How bad is not eating until late in the day?

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  • melanieOG
    melanieOG Posts: 18
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    I do this every day too lol my stomach just does not wake up untill about 3pm but...i do try and mix it up some days just so im not eating to much at night, so every once in a while i have breakfast or lunch:)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    I wholeheartedly agree with several of the above posts that it can have a negative effect on your body. Just as you fill up your tank of gas when you are on empty, you want to refuel your body throughout the day to provide energy and keep your metabolism running smoothly.
    We aren't cars and unlike a car we'd have to be DEAD to run out of actual fuel. Metabolism is dictated by the body based on stimuli. It doesn't run bad (unless there's a health issue with it).
    Studies show eating 3 meals a day or eating 6 small meals a day are both successful meal plans.
    So does intermittent fasting.
    Everything I have every read about healthy eating claims that that you should never skip breakfast. I've found that eating a solid breakfast (such as eggs or oatmeal) provides energy and keeps me from reaching for unhealthy foods later in the day.
    That works for you, but if you've actually read peer reviewed clinical studies, breakfast isn't needed to be healthy.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Nothing wrong with it at all.
  • yogafan63
    yogafan63 Posts: 3 Member
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    What are the reasons?
  • yogafan63
    yogafan63 Posts: 3 Member
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    I just started taking a nutrition class, and the teacher (with a masters in nutrition) states that your body is more insulin sensitive later in the day. That is why you should eat the most in the morning, and least at night. It's hard to do with a job, but he says that yes, it does hurt you to eat most of your food late in the day. Some people obviously have success even if they do that. And even the teacher says that no one can do everything 100% of the time. But I would imagine if this is your norm, it will hurt your weight loss goals or at least be not as healthy.

    Get a refund. It's the other way around. It's slightly better to eat later on as opposed to frontloading the calories. As far as weight loss goes, it's absolutely better not to eat most of your calories in the morning for several reasons.

    "it's absolutely better not to eat most of your calories in the morning for several reasons."

    What are the reasons?
  • IanBee93
    IanBee93 Posts: 237
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    I'm figuring out that this is the only way I can lose weigh, or keep it at an even weight. If I eat too early in the day, and use up all my calories, I ''binge'' at night, when I'm bored.
  • Wildflower0106
    Wildflower0106 Posts: 247 Member
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    You will be fine... Meal timing does not effect metabolism.

    If your metabolism stopped at night, you would be dead... I don't eat my first meal until 11am most days and the bulk of my calories at night between 7pm and midnight.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,280 Member
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    Wow... a lot of people here like to read fitness magazines or women's magazines.

    Luckily, REAL science states that meal timing and frequency have NO impact on weight loss! Yay for science!!!

    And boo to those who keep posting stuff that has no science in it. Science is good. You should follow science.
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
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    I generally start eating at about 8pm. And Im up at 6am.

    Never hungry before work. ( start at 8am )
    Breakfast at work is dire.
    Lunch is dire.

    I get home and will have a small lunch at about 4pm IF my dinner calories allow it.

    But 95% of the time I will have a big dinner at about 8pm and then a treat. All under cals, losing steadily and happy.

    If I ate during the day I would simply feel more and more hungry. We are all different.
  • spookiefox
    spookiefox Posts: 215 Member
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    I already know the awnser to this but what are the thoughts on not eating until later? I ended up missing breakfast and lunch today so went 13 hours on coffee and a couple of sweets, by the time i got home was STARVING, ended up in the takeaway shop, plugging it in to the calorie counter im still under my total but do you think my body will be doing the staving so save it thing by the time I eat my dinner???

    Your body doesn't care when you eat. Intermittent fasting on a 16/8, or even 20/4, can make calorie control easier for some people. If you don't like to eat early in the day anyway, you might give one of these a try. But eating only late in the day is no problem what-so-ever.

    Is that the "answer" you thought you knew?
  • spookiefox
    spookiefox Posts: 215 Member
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    I just started taking a nutrition class, and the teacher (with a masters in nutrition) states that your body is more insulin sensitive later in the day. That is why you should eat the most in the morning, and least at night. It's hard to do with a job, but he says that yes, it does hurt you to eat most of your food late in the day. Some people obviously have success even if they do that. And even the teacher says that no one can do everything 100% of the time. But I would imagine if this is your norm, it will hurt your weight loss goals or at least be not as healthy.

    Where's the degree from? Because they should take it back. What she's teaching flies in the face of peer-reviewed studies.
  • spookiefox
    spookiefox Posts: 215 Member
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    personally, I'd be tired, crabby, and dizzy, but if it works for you, go for it. I skip dinner, so I'm the opposite. My theory is, eat the calories while I'm up and using them, instead of pile on the food and then sleep.

    But you do "get" that "piling on the food and then sleeping" doesn't matter either, right?
  • angieteaguekearns
    angieteaguekearns Posts: 6 Member
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    Seems like, as is almost always the case, you have to find what works for you. I'm not sure how people can refute what a nutritionist says unless they have formal training. My thoughts are that it doesn't take a masters degree to know that people decline in activity after 4pm. So how can eating most of your calories in the evening be a good thing?

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