Eat or don't eat that is the question

wendibartel

So here is my question. I started off really good this week with having meals prepped and ready to go for my crockport. I ate great for lunch and dinner Monday and Tues. Great Wed for lunch then dinner came around and I was faced with a buffet I did the best I could by getting a ginormous plate of salad lots of veggies and lite dressing. Stayed away from the fried foods and ate mostly veggies but still know some were loaded down with butter. I was even able to control my big love for Rolls with Honey butter or some would say my honey butter with rolls. Note I only ate a half of a roll and a fourth the amount of butter I would normally eat. So I felt ok with this night even though it was a small set back. Then Thursday came around. I missed breakfast had a good lunch. I thought my dad had made plans with us to meet some friends for dinner Thursday night so I was prepared to make healthy choices again. When I got home from work I said ok where we going to eat so I would have time to plan out what I was going to eat. He said we arent going to eat I am going to work on thier cars and you will be visiting. I felt an extreme amount of stress come over me. I hadnt had any back up plans that I could just grab and run out the door. I thought ok my 2 year old has to eat so we can get him something from mcdonalds worse case senerio. Then we began talking about running to get fast food once we were at our friends house. I ended up getting a cheeseburger from wendys with lots of veggies. I had the calories left for the day but it wasnt the healthiest choice.


So after that long drawn out story my question to you is. When you are faced with a situation where you can eat at a decent hour but it would be less then healthy meal or eat late meal that is better for you (shortly before bed) which option wins?Or should I just skip the meal all together?

Thank you for your help. My attempt at getting back on track was great this morning until I walked out the door without my lunch. I still managed to eat what I feel was decent 3 inches of subway roastbeef sandwhich lots of veggies no sauce, grapes and rice cakes for a snack.

taso42_DELETED

Eat

bry_all01

do not starve

LH2011

My dinner time is always different as I am a busy Mom of two active boys - I have my breakfast at about 10.30am after they gone to school my lunch at about 3pm after I collect them from school and dinner can be anywhere from 7pm to 9pm this late eating has never effected my weight loss. So in answer to your question I would wait and have the better option when I got home. I would never skip a meal.

yoghurtand

I eat whenever I feel like it. If that is at three in the morning or eleven at night, so be it. I don't believe that eating before bed has any long term detrimental effect on you as long as it is within your calorie allowance. I would eat the later healthy meal but if I was really hungry and couldn't wait, I'd eat the earlier less healthy one as long as I'd 'budgeted' for it. Every once in a while won't kill you in my opinion.

AHealthierRhonda

My go to quick meal, every time is cereal! LOL I ahve had it more for dinner than breakfast I think. It is quick and light, as long as it is a healthy cereal. I also will put some fruit on it and I now use The Smart Milk, fewer cals, sugar, sodium,....

twink44

The science is calories in and calories out. It doesn't matter when. It does matter what. Eating healthy at bedtime is better than eating lousy earlier.

TheNewLK

consume food.... that is all

agugino

Either option is fine, when you eat earlier, you have more time or chance to burn the calories. But then I also read that it doesn't matter when you eat, it is all calories in and calories out. I think in both scenarios you did really well by making the healthiest choices you had available to you. Don't beat yourself up, just continue to make good decisions as you have been. It'll all work out in the end.

killagb

So here is my question. I started off really good this week with having meals prepped and ready to go for my crockport. I ate great for lunch and dinner Monday and Tues. Great Wed for lunch then dinner came around and I was faced with a buffet I did the best I could by getting a ginormous plate of salad lots of veggies and lite dressing. Stayed away from the fried foods and ate mostly veggies but still know some were loaded down with butter. I was even able to control my big love for Rolls with Honey butter or some would say my honey butter with rolls. Note I only ate a half of a roll and a fourth the amount of butter I would normally eat. So I felt ok with this night even though it was a small set back. Then Thursday came around. I missed breakfast had a good lunch. I thought my dad had made plans with us to meet some friends for dinner Thursday night so I was prepared to make healthy choices again. When I got home from work I said ok where we going to eat so I would have time to plan out what I was going to eat. He said we arent going to eat I am going to work on thier cars and you will be visiting. I felt an extreme amount of stress come over me. I hadnt had any back up plans that I could just grab and run out the door. I thought ok my 2 year old has to eat so we can get him something from mcdonalds worse case senerio. Then we began talking about running to get fast food once we were at our friends house. I ended up getting a cheeseburger from wendys with lots of veggies. I had the calories left for the day but it wasnt the healthiest choice.


So after that long drawn out story my question to you is. When you are faced with a situation where you can eat at a decent hour but it would be less then healthy meal or eat late meal that is better for you (shortly before bed) which option wins?Or should I just skip the meal all together?

Thank you for your help. My attempt at getting back on track was great this morning until I walked out the door without my lunch. I still managed to eat what I feel was decent 3 inches of subway roastbeef sandwhich lots of veggies no sauce, grapes and rice cakes for a snack.

tldr, eat now talk later. :smokin:

h82bfat

I think it is important to eat regularly. It might make sense to have a stash of healthy snacks with a long shelf life (A few 100 cal packs of almonds or some protein bars.) It sounds like you made some good choices in less than ideal circumstances. At the end of the day it's not any one meal that is important, but a trend of healthy eating and regular exercise.

newleafbeth11

The reason most nutritionists recommend people close the kitchen, so to speak, at a certain hour is because people tend to choose high calorie and fat foods as a late night snack (think ice cream, buttery popcorn, chips, etc). If you are eating a healthier meal later, and still within your calorie intake for the day, is a much better choice. But don't completely skip a meal. Eat a handful of veggies or something to tide you over so you don't overeat if you have to eat late. That being said, no reason to beat yourself up over a cheeseburger every now and then as long as you aren't overeating and choosing unhealthy options all of the time. Guilt does not help dieting (not that I'm good at avoiding it either, but it's still good to know!)

brucedelaney

IMHO, I'd never give up eating if I'm hungry. My wife and I, force ourselves to eat out once a week. However we just don't go someplace and order anything on the menu either. We do a little research ahead of time and actually know what we're going to order before we ever get there. Not only does this allow us to continue eating healthy but it is also training our brains to know what we should and shouldn't be eating when we go out. We won't always have the luxury of knowing what the food will contain ahead of time but our bodies, and conscience will certainly guide us when that time comes.

It sounds like you made some great choices at the buffet. I know I find buffet style dining to be very challenging for me because I always feel like I need to "get my money's worth" since it is "all you can eat".

cjw6

I'd go for a healthy snack now (maybe fruit, cereal etc) and then the late healthy meal. Its not something to panic over though- its just one meal. It won;t have a massive impact unless you are doing it every week.

wendibartel

Thank you everyone. I have just always heard dont eat before bed so I just wanted to get opinions. They were all great. Its hard not to feel guilty when I went cold turkey on many things and I just dont want to mess this up. Thanks again.