Eating after 6 pm

2

Replies

  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    It's a myth. Unless you have a medical reason it makes no difference. I eat ~750 calorie dinner between 6:30 & 7:30 pm every day. I then eat my 4th meal if ~1500 calories between 8:30 - 9:30 pm then march off to bed. Hasnt hampered my weIght goals.
  • jeleclekat
    jeleclekat Posts: 124 Member
    It doesn't seem to matter unlesss you eat and go directly to bed. I've heard you should not eat a couple of hours before going to bed. Personally. I'm up til 3am cross stitching, I have my late night snack before 11pm and it is usually 2 slices of swisds cheese and a pack of the Carl Budgig luncheon meat (10 slice single serve packs) I make a "sandwich out of it - I lose with it. I get up about 10:30 am , eat brunch about 12:30 and dinner between 5 and 6. I think eating light later in the day/evening makes a difference than eating a heavy meal.
  • I really think that whether we eat or not after 6 p.m. is just a choice that some of us make in order to help ourselves. Some of us don't get home from work (then the gym) till after that time. We then have to prepare a meal before we can eat. It doesn't seem to make a bit of difference to me but I do try to make lunch my main meal of the day nowadays because I don't like going to sleep with a full stomach. That's just a preference though.
    And I think the ticker's broken here because it said that I'd lost 10 lbs. It should say 16lbs and the 40 that I lost before I joined MFP were done eating the exact same way.
    Don't get me wrong; I love the built in accountability that MFP offers. It makes this journey a whole lot easier.
  • joecollins9385
    joecollins9385 Posts: 355 Member
    idk any science behind it, but i try not to eat within a few hours of going to bed. most days my dinner is around 7 or 8 pm and i go to bed around 11 or 12.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,282 Member
    http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/06/29/can-eat-late-and-still-lose-weight/

    I am not a big fan of Fox News but the same article is can be found on other sites.....spread out on 4 pages. So to save time, I used this link.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Life wouldn't be worth living without and evening meal to look forward to!
  • Kagami_Taiga
    Kagami_Taiga Posts: 124 Member
    I tend to have/make dinner at about 6pm. Don't know if it's like a rule to me or just something I do. Each to their own I say.
  • AVinmill
    AVinmill Posts: 88 Member
    I've been eating up to 1200 cal after 6pm and I've been dropping steadily over the past month. To each their own but it doesn't seem to be a problem for me.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I never really cared as long as my calories/calories burned were OK. Now, for some reason, if I get up at 1am to let my dog out, I want food. I've NEVER been that way, ever. I'm not even hungry so I don't know what's up. Stress, I suppose. Maybe I'm not eating enough during the day? Anyway, if I eat anything after I'm done logging for the day, I add it to the next days breakfast and it hurts to see it there. The truth hurts. When I do that I'm adding 100-300 more cals and that makes it hard to stay on track the next evening. It's a bad cycle I need to break to lose these last 10lbs!

    I wish I could stop eating by 8 and eat nothing until breakfast. Maybe I'll make that my goal for this week.

    Thanks for the post. :)
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    If deciding not to eat after a certain time works for her, or helps her be more disciplined, then there isn't anything wrong with it (as long as she eats enough total)... as long as she isn't giving you trouble about not following her rules.

    I eat probably 75% or more of my calories after 6pm, and so far, I'm consistently losing.
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    Oh, honestly. This is just stoopid.

    What if you work swing shift? -- Do you have to get up before 6:00 to have dinner, then go back to bed again?

    What if you don't get to leave your 9:00 to 5:00 job until 7:00? -- Do you grab a slice of pizza or something from the vending machine at 6:00, or wait till you get home at 8:00 to have something healthy?

    What if you were a caveman and didn't catch your dinner until midnight? -- Would you have to wait until sunrise to eat it?

    What if you stay up into the wee hours every night? -- Do you just go hungry for those last few hours before bed, or save your last couple hundred calories for late-night popcorn?

    I think it's wise to not go to sleep with a full stomach, just because digestion (and everything else) slows during sleep and that could mess with your system and give you indigestion. But the dinner-before-6:00 thing is silly.
  • wfte
    wfte Posts: 195 Member
    I think the main reason this is often quoted is due to 2 reasons:

    1) For a lot of people, eating late at night is extra food on top of their normal daily allowance, therefore extra calories.

    2) The type of food most people eat at night. People are more inclined to have something quick , instant and satisfying (which may not be the healthiest option) opposed to grilled chicken, rice and veg at 11pm.

    It's not the eating late at night, it's that in many cases it's extra calories being consumed, either via extra food or unhealthy choices.
  • wlkumpf
    wlkumpf Posts: 241 Member
    I work out till 7 pm often, get home at 7:30 spend some time making food and eat cloer to 8.

    I still lose weight but I do lose a lot more if I limit carbs or at least bread type, later in the day. Instead of egg white omelet with toast I will have egg whites over salsa. I will have some chicken breast on a salad with a whey protein shake or regular smoothie.

    Eat when you are hungry. Often I can tell my metabolism is doing great on days I do have a late snack of protein because I will wake up at 5 starving and counting down till I get up at 7 and have oatmeal! In my mind hunger is a good sign, it means your internal fire is going and your metabolism is kicking in.
  • melpop8
    melpop8 Posts: 39 Member
    What a long miserable night it would be if you could not eat after 6pm....... that could mean not eating until breakfast the next morning! my body would think it was being starved :drinker:
  • I don't eat at least 4 hours before I go to bed. But I prefer 5-6 hours. But it is usually 4-5 for me.
  • Oh and if I do get hungry at night I always drink a glass of water and see if the hunger goes away. If it does, the. I really was just thirsty, if it doesn't the. I will eat a light snack of veggies and hummus.
  • i do it from time to time and mostlikly wont be able to work off a lil of the calories before bed
  • What's the science behind it? Exactly what you said - calories decrease significantly. It would be exactly the same as not eating throughout the entire day and only eating in the evening - exactly what I'm doing now. (It's currently 8pm in London, and I'm wondering exactly how I'm going to consume 1000 calories in the next 4-5hrs without binging on junk food.)

    It's complete and utter bs - the only reason it works is because when you can't eat in the evening, you're less prone to snacking so the next day you wake up starving and feel less bloated than you would if you were to eat in the evening.
  • kleiby
    kleiby Posts: 1 Member
    I've heard that you should eat some protein in the evening to keep your metabolism up and your calories burning while you sleep.
  • merzback
    merzback Posts: 453 Member
    It doesn't seem to matter unlesss you eat and go directly to bed. I've heard you should not eat a couple of hours before going to bed. Personally. I'm up til 3am cross stitching, I have my late night snack before 11pm and it is usually 2 slices of swisds cheese and a pack of the Carl Budgig luncheon meat (10 slice single serve packs) I make a "sandwich out of it - I lose with it. I get up about 10:30 am , eat brunch about 12:30 and dinner between 5 and 6. I think eating light later in the day/evening makes a difference than eating a heavy meal.

    I lost 125lbs in the past eating right before bed. I don't think it makes a difference.
  • Drussander
    Drussander Posts: 266 Member
    It appears there is a late night eating disorder according to this WIKI:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_eating_syndrome

    Some interesting statistics (assuming they are factual).
  • jul2526
    jul2526 Posts: 14 Member
    I don't see why it would matter what time you eat... calories can't tell time...

    lolololol
  • pg3ibew
    pg3ibew Posts: 1,026 Member
    If you can't eat after 6 pm, then when could you eat again? 7am the next day is after 6pm, NO? Am I allowed to eat then?

    I eat any hour of the day. I even wake up at 3 am and have a scoop of peanut butter.
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    I do it everyday and always have...............no science behind what I do, it just works for me.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    I've heard that you should eat some protein in the evening to keep your metabolism up and your calories burning while you sleep.

    your metabolism does not go down or change while you sleep. It takes several days of over eating or under eating before your metabolism even notices. Longer if you are over weight.

    Calories are burned if you are still breathing. Calories never get stop burning until several hours after you are dead.

    It takes hours for the majority of food you eat to be digested.

    Eating at 6 am or after 6 pm or 3 am is only relevant as to the total number of calories you need and use and want.
    Nothing else.

    Instead of Being concerned about the time you eat, be concerned with what and how much you are eating.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    I generally eat quite late. Maybe I'm a Spaniard without knowing it.

    What matters is one's overall calorie intake.
  • I usually don't get home from work until 6:30 or 7:00 then hit the gym for an hour. I have no choice but to eat late dinners. We won't eat sometimes until almost 9:00. I don't like it, but that's just how it is. What I do try to do is make stuff that doesn't have many calories. Example: a chicken breast, grilled veggies, a salad, piece of fruit.

    I started exercising three to five times a week and watching my calories on 8/8/12 and as of today- one month later, I have lost 21 pounds so I can tell you the late meals aren't hurting my weight loss at all. I am always under my calories but I don't starve. I just find that I'm not real hungry anymore. I had to make myself eat dinner tonight and I skipped lunch because we were busy today running some errands. I actually forgot about even eating until it was dinnertime. I don't usually skip meals, but the day just got away from me. My appetite has shrunk. I don't really crave anything at all. I used to be a heavy carb, pop drinker, candy eater and I don't miss any of it- not one bit. I look forward to working out. I crave it now. I always heard people say that and I thought they were crazy. Well I'm one of those people now. I have so much more energy now. I will not go back to pigging out and not exercising. I have a goal that I will achieve by Christmas. I want to lose another 42 pounds in the four months leading up to Christmas. I want to be at 199 pounds- I'm 5'8" tall. Once I hit that goal, I will then set another small one to get to my weight that I want to be.
  • Megdmcda
    Megdmcda Posts: 273 Member
    i think its more not when u eat buy how long before u go to sleep.. like i heard not to eat 3 hours before go to sleep...don't know if that has anything or not
  • pg3ibew
    pg3ibew Posts: 1,026 Member
    i think its more not when u eat buy how long before u go to sleep.. like i heard not to eat 3 hours before go to sleep...don't know if that has anything or not

    I am going to respectively disagree with you on this. I frequently eat as I am walking into my bedroom, in my bed and I also eat when I wake up to Pee at 3 am.
  • Drussander
    Drussander Posts: 266 Member


    Calories may not tell time, but your metabolism surely does....

    Nope.

    Yes you may be sleeping but you are still alive. The simple process of being alive uses a surprising amount of calories.

    There is evidence that in lean individuals, sleeping metabolic rate can even be HIGHER than resting metabolic rate. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11896493)

    There is simply no evidence to support the idea that eating after 6pm (within your calorie allowance) is detrimental to fat loss.

    http://www.simplyshredded.com/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman.html

    Eating after 6pm certainly doesn't seem to be bothering the 1000's of people losing weight with the leangains system, when most or all of their calories are eating in the evening. Total calories/macros is what matters.

    Thank you for the useful links. I read them and they were very interesting. The conclusion in the NLM study link is interesting though and possibly relevant to this topic:

    CONCLUSIONS: The rate of decline in metabolic rate during sleep is directly related to body weight, BMI and FFM. Average SMR tends to be lower than RMR in obese subjects and higher than RMR in non-obese subjects.