Eating before bed

bynonmurrayc
bynonmurrayc Posts: 37 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is it wrong to eat right before you go to bed? Ive heard mixed opinions on this.

theory 1: food sits in you and gets stored as fat
theory 2: doesn't matter when you eat as long as you burn it off

I don't mean have a FEAST then go to sleep, i just mean a little snack like an apple with peanut butter or something.

I'd appreciate opinions!

Replies

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Your metabolism doesn't "shut down" when you go to bed - it's still working 24 hours a day. There have been many studies proving that nutrient/meal timing is irrelevant....eat whenever you want to unless there are other reasons not to (e.g., a late meal causes you indigestion, etc.).
  • phlower
    phlower Posts: 103
    Is it wrong to eat right before you go to bed? Ive heard mixed opinions on this.

    theory 1: food sits in you and gets stored as fat
    theory 2: doesn't matter when you eat as long as you burn it off

    I don't mean have a FEAST then go to sleep, i just mean a little snack like an apple with peanut butter or something.

    I'd appreciate opinions!

    I'm with theory 2. If I am hungry, I will eat a little something. Keep it 200 cals or under and you're fine. I can't sleep hungry, so I've been known to have a small piece of cheese (mini babybel) or a little bit of almond milk. It's just to coat my stomach. I can usually get through the night that way. Then I wake up ready for breakfast in the AM!
  • bynonmurrayc
    bynonmurrayc Posts: 37 Member
    I'm glad the responses are leaning towards option 2! I kind of always thought that too.

    However, i notice a lot of diets say "no eating after 7" or something like that.. I suppose its to stop the late night snacking.
  • phlower
    phlower Posts: 103
    Yeah, definitely no big meals within a few hours of bedtime, at least for me. But the time is just silly. Some people work night shift and are just having breakfast at 7pm! I have my last snack at work at 9pm, then I get off at 11 and I am in bed by midnight.
  • yasminara
    yasminara Posts: 247 Member
    Yeah I agree with the others, especially it's way worse to go to bed hungry than have a snack!
  • MommaSparrow1928
    MommaSparrow1928 Posts: 47 Member
    I've heard mixed opinions as well. I agree with pretty much what's been said here, but it's still a pretty good rule of thumb to at least have an hour or so between eating and going to sleep because it "messes up your sleep" or something like that. Not sure how true that is (late night radio talk-shows aren't always reliable.....)
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    Calories can't tell time.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I work 3rd shift. I basically don't eat during work. I come home from work, eat about 1000 calories, then go to bed. Then I wake up, eat about another 1000 calories and go to work. I've lost 10 pounds in the past 4 weeks since I started this job.

    The human body doesn't care when you eat calories, it uses "x" calories a day. Whenever you choose to eat, the body still uses "x" calories a day. A 500 calorie deficit is a 500 calorie deficit, no matter how you split up the meals.
  • ARicho
    ARicho Posts: 3
    I think some issues involved eating right before bed is it can affect your sleep patterns and can make it difficult to get a good nights rest.
  • Ph4lanx
    Ph4lanx Posts: 213 Member
    I eat every night before bed.

    250ml skimmed milk.
    30g Total Milk and Whey protein

    Mix, drink, sleep. Done! Never had a problem.
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
    I think it totally depends on your body. For some people, they will really recognize that it sits in their gut and make it difficult to sleep. For others, they can sleep fine either way and it doesn't really affect them. Still, with some people, they need the snack to make it to breakfast the next day so they aren't waking up really hungry.

    Me, I don't really try to avoid it but don't really aim for it either. With me, it depends on when I eat dinner. For example, on the weekends, I usually only eat 2 meals, breakfast and dinner. Sometimes dinner is done by 4 or 5 depending on what our day has looked like. If we are up until 11 or midnight (or later), then I need a snack. If I go to bed early, then I don't.
  • jsj024519
    jsj024519 Posts: 400 Member
    Calories can't tell time.

    Best post on this thread. Hands down
  • Blunderguff
    Blunderguff Posts: 34
    Calories can't tell time.

    This.

    If you have the room at the end of day, eat them up. There's been many nights when I eat my main meal right before bed. That being said its mainly proteins and veggies.
  • Joannie30
    Joannie30 Posts: 415 Member
    I sleep better when i don't eat right before bed. I've just started this recently- not to lose weight as such, because i'm not *really* convinced about that theory, but just because i'm a terrible sleeper and i wondered if it would help. So far it has.

    I have broken through a plateau and lost some weight since i started doing this too but i don't necessarily attribute that to not eating after 8pm.

    Jx
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,031 Member
    I eat at least an hour before bed, sometimes right before it. Depends on how some handle it. But overall, there is no time limit of when NOT to eat, and most diets that tout eating after 7pm are diets that make you consume all your calories before 7.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Is it wrong to eat right before you go to bed? Ive heard mixed opinions on this.

    theory 1: food sits in you and gets stored as fat
    theory 2: doesn't matter when you eat as long as you burn it off

    I don't mean have a FEAST then go to sleep, i just mean a little snack like an apple with peanut butter or something.

    I'd appreciate opinions!

    You have to experiment to find what works for you, for some eating just before bed interferes with sleep which is bad.

    I have a snack every single night between 8PM and 9PM. Always have. It helps me during a calorie deficit, as does eating smaller meals more often (but I'm not recommending that as some sort of magical panacea either, it's simply what works best for me).

    If you're hungry enough that you think you might have trouble sleeping due to a rumbly tummy, or you know yourself well enough to realize that, at 3AM, a ravenous hungerbeast is going to end up being let loose in your kitchen, emptying high-calorie poor food choices into its gaping maw, then try a light snack, or whatever fits reasonably into your daily calories.
  • Chgosportsgal
    Chgosportsgal Posts: 38
    Last Tuesday, I started eating low fat/high protein mini meal around 9pm. Weighed myself two days later on Friday and lost 2 lbs after 3 weeks of being at a complete stand still. I also increased my water too. I would stop eating after 7pm and then wake up around 2am just starving !! So I would get up and eat, but then not go back to bed for the next 90 mins...grrrr threw my sleep off! Now, those hunger pangs do not wake me up and I've noticed a big difference since I started eating later. Hope this helps and feel free to connect with me on MFP.
  • K_Train450
    K_Train450 Posts: 122 Member
    Your body is in constant homeostasis and function. You need a calorie surplus for the day to gain fat. Your body can't make fat out of nothing surplus(calories wise).
  • MommaSparrow1928
    MommaSparrow1928 Posts: 47 Member
    Nice to hear that the eating "x" amount of time before bed was slightly supported and not totally off...... I've learned not to believe every tiny detail I hear, so it's nice to hear it's not just someone's crazy theory.


    At best I can eat about 30 minutes before I go to sleep and not have it disrupt my sleep patterns, but anything after and it keeps me up..... but that's just me.....
  • bynonmurrayc
    bynonmurrayc Posts: 37 Member
    So, if it doesn't matter when you eat, why do people say to always eat breakfast?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    So, if it doesn't matter when you eat, why do people say to always eat breakfast?

    Two reasons:

    1) Nutritional dogma dies hard and if something goes against "common wisdom" then people tend to disregard it arbitrarily.
    2) Studies in which calories were not controlled show that people who skip breakfast tend to gain more weight or lose less weight. This is due to people over-eating later in the day.

    Given equal intake of calories, eating them at one time vs another is not relevant for total weightloss.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Is it wrong to eat right before you go to bed? Ive heard mixed opinions on this.

    theory 1: food sits in you and gets stored as fat
    theory 2: doesn't matter when you eat as long as you burn it off

    I don't mean have a FEAST then go to sleep, i just mean a little snack like an apple with peanut butter or something.

    I'd appreciate opinions!

    Right before I go to bed I usually have 1C ice cream, 2Tbsp peanut butter, 1 Tbsp Nutella, 1 banana. It's delicious.
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
    So, if it doesn't matter when you eat, why do people say to always eat breakfast?

    Two reasons:

    1) Nutritional dogma dies hard and if something goes against "common wisdom" then people tend to disregard it arbitrarily.
    2) Studies in which calories were not controlled show that people who skip breakfast tend to gain more weight or lose less weight. This is due to people over-eating later in the day.

    Given equal intake of calories, eating them at one time vs another is not relevant for total weightloss.
    Don't forget the enormous deluge of anecdotal evidence. Somewhat related to #2, but perhaps more influential.

    I know for me, when I skip breakfast, and get really hungry, I tend to overeat at lunch - sometimes pushing me beyond my calorie goals for the day.

    I also know that the problem with that behavior (in the context of weight loss) is the going over total cals consumed problem, not a timing problem.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    So, if it doesn't matter when you eat, why do people say to always eat breakfast?

    Two reasons:

    1) Nutritional dogma dies hard and if something goes against "common wisdom" then people tend to disregard it arbitrarily.
    2) Studies in which calories were not controlled show that people who skip breakfast tend to gain more weight or lose less weight. This is due to people over-eating later in the day.

    Given equal intake of calories, eating them at one time vs another is not relevant for total weightloss.
    Don't forget the enormous deluge of anecdotal evidence. Somewhat related to #2, but perhaps more influential.

    I know for me, when I skip breakfast, and get really hungry, I tend to overeat at lunch - sometimes pushing me beyond my calorie goals for the day.

    I also know that the problem with that behavior (in the context of weight loss) is the going over total cals consumed problem, not a timing problem.

    From what I've read, the idea is "People who skip breakfast weigh more" ... and the reason being, they were skipping meals so they could lose weight, because they were already heavy.
  • ksavy
    ksavy Posts: 271 Member
    I drink a protein shake about 30 min before I go to bed if I have the calories left in the day.
  • KittieLea
    KittieLea Posts: 1,156 Member
    I eat about 4-5 egg whites each night before I go to bed. I want to make sure my muscles are being fed while I sleep. The apple with peanut butter isn't a bad idea either! Try to aim to high protein and healthy fats for your bedtime meal ;)

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