More evidence for Not Eating Late

jayche

I wonder if they all weighed themselves at the same time (typically in the morning)? If so it'd make more sense that the group who didn't eat at night would weigh less than the ones who ate at night.

Still gonna eat at midnight regardless interesting read though!

barb1241

It isn't really scientific, but I eat dinner at 7 pm. I eat snacks as late as 1-2am, usually at least as late as 11 pm. The size of my shrinking *kitten* (somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 lbs and 4-5 jeans sizes smaller) would suggest it isn't being a problem for me. Of course, YMMV. I'm sticking to what is working for me-in any language-until it doesn't work anymore.

snowbunnygirl

I'll eat whenever I want, whatever time i want.


It's because these people probably ate pure crap.

Barbellerella

meh. I eat late (and carbs at that, GASP!) and I'm the leanest I've been in years... And I don't eat right when I wake up either!! I'm such a rule breaker. :drinker:

Melo1966

Did they weigh the groups at different times? It you eat at different times of the day you need to weigh at different times.

lporter229

There could be behavioral factors that come in to play here as well. Almost every study can be contradicted by another, depending on how the experiment is designed. Bottom line: figure out what works for you and stick with it.

lacurandera1

I eat 50% of my 2300-3000 calories a day after 7 or 8 pm. It's certainly not affecting my progress, as evidenced by my picture. A majority of the active people on my friends list also eat quite a bit late at night. It also isn't hindering them.

To anyone who believes that they can't eat past a certain time, that's fine. Do what you believe in or what makes you happy and or comfortable. But I like to eat. In bed, even, sometimes.

Chief_Rocka

weak evidence is weak

CM9178

You continue burning calories while you are sleeping - so why would it matter how close to your bed time you eat a big meal?

doubleduofa

I do believe that there are hormonal processes that happen at night, so what you eat and when you eat are important to those.

I do better when I don't eat carbs at night and eat most of my food earlier in the day.

Krizzle4Rizzle

meh. I eat late (and carbs at that, GASP!) and I'm the leanest I've been in years... And I don't eat right when I wake up either!! I'm such a rule breaker. :drinker:

You rebel. :devil:

TR0berts

Not being able to read the full study sucks. But, then again, if this is true, it doesn't matter: Participants (49.5% female subjects; age (mean±s.d.): 42±11 years; BMI: 31.4±5.4 kg m−2)

What, exactly, was the energy expenditure? Sitting on the couch all day? Working out? And the write-up at NPR states that things were "roughly" and "similar"ly the same. Define "roughly" and "similar." If the early eaters ate 1375 Cals/day, and the late eaters ate 1425 Cals/day - which both are "roughly" 1400 Cals, then no kidding, the early eaters will likely end up weighing less. And what types of controls did they use? Did they weigh the participants at the same times - and preferably at multiple times, to account for mass of food in the system? Was there a significant difference in sodium intake between the two groups? Again, the study uses the word "similar" for dietary composition. And with an age group spanning 23 years (31-53yo), you're not likely to really glean much useful information anyway, unless there is the same percentage of each age in both groups.

In short - unless the diets and energy expenditure was the same - not "similar" or "roughly" the same, this study is all but worthless. I really wish I had access to the full study, but I'm not a member and don't feel like doling out $32.

LoraF83

I expect it is different for different people. I lose weight much more easily if I eat my biggest meal earlier in the day. It's challenging, though, because of social and family obligations that revolve around dinner.


"Every time the meal timing question comes up, I have to ask: what if you're eating dinner on a plane and you cross time zones? Or what about daylight savings time? If I have to stop eating at 6PM, does that get pushed back to 7PM when we spring forward? "

Most likely it isn't the exact time that matters so much as the number of hours between your last meal and when you go to bed.

Why do you feel that the "number of hours between your last meal and when you go to bed" matters?

Duck_Puddle

Not being able to read the full study sucks. But, then again, if this is true, it doesn't matter: Participants (49.5% female subjects; age (mean±s.d.): 42±11 years; BMI: 31.4±5.4 kg m−2)

What, exactly, was the energy expenditure? Sitting on the couch all day? Working out? And the write-up at NPR states that things were "roughly" and "similar"ly the same. Define "roughly" and "similar." If the early eaters ate 1375 Cals/day, and the late eaters ate 1425 Cals/day - which both are "roughly" 1400 Cals, then no kidding, the early eaters will likely end up weighing less. And what types of controls did they use? Did they weigh the participants at the same times - and preferably at multiple times, to account for mass of food in the system? Was there a significant difference in sodium intake between the two groups? Again, the study uses the word "similar" for dietary composition. And with an age group spanning 23 years (31-53yo), you're not likely to really glean much useful information anyway, unless there is the same percentage of each age in both groups.

In short - unless the diets and energy expenditure was the same - not "similar" or "roughly" the same, this study is all but worthless. I really wish I had access to the full study, but I'm not a member and don't feel like doling out $32.

Exactly. I'd like to see some p values >.05 for caloric intake & energy expenditure before I place any stock in this. And I'm not paying $32 just to see that data (assuming it's in an appendix) when that particular data comparison was the only one listed without a p-value (even the one that wasn't statistically significant).

escloflowneCHANGED

<---- Eats right before bed every night! 91 lbs...

sleepytexan

Ya, well, I eat late every night. Never ever before 8 pm; in fact last night I was eating Mexican food at 11 pm after dancing 2 hours of Argentine Tango, so there.

The entire continent of Europe eats dinner around 9 pm, and they're not near as fat as Americans, so . . .

Onesnap

Yes, eating late has just made me into a tub of lard.

Yeah, you look HUGE

Onesnap

Ya, well, I eat late every night. Never ever before 8 pm; in fact last night I was eating Mexican food at 11 pm after dancing 2 hours of Argentine Tango, so there.

The entire continent of Europe eats dinner around 9 pm, and they're not near as fat as Americans, so . . .

Yep, that's what I said in my post.

MissJanet55

I expect it is different for different people. I lose weight much more easily if I eat my biggest meal earlier in the day. It's challenging, though, because of social and family obligations that revolve around dinner.


"Every time the meal timing question comes up, I have to ask: what if you're eating dinner on a plane and you cross time zones? Or what about daylight savings time? If I have to stop eating at 6PM, does that get pushed back to 7PM when we spring forward? "

Most likely it isn't the exact time that matters so much as the number of hours between your last meal and when you go to bed.

Why do you feel that the "number of hours between your last meal and when you go to bed" matters?

I was responding to the poster who asked about the exact time to stop eating, and having a temporary struggle with the quote function. I was surmising (like all of us here who haven't carried out a study). It makes no sense to me that there is an actual time, ie 6 pm of whatever. It makes much more sense to measure the time in terms of hours since the last meal. But as I said, surmising.

Colleen118

I think the ultimate point isn't necessarily the time of the last meal per-se as it is a general message about eating too much before calling it a day... growing up the general rule was not to eat less than 3 hours before you go to bed. I try to stick to that rule of thumb, but I take my synthroid at night rather than morning and I have to stope eating at least 2 hours before taking it....

The time between when you last eat and when you go to sleep has an effect on both digestion and quality of sleep in many people. Too heavy of a meal can cause indegestion interupting quality of sleep, also a heavy stomach, digestion slows when you are sleeping, like most other functions your body performs....