Timing your eating habits?

Admiral_Derp

I've been giving some thought to how, and when I eat. Do you think it really matters much with regard to our weight? What I mean is, I lived in Poland for a year and it seemed to me that their biggest meal was at lunch. It seems like breakfast and dinner was always a lot lighter. I also remember being surprised that for an entire year, I only saw a couple of other fat people, even though I traveled across the whole country. In the two occasions that I remember, they were also Americans (like myself). What's the general consensus here? Does when we eat the most have any correlation to how we process food/fat? (I do know that they generally were much more active on a day to day basis, which no doubt accounts for the biggest reason why there seemed to be so few overweight people, but I wonder if this played a role as well?)

Any other Europeans, do you eat similar to this, or was I just imagining it?

EvanKeel

Generally, meal timing and frequency offer no real metabolic difference. Satiety is another issue altogether, and may definitely play a factor in eating behavior.

drmerc

No. It is the amount you eat, not when you eat it

secretlobster

Timing really doesn't matter at all, it's just a habit. Look at what they eat, and how much, that's a more accurate insight into why they aren't overweight

mnb7v3

I don't know, I think there could be something to it. I know it all comes down to how many calories we consume, regardless of what time of day, but WHEN we eat can have a huge affect on how much we eat. I know that when I eat a larger lunch, I usually am too full to eat a big dinner. But when I save dinner for my "big meal" (and I usually do) it sometimes turns into an all-evening affair, and I keep going back for more and overdo it on dessert. Those are the days when I go over on calories, not on the days when I have a larger than normal lunch/breakfast. I think it's because by the end of the day, my motivation isn't as high and I don't have as much self control.

sanarabrock

The consensus is that eating too close to bedtime is bad since your metabolism slows down while you're sleeping. Maybe having bigger meals in the afternoon than in the evening means more gets burned up and used versus eating a large meal within a few hours of dinner? Just a thought.

secretlobster

The consensus is that eating too close to bedtime is bad since your metabolism slows down while you're sleeping.

Whose consensus is that? Your metabolism doesn't slow down because you're asleep. Your body's metabolism is a complex function of many factors, not limited to digestion.

Admiral_Derp

Timing really doesn't matter at all, it's just a habit. Look at what they eat, and how much, that's a more accurate insight into why they aren't overweight

That's definitely a factor! I noticed that it was much less common to eat "junk food" there. It existed, and they ate it, but it didn't seem to be nearly as much a part of their diet. They ate a lot more vegetables too!