Fact or Fiction???

BabyBubbles31 · October 2011

Is it true that it is crucial to not eat after like six pm to lose weight?? I am having a hard time not eating since I stay up late, usually going to bed around midnight or so. Any suggestions or advice? I would like to know the secret to not eating or if this is even mandatory to lose the weight?

VeganGal84 · October 2011

Fiction. It doesn't matter what time you eat, only what you eat and how much. :-) And really, it's more about how much if your goal is weight loss.

tiggerbounce411 · October 2011

Well, You really shouldn't eat after a certain time, but I too am a night owl and go to bed late. I would juggle around your fruit comsumption to allow for snacks in the evenings, even sugar free low cal jello or something of that nature. I eat after 6 all the time and I am losing consistantly. I just do light stuff after about 7 or so.

jaxson1974 · October 2011

Fiction. I eat snacks all the time at night before bed, and it doesn't change a thing for my weight loss.

ncqueenbee · October 2011

I've recently heard on Dr. Oz that you shouldn't eat within three hours of going to bed.

reese66 · October 2011

Fiction, it doesn't matter.

asyouseefit · October 2011

Fiction. Eat when you are hungry!

cheeksv · October 2011

I try not to if I am going to weigh in the morning. But It is more like I do not eat after I have had dinner ( unless I have an early dinner and we have popcorn while watching a movie). Try a late dinner?

ber3023 · October 2011

I don't always eat in the evenings, but someday's I'm lower on the calorie side and feel I need to eat something after dinner to get more calories in. I'm usually up to around midnight as well. I just try to not eat say after around 9 or 10ish. At least then its had a couple hrs to digest a little before I get in bed.

PhilipByrne · October 2011

Is it true that it is crucial to not eat after like six pm to lose weight?? I am having a hard time not eating since I stay up late, usually going to bed around midnight or so. Any suggestions or advice? I would like to know the secret to not eating or if this is even mandatory to lose the weight?

This is a complete fiction, but has been repeated so often, especially by celebs, that it has been accepted as fact.

Doesn't matter when you consume those calories or indeed when you exercise.

Slán
Phil

sharonsjones · October 2011

I eat in the evening all of the time. As long as I am in my calorie goal I don't worry about it. I mantain just fine and don't gain any weight.

khartley535 · October 2011

Fiction. I have a co worker who routinely wakes up in the middle of the night because he is hungry and goes to have a snack or even a whole meal. He doesn't have any issues with weight.

I usually have some type of snack within 1 hour prior to going to bed, and I've managed to lose 11 pounds in the last 4 weeks.

jram70 · October 2011

The only truth is that if you add on 500 calories right before you go to bed, you may go over on your allotment for the day because you won't burn it off. Otherwise I say fiction. Just look around the animal kingdom. Almost every mammal does what after it eats - sleep. We are the only ones with the weight problem.

MinnieInMaine · October 2011

Fiction!

lindaday · October 2011

Anyone know why I am stuck at the same weight for the past month. started out @ 211, now weigh 201, which took several months to get down to. what am I doing wrong? How do I chANGE my stats?

alcon79 · October 2011

Because of work and gym schedules, I usually don't sit down to eat dinner until 845-9pm and generally go to bed around 1130pm. And it's a full cooked dinner, not a simple salad or something. I've eaten this late for 5 years, and since I started MFP in August I've lost 10 lbs because of what types of food I was eating, not when I was eating it.

liftingbro · October 2011

I've recently heard on Dr. Oz that you shouldn't eat within three hours of going to bed.

Dr. Oz is a moron then.

Do you think the body says "Oh.. it's 8 pm , all of this food goes to fat!".

No.

The issue is that people think that if you eat then become active your body won't use the food you just ate and will turn it into fat.

COMPLETE BS.

When you digest food it enters the blood stream in the form of Carbs/Protein/Fats. Most of that is burned off for energy BEFORE it could be stored as fat. The vast majority of the macros not burned for energy are then absorbed by the body. Protein is absorbed and used to maintain and build tissue. Glucose will be stored as glycogen. Fats are stored as fats.

The key hear is that fats will not be stored if you are in caloric deficit!!!!

If you have 2000 calories per day to be in a deficit and you eat 2000 calories in fat at 12am you will not store any of it as fat!

alyssamiller77 · October 2011

Fiction. This theory comes from the idea that as you sleep your body expends less energy while your sleeping so if you're digesting food your body has no choice but to store that energy as fat. The reality however is that your body does a lot of recovery work while you sleep and that recovery requires nutrients and energy. While your body may burn fewer calories per hour while you sleep than when you're up and actively moving about, remember you sleep (hopefully) for at least 6 straight hours where you eat nothing. So whatever energy you've gotten from the food you've eaten over the course of the day needs to also support the energy needs during those sleep hours.

Personally, about a half-hour to an hour before bed I have a big ol' Casein protein shake. It hasn't hurt my weight loss goals one bit. I do drink it a half hour to an hour before bed so that my body has time to digest before I try to go to sleep. That's just a preference for comfort, I don't like going to bed with a full belly.

dshreiner · October 2011

My mentality has been as long as you have calories to "spend" on eating in the evening, you can do it. Personally, I watch what I eat in the evenings. I lean towards fresh fruits, low fat, and low sodium foods. It's been working for me.