What is the truth about eating after 6:00pm?

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  • xipow
    xipow Posts: 58
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    Well, at the risk of beating a dead horse...

    I work out in the evenings and eat about 700-1000 calories every night within an hour or two of bed (~9-10pm). I've lost over 100 lbs doing this. I don't think I will change my habits and I think as long as you are within your limits, then you are fine.


    I think this myth probably has a LITTLE bit of truth in it from the sense that if you eat at night, your body probably doesn't need that much energy, so it converts it to fat overnight because you will need it during the night and the next morning. However, unless you are overeating on a regular basis and have a continual stream of excess food energy, the fat is quickly burned the next day.

    Your calorie deficit is the most important thing to worry about. All the other "tips" are secondary (if they are even valid).

    Well said.
  • bcw095
    bcw095 Posts: 7
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    It's not true. Your body doesn't just say "oh snap, it's after 6pm..gotta start turning this food directly into fat"!. Doesn't work that way...

    LOL. I agree.

    Last night, I ate my dinner at 9 p.m. I had a filet of king salmon. I normally save my dinner for later in the evening so that I can avoid hunger pains. If you're staying within your daily caloric limit and you're working hard to burn calories, you can eat whenever you want.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
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    Eating before bed, or after a certain time makes no difference.

    Eat when you want - it's the deficit at the end of the week that counts.
  • vypeters
    vypeters Posts: 475 Member
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    Hmmmmm. I'd have to see some real back-up on that, because I ate in the evening and lost just fine.
  • dreamer722
    dreamer722 Posts: 57 Member
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    well, let's see ... since i don't get home from work till *WELL* after 6 due to the commute time ... i'd nearly starve ... i eat dinner generally about 7 or so ... i have to be in bed no later than 10 (earlier would be better, but whatever) because i get up at 415am ... and i've lost 38 lbs in 3 months. i can't imagine my body knows what time it is ... it just knows if it's getting enough calories or needs to burn some of the excessive fat store it had ...:noway: ... so ... *NO WAY* that it matters if you eat after 6 ...
  • SmileyFaceGuy
    SmileyFaceGuy Posts: 201
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    I go to sleep at, like, 2-3 AM, so yeah. I can't afford to not eat for half of my wake cycle, even if the 6:00 PM thing were true.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    My husband is a wrestling coach and knows the ins and outs of what it takes to lose weight. He says that eating after 6:00 just turns the calories into fat and if I'm serious about losing weight I'll just have to take the hunger pains. Problem is I don't get home from work until after 5:30 and by the time I get the kids settled in at home it's well after 6:00 before I have time to start making dinner.

    Do I listen to him and not eat or is the myth false thus allowing me to eat dinner?

    Your husband knows how to get teenage boys to drop water weight in advance of a meet. That is a totally different thing from losing actual weight. And the methods that most wrestlers use aren't exactly healthy. My husband wrestled in high school and the things he did to cut weight are pretty scary.

    Eat when you want. Eat what you want. Just keep having a calorie deficit and you'll be fine.
  • skinnyfithealthyme
    skinnyfithealthyme Posts: 213
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    Eat when you are hungry. I sometimes wake up at 3-4 in the morning and make a little snack. Sometimes I don't eat until lunch, it's all about listening to your body. The myth about eating after a certain time is totally bs.
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2145853/Eating-late-night-DOES-make-fat-researchers-say.html

    This study found that mice gained weight when they ate at all hours compared to mice that ate the same calories on a schedule.

    I am not a mouse.
  • 78Octane
    78Octane Posts: 68
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    I did not read through the 3 pages of post so I am sure someone already said this, but incase they haven't......

    You'll turn into a gremlin if you eat after 6:00 p.m.
  • Anappy
    Anappy Posts: 45 Member
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    I have heard of not eating 2-3 hours before bed ... :)
  • msstuard
    msstuard Posts: 131 Member
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    Not as easy as that. if your body needs food and you are burning more than you eat it's no problem. The rule is based on the theory that most people eat at knight out of boredom, so you just don't eat late.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    I can never do that, I mean skipping dinner or not to eat after 5...I know people who have sworn by this. They claim they all lost large amount of weight by not eating after 3:00 pm. some even stops at noon. How to do that is beyond me...
  • Kazenouta
    Kazenouta Posts: 27
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    The time of day doesn't really matter but in my experience I find that if I stop eating at least two-hours before I go to bed that I have seen a positive difference in weight. One thing to note is that wrestlers focus on losing a ton of water weight very fast as opposed to a healthy, sustainable way of actually losing pounds. Take that for what it's worth
  • 78Octane
    78Octane Posts: 68
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    Give me 3 days and I can drop 20 pounds off the scale if I wanted to. Totally unsafe and wrestlers do it all the time to make weight.
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
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    It's not true. Your body doesn't just say "oh snap, it's after 6pm..gotta start turning this food directly into fat"!. Doesn't work that way...

    HAH!

    I don't think it's about 'eat before 6' but more 'eat X amount of time before you go to sleep *so you can sleep better, and your stomach has an easier time digesting it*
  • filomenae
    filomenae Posts: 110 Member
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    That's a myth--it's calories in, calories out. Calories can't tell time. :laugh:
  • gibgab09
    gibgab09 Posts: 1
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    A few years back I lost 65lbs. Part of it was working out 6 days a week. the other part of it was, still having my chocolate and soda. I would drink and/ or eat that stuff early in the day so that I would be busy and burning calories. I didnt eat after 5:30pm. I drank lots of water.Everybody is different. try it for a week and see if it helps you. good luck
  • Luna_Ivoree
    Luna_Ivoree Posts: 27
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    To be honest I think this depends more on when you're planning to go to bed. Think of when you were a kid, most of the time you probably at at 5 or 530PM and then went to bed at 8 or 830PM -- 3 hours after dinner. It's not realistic to eat dinner at 530PM and then stay up until midnight and NOT be starving.
    I eat dinner at 530 or 6PM, but I also go to bed at 830PM (work early in the AM). I think the aim should be to not eat within 2 or 2.5 hours of bedtime.

    This is correct. Try to eat your last food item around 3 hours prior to when you go to bed. As far as I've been told, It has to do with digestion. Once you're laying down and inactive for the night, it becomes harder for your food to be properly digested and therefore you tend to hold on to the weight...? Don't quote me on that, but it's what I've been told and it sorta makes sense :)
  • SavedInHim
    SavedInHim Posts: 1
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    What time you should quit eating depends on what time you are most active. Most people are most active between 8 am and 6 pm; therefore, eating between those time will help you digest your food better and burn more calories. You can't burn "more" calories if you're sitting in front of the television. If you are planning on doing something after you eat, I don't guess it matters. I've also read credible articles that say as long as you don't eat within 4 hours of you going to bed that the food will digest the same as your breakfast. If that is true, then if you eat at 7, then stay awake and alert until 11. Good Luck and Blessings.

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