Ideas on when to stop food intake for the day

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DJackson230
DJackson230 Posts: 306
in Food and Nutrition
Someone tell me what a reasonable time is to stop all food intake for the day... I do well at breakfast and lunch, but usually end up eating too much and too late at night...
Could my daily workouts have my body screaming for some fuel at night... However, I don't want to limit my workouts and i have been losing at least 2 lbs every 10 days... So I may not have a problem, but I just feel that I can do better if I did not eat that little extra at night.
Could I be thirsty and not hungry... Hmmm maybe some gatorade G-2
Any suggestions?

Replies

  • Lisa0711
    Lisa0711 Posts: 1,405 Member
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    The rule of thumb is ideally to stop eating 3 hours before bed, but 2 hours before is still a good cut off time. If you haven't tried it, try drinking some water as you can feel hungry sometimes when you're actually just thirsty.
  • kristinlough
    kristinlough Posts: 828 Member
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    Eat more earlier! What's the saying, something like eat breakfast like a king, lunch like (someone in the middle) and eat dinner like a pauper? That should help :smile:
  • katie30
    katie30 Posts: 55
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    Most of what I've read suggests to stop eating 2 hours before bedtime. This allows your system to process the food normally, as opposed to the slower processes we have at night. No idea if that is the "true" science behind it or not. I've seen plenty of guidance that also says, it is ok to eat light snacks at any point as long as they are within your caloric limits for the day.

    For some, the time to stop eating is a digestive issue. If you frequently get heartburn at night, it is may be related to what and when you are eating compared to when you are lying down.

    Since you are continuing to loose weight, you probably don't have any problems at the moment. If you hit a plateau you may want to consider the late night eating.
  • kbcrog08
    kbcrog08 Posts: 9
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    I agree with Blondie925, however from personal experience my trainer told me to stop all eating after 6pm...to me thats not possible, so I try not to eat anything after 7pm. I tend to go to bed around 10pm-12am, so I will sometimes get kinda hungry at night, So here is a neat little trick, drink something that will boost your mytabalism. I usually drink a cup of hot green tea, doing this will naturally help boost you calorie burn both at night and during the day. Oh, and as an FYI tell yourself the more you hav to eat before bed, the less your body will burn of reserve fuel (fat) during the night. If you think about it that way then it helps discourage you from late night snacking. Good Luck!!
  • Kath15
    Kath15 Posts: 165 Member
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    Yeah, you should really try to stop eating at least 2 hrs before bedtime...whatever time that happens to be. I know for some people the gap in time is really long between when they have dinner and go to bed so they end up binging right before they go to sleep. In that case, I think some planning needs to be done ahead of time in terms of when to have a snack. For myself, I have dinner at 6/6:30pm and then at 9pm I have a snack -but no later than 10pm. I get ready for bed at midnight. But, it really is best to give yourself the same cutoff time every night so you can stick to it. And, yes, sometimes people are truly thirsty not hungry so water may just be the answer.
  • fearlessfatty
    fearlessfatty Posts: 206 Member
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    hungry at night = tbsp of peanut butter or some fruit juice. . . something for your body to burn which alleviates the sensation of hunger. i eat at night because that's when i watch shows and movies so i'm just sitting there wanting to do something with my hands. i eat pretzels, popcorn, carrots - something you can "snack" on without feeling guilty about.
  • DJackson230
    DJackson230 Posts: 306
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    Excellent ideas... thanks to all of you I am mulling over how to address this issue...
    Appreciate ya... I will try:
    * water or low cal juice at night
    * setting a time to quit I'm thinking 8:00 PM. (usually go to bed between 11-12 and I think I can stay committed to 8)
    * On on the days that I have functions and get home late I will eat a bowl of cereal
    Ok I think I have a plan...
    Thanks friends...
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    your stomach doesn't have a clock. you continue to digest for hours after eating, and while sleeping. Eat less than you burn, and you will continue to lose weight. the only real benefit to restricting eating a few hours before bed is if you're prone to indigestion, it will slightly alleviate that. Otherwise, ignore the clock and focus on your net calorie count.
  • keiko
    keiko Posts: 2,919 Member
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    your stomach doesn't have a clock. you continue to digest for hours after eating, and while sleeping. Eat less than you burn, and you will continue to lose weight. the only real benefit to restricting eating a few hours before bed is if you're prone to indigestion, it will slightly alleviate that. Otherwise, ignore the clock and focus on your net calorie count.

    This is what I was going to say so I'll only add that I sleep better if I'm not hungry so most nights I have a bowl of cereal with 1% milk about 30 min before I go to sleep.

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