Eating in the Morning VS Eating at Night

kirstinlee
kirstinlee Posts: 152 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've heard that your digestion is better in the morning, which is part of the reason why breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day. I was wondering, though, since I'm on a skewed schedule -- I normally don't go to bed until about three or four, so I don't wake up until eleven or twelve -- if this would still be true for me. Is my digestion at its peak when I wake up, like "my morning"? Or at its best still actually in the morning?

Replies

  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.
  • Lunatic379
    Lunatic379 Posts: 58
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.
    Ditto, eating at certain times in general is a myth. IMO, the only reason breakfast is the most important meal of the day, is that you haven't eaten the entire night before, and it's food that you can use for energy the entire day.
  • amyllu
    amyllu Posts: 432 Member
    Personally I tend to stagger my meals as and when I wake up. Because of having a bad back which makes my sleep pattern quite erratic I often sleep till about 11am and therefore that's when I will have my breakfast. As the word says.. it is taking food to "break the fast" which has occurred whilst sleeping.
    Sometimes if I wake up very early..say 6.30am and have my breakfast I will find that I really need a little something before going to bed in the evening..It's all according to what suits you best.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.
    Ditto, eating at certain times in general is a myth. IMO, the only reason breakfast is the most important meal of the day, is that you haven't eaten the entire night before, and it's food that you can use for energy the entire day.

    I say eat when you are hungry...

    I have been doing IF, Lean Gains for five months and have not had breakfast for five months..my largest meal is post workout...I do not have any problems with energy during day and I train fasted too...so I dont agree with the breakfast as energy post, but that is just my personal experience.

    Ideally, the best time to eat is the two hour post work out window as this is when your body is primed to use food as energy...
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.

    ^^yep

    Adherence, lifestyle and gym performance are far more important for meal timing, assuming that eating late does not impact sleep.
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.

    ^^yep

    Adherence, lifestyle and gym performance are far more important for meal timing, assuming that eating late does not impact sleep.

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  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    It's total bull****.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.

    ^^^ This
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  • barebon
    barebon Posts: 80 Member
    I just take it as it comes. I eat up to about an hour before bed. As long as you are still active you can still eat. I find I have to eat more in the evening because sometimes I work out in the evening and I gain more calories at night and I don't want to big of a deficit. I still have lost weight, so don't stress about all those small things. A lot of times in those studies they are a minute difference that really doesn't impact you much, but they are studies so they have to come to a conclusion. And in the end different things work for different people. So just try and error and find what works for you! :) good luck!
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    Naysayers, don't be so sure. A recent study done by Harvard University suggests that people who eat most of their calories before 3 PM lose more weight than people who eat the same number of calories later in the day. There's a feature running on AOL as a headline today.

    Bad news for me. I'm not very interested in eating early in the day and usually have about 1/3 of my total calories for the day after 5 PM.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    This is total myth and not something to concern yourself with. Eat when you prefer and with what works for your schedule.

    Yep... No such thing as meal frequency just make sure you are hitting your caloric intake for the day.... Best of Luck
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    There is an argument that your body is metabolically primed to take on nutrients following an overnight fast (so try and get some protein in the morning ;)

    However, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if your calorie intake remains constant.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Naysayers, don't be so sure. A recent study done by Harvard University suggests that people who eat most of their calories before 3 PM lose more weight than people who eat the same number of calories later in the day. There's a feature running on AOL as a headline today.

    Bad news for me. I'm not very interested in eating early in the day and usually have about 1/3 of my total calories for the day after 5 PM.

    Feel free to post the link to the study then.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    There is an argument that your body is metabolically primed to take on nutrients following an overnight fast (so try and get some protein in the morning ;)

    However, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if your calorie intake remains constant.

    using that logic why would your body not be primed after an 18 hour fast...trying to figure out why it matters that you eat fist thing in the morning as opposed to waiting an extra four to five hours until 1pm...???
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    There is an argument that your body is metabolically primed to take on nutrients following an overnight fast (so try and get some protein in the morning ;)

    However, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if your calorie intake remains constant.

    using that logic why would your body not be primed after an 18 hour fast...trying to figure out why it matters that you eat fist thing in the morning as opposed to waiting an extra four to five hours until 1pm...???

    Apparently it is partially due to circadian protein synthesis being at its lowest after an overnight fast:

    http://www.jacn.org/content/23/suppl_6/631S.long

    Obviously it's an opinion which is open to criticism...

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