Does it matter what time you eat?

yep, thats not good to eat late at night.

No, eat when it fits your schedule.

Hey,

I do shift work and often don't get to eat until 8pm at times. I'm just wondering how much this affects weight loss and if I should make a conservative effort to eat my last meal earlier?

Ta

Eating late will not contribute to weight gain or impair fat loss any more than eating early will, assuming the same total intake in both cases.

Side Steel might be wrong.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg

Hey,

I do shift work and often don't get to eat until 8pm at times. I'm just wondering how much this affects weight loss and if I should make a conservative effort to eat my last meal earlier?

Ta

Eating late will not contribute to weight gain or impair fat loss any more than eating early will, assuming the same total intake in both cases.

^ Can't explain it better than that

Ignore the first reply you got (they are wrong) and read the rest... then you have your answer.

There is a whole biochemical response to this... VERY basically, calories in/calories out
HOWEVER, in laymans terms, what you eat turns to blood sugar and your body decides what to do with it. IF you are exercising and USING that blood sugar, it will be burned off and any extra needed should be taken from fat stores (assuming the body has enough time to make that change...if it has to wait too long for the fat conversion, it will go for a quick source, which is muscle, unfortunately) IF, however, you eat and then go to sleep and your metabolism is slowed related to the sleep cycle...and all of those delicious calories aren't needed at the moment, they will be stored...AS FAT.
Think Sumo wreslter. Those guys work out like 8 hours a day and eat ALL of their calories (albeit HEALTHY calories, believe it or not) before they head to bed...

SO...does it matter what time? it depends...
Oh...and by time in this situation I don't mean CLOCK time. obviously working odd shifts just changes when your body burns what. metabolism slows whether you sleep at night or during the day...not during a prescribed "clock time."

Side Steel might be wrong.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg

I am anxiously awaiting a response from the Intermittent fasting experts on this study. Usually they can find flaws with studies like this.

For me, even if it does turn out eating late isn’t optimum, I don’t care. It works best for me. I have been doing intermittent fasting for over a year now, typically eating all my calories from 4:30pm-8:30pm every day. The most important thing is to not let dogma scare you out of doing what works for you. Having my nightly feast is fantastic.

Side Steel might be wrong.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg

I am anxiously awaiting a response from the Intermittent fasting experts on this study. Usually they can find flaws with studies like this.

For me, even if it does turn out eating late isn’t optimum, I don’t care. It works best for me. I have been doing intermittent fasting for over a year now, typically eating all my calories from 4:30pm-8:30pm every day. The most important thing is to not let dogma scare you out of doing what works for you. Having my nightly feast is fantastic.

I don't know, obviously. This is one study. But, it seems it might perhaps be quite consistent with the idea behind intermittent fasting.

Side Steel might be wrong.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg

Study used self reported intake and rather heavily flawed expenditure estimates to arrive at 2.2kg difference in weight over 5 months. Find me an example using tighter controls on energy balance and I'd happily consider it as strong evidence against my claim.



.

You may be right. But, one can always quibble about some minor aspect of methodology. It needs to be replicated. In the meantime, I am not so sure we can make unqualified, categorical claims.

Alternatively one can look at more than one study and note that there's not a whole lot of compelling research to indicate that it matters to any significant degree.

Until you can show that it matters to one degree or another through replicated research then I don't take issue with a "it's not going to really matter" in a population that is keeping energy intake monitored and preferential aspects of dieting in mind.

Fair enough. But, if there is so much compelling evidence that timing of meals makes no difference, then why did the researchers decide to waste time and money looking at it?

I wouldn't say there's "so much compelling evidence that its irrelevant" -- I would say that there's not a whole lot of compelling evidence that it IS relevant to any significant degree, and certainly not to any degree that is strong enough to recommend a nutrient timing protocol that violates the dieters personal preferences.

To my knowledge, and I don't claim to have seen every study, when energy balance is under tight control the differences are insignificant and thermodynamics would agree with this.

As far as why the studies are done, I haven't the first clue about that honestly.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/really-timing-of-meals-affects-weight-loss/?src=recg

I remember reading a summary of that study, if I remember correctly:

1. Similar calories isn't identical calories. I think the difference in groups was about 5 lbs over 5 months. That's about a 116 calories a day, and it was "self-reporting". +/- 116 calories could easily be considered "similar" and still account for a 5 lbs differance over 5 months.
2. 116 calories could also easily be people mis-recording. If the early group underestimated calories by 63 calories a day and the late group overestimates by 63 calories that would be all that was needed.
3. When did they weight themselves? Did eating late lunch mean a later dinner? If eating a late dinner then weighing right after obviously they would weigh more. Even if weighing in the morning, a later dinner can effect a morning weight in. For example, I eat a very large late dinner, and weigh myself first thing in the morning. However I know I weight my least around 11 o'clock.
4. Finally, the study focuses on lunch not dinner as the main meal, we are talking about eating LUNCH before or after 3. We on the other hand are talking about eating dinner before bed, and the study makes no reference to what the subjects ate for dinner or when.

Even is the study is perfectly accurate and eating earlier really will result in 5 lbs over 5 months, if it's easier to stick with your diet and eat later so you don't have to go to bed hungry, wouldn't ease of adherence be more important than less than potentially losing an extra 1/4 lbs or 4 oz of weight a week?

no.






disclaimer: *sorry crankstr*

I lost 100 pounds eating at different times - most very late. Not an issue!