Tell me again why eating before bed won't make me fat?

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Replies

  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    All I know is that I lost 90 lbs eating right up til bedtime nearly every night. No, I'm not having a five course meal, but I am snacking adequately, while staying within my calorie goal.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    All I know is that I lost 90 lbs eating right up til bedtime nearly every night. No, I'm not having a five course meal, but I am snacking adequately, while staying within my calorie goal.

    And just look how happy you are!!! Could be because you're a NC girl though.
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    I am no expert, but I do live by Jillian Micheals rules. She says NO food after 9 and no CARBS after 7. Your body will simply turn it into fat. Even sugary food. Her thing is to eat yogurt if you neeed a snack-greek low fat of course. It works! If I am watching Hell's Kitchen and have nothing to eat I get so pissed, so I eat yogurt or carrot/celery with hummus. Then I dont feel deprived. And no booze before bed. She has it down for 2 drinks a WEEK. And beer or a lowfat vodka drink. I suggest bubblegum vodka with club soda. Lowfat, tastes great and a nice mellow buzz. Does that kinda help? lol:smile:

    lolno

    Not even a little bit.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    Bump
  • arizonaslim
    arizonaslim Posts: 1
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY sorry so late :)
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY sorry so late :)

    Epic first post
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    To the OP if you are still unsure, look up chemical equilibrium and apply it to fat oxidation/storage.

    http://library.thinkquest.org/10429/low/equil/equil.htm

    At equilibrium, a person would maintain their weight. The oxidation/storage mechanism goes both ways.
    If net storage overtakes net oxidation, you gain fat.
  • sun_ny
    sun_ny Posts: 35
    i eat the majority of my calories at the latter end of the day and i'm still losing weight, so can't be that bad
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Aside from some bio-chemical/medical issues, it really doesn't make much difference when you eat your calories. However, it probably isn't a good idea to eat a heavy meal before retiring because it is likely to contribute to reflux esophagitis (which many obese folks suffer). In addition, there is the problem of insulin spike (following a blood sugar surge from a heavy meal) suppressing human growth hormone (which is mainly secreted in the first couple of hours of sleep). Adequate levels of growth hormone are desirable for weight loss and other health points. Exercise does stimulate the secretion of growth hormone slightly, but it is unlikely to make up for the loss of nighttime secretion due to high caloric intake before bed.

    Ghrelin (please, no gremlin pix) is a potent stimulator of growth hormone and ghrelin is high when we are hungry. So going to bed a little hungry is not a bad idea from a bio-chemical standpoint. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is also a potent stimulator of growth hormone--as opposed to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) which suppresses it. Since many, many obese folk have high blood sugar issues anyway, it is unwise for them to eat large meals before bed.

    I know there will be people here who will say, "I have lost 114 pounds and I have always eaten nearly all my calories after 7.p.m." While that may be true, their bodies would have probably prospered a bit more by eating lightly in the evening (if at all).

    Broscience without logic. Thank you!

    There! Fixed it for you. Your welcome! :drinker:
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    Aside from some bio-chemical/medical issues, it really doesn't make much difference when you eat your calories. However, it probably isn't a good idea to eat a heavy meal before retiring because it is likely to contribute to reflux esophagitis (which many obese folks suffer). In addition, there is the problem of insulin spike (following a blood sugar surge from a heavy meal) suppressing human growth hormone (which is mainly secreted in the first couple of hours of sleep). Adequate levels of growth hormone are desirable for weight loss and other health points. Exercise does stimulate the secretion of growth hormone slightly, but it is unlikely to make up for the loss of nighttime secretion due to high caloric intake before bed.

    Ghrelin (please, no gremlin pix) is a potent stimulator of growth hormone and ghrelin is high when we are hungry. So going to bed a little hungry is not a bad idea from a bio-chemical standpoint. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is also a potent stimulator of growth hormone--as opposed to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) which suppresses it. Since many, many obese folk have high blood sugar issues anyway, it is unwise for them to eat large meals before bed.

    I know there will be people here who will say, "I have lost 114 pounds and I have always eaten nearly all my calories after 7.p.m." While that may be true, their bodies would have probably prospered a bit more by eating lightly in the evening (if at all).

    Thank you!

    Fixed it
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    I know Bob. He eats Pop Tarts every night before bed. Sometimes with ice cream. :heart:

    What is it with the Pop Tart fetish among some of the folk on this website?? Even when I was eating sugar and wheat, I thought they tasted like sweetened cardboard with sweetened plastic frosting. Ugh. :tongue:

    Taste does not matter. I do not derive pleasure from food.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    I know Bob. He eats Pop Tarts every night before bed. Sometimes with ice cream. :heart:

    What is it with the Pop Tart fetish among some of the folk on this website?? Even when I was eating sugar and wheat, I thought they tasted like sweetened cardboard with sweetened plastic frosting. Ugh. :tongue:

    Taste does not matter. I do not derive pleasure from food.

    :laugh: :noway: Well, thanks. I just closed my diary for the day and now I want to lick sweetened plastic frosting. :cry:
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member

    Taste does not matter. I do not derive pleasure from food.

    :brokenheart: :sad:
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Personally I am way more concerned with the lack of QUALITY in Bob's choice of food than the quantity or the timing.

    If Bob had eaten well during the day, with a diet of lean proteins, fresh fruit and non starchy vegetables, good fats and lots of water, he would not have any room in his stomach or desire to be eating 1200 calories of ice cream. And if he's eating that while watching the Biggest Loser, he might just need to look at his goals and reevaluate his plan.

    Our bodies call for Essential Fatty Acids and Essential Amino Acids. There are no such thing as Essential Carbs.

    If Bob has an emotional need for ice cream, he should be making his own version with a better focus on quality of calories.

    Eating before bed doesn't make you fat. WHAT you eat does.
  • bluebear_74
    bluebear_74 Posts: 179
    I had dinner an hour before bed last night and had a loss this morning :P

    Though personally I like to eat dinner earlier than that, I feel uncomfortable sleeping on a full stomach, and I wake up really hungry (body working overtime to digest it all?) and because I don't eat breakfast till about 3-4 hours after waking up (breaking another rule) I can't last that long.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    Personally I am way more concerned with the lack of QUALITY in Bob's choice of food than the quantity or the timing.

    If Bob had eaten well during the day, with a diet of lean proteins, fresh fruit and non starchy vegetables, good fats and lots of water, he would not have any room in his stomach or desire to be eating 1200 calories of ice cream. And if he's eating that while watching the Biggest Loser, he might just need to look at his goals and reevaluate his plan.

    Our bodies call for Essential Fatty Acids and Essential Amino Acids. There are no such thing as Essential Carbs.

    If Bob has an emotional need for ice cream, he should be making his own version with a better focus on quality of calories.

    Eating before bed doesn't make you fat. WHAT you eat does.

    I think Bob is just an emotional mess.
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
    If Bob is eating Ben and Jerry's while watching The Biggest Loser, Bob is a woman

    :laugh:


    QFT
  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
    The one horrifying truth that I take from this thread is that there is something called "bubblegum vodka."

    I believe I now understand how the clean eaters feel when they see us rhapsodizing about Pop-Tarts.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    Aside from some bio-chemical/medical issues, it really doesn't make much difference when you eat your calories. However, it probably isn't a good idea to eat a heavy meal before retiring because it is likely to contribute to reflux esophagitis (which many obese folks suffer). In addition, there is the problem of insulin spike (following a blood sugar surge from a heavy meal) suppressing human growth hormone (which is mainly secreted in the first couple of hours of sleep). Adequate levels of growth hormone are desirable for weight loss and other health points. Exercise does stimulate the secretion of growth hormone slightly, but it is unlikely to make up for the loss of nighttime secretion due to high caloric intake before bed.

    Ghrelin (please, no gremlin pix) is a potent stimulator of growth hormone and ghrelin is high when we are hungry. So going to bed a little hungry is not a bad idea from a bio-chemical standpoint. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is also a potent stimulator of growth hormone--as opposed to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) which suppresses it. Since many, many obese folk have high blood sugar issues anyway, it is unwise for them to eat large meals before bed.

    I know there will be people here who will say, "I have lost 114 pounds and I have always eaten nearly all my calories after 7.p.m." While that may be true, their bodies would have probably prospered a bit more by eating lightly in the evening (if at all).

    Broscience without logic. Thank you!

    There! Fixed it for you. Your welcome! :drinker:

    Just exactly what part are you disputing, mamapags?
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    The one horrifying truth that I take from this thread is that there is something called "bubblegum vodka."

    I believe I now understand how the clean eaters feel when they see us rhapsodizing about Pop-Tarts.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Just leaving this good read here:

    http://www.biolayne.com/nutrition/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman/
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    I'm here for the boogymen. I hear they cancel out the gremlins.
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
    So my work sleep schedule is get up at noon, eat a small meal, work out, eat a normal meal at 3 p.m., and work until 2:30 a.m. During the time I work, I do not get breaks, am actively moving the whole time, and cannot eat meals in front of the public. So, I go from 3:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. usually on a protein bar. Let me reiterate that this is not my choice and I don't get meal breaks. So, should I not eat from 3:30 p.m. one day til noon the next day? Also, then I would need to consume about 1700 calories in within a 3 hour period. I simply have to eat before bed or I am intermittent fasting and then when I do eat, I'm having a binge.

    If it's so bad for you, what do you suggest given what I've described?

    Yeah, working late into the night can be a problem from a number of health points. There's a lot of medical research being done on the health challenges faced by nighttime workers. In your case, you might want to eat a bigger meal after you get up at noon and then delay working out for an hour (to give your stomach time to digest your food) before eating a similar-sized meal at 3 p.m. Can you eat a light snack and go to bed directly after you get off work? A lot of nighttime workers swear by taking melatonin before leaving work (you just dissolve a tablet or two under the tongue) and then they are sleepy by the time they get home. Is there any way you can eat more while working? It doesn't seem right that you cannot eat at all during work time--do you have a union?

    Sounds like my schedule (bartending/managing a bar). No there is no union (at least not in most states) at about half of my jobs, I've never even gotten an hourly wage (only tips, though they still average enough, usually, to not worry about the $2/hr I would have been making).

    I got in the habit of eating a large meal before work, and then eating a breakfast taco on the way home (usually at about 330am-4am by the time I actually eat) then I wake up, work out fasted and eat again before work. It isn't ideal but it still allows for about 12+ hours fasted (which is what produces the benefits you were talking about wrt hormones etc...).

    One last thing to add, I currently have a later start time at work and practice intermittent fasting so I have been stopping eating shortly before bed on nights I don't work and fasting for 18 hours or so (up to 24 hours some days). During this time, growth hormones have been shown to continue increasing (through several studies) so why does it matter what time I quit eating or go to sleep? I spend more time producing those hormones than the average person anyway.
  • missability
    missability Posts: 223
    I cannot speak for others bodies, but I know mine, and I have seen it time and time again in the past...but not this time...I eat nothing...after 8pm....nothing...tea if my water for the day is complete...and that's tea with nothing added....when I eat at night I gain anywhere from1 to 3 lbs...every time...every shhhtinkin time:) <just sayin s'all
  • lachesissss
    lachesissss Posts: 1,298 Member
    My vote is that you're over thinking this whole thing. And if Bob want's some ice cream, he should be able to eat some friggin' ice cream.
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    Just leaving this good read here:

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


    Awesome article.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    I cannot speak for others bodies, but I know mine, and I have seen it time and time again in the past...but not this time...I eat nothing...after 8pm....nothing...tea if my water for the day is complete...and that's tea with nothing added....when I eat at night I gain anywhere from1 to 3 lbs...every time...every shhhtinkin time:) <just sayin s'all

    how much does 16 oz of tea weigh?
  • mjhedgehog
    mjhedgehog Posts: 249 Member
    I am no expert, but I do live by Jillian Micheals rules. She says NO food after 9 and no CARBS after 7. Your body will simply turn it into fat. Even sugary food. Her thing is to eat yogurt if you neeed a snack-greek low fat of course. It works! If I am watching Hell's Kitchen and have nothing to eat I get so pissed, so I eat yogurt or carrot/celery with hummus. Then I dont feel deprived. And no booze before bed. She has it down for 2 drinks a WEEK. And beer or a lowfat vodka drink. I suggest bubblegum vodka with club soda. Lowfat, tastes great and a nice mellow buzz. Does that kinda help? lol:smile:

    what if I don't go to bed at a "normal" time? I'm just getting home from work at 9 so thats when I eat my dinner. :/
  • Prismapencils
    Prismapencils Posts: 154
    My vote is that you're over thinking this whole thing. And if Bob want's some ice cream, he should be able to eat some friggin' ice cream.

    Amen.
  • erinpd
    erinpd Posts: 96
    As far as I understood, the only reason why you really wouldn't want to eat before bed is that a full stomach can make it harder for you to fall asleep. But even then, that's only if you have trouble sleeping to begin with. And it can give you heartburn.

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