What my trainer said about late night eating....

my past trainer basically said the same thing your body "shuts down" once you go to bed. I think it is to get people to really watch it at night well for one we need rest when we are on this journey so going to bed earlier can't hurt. But also as many of us know, once you start eating especially at night it is hard to stop! eh just go to bed!! lol :bigsmile:

Your metabolism slows during the day, so by eating late @ night your body isn't able to burn off what you're eating like it would be able to if you had eaten it around, for ex, lunch time.

What Dr. Oz says, "The average American goes to bed around 10:00 p.m. You need to have two hours of time between when you eat your dinner and when you go to bed. When you eat late at night, a couple of things happen. First of all, you're more likely to be eating in front of the TV, which means you're distracted and likely to eat more. You also tend to get high-calorie snacks in the late night hours. Try to move your meals up a tiny little bit whatever way you can to make 7:30 p.m. your ideal cut off time."

You stole my answer

But he's right. You're way more likely to indulge in high calorie items such as ice cream or chips than carrot sticks when you're sitting in front of the TV and snacking at night. The whole "body shutting down" thing is a myth and, frankly, bad science.

Well, I'm not a doctor, scientist or any other guru saying do this or that. What I can tell you is that I'm about to get off of all my prescribed meds. Still not enough to convince you? Look at my ticker at what I've lost so far. I pretty much eat right up to bed time.
Ya know what? I'm also not one of those saying I'm starving, either.
I'd listen to your trainer.

Good luck!

We are now discussing 2 different things. You talked about metabolism. Your trainer is correct. Your body does not turn food consumed right before bed into fat. It doesn't just sit there and it is digested before bed as it would at lunch. I try and eat cottage cheese before bed for the protein.
Now eating before bed might upset your sleeping rhythm, you might binge, etc. Those are separate points.

I tend to eat the majority of my calories for dinner and evening snacks. I am almost always under my calorie goals and I will make a decision to have a snack after the kids are in bed based on how many calories I have left. If I have more than 100-150 left I will snack. Yes this is when I have an ice cream sandwich or reese's PB cup but I can moderate my portions pretty well. My before bed snack is the only time that I can really eat those foods and enjoy them When I eat snacks during the day it is mindless hunger talking...that is when carrots are great ...at night I eat slow and demand no one talk to me until my treat is gone..I want to focus my energy and enjoyment on my treat, .not eat it mindessly.

I think this is yet another case of doing what works for you. This works for me. It may start a binge for others. I personally have a bigger issue with walking away from my morning cereal without playing the mik/cereal ratio game.

from looking at a lot of the other posts here I can see I have a different philosophy when it comes to diet. I am not a nutritionist nor do I claim to be. I am a cook, I am a culinary student, and I have more than one digestive disorder. I have always had a strong passion for food, and I have done a lot of research on the subject, especially when it comes to nutrition.

my research has lead me to the conclusion that maintaining a heathy weight is not a factor of energy. its not about calories in vs calories out, and its not about when you eat those calories. the real secret is satisfying the body. as long as your getting adequate nutrition and you listen to your body, and most importantly stop when its satisfied, then it would be impossible to gain weight, you would naturally stay at your ideal weight.

this brings me to my big point, the idea that since your not really move while asleep your metabolism slows down is false. the metabolism if anything speeds up. when we sleep hair and nails grow at an accelerated rate cells and tissues are being repaired and replaced, the essential organs are in high gear all of the waist from the day, not to mention the moisture loss. all of these thing require a lot of energy, not to mention raw building materials like protein. so if your eating and sleeping on a regular schedule and find your routinely hungry come bed time that means in preparation for going to sleep your body needs something probably protein, in this case either have your last meal later in the day, or have a light snack before bed.

I eat when I'm hungry no matter what time it is and have successfully lost 92lbs

Charmagne

So, couple of things here. First, anecdotal evidence isn't really evidence. By that, guys, I simply mean that while you may have success at doing it one way over another, that doesn't make it statistically a better way to do it for everyone. Second, biologically speaking, your digestive tract doesn't slow down at night, but your body does burn fewer calories during most of the night. this is mainly because of the combination of reduced brain activity (the brain is a large contributor to total calories burned) and reduced muscular activity. Since food is digested and used primarily between 1/2 and hour and 3 hours after consumption on average; this can lead to slightly higher energy storage than during waking active hours. Third, dietary habits can play a big part in weight gain, if you eat healthy foods at night, and give your body a little while to digest before you go to sleep, then I can't see how eating a moderate sized snack a few hours before bed is an issue in and of itself.

I'm not saying don't eat at night, all I'm saying is that it's not a myth that eating right before bed may be problematic for some people. I'm also not trying to invalidate anyone's success, but you can pick out 100 successful MFP members who've lost large amounts of weight, and find 100 different strategies they developed to become successful. That doesn't mean they are all right for everyone, the idea is to follow the basic guidelines, and do small modifications to fit your needs and lifestyle. This is why Registered Dietitians are paid for their services, because the nutritional requirements of a person is complex and wide ranging, trying to put us all into the same box is a recipe for disaster IMHO.

I'll eat right up to bedtime also. I also exercise (run) around 9:00pm or later in the nicer months, now 7:00-9:00 is more practical since i have to do it while the community center is open. I'm usually eating exercise calories, i have not noticed any bad effects from this, inspite of my habit of eating ice cream.:happy: