Is it true that you shouldnt eat after 6pm?

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Replies

  • RickBriggs
    RickBriggs Posts: 44
    Sorry Folks but it is true!!! If you stop at 6 and don't eat for the magic 16 hours over night until breakfast at 10AM (do you remember why they call it Break Fast?), your body goes into starvation (calorie restriction) mode and burns FAT. It is MUCH easier to control your weight that way!
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    God I hope not cause somehow a managed to lose a few pounds eating dinner a 7 and taking a 500 calorie snack to bed with me every night.... Only ones that I can see being an exception to the rule would be those with acid reflux or just can't sleep on a full stomach, I fall into neither of those categories.... Best of Luck
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Sorry Folks but it is true!!! If you stop at 6 and don't eat for the magic 16 hours over night until breakfast at 10AM (do you remember why they call it Break Fast?), your body goes into starvation (calorie restriction) mode and burns FAT. It is MUCH easier to control your weight that way!

    That's a pretty wild claim, sources?
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    It depends on when you go to bed. Always eat at least 2 hours before bedtime. It's not good to eat and go right to bed. ;-). If you can't help it and you're really hungry, try yogurt, string cheese, a boiled egg, you get the idea. Protein will satisfy the hunger so you can sleep.

    Why isn't it good to eat and go right to bed? I eat ~1500 calories typically right before bed.
  • shawaniea
    shawaniea Posts: 25 Member
    that is ridiculous when you sleep your body is digesting food and burning calories
  • GrooverKing
    GrooverKing Posts: 2
    According to Fit For Life, you should not eat 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. It's not about calories, it's about your natural daily cycle: You eat during day, digest before sleep, absorb during sleep, eliminate in the morning, (rinse, repeat). It's the absorption phase that takes energy, so it happens mostly at night and dosen't rob you of energy during the day.

    Fit for life also had a lot of practical advice about food combining; boiled down to: never eat starches and protein together (stomach makes acid for one, base for another; combined, just sits there in a glob); eat only fruit in the mornings to assist the elimination stage.
    Simple, really, and makes mucho sense.
    just saying..............
  • robin68562
    robin68562 Posts: 116 Member
    I eat whenever I want. As a matter of fact. I save calories for the evening because I know I'm a bedtime snacker. As long as you stay within your calorie limit, I don't think it matters when you eat it. I must doing something right because I've lost 28 pounds since mid-may of this year.
  • Promqueen_74932
    Promqueen_74932 Posts: 203 Member
    Only if you're planning to go to bed at 9pm. I've read to eat dinner about three hours (minimum) before you go to sleep.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    According to Fit For Life, you should not eat 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. It's not about calories, it's about your natural daily cycle: You eat during day, digest before sleep, absorb during sleep, eliminate in the morning, (rinse, repeat). It's the absorption phase that takes energy, so it happens mostly at night and dosen't rob you of energy during the day.

    Fit for life also had a lot of practical advice about food combining; boiled down to: never eat starches and protein together (stomach makes acid for one, base for another; combined, just sits there in a glob); eat only fruit in the mornings to assist the elimination stage.
    Simple, really, and makes mucho sense.
    just saying..............

    Actual scientific sources for any of that?
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    According to Fit For Life, you should not eat 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. It's not about calories, it's about your natural daily cycle: You eat during day, digest before sleep, absorb during sleep, eliminate in the morning, (rinse, repeat). It's the absorption phase that takes energy, so it happens mostly at night and dosen't rob you of energy during the day.

    Fit for life also had a lot of practical advice about food combining; boiled down to: never eat starches and protein together (stomach makes acid for one, base for another; combined, just sits there in a glob); eat only fruit in the mornings to assist the elimination stage.
    Simple, really, and makes mucho sense.
    just saying..............

    Bogus.... Your body has no internal clock on when it should burn/absorb calories, you need just make sure you are getting in your caloric intake and macro's for that day and your body will do the rest and it will do it without a set time schedule.... Best of Luck..
  • fizzletto
    fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
    One of my friends swears by not eating after 8pm. Her philosophy is that if you eat right before bed, your body turns the calories straight into fat when you fall asleep, without burning them off.

    However, another one of my friends says it's always best to eat right before bed. He says that if you eat right before bed, your body carries on digesting the food throughout the night, so it reduces the risk of your body going into 'starvation mode' - it knows it's always got access to food.

    Personally, I think it's all BS. Sometimes I don't eat past 6pm, other nights I eat at 11:30pm. The weight is still coming off no matter WHEN in the day I eat, as long as I don't eat more than I should!
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    nope.....not true at all.
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    Nope! I'm eating dinner now and it's 8pm in NJ and I'll still have a snack before bed...
  • gabriellejayde
    gabriellejayde Posts: 607 Member
    Is it true that you shouldnt eat within a couple hours of bedtime?

    That can't be true. What about people on the east coast? What about people that work evenings, or the people who work nights and wake up at 6pm?!?

    I've been trying to figure out why it would matter what coast you're on but I can't figure out the logic. Help me out.
  • Beee_B
    Beee_B Posts: 24
    Surely that's two different questions?

    Do you go to bed at 8pm?
  • thew60
    thew60 Posts: 2
    FACT is you should not go to bed with a full stomach. FACT is it takes much longer to digest your food as your metabolism slows when you sleep. ALSO is you have a history of GERD (reflux) or ulcer disease you should not eat anything for 2 hours prior to bed time. This will reduce the risk of reflux at night.
  • alzaman5925
    alzaman5925 Posts: 64 Member
    I did hear from a friend that it's recommended not to eat after 7pm. Not sure *who* it's recommended by exactly... but what I actually try to do is fast for about 14-16 hours overlapping with my sleep, so I don't eat after 7pm and I have my first meal after 9 or 10am the next morning. It's much easier to do this during the holidays mind. Personally, I hate waking up and still feeling bloated from last night's meal, either because I ate too much or too late. It also helps if I'm going to weigh myself in the morning... I can usually tell if I've lost any pounds just by how my body feels and moves.
  • Kenzieb07
    Kenzieb07 Posts: 207 Member
    Chalene Johnson (ChaLEAN Extreme, Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, etc trainer) says to have your last meal at least 3 hours before bedtime. I tried that for a few days and I can't lie, the scale was always down the next morning. However, I'd rather have the scale up in the morning than go to bed hungry so it didn't last very long!
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    If you've got acid reflux, you should eat right before bed.
  • runs4zen
    runs4zen Posts: 769 Member
    I eat all night long and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and have a snack because I'm hungry. Eat!
  • annabellio
    annabellio Posts: 127 Member
    Snack in bed if you want. The only thing that matters is your daily calorie goal.

    I wish you hadn't said that. Now I'm thinking about George Costanza and his pastrami sandwich.
    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA !!!!!
  • faithchange
    faithchange Posts: 311 Member
    I think it is all in what you eat making it bad...if you go load up on carbs like donuts, fast food, ect...then yes...BAD after 6 pm...LOL! Otherwise, if you eat good nutrition foods that it shouldn't matter. I think you should eat a before bed snack because your metabolism keeps stoked even while you sleep. Just be cautious on what your eating.
  • windycitycupcake
    windycitycupcake Posts: 516 Member
    no way. my favorite time to eat is right before bed. if i had to i could go all day long eating nothing and eat all my calories right in bed and i would be a happy camper.

    disclaimer: i am not claiming that is a healthy thing to do
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,328 Member
    Coincidentally, I found this article in a magazine I was reading yesterday and found a link to it online....

    http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20602924,00.html

    I have always tried to keep from eating late at night anyway. Seems to help me.
  • suelegal
    suelegal Posts: 1,281 Member
    This question was on Dr Oz...apparently not..he said it's a myth...

    LOL and because that quack says so you believed it? He happens to be right this time but there's loads of stuff that he promotes that not very sound advice!

    I think that this whole don't eat after .... probably came into being by someone who was trying to prevent their late evening snacking. As stated before, a calorie is a calorie. If it fits into your daily allotment, eat it whenever you wish (barring any medical issues to the contrary!)
  • sherisse69
    sherisse69 Posts: 795 Member
    Is it true that you shouldnt eat within a couple hours of bedtime?

    To quote Dr. Oz - "Your body does not care what time it is" He followed that by explaining, it is the overall intake and has nothing to do with the time of day you consume it.
  • ceeegeee
    ceeegeee Posts: 18
    I was a big night time eater. I do not eat after dinner and that just helps me stay on track. Everyone has to do what works for them.
    If you hit a plateau, make a change.
  • Trapwolf
    Trapwolf Posts: 142 Member
    Thanks everyone for the very diversified answers and advice..I think I will eventually change my eating schedule to larger meal in the am less in the pm . But for now Im staying within my caloric goal, so I cant be doing too bad on average..ive only been here 17 days so we will see. :flowerforyou:
  • BenChase
    BenChase Posts: 169
    i recently read a study that says your metabolism actually speeds up (slightly but still) during REM sleep, so aside from excercise times your body burns better than any other time while you are alseep making it better to eat late, i personally never used to eat after a certain time and for the past few months i have been eating all the time up to right before bed and even waking up hungry in the middle of the night and gobbling down some (healthy) food...my personal results? still doing great and now i am never hungry like when i worried about eating late, by the way feel free to stalk my food log and you will see a few days ago i had over 2000 calories in the last few hours i was awake. don't fear the food unless it's unhealthy or over your personal set calorie goals :smile:

    edit to add link to the page, forgot i saved it :wink: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman.html?mcid=facenutrition&?mcid=faceweekly=sf5921095

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