Does eating before you go to bed really make you fat??

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Replies

  • Ahluvly
    Ahluvly Posts: 389 Member
    Shabba! I beleive it depends on your calorie consumption and the quality of food and drinks you have. Also, the more exercise you do, the more efficiently your body works at burning fat. You need to try and build more muscle versus body fat, if you're wanting to lose weight. Little and often is the key if your life allows it.
  • yowza101
    yowza101 Posts: 196 Member
    I've heard that you should stop eating heavy meals 2 hours before you go to bed, mainly for digestion purposes. But sometimes I do have a small snack before I go to bed, I just make sure it's nothing heavy. I even heard that eating a small snack keeps your metabolism going because it's working off those calories. However, people who have acid reflux shouldn't eat heavy things before going to bed because of the acid producing in your stomach may give you more heartburn at night.
  • djsupreme6
    djsupreme6 Posts: 1,210 Member
    Its different for different people, but its really more about the overall daily intake and burns then about a particular time of night. Binging on bad foods of course isn't good. Eat anytime and stay within your calorie goals and macros and its all good. I eat at night every night and although rarely I will have a bag of chips, and i've lost 45lbs so for me at least I know its not gonna make all the weight come back
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
    I dont think so but I have noticed that I am super hungry the next morning when I eat big or late the day before.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Nope. It's all about the quality and quantity of the food you eat when you consume them isn't important.
  • SyStEmPhReAk
    SyStEmPhReAk Posts: 330 Member
    Here's the real question. If you eat at 12:01 am, does that go into the next days calorie allowance?

    Mind = blown. :noway:

    Patiently awaiting a separate thread filled with heated debate on this topic alone...
  • Stingroo
    Stingroo Posts: 9 Member
    So much broscience in this thread, it's ridiculous.
  • Nomi923
    Nomi923 Posts: 43 Member
    OK i'm studying medicine and here's an opinion based on what I've learnt till now.. It may be wrong but this is my concept.

    Your body digests food at rest. Its part of the Parasympathetic system of the body which is basically activated at rest. So if anything, digestion has to occur during rest and quite possible during sleep. So yeh according to me it shouldn't matter as long as you are not over your calorie limit.

    Another thing though, when most people say that its bad to eat at night, they mean that you shouldn't eat too much at night especially if you're going to exercise in the morning. Since you're metabolism slows a bit during you're sleep if you go to bed being too full, you will not digest everything by morning. What happens when you exercise then is your sympathetic system kicks in and basically digestion slows down even more. Your body retains those food in your stomach when you exercise and you won't be able to exercise efficiently enough and quite possibly throw up or some other sort of reaction to a full stomach.

    Hope I made a bit of sense.
  • Kourtne_KK
    Kourtne_KK Posts: 60 Member
    I think people recommend eating until a certain time so you can control how many calories you eat or for people who over eat after dinner and have late night snacks. but like the rest said it makes no difference when you eat the appropriate amount of calories=]
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    No, infact eating carbs before bed will make you sleep better and perform better in the morning.

    one myth followed by another.

    this one might be true for some but it's not a general rule.
  • NewAngel35
    NewAngel35 Posts: 182 Member
    Here's the real question. If you eat at 12:01 am, does that go into the next days calorie allowance?

    Mind = blown. :noway:

    Patiently awaiting a separate thread filled with heated debate on this topic alone...


    LOL
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    Here's the real question. If you eat at 12:01 am, does that go into the next days calorie allowance?

    Mind = blown. :noway:

    Patiently awaiting a separate thread filled with heated debate on this topic alone...

    I might post one, just for the LOLs
  • Natashaa1991
    Natashaa1991 Posts: 866 Member
    try not eating after 7 pm for a week and see what happens. my tummy gets flatter after 3 days. i think it has to do with the fact that you are not eating for at least 12 hours. it helps, it did work for me, whatever all of you say.
  • Stingroo
    Stingroo Posts: 9 Member
    try not eating after 7 pm for a week and see what happens. my tummy gets flatter after 3 days. i think it has to do with the fact that you are not eating for at least 12 hours. it helps, it did work for me, whatever all of you say.

    Yes, it's called intermittent fasting. Try shifting your hours from 7pm to 7am and surprise surprise, the same phenomenon occurs.

    Timing is irrelevant.
  • charm_quark
    charm_quark Posts: 315 Member
    If I go to sleep with empty stomach, I wake up in the middle of the night, with an extremely bad stomachache and I will eat whatever I find in front of me. That is why, I'm trying to always have a snack before going to bed. Such a banana, or other fruits, a glass of milk, or even a toast. Soups doesn't work for me....
  • Dudagarcia
    Dudagarcia Posts: 849 Member
    Eating before you go to bed is much better than eating after you have gone to bed - those crumbs get everywhere!!

    Lol
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
    Calories in, calories out, the rest is just details.
  • kepete
    kepete Posts: 268 Member
    My lifestyle doesn't allow for anything else!
  • try not eating after 7 pm for a week and see what happens. my tummy gets flatter after 3 days. i think it has to do with the fact that you are not eating for at least 12 hours. it helps, it did work for me, whatever all of you say.

    Yes, it's called intermittent fasting. Try shifting your hours from 7pm to 7am and surprise surprise, the same phenomenon occurs.

    Timing is irrelevant.

    This.

    I usually eat an hour or so before bed, so that I'm satisfied before I go to sleep and I won't wake up hungry, and then fast for the first part of my day, like if I eat at 8 pm, I won't eat again until around 11 or 12 the next morning and I'll try to exercise before my first meal.

    I've seen a huge difference.
  • SheilaN1976
    SheilaN1976 Posts: 266 Member
    Hello.
    I wanted to know peoples opinions on what time to eat.
    Say if you get up at 5am and go to bed at 9pm.So does food eaten in the latter hours really lie on your stomach and turn to fat???.Even if its within your calorie goal for the day??
    Are these myths.Don't eat after 6pm etc etc.
    What do people think???

    you burn calories when you sleep...so i dont let it bother me, all that matters is if you are at your calorie goal for the day.
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
    no. body cant tell time.
  • fit4lifeUcan2
    fit4lifeUcan2 Posts: 1,458 Member
    I can only speak for myself .... I ****cannot**** eat after 7pm... I would be sick to my stomach if I even tried to fall asleep on a full stomach. Been like that since I was a young girl. The only thing I can handle is a glass of water before bed time...

    I'm the same way. THing is I'm not even hungry when I wake up. I get up at 5:30 every day but don't feel hungry till around 9 am at least.
  • The answer is yes. I have proved it time and time. It's not just about the calories, it's when you eat them. If I front-load my food into the earlier part of the day I lose more weight the next day. If however I have a heavy meal later in the day, the next morning the weight won't have budged. It's a key part of my diet, understanding that fact.
  • missprincessgina
    missprincessgina Posts: 446 Member
    I eat before bed because I have trouble sleeping and I noticed that 100 - 200 calories of either icecream (sometimes coconut milk, sometimes skinny cow or sometimes a mini blizzard) or cottage cheese or a banana and 1/2 tbsp of PB helps me sleep. Have no idea why but I'd rather eat than take the sleeping pills I have. They make me a zombie ... not fun!!
  • It's just a myth. If you have a well balanced diet, it really doesn't matter when you eat or how many times you eat.
  • i always wondered this
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,241 Member
    The only things that I avoid eating close to bed time are foods that might cause me indigestion from lying down too soon after, as in spicy type things. But no, I don't believe eating before bed causes you to gain fat.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    The answer is yes. I have proved it time and time. It's not just about the calories, it's when you eat them. If I front-load my food into the earlier part of the day I lose more weight the next day. If however I have a heavy meal later in the day, the next morning the weight won't have budged. It's a key part of my diet, understanding that fact.

    And your evidence for this includes a sample of you and who else?
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    no
  • hayleymc3
    hayleymc3 Posts: 128 Member
    With my work schedule, I eat at completely and bizarrely different times every single day. I work split shifts (second and third) and then on my days off I try to get up early and enjoy a "normal" day. I've never had any issues with eating before bed. It's not really when you eat, it's how much and what you eat. Also, if you're worried about weighing in the next day, I've noted that eating salty things the night before weigh-in never ends positively (sodium intake!).