Calories and time of day.

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Aethelstan
Aethelstan Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Having been on this site for just over a week, one thing I have noticed is that over the course of the day, my meals have more calories. I was wondering what affect this would have, and perhaps I should eat more earlier and less later? My thinking is after the evening meal I am much less active than I am after breakfast. By the end of the day I am ravenous, and I will often look how many calories I have left and eat a chocolate biscuit or something.

Replies

  • shred_me_up
    shred_me_up Posts: 267 Member
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    its all personal choice :) try different things and see what works for you! people often will argue that its better to eat at certian times, or eat 6 meals vs 2 or what not, but at the end of the day it just matters how many calories you are getting per day; your body doesn't "care" when or how you eat.

    if you tend to get hungry later, then work around it :)
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    It doesn't matter when you eat as long you feel good.
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
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    As far as weight loss goes, it won't make a difference. But if you find you're hungry throughout the day, eat more earlier and see if you stay satisfied longer.

    I do ~800 cal meals in the morning, at noon, in the evening and then about 300 cals at night if I'm hungry, so that I don't go to bed with hunger pains. Works for me.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    I eat when hungry, sometimes that isn't until 10am. I might want a snack before bed. As long as I'm eating clean foods, I can rely on my body's signals. Don't over-think it and ENJOY your meals :)
  • tequila09
    tequila09 Posts: 764 Member
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    it doesn't make a difference when you eat. i personally like to eat more at night time so i like to save more calories for later in the day. some people do better eating more during the day and less at night. you just have to figure out what works for you!
  • cranberrycat
    cranberrycat Posts: 233 Member
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    It would be nice to have the functionality to enter the time of day that a meal or snack is being eaten.

    I struggle with hunger at times, i.e. if I waited too long in the day to eat, then ended up overeating because of feeling ravenous. Looking at my diary, if I could enter the time of the meal, that would clue me in, "oh yeah I waited too long to eat..."
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    It would be nice to have the functionality to enter the time of day that a meal or snack is being eaten.


    You can relabel your food intakes from Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks to whatever you want - such as 6-8AM, 8-11AM, 11AM-2PM, etc. You can also add the specific times into your notes.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    I typically eat dinner between 8pm and 9pm. It's never had a negative effect on me. I say do what feels comfortable to you!
  • lowcaloriecupboard
    lowcaloriecupboard Posts: 26
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    I say it doesn't matter! I've had weightless success and I eat the bulk of my calories in the evening. :)

    Add me if you'd like to exchange tips and recipes throughout our separate fitness journeys!
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    as long as your coming in at or under your cals, the time of day you eat shouldn't matter.

    if you are having issues with energy, it might help you to eat more earlier in the day.

    if you are losing weight the way things are, and this helps you stay on track, then your doing awesome!
  • cranberrycat
    cranberrycat Posts: 233 Member
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    You can relabel your food intakes from Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks to whatever you want - such as 6-8AM, 8-11AM, 11AM-2PM, etc. You can also add the specific times into your notes.

    Nice idea, might help others, but I need to be more specific with the actual times that I am eating. Dealing with Diabetes, you gotta know WHEN that meal or snack happened. Yes, could put the times in the notes (and I have done that with late meals or snacks) but I feel like I should not have to make an extra entry for this.
  • MochaMixAZ
    MochaMixAZ Posts: 844 Member
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    Makes no difference. Calories in vs calories out over time.

    The only exception to that, in my opinion, is to eat something as early as you can when you wake to get your metabolism fired up. Break-the-fast so to speak. :-)
  • hausisse
    hausisse Posts: 90
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    I find it's far more useful if I eat a huge breakfast, a smaller lunch and basically a snack for "dinner" because I don't need any energy later in the evenings. Also, there have been some studies done that have shown that people who don't eat after a certain time of day are slimmer, but of course correlation does not necessarily mean causation; my mom and my sister eat more in the evenings and they're very slender. I think it comes down to personal preference :)

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