Eating late at night vs eating too few calories.

Bentley2718

Amazed with the amount of people who dismiss the 'eating late at night' idea as a myth... How come so many people say it is bad for you then?

As I never suffered from heart burn so far (apart from when I was pregnant) and that seems the only down side of eating late, it looks like I can start hunting for some more food then.

I think the source of this my is that for a lot of people, eating that takes place late at night is unplanned eating, and puts them over their needed/desired calories. It's not the timing of the eating that is bad for you, it is the excess calories, it just so happens, that for a lot of people they go hand in hand.

SueInAz

You could also just not eat all your calories. One day of over- or under-eating is not going to matter.

I enjoyed readinng the variety of posts and it has definitly given me a better insight into the 'eating late' discussion.
However, the above is so true. Although I regularly have evening meetings, I normally make sure I eat before my meetings, as it is a patttern that suites me. however, one day of eating late and eating too few calories isn't going to harm you. Just as 1 day of over eating isn't going to harm you, either....

everything in moderation.

This is the right attitude. One day of any eating behavior (short of consuming poison) isn't going to cause a problem. On a regular basis, however, it's better to eat late than not eat enough. Time of day doesn't matter, it's the total calories consumed.

As far as the "not eating at night" myth, it's been bandied about because many people eat EXCESS calories at night. If you don't track what you're eating and you snack after 7pm, you are more likely to consume more calories than your body burns with the extra being during that time. However, if you're logging calories and know exactly what you're consuming it matters very little at what time of day you eat.

JoCam127

*Am sooo glad I read this thread

Thankyou 'imkegoal' for asking the question, & to all the people that have answered & made me realise that I don't have to feel bad if my dinner is not on the table by 7pm ... with 4 children & numerous after-school activities, plus me eating slightly different to the rest of the family at the moment, I am often the last one to eat & it's after they have all gone to bed

lilchicksta94

I always eat my dinner around 8 pm because my husband works late and then I have a snack around 10pm... Ive been losing without any problems and I was told by my old trainer and my doctor that as long as you have the calories then eat. My new trainer, however, said I almost gave him a "heart attack" when I told him my eating schedule. I followed his advice for a week and didn't lose anything (he wanted me to cut my cals to no more than 1600 no matter how much exercise I was doing). I bumped my cals back up and ate like normal and lost again... so I figure to each their own :-)

CMmrsfloyd

Amazed with the amount of people who dismiss the 'eating late at night' idea as a myth... How come so many people say it is bad for you then?

As I never suffered from heart burn so far (apart from when I was pregnant) and that seems the only down side of eating late, it looks like I can start hunting for some more food then.

I think the source of this my is that for a lot of people, eating that takes place late at night is unplanned eating, and puts them over their needed/desired calories. It's not the timing of the eating that is bad for you, it is the excess calories, it just so happens, that for a lot of people they go hand in hand.

^^^ Yep, that right there. The whole 'don't eat at night if you want to lose weight' thing is a quick and easy way for people to cut calorie if they don't know anything about calories. If you normally sit down in front of the TV and eat a bag of chips and down a soda or two and all of a sudden you stop doing that, you're cutting calories. Thing is, if you're on MFP, chances are you are more aware of your caloric needs than the average couch-potato snacker, thus you know if you still have calories left in the evening to enjoy perhaps a reasonably portioned snack. By being on MFP, you have more knowledge than some casual dieters that say 'gosh I need to lose 5 lbs, time to stop eating after 7', knowledge is power! Grab a snack if you're still in the green. ;-)

Now, some people do feel that avoiding snacking just works best for them, perhaps they have a hard time keeping things reasonable if they start snacking so they'd rather avoid it altogether, perhaps they like having larger meals by not spreading their calories out into snacks, that's all good too, it's whatever works for you.

rubysphoto

My understanding is your body does not know what time it is so even while your sleeping you can short yourself of food and have your body go in to starve mode, but I try not to eat high fat and simple carbs late at night but go for a high protein snack to keep me full. Just my thoughts and opinion. Hope this helps.