"No eating past _o'clock..."

FaithNHealth

Does anyone stop eating after a certain hour at night? I was trying not to eat after dinner, so not after 7pm, but I noticed I felt so darn weak if I woke in the middle of the night to get water or go to the bathroom. Of course I'd feel light when I woke...and still so weak. I think evening snacks work better for me, I'm talking a 9/10pm. I always read its best to not eat late though if you are trying to lose weight. Any advice?

IronDame

No, if I'm hungry I am going to eat.

techie30

I think the idea is that you shouldn't go to bed with a full stomach since you're not burning many calories laying down/sleeping/etc... Sure it's a good idea to watch what you're eating at night, but hey, listen to your body! If you're hungry, eat! Grab a small snack and go to town on it!

Ewa101975

Hi
We eat dinner around 6:00 and then I have a small snack around 8 or 8:30. I read somewhere not eating after 6 will help greatly with weight loss but i am just starting out and starving by evening..maybe i will be able to cut it out eventually.

BrianSharpe

There's no reason not to eat after some arbitrary time as long as you're staying within your target and your snack doesn't interfere with falling asleep.

lauren3101

Time of the day makes no difference.

SHBoss1673

the only stop I put on myself is within 1/2 an hour of bed time but that's more because eating right before bed can cause weird dreams interrupted sleep patterns, which is much worse for you than the amount of calorie burn reduction that comes from sleep. Other than that, it's not really science, it's psudo-science.

Rachielous

Read this:

'10. Myth: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch a queen, dinner like a pauper."


Also connected to this saying, is the belief that you should reduce carbs in the evening as they will be less likely to be stored as fat. While this might sound good on paper, there's nothing to support it and a lot that shows it to be wrong.

The strongest argument against this are the numerous studies available on body composition and health after and during Ramadan fasting. This meal pattern of regular nightly feasts has a neutral or positive effect on body fat percentage and other health parameters. This is quite an extreme and telling example. People literally gorge on carbs and treats in the middle of the night to no ill effect. And yet, in the bizarre world of bodybuilding and fitness, people worry whether it's OK to eat 50 grams of carbs in their last meal.

If the scientific data on Ramadan fasting aren't enough, there are plenty of other studies showing no effect on weight loss or weight gain from eating later in the day.

In one study comparing two meal patterns, which involved one group eating more calories earlier in the day and one group eating most calories later in the day, more favorable results were found in the group eating large evening meals. While those who ate more in the AM lost more weight, the extra weight was in the form of muscle mass. The late evening eaters conserved muscle mass better, which resulted in a larger drop in body fat percentage.'

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

harvo

A report was published about this. After many months of studies they found that it does not matter IF you eat but is about WHAT you eat. What they found was that people gave in to those McDonalds, Wendy's and other fast and unheathy foods. The groups were broken into no eating after 8, those who ate unheathy food and those who ate a controlled amount of calories. They found those who ate a controlled amount of calories were no worse off than those not eating but those with unlimited calories, (allowed unheathy food), gained almost every time...

nahiluoh

Sometimes if I'm having a good week and I want to get a good weigh-in the next morning, I'll make sure to eat all my calories by 6pm or so the night before. Not because eating late is inherently bad (it isn't at all) but so my body has a chance to mostly process the food by the next morning. It's really just a temporary gaming of the system.

NocturnalGirl

Meal timing is irrelevent to weight control. It is not bad to eat late at night. Keeping calories constant, it doesn't matter when you choose to eat.

DoomCakes

I'm just going to say if you're hungry eat, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be eating a 10pm dinner sized meal if you're about to go to bed at 10:30 though, but hell, grab yourself a few carrots and some hummus. I've heard avoid fruits late at night due to the sugar though.

Articeluvsmemphis

It's about overall calories, eat something if you would like

robin52077

I eat right until bedtime-ish.
Usually till 8, asleep by 9...up early...

no reason (weight loss-wise) to restrict times.
Some people do because of heartburn, dreams, etc.
It's personal preference.
I give myself about an hour to prevent reflux, but from a "calories burned" standpoint, it dos NOT matter.

eeebee

There's no reason not to eat after some arbitrary time as long as you're staying within your target and your snack doesn't interfere with falling asleep.

Yup, this is absolutely true - at least in my experience:

MY partner and I get home late and we eat really LATE (10:00 - 10:30pm) and we hit the sack at around11:30 - 12ish and I'm definitely losing and he definitely isn't gaining.

Cranktastic

I love eating later.
works for me.

91keira

I don't eat after I've had my dinner so around 6ish. But I don't do this to try to loose or anything I'm just not much of a snacker

KitchenAbs

I eat between 2pm and 9pm. Go to bed feeling really full and satisfied and then am not hungry again until 2pm

Meg_78

I have a fast metabolism so I'm almost always hungry, but can't really consume large meals, so I eat right up till the time I go to bed (usually midnight) otherwise I wake up in the night and need to eat, or wake up quite sick in the morning. I probably eat 1/3 of my calories between dinner and bedtime many days. Its just how I like my days. I think it depends on what you snack on too in the later evening more so than the timing of it. I can't sleep if I'm hungry.

FitBeto

I usually eat every hour until bedtime lol, and I still have hipbones that get painfully smashed at work

eeebee

Also, how many people are still at work at 6pm?

I often am, then there's the gym, often straight after work between 6:30/7pm - 8:30/9pm.....and then of course the journey home.

All of which means: Where will you find time to cook (from fresh) and eat dinner (my favourite meal of the day I'll have you know) if you're supposed to eat before 6 - 8pm?

Personally I would rather go to the gym, burn a load of calories & get my workout in, cook dinner from scratch and thoroughly enjoy it when I am subsequently hungry and ready. I'll have worked hard to have earned that lovely meal! :bigsmile:

Plus dinner usually makes me sleepy, it's a lovely cozy feeling.

If I ate at 6pm I'd be waking up in the middle of the night with an empty & rumbling tummy & sleep is far too important for that kind of interruption.

BlackTimber

Weight loss is not day to day. It has no clock. Try thinking of total calories per week or month.

Sheila_Ann

Listen to your body. For example, I was hungry last night and was debating wheather I should eat something or not. I ate something light. Figured that my body was telling me something and I listened to it. As long as it's not a full meal I don't see any issues for eating late at night.

Good luck!

stephdeeable

I work till 9:30 a few days a week, on these days I'll eat a dinner sized meal around 10:30 and go to bed an hour or two later. Hasn't seemed to slow down my weight loss.

Chadomaniac

eat what ever time u want , how often u want ! as long as it fits your macros at the end of the day

PaulinaCieslak

I read somewhere that your last meal should be ab 3hs before going to bed and it works for me really good. Because i usually go to sleep around 2am so i really cannot imagine eating at 5/6 pm and then not eating anything for 7/8hs...

Bradiesue42

i like to have my larger meal at lunch time, and i have a really small dinner usually around 5:30 and i don't eat after that.

paigeslims

You should stop eating 3-4 hours before you go bed. So for me I stop eating around 7-8pm

omanitshann

i don't eat past 7.

Natashaa1991

the truth is, nothing in my life has worked so well as not eating after 8 pm. until the morning. yes, you can do it! leave your body without food for a longer period of time (this is not me talking, look it up on bodybuilder's websites) and it will start burning fat.
eat enough during the day though.
and trust me on this one.

pwittek10

YES!
6:30 PM