night time eating

gingersnaps828
gingersnaps828 Posts: 86
in Health and Weight Loss
Is it true that eating at night can increase weight, or delay weight loss?

Or is there a certain time you should not eat after, like 7 or 8? I heard once you shouldn't eat anything after 8:00. Is this true?

Replies

  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    No it's not. Correlation does not imply causation... weight gain after eating later at night is just water being absorbed.

    BOOM.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    Eating after 6:00pm is the number one reason 2/3rds of Americans are overweight.

    Just kidding.

    I lost 90 lbs eating right up til 10:00pm before I go to bed. As long as you are within your calorie goal you are good.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    I've always eaten right up until I close my eyes. Just stay within your calories, doesn't matter when you eat them.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Is it true that eating at night can increase weight, or delay weight loss?

    Or is there a certain time you should not eat after, like 7 or 8? I heard once you shouldn't eat anything after 8:00. Is this true?

    In my experience it's not true. I tend to eat the majority of my calories at night. Sometimes after 10pm when I work a closing shift.
  • juniperleaves
    juniperleaves Posts: 45
    I don't know. This is a pretty controversial one. Personally, I think it doesn't matter what time of night or day you eat. It's calories in vs calories out, no matter if you eat them at 4 o'clock in the morning or 11 o'clock at night. As long as you're consuming less calories than your body uses to function, you should theoretically lose weight.
  • JenCatwalk
    JenCatwalk Posts: 285 Member
    Not for me. I've lost over 100 lbs so far, and I enjoy my dinners late at night around 12, sometimes 600-800 calories about an hour before bed. Still doing this and still losing inches.
  • Takianna
    Takianna Posts: 4 Member
    I always feel bad for eating at night. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    I always feel bad for eating at night. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

    I think it's one of those things that many of us grew up on, you know, you don't eat after 7pm....fat is bad....to lose weight you have to eat like a rabbit or bird, etc. Sometimes it's hard to break habits.
  • stephaniemejia1671
    stephaniemejia1671 Posts: 482 Member
    No it's not. Correlation does not imply causation... weight gain after eating later at night is just water being absorbed.

    BOOM.

    ...*mind blown* Whoa.

    I eat at night sometimes if I find that I feel hungry but I stay within my calorie limits. The time you eat I feel has nothing to do with your weight gain.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    no
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    I tend to make poorer food choices at night (I'll likely have a cookie before I grab an apple), but if I stay within my calorie goal, I'm good. 12 pounds lost so far. :)

    I think that the whole not-eating-after-a-certain-hour is misleading. Of course, you'll likely lose weight if you go to bed instead of consuming more calories.
  • DopeyDudleyDursley
    DopeyDudleyDursley Posts: 155
    I have a mixed view on this topic. Several studies have shown most of weight loss/ gain merely deals with how many calories you eat versus when you eat them. However, it also has been proven that a proper amount of sleep is necessary for weight loss and to prevent weight gain. Everyone is different; however, if I eat too close to bed I have noticed that I tend to wake up more in the night. Whether this has any correlation or not, I am not sure. Thus, I personally just have some cottage cheese and peanut butter before bed; however, you may be fine having a huge meal before bed! Hope I helped some. :)
  • gingersnaps828
    gingersnaps828 Posts: 86
    Thanks for all the responses! I feel better about eating some of my calories at night after dinner up until I snooze. :)
  • ken_hogan
    ken_hogan Posts: 854 Member
    Is it true that eating at night can increase weight, or delay weight loss?

    Or is there a certain time you should not eat after, like 7 or 8? I heard once you shouldn't eat anything after 8:00. Is this true?

    A lot of people, myself included, work shift work (3-11PM & 11PM-7AM) and eat late at night/very early AM and lose weight.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    I work 7 P - 7 A three nights a week. I eat all night long. I just reset my calories at midnight. The weight comes off. Your body doesn't tell time.
  • gonnamakeanewaccount
    gonnamakeanewaccount Posts: 642 Member
    Not true in the slightest.

    This is actually one of the weight loss myths I hate the most.
  • dreamer12151
    dreamer12151 Posts: 1,031 Member
    When I was following the "Body For Life" way, I would have a portion of protein & carb before bed time - usually my fave "meal" of cottage cheese & yogurt. I don't know about how it all worked, but I know I was losing weight. There were a lot of other body builders also following that plan, sometimes eating just a lean protein before bed. So my 2 cents, eating before bed is fine. But everybody and every body is different.
  • cindycated64
    cindycated64 Posts: 2
    Most of the replies to this post are correct, regarding staying within your calorie budget. But, if you eat more in the morning, you are eating when your metabolism is at it's highest, roughly. Things will move faster in your body and your energy level will be optimized, especially if it's prior to working out. That's when you need that fuel the most. Eating right before bed is usually when your metabolism is at it's slowest, your body is tired and this means digestion will be slower while you're in bed and this can mean two things.... increased likelihood of waking up with indigestion or acid reflux, or.... if you are hoping to speed up your weight loss by consuming your caloric budget during high metabolism hours, then eating before bed will prevent that. You will still lose weight, but not in the most expedited way....especially when it comes to carbs. Good late night snacks would be like a low fat yogurt, maybe a handful of nuts or something, just nothing heavy like a bowl of white refined pasta with Alfredo sauce. As I say all this I am fully aware that everyone is different and it depends on many factors and I'm basing this on health information I have gathered throughout the years. Bottom line, digestion slows down at night at bedtime and metabolism is slower....so if you are not prone to heart burn or you're in no rush to knock off an extra pound, then go for late night eating.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    If eating at night was bad, third shifters like myself would be screwed.

    Good thing it's a myth.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    You're good, no need to feel guility. Just stay below your caloric goal for the day :)
  • ladymnlite
    ladymnlite Posts: 19 Member
    I've often wondered the same thing because I work a late shift. By the time I get home, it is close to midnight and I'm hungry. Now, I won't feel so bad about having my snack before bed. I always do my best to burn off extra calories so that I stay within my limits.
  • simplybee713
    simplybee713 Posts: 3
    What a great question and very informative answers. Guess I had it wrong all these years. Now I won't feel so bad about making popcorn at 9:30pm.
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
    I just had my dark chocolate and its almost 1 AM...

    By no means the first time, and it hasn't affected my loss in the least. I changed countries and time zones three times while I was losing weight so my meal times were very irregular. Your body doesn't think, "Oh, its past 8pm lets store these calories and make her gain weight!"
  • MalkaChana
    MalkaChana Posts: 6
    I'm certainly not an expert, but I see it this way. Calories are calories, regardless of what time they're consumed. Theoretically, if you stay within your calorie limit, it makes no difference if you eat them all in the morning or in the night. However, I think night eating is problematic because people tend to be less cautious about the amount they consume at night. That's party because they're probably eating in private and/or are tired and don't feel like recording everything they eat.
  • AlchemyOfTheBlackSunCult
    AlchemyOfTheBlackSunCult Posts: 58
    Not at all, I can tell you from experience (which I know anecdotal evidence doesn't mean anything), I eat around 1000-2000 calories and then go right to sleep almost every single night.

    Simply put, if you take more calories in than you burn, you store the excess calories a body fat, if you consume less calories than you burn, your body takes body fat off to use as energy
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
    I saw a documentary once where they specifically would feed sumo wrestlers at night to make them gain, but idk for sure if its proven!
  • nickyfm
    nickyfm Posts: 1,214 Member
    Still calories in vs calories out. It doesn't matter what time you eat at.

    I just know that my night time 'hunger' is often cravings. I tend to be more predisposed to over eating at night, because of tiredness leading to lack of willpower etc, so i try to have all of my calories by dinner time.
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
    Late nights making you fat
    http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-20/diet/29794413_1_sleep-deprivation-leptin-growth-hormone

    Wishing you a good night's sleep!
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
    I saw a documentary once where they specifically would feed sumo wrestlers at night to make them gain, but idk for sure if its proven!

    Ah the whole, eat a giant meal and nap after trick..that must be the life.

    I'm sure if sumo wrestlers ate the same amount in the morning and/or spread it out into tiny meals they'd still maintain their fighting weight..

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