Eating after 8pm?

Hi, I was wondering people's opinions on eating later at night.

I get off work at 11pm and am always hungry after work and usually have calories left over to be able to eat something. So I'm wondering if any of you have found that eating later affected your weight loss?

I don't get up until around 11am since I work late and am not ready for bed as soon as I get home - so I don't really eat breakfast, it's more like lunch that I eat before work and then eat my supper at work and then like to have a snack when I get home. Thanks!
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Replies

  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
    eating and then sleeping immediately is what sumo wrestlers do to bulk - but that's calorie dense food. Personally I don't eat for about an hour before i go to bed, but i'll finish off a glass of wine right on bedtime. I don't think it affects weight loss as much as the content of your diet does. Obviously if you chow down a huge calorie load before bed you won't burn any pre-sleep. But a snack, why not.
  • tonynguyen75
    tonynguyen75 Posts: 418 Member
    There is no research that suggests meal timing, especially something as superficial as time of day, has any bearing on weight.

    But then again, no carbs after 6pm, trust me bro, is solid logic......
  • I used to work late night and graveyard shifts when I was in the restaurant business and I always found that eating something helped. Now granted I wasn't pigging out on junk food, but eating something healthy with little to no carbs. I'm a breakfast person so I would do a lot of egg whites with veggies. Eating something small is better than going to bed on a empty stomach and it'll help you sleep better!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    meal timing is irrelevant. I eat dinner every night at 8:45 or so...it hasn't had any effect on my weight loss...it's an old wives tail
  • Great! Thanks everyone :)
  • gypsyGIRL159
    gypsyGIRL159 Posts: 78 Member
    Don't do it.... Unless U R going to be up moving around for like 3 hrs afterwards. :-)
  • IIISpartacusIII
    IIISpartacusIII Posts: 252 Member
    Nothing magical happens later in the day. If that's when you have to eat then that's when you eat. I'm about to eat dinner at 8:30pm so I'll be joining you (not literally). You eat a given number of calories and if you use up more than you eat then you lose a bit of weight and the time of day does not change this fact.

    The reason people are apprehensive about eating later is because they see people eating a caloric surplus with an additional snack or two or meal at night that's above and beyond their caloric expenditure. Instead of doing the math and realizing that it wasn't the time of day but instead the additional calories, they make a false correlation with night time and gaining weight. Had they ended the day in a caloric deficit then it wouldn't have mattered when the food was eaten, they'd have still lost weight.
  • It's my understanding that it can "rev" up your metabolismand keep you awake longer - possible cause gastro issues like reflux. But each person is different....
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Meal timing will not impact weight loss. I eat 2000+ calories between 7-9 pm and go to bed immediately after finishing. Hasn't hampered my goals at all.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Unless you are a Gremlin it doesn't matter when you eat.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    If it makes you ill or gives you heartburn, don't do it. Otherwise, it doesn't matter.
  • Unless you are a Gremlin it doesn't matter when you eat.

    lol!
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Unless you are a Gremlin it doesn't matter when you eat.

    awe beat me too it, but I was going to go DONT DO IT YOU'LL TURN INTO A GREMLIN! Then post a pic of a gremlin
  • czechwolf52
    czechwolf52 Posts: 194 Member
    I had over 900 calories today after I came home from the gym and showered at 7:45. On Fridays when I have my long workouts from 6-8 I regularly eat huge amounts of food at 9 or 10 at night.

    It doesn't matter when you eat, just as long as it fits into your daily calories.
  • Glampinupdoll
    Glampinupdoll Posts: 234 Member
    I eat every night around 11:45pm. I usually don't go to bed till 1 or 2am. Wake up around 10am. Hasn't affected me at all.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    Unless you are a Gremlin it doesn't matter when you eat.

    awe beat me too it, but I was going to go DONT DO IT YOU'LL TURN INTO A GREMLIN! Then post a pic of a gremlin

    ok.
    Gremlin1.JPG
  • AccioFitness
    AccioFitness Posts: 244 Member
    Unless you are a Gremlin it doesn't matter when you eat.

    Best response ever.
  • lsorci919
    lsorci919 Posts: 772 Member
    I always eat late and sometimes I go to bed almost immediately after. It hasn't slowed my loss down. Eating too much has slowed it down ;) from experience I would say no it doesn't affect your loss. Especially in your case where you are up later and sleep later. Your not running on the same time schedule as the average person.
  • I don't because it makes me feel like **** if I eat at night I also weigh more in the mornings after I eat at night time.
  • k8eekins
    k8eekins Posts: 2,264 Member
    keegalie Joined Aug 2011 October 30, 2013 3:32 pm Hi, I was wondering people's opinions on eating later at night.

    I get off work at 11pm and am always hungry after work and usually have calories left over to be able to eat something. So I'm wondering if any of you have found that eating later affected your weight loss?

    I don't get up until around 11am since I work late and am not ready for bed as soon as I get home - so I don't really eat breakfast, it's more like lunch that I eat before work and then eat my supper at work and then like to have a snack when I get home. Thanks!

    I'm one whose evenings are spent running outdoors and on my return (9ish or later depending on my take-off time), my 4th proper meal of the day is part and parcel of my after workout protocols. It is an element of my programme I can not irresponsibly deny myself or risk my body going haywire.
    tonynguyen75 Joined Apr 2013 October 30, 2013 3:38 pm There is no research that suggests meal timing, especially something as superficial as time of day, has any bearing on weight.

    But then again, no carbs after 6pm, trust me bro, is solid logic......

    ^ Gotta watch those Carbs I agree, with some, depending.
    lemonmeringue Joined Sep 2013 October 30, 2013 3:41 pm I used to work late night and graveyard shifts when I was in the restaurant business and I always found that eating something helped. Now granted I wasn't pigging out on junk food, but eating something healthy with little to no carbs. I'm a breakfast person so I would do a lot of egg whites with veggies. Eating something small is better than going to bed on a empty stomach and it'll help you sleep better!

    Totally. For some, if they do eat (volume dependent vs activity levels/burns potential) or don't (continuing on an empty stomach), sleep deprivation awaits them. It's all about being mindful of keeping it all in the balance; knowing to read one's body.
    cwolfman13 Joined Nov 2012 October 30, 2013 3:43 pm meal timing is irrelevant. I eat dinner every night at 8:45 or so...it hasn't had any effect on my weight loss...it's an old wives tail

    Agree *Meal timings apply, when prescribed meds are relevant*
    IIISpartacusI Joined Apr 2013October 30, 2013 4:30 pm Nothing magical happens later in the day. If that's when you have to eat then that's when you eat. I'm about to eat dinner at 8:30pm so I'll be joining you (not literally). You eat a given number of calories and if you use up more than you eat then you lose a bit of weight and the time of day does not change this fact.

    The reason people are apprehensive about eating later is because they see people eating a caloric surplus with an additional snack or two or meal at night that's above and beyond their caloric expenditure. Instead of doing the math and realizing that it wasn't the time of day but instead the additional calories, they make a false correlation with night time and gaining weight. Had they ended the day in a caloric deficit then it wouldn't have mattered when the food was eaten, they'd have still lost weight.

    ^ Absolutely!
    magerum Joined May 2011 October 30, 2013 4:48 pm Meal timing will not impact weight loss. I eat 2000+ calories between 7-9 pm and go to bed immediately after finishing. Hasn't hampered my goals at all.

    ^ Agree and relate.
    Ready2Rock206 Joined Mar 2011 October 30, 2013 5:19 pm Unless you are a Gremlin it doesn't matter when you eat.

    :laugh:
    susannamarie Joined Jan 2012 October 30, 2013 5:20 pm If it makes you ill or gives you heartburn, don't do it. Otherwise, it doesn't matter.

    :flowerforyou:
    czechwolf52 Joined Feb 2013 October 30, 2013 7:58 pm I had over 900 calories today after I came home from the gym and showered at 7:45. On Fridays when I have my long workouts from 6-8 I regularly eat huge amounts of food at 9 or 10 at night.

    It doesn't matter when you eat, just as long as it fits into your daily calories.

    ^ Yes!
    Glampinupdoll Joined Apr 2013 October 30, 2013 9:20 pm I eat every night around 11:45pm. I usually don't go to bed till 1 or 2am. Wake up around 10am. Hasn't affected me at all.

    ^ Ditto for me. No matter how late I end my day, to how early I start, so far, positive results only.
    lsorci919 Joined Jul 2013 October 30, 2013 9:38 pm I always eat late and sometimes I go to bed almost immediately after. It hasn't slowed my loss down. Eating too much has slowed it down ;)from experience I would say no it doesn't affect your loss. Especially in your case where you are up later and sleep later. Your not running on the same time schedule as the average person.

    Associate with having eaten a lot by normal standards (following my nightly run), not feeling all too full (but far from it), replenished yet still light enough to bed down once I was done with what I'd needed to wind up, time zone conscious.

    ETA: A poster's comment, I'd missed earlier
  • Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the feedback!

    I'd like to remain a Mogwai :)

    [img][/img]10596533974_9de7e07f45.jpg
  • rjmwx81
    rjmwx81 Posts: 259 Member
    Once, I was eating dinner on an airplane. It was 7PM when I started, but then we crossed a timezone so I ended up eating after 8. I immediately gained 5 lbs. It was horrible. ;)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Hi, I was wondering people's opinions on eating later at night.

    I get off work at 11pm and am always hungry after work and usually have calories left over to be able to eat something. So I'm wondering if any of you have found that eating later affected your weight loss?

    I don't get up until around 11am since I work late and am not ready for bed as soon as I get home - so I don't really eat breakfast, it's more like lunch that I eat before work and then eat my supper at work and then like to have a snack when I get home. Thanks!

    Nope.

    You can eat whatever you want and anytime you want and it won't affect your weight loss as long as you stay within your calorie allowance.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Don't do it.... Unless U R going to be up moving around for like 3 hrs afterwards. :-)

    LOL...why won't this old wives tail just die...you don't turn into a fat *kitten* or a gremlin from eating after 8 PM. This is science people...

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQeSVcra6Uij_cLbGmMqYcLEO_wFV6NFGeDXzhd17Ku-fqfLYLz
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    OOOO I wanna be a gremlin!

    I will have a snack if I'm hungry before bed, but if I eat too much, I'm super hungry when I wake up, for some reason :frown:

    And I have WEIRD dreams.
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
    I say eat whenever you feel hungry. Just make it a healthy meal.
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    Doesn't matter. Calories are for an entire day 24 hours.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    its really bad
    but if your drinking booze.
    that is good
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    If you want a good case study for eating at night and still losing weight, just take a look at my diary. Some days, I eat about half of my calories after 8pm, and I go to bed at 10pm. It has not stalled my weight loss.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I gained all my weight eating late at night. But, I also lost all my weight eating late at night. Now I am (more or less) maintaining and improving fitness while eating late at night. Every night.