Just before bed...

just wondering if there is anything to the theory of having a snack just before going to bed, I mean carrot sticks or something else healthy that would keep the metabolism working during the night... Anyone have any thoughts on this???

No I think it's not such a bad idea, I just personally like to not eat anything else after 7pm because I know my body but I'm curious about other responses on this so....<<<BUMP>>>

My thoughts are just that I eat my biggest meals at breakfast and lunch, and eat lighter at night. If I have a snack it's just light. As long as what I eat fits within my calorie goal, I don't worry about it too much. According to the nutrition class I went to, and when I talked with my doctor, your metabolism is just the same pretty much all the time, other than when you exercise, unless you are dead...Point is, your metabolism always is working, burning. What matters is whatever you eat, YOU feel good, that it works for YOU. Everyone is different. I like some sort of beverage before I sleep, but that's just because it's soothing to me.

my trainer always says to have a small bowl of cereal before bed if I want to eat something ... I usually have special k original or corn flakes ...

i have a friend who always served her and her sons ice cream before bed. They were all thin.

Cortisol levels rise after about 4 hours of not eating, usually this is during sleep as that is when most people fast the longest. Cortisol actually tells the body to break down muscle to replace glycogen stores and store abdominal fat, which is the opposite of what we really want to do, especially people who are trying to build muscle. We need to replace the glycogen stores to stay alive (The brain only functions on glycose/glycogen.) but we don't need to break down muscle to do it and abdominal fat has been proven to be the worst for heart disease. My nutrition professors actually recommend getting out of bed in the middle of the night and eating a mix of carbs and protein to stop this process if you are trying to build muscle. Personally, I lose fat better by having a late night bowl of ice cream because it has that mix of carbs, protein, and fat to fuel my needs without raising my cortisol levels. While it doesn't necessarily show in my 100+ days on here, the 10 years of spiral notebooks that I've tracked my food in prior to finding this site show that I do better at maintaining a healthy body composition when I have a midnight snack. So, for me personally, I believe my professors in thinking that fasting is bad for my body in that I am prone to the increased cortisol levels if I don't eat for more then 4-5 hours.