Eating at Night

vodkoffee

My mother always gripes at me not to eat too late at night because it will make me fat. I'm on a weird schedule because of my SO's job, so I end up eating late on a regular basis. In fact, I generally don't eat much during the earlier end of the day. None of this seems to have affected my weight loss.

What do you guys think about eating late?

Note: I'm not talking about "night eating" -- bingeing after bedtime kind of stuff -- I mean more eating dinner at 10pm.

Sidesteal

My mother always gripes at me not to eat too late at night because it will make me fat. I'm on a weird schedule because of my SO's job, so I end up eating late on a regular basis. In fact, I generally don't eat much during the earlier end of the day. None of this seems to have affected my weight loss.

What do you guys think about eating late?

Note: I'm not talking about "night eating" -- bingeing after bedtime kind of stuff -- I mean more eating dinner at 10pm.

Your mother is wrong but you should still love her just the same.

Total daily intake matters. When you eat it does not.

Heidi64

I work second shift. I regularly eat dinner anytime btwn 8-1000 pm. On busy nights, it might not be until 11 pm. Not only that, but when I get home from work at 0100 I have a snack then too. Hasn't hurt me yet.

danasings

I used to work in bars hosting karaoke years ago...I'd eat dinner at 9pm most nights. I was in pretty good shape then, and it didn't seem to affect my weight. All the alcohol did, though.

volume77

i eat dinner at 10 every night. i eat most of my cals at night. no problem.

avocado12

I'm not sure on this one. I don't believe that going to bed straight after eating a huge bowl of pasta and cheese would be good for you or beneficial to your weight loss. I do not eat after 4-5pm, and I've lost over 50lbs, so that obviously works for me - but may not work for you, especially if you have work committments. If you have to eat late at night, i'd just choose something sensible, a salad with grilled chicken perhaps.

Lift_hard_eat_big

It's 1 am and I'm stuffing my face right now. Doesn't hinder my weight loss at all when I'm on a cut.

Sarauk2sf

It's 1 am and I'm stuffing my face right now. Doesn't hinder my weight loss at all when I'm on a cut.

LOL - somehow, that does not suprise me.

ChappyEight

My mother always gripes at me not to eat too late at night because it will make me fat. I'm on a weird schedule because of my SO's job, so I end up eating late on a regular basis. In fact, I generally don't eat much during the earlier end of the day. None of this seems to have affected my weight loss.

What do you guys think about eating late?

Note: I'm not talking about "night eating" -- bingeing after bedtime kind of stuff -- I mean more eating dinner at 10pm.

Your mother is wrong but you should still love her just the same.

Total daily intake matters. When you eat it does not.

This.

disarmingandcharming

I've always been advised to not eat past 9 PM. I tend to eat dinner at about 5 or so (if on my own, if I'm with my family, it's around 6-8), but I have had those moments where I eat on the late side.

Then again, think of how Europe has their schedules set up-- often times, a lot of people won't sit down to dinner until 10 PM or later.

I think it's just a matter of what works for you, and also, what you're eating.

danadarling09

my doc told me it doesnt matter how late you eat, it wont make you gain weight,

In his worlds"if that was true they would feed Ethiopians at night to make them gain weight" lol

caraiselite

your body can't tell time

mmapags

I'm not sure on this one. I don't believe that going to bed straight after eating a huge bowl of pasta and cheese would be good for you or beneficial to your weight loss. I do not eat after 4-5pm, and I've lost over 50lbs, so that obviously works for me - but may not work for you, especially if you have work committments. If you have to eat late at night, i'd just choose something sensible, a salad with grilled chicken perhaps.

I'd suggest that the reason you lost weight is because you were in an overall calorie deficit and not what time of day you ate. As long as it doesn't cause indegestion and interfere with sleep, it makes no difference what you eat or when you eat it within a day as long as you remain either in a calorie deficit to lose weight or at TDEE to maintain.

dragonflyjen

I recently read some research on this subject and it seems that eating late at night, and eating little and often makes no difference to your weight loss efforts. It is all about how many calorie consumed and burned throughout the whole day. What time of day you eat and burn makes no difference. Sometimes helps to think of your calories over an entire week rather than just 24hrs.

LilRock25

During the week I usually eat dinner between 6-7. On the weekends that's usually much later. My boyfriend works 2nd shift & gets on a schedule of eating dinner late. I'll eat with him on the weekends. This has never effected my weightloss.

Like someone else said, your body can't tell time.

Robin_Bin

The only research based claim I can find that seem to hold up consistently is that eating breakfast helps with weight loss. As someone else stated, the research on time and spreading out meals is inconsistent. And in this context, I believe breakfast means soon after whenever you first wake up for the day. If you're on the night shift, breakfast could be at 4 pm.

mmapags

The only research based claim I can find that seem to hold up consistently is that eating breakfast helps with weight loss. As someone else stated, the research on time and spreading out meals is inconsistent. And in this context, I believe breakfast means soon after whenever you first wake up for the day. If you're on the night shift, breakfast could be at 4 pm.

There is a correlation with eating breakfast and not overeating the balance of the day but there is not metabolic advantage. More a one of complaince. For me and some others, the opposite can be true. Sometimes if I start with breakast, I have difficulty controlling calories for the balance of the day. I tend to be an eat big and dinner time kind of guy. All boils down to preference and help with staying on plan. If the OP has not probelm with that, then it doesn't matter what time they eat.

avocado12

I'm not sure on this one. I don't believe that going to bed straight after eating a huge bowl of pasta and cheese would be good for you or beneficial to your weight loss. I do not eat after 4-5pm, and I've lost over 50lbs, so that obviously works for me - but may not work for you, especially if you have work committments. If you have to eat late at night, i'd just choose something sensible, a salad with grilled chicken perhaps.

I'd suggest that the reason you lost weight is because you were in an overall calorie deficit and not what time of day you ate. As long as it doesn't cause indegestion and interfere with sleep, it makes no difference what you eat or when you eat it within a day as long as you remain either in a calorie deficit to lose weight or at TDEE to maintain.

Nope, I found that when I did eat late at night - it showed.