What is the truth about eating after 6:00pm?

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kamakazeekim
kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My husband is a wrestling coach and knows the ins and outs of what it takes to lose weight. He says that eating after 6:00 just turns the calories into fat and if I'm serious about losing weight I'll just have to take the hunger pains. Problem is I don't get home from work until after 5:30 and by the time I get the kids settled in at home it's well after 6:00 before I have time to start making dinner.

Do I listen to him and not eat or is the myth false thus allowing me to eat dinner?
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Replies

  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    It's rubbish. Total calories consumed over the course of the day, or even the average over a week for that matter, are what counts. The only difference you might see is if you weight yourself the morning after a big dinner and it hasn't had time to "pass through your system" beforehand, if you see what I mean.
  • tinytoyjess
    tinytoyjess Posts: 139 Member
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    If you stay within your daily caloric goals/needs it should not make any difference what time of day you're eating. If you're eating "extra" calories after 6pm than it'll stall your weight loss, but not any more than if you were eating those same "extra" calories at 3pm or 11am.

    What your dh has told you is a common misconception, a myth.
  • misswager
    misswager Posts: 67 Member
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    6pm! Never heard of that before! I'd agree and say rubbish :-)
  • Michele7091
    Michele7091 Posts: 256 Member
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    I would starve if I couldn't eat pass 6pm...some days I don't get home from the gym until 7pm!
  • otrlynn
    otrlynn Posts: 278 Member
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    If I followed your husband's advice, I'd never get to eat dinner!
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
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    It's not true. Your body doesn't just say "oh snap, it's after 6pm..gotta start turning this food directly into fat"!. Doesn't work that way...
  • carriempls
    carriempls Posts: 326 Member
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    Total myth.
  • Amazon_Who
    Amazon_Who Posts: 1,092 Member
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    If that is what it takes to stay within your calorie goal it is fine. If not eat when you want to.
  • misswager
    misswager Posts: 67 Member
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    I try and not eat after 9pm
  • vacherin
    vacherin Posts: 192
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    Oh my gosh, suffering the hunger pangs is the worst thing possible. You poor thing! Not only will you feel horrible, but you will be so desperately hungry that you will crack and reach for the nearest lardy thing (likely to be crisps or chocolate) because you are so ravenous.

    I agree with the others - it's what you eat over the course of a day, or week, that counts, not when you eat it.. I have heard that your evening meal should be the lightest of your three meals, but the idea that you have to have it before 6pm is a myth.
  • hippietofugirl
    hippietofugirl Posts: 430
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    I call bulls***. You can eat whenever you want. Your body isn't going to be like "oh yeah, its 6, I need to start storing fat..." Its all about the calorie deficit, not the time when you consume them.
  • tinytoyjess
    tinytoyjess Posts: 139 Member
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    If he gives you trouble just tell him you're eating on Hawaiian time. :))
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
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    To be honest I think this depends more on when you're planning to go to bed. Think of when you were a kid, most of the time you probably at at 5 or 530PM and then went to bed at 8 or 830PM -- 3 hours after dinner. It's not realistic to eat dinner at 530PM and then stay up until midnight and NOT be starving.
    I eat dinner at 530 or 6PM, but I also go to bed at 830PM (work early in the AM). I think the aim should be to not eat within 2 or 2.5 hours of bedtime.
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 626 Member
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    I have heard this before...but in terms to carbs. I've heard of no carbs past sunset as a general rule of thumb.

    I do feel better in the mornings when I follow this rule to be honest, but is it doing anything for my weight loss? Who knows...it is 1 variable in the 20 things I'm doing...lol
  • aamberrr
    aamberrr Posts: 115 Member
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    Definitely not true. The calories you put into your body go into what you could think of as a "calorie bank." Your body uses what you need for energy out of the bank, and anything left over in the bank will start getting stored as fat. But your metabolism doesn't just shut down at a certain time of day.

    Now, I do try to cut out (or at least cut down) my carbs in the evening, but that has nothing to do with calories. Carbs cause an insulin spike in your system, and as long as your body has that easy access sugar to burn off, it will not turn to the fat stores for energy. Since I'm less active at night, I assume the sugar I put into my system will just hang out there for a longer period of time.

    Hope that helps. :)
  • oneoddsock
    oneoddsock Posts: 321 Member
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    Move to another timezone. It's the only answer.

    No, hang on... actually, your body has no idea what time it is, and it certainly doesn't treat your food any differently at different times of day. I think the only thing that would make you gain weight from eating late in the day is not eating enough earlier in the day to prevent you from getting so hungry in the evening that you overeat.
  • holeshottdr
    holeshottdr Posts: 364 Member
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    I call bulls***. You can eat whenever you want. Your body isn't going to be like "oh yeah, its 6, I need to start storing fat..." Its all about the calorie deficit, not the time when you consume them.

    This exactly!

    I usually eat the majority of my calories for the day within an hour of going to bed. OP, you mind asking your husband that supposedly knows the in's and out's of fat loss how I managed to lose over 70 lbs of fat while doing this?
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
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    If this were true, then every single person who works midnights would be fat.
  • xipow
    xipow Posts: 58
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    Actually, it is not as simple as calories in and calories out. I had an interesting discussion with my fitness crazy, doctor, brother who explained to me that the pancreas secretes one of the hormones that is responsible for the breakdown of fat. It is called HGH or human growth hormone. It is usually at it's peak while we sleep or after exercise, because the pancreas only produces it when our blood sugar is low. The pancreas also produces insulin to move blood sugar into cells. It will not produce HGH when it is producing insulin. I understand that insulin has a half life of about 6 minutes and the pancreas continues to produce it until blood sugar is lowered. My brother has been taught that a meal before bed will significantly reduce the amount of HGH that the body produces and as a result reduce the amount of fat that is broken down (lipolysis). I would be interested in any more information corroborating or disputing this information. Thanks.
  • lindsayforlife
    lindsayforlife Posts: 93 Member
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    it's a myth. Calories are calories. Eat when you're hungry. Listen to your body, not you husband lol.

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