Does the time you eat affect weightloss?

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  • skhuu
    skhuu Posts: 25 Member
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    If you are a purely logical person and stick to the plan then time of eating has no bearing on whether you are likely to put on weight eating at a certain time.

    Having said that - I know I become far less logical after around 10pm so I am far more likely to blow my resolve and eat junk after 10pm. So - for me - yes, eating after 10pm I am more likely to put on weight, so I avoid doing so. But it is because of the stupid things I am prone to eat late at night rather than the time of day/night I choose to eat.

    I have a similar opinion. My husband works night shift, so he generally has opposite meal schedule than me and he is losing plenty of weight because he is watching his diet and exercise. I cannot eat after 8pm. If I do, then I become lazy and won't do my workout for the night.
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    I'm simply trying to point out that for some people it's more complicated than just telling them to eat at a calorie deficit. That's all that gets spewed around here and if it was that easy everyone on MFP should have a six pack but that doesn't seem to be the case. New research emerges all the time and I think it's a good idea to know a little more than just eat at a deficit and you'll be golden.
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    If you are a purely logical person and stick to the plan then time of eating has no bearing on whether you are likely to put on weight eating at a certain time.

    Having said that - I know I become far less logical after around 10pm so I am far more likely to blow my resolve and eat junk after 10pm. So - for me - yes, eating after 10pm I am more likely to put on weight, so I avoid doing so. But it is because of the stupid things I am prone to eat late at night rather than the time of day/night I choose to eat.

    I have a similar opinion. My husband works night shift, so he generally has opposite meal schedule than me and he is losing plenty of weight because he is watching his diet and exercise. I cannot eat after 8pm. If I do, then I become lazy and won't do my workout for the night.

    This ^^^. Like I said in my original post. Exercise and good nutrition is the dominate factor.
  • NinaMerced
    NinaMerced Posts: 4 Member
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    Well, in my case when I eat past 10:00PM, no matter if its within my calories range I DO gain weight. For me to lose weight my last meal must be at 7:00PM
  • deersrunpeopleeat
    deersrunpeopleeat Posts: 1
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    :smile:
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    My various meal times have never affected my weight loss.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,566 Member
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    I don't necessarily disagree with everyone. Exercise and a good nutrition plan is by far the dominate factor. However, check out this article. http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/37269/title/Out-of-Sync/
    Pretty good article to read. Here's the conclusion:

    "With caution and caveats, one could speculate that this is, in part, why obesity and metabolic disorders have escalated to epidemic levels, particularly when mistimed eating is coupled with a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet."

    While it was fascinating to read, one part struck me in particular: shift workers and the association with higher weight and metabolic issues.
    Stands to reason to me that part of it would be that's it's harder to rest when it's not "restful" sleep. Sleeping in the day is challenging because not only is there light out, but activity is higher so noise is also an issue.
    What would be interesting is if they did a study on people who live is places like Alaska and check how their metabolisms run during 6 month bouts of continual daylight and darkness.
    Again interesting article, but I'd still have to see more solid research before accepting that the Earth's rotational pattern is a key part in how we should consume calories.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Biggirllittledreams
    Biggirllittledreams Posts: 306 Member
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    Weight loss = calories in vs. calories out (obviously including the calories you burn merely by existing/moving, as well as though worked off through exercise).

    The composition of your food does affect your metabolism (ie. very low fat diets affect your metabolism), but your caloric intake has the same effect whether you have one large meal a day, three small ones, or 6 large snacks.
  • KelseyDiane91
    KelseyDiane91 Posts: 13 Member
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    I personally stop eating about 2-3 hours before I go to bed so the food has longer to digest while I'm up and active. I PERSONALLY feel better in the morning doing this. I can tell when I've eaten right before bed, and usually those mornings I'm up about .2-.5 lbs from the day before.

    Try a day or 2 of less snacking at night and see how it works for you. If there's no difference, do what you're doing now :) if you feel better in the morning, maybe do that a little more often. There is no cut and paste answer.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,566 Member
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    I'm simply trying to point out that for some people it's more complicated than just telling them to eat at a calorie deficit. That's all that gets spewed around here and if it was that easy everyone on MFP should have a six pack but that doesn't seem to be the case. New research emerges all the time and I think it's a good idea to know a little more than just eat at a deficit and you'll be golden.
    I personally am for new research all the time. But I also adhere to what current research has shown. If we're applying it to the OP's question at hand, current research has shown that meal timing is irrelevant when it comes to weight loss.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    No only this nutrition timing affects is pre workouts and post workouts.
  • establishingaplace
    establishingaplace Posts: 301 Member
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    I say if you are happy and losing weight doing what you're doing, then keep doing what you're doing. If you're not losing weight, then it's time to re-evaluate.

    I think most people who see weight gain when they eat at night are just eating too much. Snacking after dinner was always my downfall. Now I choose my snacks wisely and log them.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
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    While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.

    I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Well, in my case when I eat past 10:00PM, no matter if its within my calories range I DO gain weight. For me to lose weight my last meal must be at 7:00PM
    Because your body magically turns those calories into fat exactly at 10pm? Even in a deficit? Please, tell me more, I'm intrigued.

    You are sleeping before the body digested the foods. This whole eat before a certain time for dinner only work when you go to bed at a certain early time.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.

    I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.

    Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
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    While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.

    I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.

    Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.

    That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,566 Member
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    Well, in my case when I eat past 10:00PM, no matter if its within my calories range I DO gain weight. For me to lose weight my last meal must be at 7:00PM
    Because your body magically turns those calories into fat exactly at 10pm? Even in a deficit? Please, tell me more, I'm intrigued.

    You are sleeping before the body digested the foods. This whole eat before a certain time for dinner only work when you go to bed at a certain early time.
    The body digests 24/7 whether, sleeping or not. The MAIN reason why the whole "don't eat after 7pm" started was because people met their calorie goals by dinner, then kept snacking afterward and surplused causing weight gain.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    While meal timing has no direct effect on weightloss, it may have an effect on satiety/appetite and therefore how many calories you intake a day.

    I find that if I delay eating when I get up in the morning, I eat fewer calories in the day, and can barely squeeze them all in. If I eat breakfast (particularly if it's high carb/sugar like pancakes, waffles, pastry, etc., but even if it's all protein like eggs) then I end up hungry and snacking all day and go way over.

    Reason why you are hungry is because of your metabolism. You are digesting to food so quickly for breakfast leaving you hungry the rest of the day. If I eat and I am not hungry 3 hours later than my metabolism has dropped a little.

    That makes no sense though...I'm also digesting dinner at the same speed at night, and then going to bed, so if it were just metabolism then why wouldn't I wake up starving? And why would I feel fine and less hungry between lunch and dinner just because I skipped breakfast? Wouldn't I still be digesting lunch at the same speed, especially since I didn't have breakfast and was therefore "empty"?

    You do not wake up hungry. I wake up starving and if I do not eat within a half hour my body does something where my stomach feels awful to the point where I have to drink water slowly. There is debate going on now that is trying to figure out if eating smaller frequent meal is better than three standards meal. My nutrition class says it makes no difference but it does for me. I have no fact about it but I think skipping breakfast decline metabolism a lot and when you eat lunch it will digest very slowly because there is a such thing as starvation mode. There are articles on that. I know in me that my body definitely has a starvation mode point.

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