Eat after 7/8 a Health Habit Waste of Time?

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    My thoughts are that what time you eat doesn't matter. What and how much matters.

    I eat after 8 p.m. almost daily. I don't get home from work until 6:00 on a good day, then I change, workout, relax for a bit, prepare dinner. It's usually around 9 p.m. before we sit down to eat. I didn't have any problem losing weight or maintaining the loss.

    ETA: I typically go to bed somewhere between 10 and 10:30 p.m.
  • heatherina1983
    heatherina1983 Posts: 35
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    Does your metabolism not slow down when you sleep or something? I thought that it was best not to eat after a certain time because then that meal is stored although I cba to research it as I'm hungry and it's too late for me to eat =p
  • aaronrlindemann
    aaronrlindemann Posts: 25 Member
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    It's no secret that movement after eating helps digestion (ever walk a dog!?)... so it would make sense that if you eat earlier, you may be doing your digestive system (and weight loss) a favor by helping things along and stop eating so late. Not science, just common sense. That being said, calories are calories and really... it's just a matter of timing your eating with when you step on the scale so you're actually seeing your progress. I step on the scale first thing after my AM walk to see my low so I stop eating fairly early. "Eat like a king for breakfast and a peasant for dinner."

    Like mentioned above, it also helps me not eat junk while watching TV.
  • kathyms13
    kathyms13 Posts: 497 Member
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    ive lost over 51/2 stones altogether and i have supper around 9pm at night i feel i sleep better.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    It makes no difference even IF you are less active at night. It doesn't matter whether or not you time your food intake so that you burn it all off (in the short-term). All that matters is this, over the course of time:

    Fat oxidation > Fat storage

    If you are in a calorie deficit, this will happen. Even if you eat ALL of your calories IN BED, every day, it still won't make any difference. Suppose you eat everything at night and, because it's 1 massive meal, you gain some fat in your sleep. The next day you're going several hours without any food (because you only eat at night). Your body will oxidize fat during this time period. The net result will still be governed by energy balance. The short term is unimportant.
  • slick8086
    slick8086 Posts: 6
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    Article that references multiple studies related to this subject.

    http://justthescience.com/archives/681

    However, multiple studies have found that feeding frequency and timing does not have an effect on metabolic performance (Wilhelmine et al 1998) (Dallosso et al 1982) ( Verboeket van de Venne and Westerterp 1998) (Wolfram et al 1987). 4 5 6 7 In addition, Goldberg et al (1998) found that one’s metabolic rate while sleeping is roughly concurrent with one’s basal metabolic rate (BMR), which in combination with results from the previously mentioned studies suggests that there are no adverse metabolic effects from eating before sleeping.
  • wookiemouse
    wookiemouse Posts: 290 Member
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    It depends on your schedule and you as a person. This made bigger news on Oprah a few years ago who told the world she doesn't eat after 7 PM. For a lot of people, once they're done with dinner they park themselves in front of the tv until bedtime. And grab a bag (not a serving) of chips. Or a carton of ice cream. You get the idea.

    I go by the philosophy of eating every 2.5-3 hours. Since I eat dinner at 6, I'm hungry again by 9, so I have a small snack. It's already worked into my daily calorie load, which is the key. As long as you budget for it in calories and serving size, eat whenever you want.

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