Eating after 6 pm

magerum

It's a myth. Unless you have a medical reason it makes no difference. I eat ~750 calorie dinner between 6:30 & 7:30 pm every day. I then eat my 4th meal if ~1500 calories between 8:30 - 9:30 pm then march off to bed. Hasnt hampered my weIght goals.

jeleclekat

It doesn't seem to matter unlesss you eat and go directly to bed. I've heard you should not eat a couple of hours before going to bed. Personally. I'm up til 3am cross stitching, I have my late night snack before 11pm and it is usually 2 slices of swisds cheese and a pack of the Carl Budgig luncheon meat (10 slice single serve packs) I make a "sandwich out of it - I lose with it. I get up about 10:30 am , eat brunch about 12:30 and dinner between 5 and 6. I think eating light later in the day/evening makes a difference than eating a heavy meal.

VogtAndrea

I really think that whether we eat or not after 6 p.m. is just a choice that some of us make in order to help ourselves. Some of us don't get home from work (then the gym) till after that time. We then have to prepare a meal before we can eat. It doesn't seem to make a bit of difference to me but I do try to make lunch my main meal of the day nowadays because I don't like going to sleep with a full stomach. That's just a preference though.
And I think the ticker's broken here because it said that I'd lost 10 lbs. It should say 16lbs and the 40 that I lost before I joined MFP were done eating the exact same way.
Don't get me wrong; I love the built in accountability that MFP offers. It makes this journey a whole lot easier.

joecollins9385

idk any science behind it, but i try not to eat within a few hours of going to bed. most days my dinner is around 7 or 8 pm and i go to bed around 11 or 12.

Crochetluvr

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/06/29/can-eat-late-and-still-lose-weight/

I am not a big fan of Fox News but the same article is can be found on other sites.....spread out on 4 pages. So to save time, I used this link.

WaterBunnie

Life wouldn't be worth living without and evening meal to look forward to!

Kagami_Taiga

I tend to have/make dinner at about 6pm. Don't know if it's like a rule to me or just something I do. Each to their own I say.

AVinmill

I've been eating up to 1200 cal after 6pm and I've been dropping steadily over the past month. To each their own but it doesn't seem to be a problem for me.

TrailRunner61

I never really cared as long as my calories/calories burned were OK. Now, for some reason, if I get up at 1am to let my dog out, I want food. I've NEVER been that way, ever. I'm not even hungry so I don't know what's up. Stress, I suppose. Maybe I'm not eating enough during the day? Anyway, if I eat anything after I'm done logging for the day, I add it to the next days breakfast and it hurts to see it there. The truth hurts. When I do that I'm adding 100-300 more cals and that makes it hard to stay on track the next evening. It's a bad cycle I need to break to lose these last 10lbs!

I wish I could stop eating by 8 and eat nothing until breakfast. Maybe I'll make that my goal for this week.

Thanks for the post.

elyelyse

If deciding not to eat after a certain time works for her, or helps her be more disciplined, then there isn't anything wrong with it (as long as she eats enough total)... as long as she isn't giving you trouble about not following her rules.

I eat probably 75% or more of my calories after 6pm, and so far, I'm consistently losing.

megleo818

Oh, honestly. This is just stoopid.

What if you work swing shift? -- Do you have to get up before 6:00 to have dinner, then go back to bed again?

What if you don't get to leave your 9:00 to 5:00 job until 7:00? -- Do you grab a slice of pizza or something from the vending machine at 6:00, or wait till you get home at 8:00 to have something healthy?

What if you were a caveman and didn't catch your dinner until midnight? -- Would you have to wait until sunrise to eat it?

What if you stay up into the wee hours every night? -- Do you just go hungry for those last few hours before bed, or save your last couple hundred calories for late-night popcorn?

I think it's wise to not go to sleep with a full stomach, just because digestion (and everything else) slows during sleep and that could mess with your system and give you indigestion. But the dinner-before-6:00 thing is silly.

wfte

I think the main reason this is often quoted is due to 2 reasons:

1) For a lot of people, eating late at night is extra food on top of their normal daily allowance, therefore extra calories.

2) The type of food most people eat at night. People are more inclined to have something quick , instant and satisfying (which may not be the healthiest option) opposed to grilled chicken, rice and veg at 11pm.

It's not the eating late at night, it's that in many cases it's extra calories being consumed, either via extra food or unhealthy choices.

wlkumpf

I work out till 7 pm often, get home at 7:30 spend some time making food and eat cloer to 8.

I still lose weight but I do lose a lot more if I limit carbs or at least bread type, later in the day. Instead of egg white omelet with toast I will have egg whites over salsa. I will have some chicken breast on a salad with a whey protein shake or regular smoothie.

Eat when you are hungry. Often I can tell my metabolism is doing great on days I do have a late snack of protein because I will wake up at 5 starving and counting down till I get up at 7 and have oatmeal! In my mind hunger is a good sign, it means your internal fire is going and your metabolism is kicking in.

melpop8

What a long miserable night it would be if you could not eat after 6pm....... that could mean not eating until breakfast the next morning! my body would think it was being starved :drinker:

xoyasminxo

I don't eat at least 4 hours before I go to bed. But I prefer 5-6 hours. But it is usually 4-5 for me.

xoyasminxo

Oh and if I do get hungry at night I always drink a glass of water and see if the hunger goes away. If it does, the. I really was just thirsty, if it doesn't the. I will eat a light snack of veggies and hummus.

hannaisthebest

i do it from time to time and mostlikly wont be able to work off a lil of the calories before bed

emotionalharlequin

What's the science behind it? Exactly what you said - calories decrease significantly. It would be exactly the same as not eating throughout the entire day and only eating in the evening - exactly what I'm doing now. (It's currently 8pm in London, and I'm wondering exactly how I'm going to consume 1000 calories in the next 4-5hrs without binging on junk food.)

It's complete and utter bs - the only reason it works is because when you can't eat in the evening, you're less prone to snacking so the next day you wake up starving and feel less bloated than you would if you were to eat in the evening.

kleiby

I've heard that you should eat some protein in the evening to keep your metabolism up and your calories burning while you sleep.

merzback

It doesn't seem to matter unlesss you eat and go directly to bed. I've heard you should not eat a couple of hours before going to bed. Personally. I'm up til 3am cross stitching, I have my late night snack before 11pm and it is usually 2 slices of swisds cheese and a pack of the Carl Budgig luncheon meat (10 slice single serve packs) I make a "sandwich out of it - I lose with it. I get up about 10:30 am , eat brunch about 12:30 and dinner between 5 and 6. I think eating light later in the day/evening makes a difference than eating a heavy meal.

I lost 125lbs in the past eating right before bed. I don't think it makes a difference.

Drussander

It appears there is a late night eating disorder according to this WIKI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_eating_syndrome

Some interesting statistics (assuming they are factual).

jul2526

I don't see why it would matter what time you eat... calories can't tell time...

lolololol

pg3ibew

If you can't eat after 6 pm, then when could you eat again? 7am the next day is after 6pm, NO? Am I allowed to eat then?

I eat any hour of the day. I even wake up at 3 am and have a scoop of peanut butter.

mamagooskie

I do it everyday and always have...............no science behind what I do, it just works for me.

Dave198lbs

I've heard that you should eat some protein in the evening to keep your metabolism up and your calories burning while you sleep.

your metabolism does not go down or change while you sleep. It takes several days of over eating or under eating before your metabolism even notices. Longer if you are over weight.

Calories are burned if you are still breathing. Calories never get stop burning until several hours after you are dead.

It takes hours for the majority of food you eat to be digested.

Eating at 6 am or after 6 pm or 3 am is only relevant as to the total number of calories you need and use and want.
Nothing else.

Instead of Being concerned about the time you eat, be concerned with what and how much you are eating.

mfpcopine

I generally eat quite late. Maybe I'm a Spaniard without knowing it.

What matters is one's overall calorie intake.

reenielovesthebeach

I usually don't get home from work until 6:30 or 7:00 then hit the gym for an hour. I have no choice but to eat late dinners. We won't eat sometimes until almost 9:00. I don't like it, but that's just how it is. What I do try to do is make stuff that doesn't have many calories. Example: a chicken breast, grilled veggies, a salad, piece of fruit.

I started exercising three to five times a week and watching my calories on 8/8/12 and as of today- one month later, I have lost 21 pounds so I can tell you the late meals aren't hurting my weight loss at all. I am always under my calories but I don't starve. I just find that I'm not real hungry anymore. I had to make myself eat dinner tonight and I skipped lunch because we were busy today running some errands. I actually forgot about even eating until it was dinnertime. I don't usually skip meals, but the day just got away from me. My appetite has shrunk. I don't really crave anything at all. I used to be a heavy carb, pop drinker, candy eater and I don't miss any of it- not one bit. I look forward to working out. I crave it now. I always heard people say that and I thought they were crazy. Well I'm one of those people now. I have so much more energy now. I will not go back to pigging out and not exercising. I have a goal that I will achieve by Christmas. I want to lose another 42 pounds in the four months leading up to Christmas. I want to be at 199 pounds- I'm 5'8" tall. Once I hit that goal, I will then set another small one to get to my weight that I want to be.

Megdmcda

i think its more not when u eat buy how long before u go to sleep.. like i heard not to eat 3 hours before go to sleep...don't know if that has anything or not

pg3ibew

i think its more not when u eat buy how long before u go to sleep.. like i heard not to eat 3 hours before go to sleep...don't know if that has anything or not

I am going to respectively disagree with you on this. I frequently eat as I am walking into my bedroom, in my bed and I also eat when I wake up to Pee at 3 am.

Drussander

Calories may not tell time, but your metabolism surely does....

Nope.

Yes you may be sleeping but you are still alive. The simple process of being alive uses a surprising amount of calories.

There is evidence that in lean individuals, sleeping metabolic rate can even be HIGHER than resting metabolic rate. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11896493)

There is simply no evidence to support the idea that eating after 6pm (within your calorie allowance) is detrimental to fat loss.

http://www.simplyshredded.com/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman.html

Eating after 6pm certainly doesn't seem to be bothering the 1000's of people losing weight with the leangains system, when most or all of their calories are eating in the evening. Total calories/macros is what matters.

Thank you for the useful links. I read them and they were very interesting. The conclusion in the NLM study link is interesting though and possibly relevant to this topic:

CONCLUSIONS: The rate of decline in metabolic rate during sleep is directly related to body weight, BMI and FFM. Average SMR tends to be lower than RMR in obese subjects and higher than RMR in non-obese subjects.