If you stop eating after 6pm, will you lose more weigh

ninerbuff

I don't think it's a myth. Not that dinner at 6 will ruin your diet. But dinner at 8:30pm, snacking at 10pm (even if it's under your calorie count) IS food that will "just sit there" and not be as likely to get worked off. Anecdotally, I find that if I drink a liquid meal (say a cold-press juice combination) in the evening OR eat dinner before 6:30pm (and stay up until 11:30pm after the news... ) then I lose weight much faster and easier than if I eat dinner later in the evening. That is consistently true of my weigh-ins. So, I'm not inclined to think it's a myth.

Food that's sitting at "anytime" of the day won't be utilized as energy till it's needed. So one could eat breakfast in the morning, lay around till 4pm and that wouldn't be any different that eating late at night and laying around till 8am in the morning.

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Lohavio

Your body is not just an calories in calories out machine. There are processes that influence metabolic rates. Here is a link to an NPR story that covered this last year. It showed those whose midday meal was there largest (not their dinner) last more weight.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/30/170591028/to-maximize-weight-loss-eat-early-in-the-day-not-late

LiftCore

Your body is not just an calories in calories out machine. There are processes that influence metabolic rates. Here is a link to an NPR story that covered this last year. It showed those whose midday meal was there largest (not their dinner) last more weight.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/30/170591028/to-maximize-weight-loss-eat-early-in-the-day-not-late

The potential effects of nutrient timing/meal frequency are so miniscule, it is not worth the effort, and people put it's importance way higher than it needs to be compared to things that actually matter e.g calories, macros etc.

Also that source isn't especially reliable, here is something slightly better:
http://examine.com/faq/do-i-need-to-eat-six-times-a-day-to-keep-my-metabolism-high.html

ninerbuff

Your body is not just an calories in calories out machine. There are processes that influence metabolic rates. Here is a link to an NPR story that covered this last year. It showed those whose midday meal was there largest (not their dinner) last more weight.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/30/170591028/to-maximize-weight-loss-eat-early-in-the-day-not-late

Study indicates it went off assumed physical and sleep activity and didn't actually measure either group. I like to review an actual study where both groups did the same amount of work a sleep (actual measurements from both) and then see what the results were.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Ddietdown

I guess I am assuming that one is LESS LIKELY to move around much late at night (when most of us are watching TV or reading) and surely when we are SLEEPING, than earlier in the day (even if one is not aggressively active.) Because during the day most of us have to grocery shop, do laundry, answer phones, go to work, go to school, walk to the car or bus, lift up kids, chase the dog, get dressed, etc.--just daily living movements. I suppose the calorie-burning chances are EQUAL if you are bed-ridden or a true couch potato with servants who prep your food and do all your normal daily living chores for you. However, my guess is that that is not the typical scenario for most people. Perhaps food-burning activity is only slightly higher for the truly sedimentary folk -- but even for them it's gotta be slightly higher during the earlier hours. Realistically, I think eating late then just watching TV and sleeping is probably not the best weight loss choice. Not impossible to work around, but not ideal either. Yes?

easjer

I move around the same amount, regardless of if I've eaten or not. My lifestyle as it currently exists doesn't allow for me to eat dinner before 7:00. I frequently eat something after I work out (around 10:30) if I'm too far below calories. I'm still losing efficiently, and I don't feel guilty for eating late.

Eating a large meal late at night leaves me uncomfortable during sleep, but that's about it.

Does it matter if I ate cookies Tuesday (at 5 pm, for the sake of argument), but don't work out until Thursday morning to cover that 320 calorie deficit? No - because the deficit was still created.