Late Night Eating

eammarx

Alrighty. I joined in late December and did not really start using this site until January 1 (new years res).

Anyway, I have not been eating my excercise calories because I did not see the point but I read the other post saying that I should so I will try my hardest to do it. So I always have 300-400+ calories left from excercising. Plus I eat dinner after so I am full.

I give myself a deadline, no eating after 8pm. I feel more energized in the morning if I do not go to bed digesting food but I find myself going to bed hungry, huuunnnggryyyyyy, hhhhuuuuuunnnnngggrrryyyy!

Here is my question; So is it benificial to not eat late? Should I stick to my cut off time and not eat if I am hungry after 8pm?

Thanks!
:flowerforyou:

eammarx

Alrighty. I joined in late December and did not really start using this site until January 1 (new years res).

Anyway, I have not been eating my excercise calories because I did not see the point but I read the other post saying that I should so I will try my hardest to do it. So I always have 300-400+ calories left from excercising. Plus I eat dinner after so I am full.

I give myself a deadline, no eating after 8pm. I feel more energized in the morning if I do not go to bed digesting food but I find myself going to bed hungry, huuunnnggryyyyyy, hhhhuuuuuunnnnngggrrryyyy!

Here is my question; So is it benificial to not eat late? Should I stick to my cut off time and not eat if I am hungry after 8pm?

Thanks!
:flowerforyou:

borac

I would recomend you to eat more in the am.. i'm sure you will not be hungry in the late pm.. unless it's a habit to snack late - that you will have to change in that case.. but try eating more in the morning, during the day, etc..

Don't eat late at night- you will not like it , your stomach will not like it , .. the nights-sleep is meant to be
restfull " for the body- and your stomach is part of the body it's not fair to keep it working grave yard shift

eammarx

Thank you! That is what I thought.

I am very used to eating at night. I haven't been dieting for probably 2 years maybe longer, since I was pregnant and had my son turing two in April.

Maybe it will take me a bit to get past the hunger at night but I just gotta stick to it.

borac

well i don't know why you are up so late at night but i did read an article that said our brain sometimes confuses the need of " sleep " with hunger.. so - maybe all you need to do is just hit the pillow ? .. If you can't sleep , try reading instead .. but reading in bed - makes me fall asleep very easy
just a tip..

and don't ask why I'm up :laugh:

eammarx

That is so interesting actually I wonder if I have done that, confusing sleep with hunger. Maybe I will go to bed soon. I am tired tonight.

songbyrdsweet

There are a milllllion threads on this topic...lately a lot of people have been asking. The short version: If you stay within your calories, it doesn't matter when you eat.

PedalHound

Had to chyme in here as I've got some training with this stuff
There is a LOT of hype about the whole idea of eating (or not) at night. People are confusing emotion with physiology. There is no magical time of day after which the calories are more readily turned to fat and cutting off eating before bed time is not inherently good or bad. Night time snacking as an emotional tool to numb oneself after the stresses of the day (a common practice among emotional eaters) IS something to address because it's not about hunger physically, it's about hunger emotionally.
You DO want to make breakfast a big player as far as meals in the day go since you are breaking the night's fast and setting your metabolism up for the day ahead. And people do indeed confuse fatigue and hunger because the body will get to a point where it basically says, "I've been sending these sleep signals out for a while and if you're not going to rest you need to give me some more energy to go on!". That said, I make it a habit to have a protein-rich snack quite shortly before bed for two reasons. One is that the long break between meals does cause some metabolic flux and it can help to stabilize blood sugar for longer. Two is that it is during rest that our bodies repair tissues and recharge. If you are working your muscles your body will be looking for protein with which to rebuild and you will recover from exercise that much more efficiently and see better results generally if your body can make the most of its recovery time. The formula there is enough water, sleep and protein!
The point is to take your cues partly from your logical mind and partly from your body. Get a good chunk of your cals at breakfast and spread other meals and snacks evenly throughout the day to keep your blood sugar stable and your metabolism confident. Try to get a good balance of macronutrients (carbs, fats, proteins) at each meal, get lots of water, and give your body a little something healthy to work on in the evening particularly if you've done any resistance training :happy:

borac

you are right - it does't really matter for the weight loss - when you are eating.. and the rules
" don't eat after 6-7 pm.. " are just plain " diet- rules - don't like them..

but not eating late at night is not a " weight issue " as much as a health- and discomfort.. it does depend what you eat/ snack.. but. i know that you can't really have a good rest if you are digesting or having hurt burn- God i used to hate waking up in the night with stomach reflx.. from what ever i had few hours ago- since i stopped eating after 7ish .. don't have the problem any more..

PedalHound

you are right - it does't really matter for the weight loss - when you are eating.. and the rules
" don't eat after 6-7 pm.. " are just plain " diet- rules - don't like them..

but not eating late at night is not a " weight issue " as much as a health- and discomfort.. it does depend what you eat/ snack.. but. i know that you can't really have a good rest if you are digesting or having hurt burn- God i used to hate waking up in the night with stomach reflx.. from what ever i had few hours ago- since i stopped eating after 7ish .. don't have the problem any more..

Yep, one must honour their own physiology for sure! Some people have other things going on (like reflux!) that make eating too close to bed time a problem. Others' bodies are so sensitive to energy intake that eating near bed time makes it hard to relax because their bodies take the energy as a signal to alter the brain chemistry for waking tasks. As with *almost* everything surrounding bodies, be it weight loss, general health or other, there is no one magical answer that will fit everyone's vastly diverse bodies. The best we can do is to create averages and remind people that in the end they have to figure out what fits AND works for them

Fitness_Chick

Had to chyme in here as I've got some training with this stuff
There is a LOT of hype about the whole idea of eating (or not) at night. People are confusing emotion with physiology. There is no magical time of day after which the calories are more readily turned to fat and cutting off eating before bed time is not inherently good or bad. Night time snacking as an emotional tool to numb oneself after the stresses of the day (a common practice among emotional eaters) IS something to address because it's not about hunger physically, it's about hunger emotionally.
You DO want to make breakfast a big player as far as meals in the day go since you are breaking the night's fast and setting your metabolism up for the day ahead. And people do indeed confuse fatigue and hunger because the body will get to a point where it basically says, "I've been sending these sleep signals out for a while and if you're not going to rest you need to give me some more energy to go on!". That said, I make it a habit to have a protein-rich snack quite shortly before bed for two reasons. One is that the long break between meals does cause some metabolic flux and it can help to stabilize blood sugar for longer. Two is that it is during rest that our bodies repair tissues and recharge. If you are working your muscles your body will be looking for protein with which to rebuild and you will recover from exercise that much more efficiently and see better results generally if your body can make the most of its recovery time. The formula there is enough water, sleep and protein!
The point is to take your cues partly from your logical mind and partly from your body. Get a good chunk of your cals at breakfast and spread other meals and snacks evenly throughout the day to keep your blood sugar stable and your metabolism confident. Try to get a good balance of macronutrients (carbs, fats, proteins) at each meal, get lots of water, and give your body a little something healthy to work on in the evening particularly if you've done any resistance training :happy:

What an excellent post PedalHound!!!:drinker: :drinker: :bigsmile: Thanks for taking time to share all that...I know I learned alot!:drinker:

FC

PedalHound

My pleasure! :bigsmile: