat past 7/8pm but that's only because I can feel a little squiffy if I go to bed on a too full stomach.

jbucci1186

yup.
having a cutoff time for eating would be torture for me.

sgrinavi

About 10 yrs ago I lost 40 lbs over a 4 month period eating a bowl of oatmeal mixed with FF cottage cheese right before bed.....

Your body still requires a nice, even, supply of fuel though the night.

1goodymom67

It depends on who you talk to. I have heard the same thing. I have also heard you have a certain amount of calories to eat in a day and it doesn't matter when you eat it. Hmm I am not sure. I think there has to be a happy medium ya know? I think that if you eat 5 candy bars after 6-7 pm I don't think so!! I try to eat dinner and then not eat after that. I drink water.

Nikkiairforcewife

If that person was bingeing at night, I could see there'd be a difference making a cut-off time.

Personally, I tend to be a late night snacker. So I have to balance out my day if I'm going to eat like that-- you know, save up some calories for the evening.

Onesnap

It's not the time on the clock, it is the quality of the calories you put in your body. A 200 calorie donut is way different than 200 calories of salad.

Also, my husband and I always eat dinner after 7pm. I typically get home from the gym at 7:45 and we normally eat at 8:30pm. My husband is the perfect weight for his height and I'm back on track now right where I should be. It was not the later dinner times that made me gain weight in recent years. It was eating lots of 'free' food at work and when I traveled for work.

Eating after 7pm is not a bad thing--just remember it is all about the quality of those calories. Whole foods, clean eating is key!

Onesnap

I think it's a nonsense generalisation. How does this rule know how you work, what time you go to bed, do you work nights, have you been able to eat at all in the last 12 hours?

It's as silly as the "8 cups of water" thing - same 8 cups for a 120 lb runner and a 300 lb couch potato?

Listen to your body.

Agreed!

LorinaLynn

If you typically binge and go over your calories eating a quart of ice cream at 8pm, then... yeah, it'll help.

If you eat healthy meals and snacks and keep within your calorie range, it doesn't matter when you eat. My husband doesn't get home from work until 8-8:30, so that's when we eat. When he worked 3rd shift, our biggest meal of the day was lunch instead of supper, and eating a big meal at noon vs 8pm didn't affect my progress either way.

proats

Yes - your metabolism slows down at night, therefore your body will store the 'unused energy' if you need to eat, have something high in protein (with minimal carbs) like a protein shake with water.

LOL at this entire post. Are we back in the 1990's again?

taso42_DELETED

Yes - your metabolism slows down at night, therefore your body will store the 'unused energy' if you need to eat, have something high in protein (with minimal carbs) like a protein shake with water.

LOL at this entire post. Are we back in the 1990's again?

Must be. I wish I was reading while I ate my bowl of banana oatmeal right before bed last night.

ChantalGG

Hey it worked for me, when i lost 80 lbs. Just one if the many little things i did. btw it wasnt after 7 it was 3 or 4 hours before bed.