Losing/gaining weight depending on when last meal is eaten?

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  • GeeWillickers
    GeeWillickers Posts: 85 Member
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    Biologically there is some evidence that lying down can affect digestion in a relatively tight number of hours. And there is also research that biasing calories in the morning is more effective than the other way around.

    But I think many people that are eating late are just snaking and that is causing additional calories that they didn't plan.

    What studies? What evidence? I suspect if you actually had studies you would have cited them.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Overnight weight gain is completely inconsequential, and paying attention to it is an excellent path to looney town. Focus on staying within your calorie goal and long term results instead. Meal timing is absolutely irrelevant. Just eat less, move more, and watch the L.B.s go!!
    This.

    OP, you don't gain or lose weight overnight. Your body is simply lighter because you didn't eat late. If you eat late, your body may not be lighter. To be honest, it's kind of silly to even pay attention to this.

    True fat loss happens over time, not overnight.:smile:
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Eating later in the day can cause your body to hold on to the weight because instead of using it for the rest of the day like your body could be, your body is going to bed and your digestive system shuts down for the night. Giving yourself a cut off time 3 hours before you go to bed will give your digestive system a break and you will see increased weight loss
    This is not true, and about the silliest thing I've read in awhile.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Mealtime is absolutely relevant. Read this research study:

    http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

    OP is off-base with her idea about losing or gaining 1 to 3 lbs overnight -- you can't meaningfully track your weight by the hour -- but she's actually correct about the fact that you will lose more weight overall if you eat earlier in the day.
    Nope.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    You *may* be overthinking this
  • kittenful
    kittenful Posts: 318 Member
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    The biggest meal of the day for me is my dinner, and I like it that way. I also prefer to weigh in once a week, at the same time, to get a more accurate reading.

    Weight fluctuations are due to many variables: food/liquid intake, voiding bladder and bowels, water retention from exercise (starting new routines causes a bit more, until your body adjusts) or a higher sodium intake than normal, etc. Keep that in mind, if you're going to track your daily fluctuations. It's the long term that will be able to tell you how it's really affecting your progress.
  • misschoppo
    misschoppo Posts: 463 Member
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    Overnight weight gain is completely inconsequential, and paying attention to it is an excellent path to looney town.

    agreed :smile:

    You can wake up having magically "gained" or "lost" for numerous reasons. I weigh in most days so I can log and track but I absolutely don't worry if the numbers jump up and down daily, I log it very frequently but I look at the overall picture over several months to see the general trend.
  • gertudejekyl
    gertudejekyl Posts: 386 Member
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    Overnight weight gain is completely inconsequential, and paying attention to it is an excellent path to looney town. Focus on staying within your calorie goal and long term results instead. Meal timing is absolutely irrelevant. Just eat less, move more, and watch the L.B.s go!!
  • AdieEve
    AdieEve Posts: 87 Member
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    It's the weight of your waste. If you have a bowel movement before weighing yourself, you'll notice the weight gain magically disappears.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Eating later in the day can cause your body to hold on to the weight because instead of using it for the rest of the day like your body could be, your body is going to bed and your digestive system shuts down for the night. Giving yourself a cut off time 3 hours before you go to bed will give your digestive system a break and you will see increased weight loss

    You've waited a year and a half to make your first post and it was completely wrong and terrible in all ways. What a disappointment.
  • Carlywiese
    Carlywiese Posts: 51 Member
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    No. Just no. Eat whenever you like.
  • roxazaloah
    roxazaloah Posts: 28
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    Thank you all very much for the responses! To be honest, I was just curious if anyone could shed light on it. I KNOW that it isn't true weight loss, as I tend to be almost neurotic about weighing myself every morning, out of curiosity mostly. I'm not discouraged or anything, but am slowly seeing weight loss about once a week roughly. I was just wondering how it all worked out on a day to day basis. It's a much slower weight loss this time, mostly because I am not having my last meal before 5pm. About a year ago, I had lost close to 50 lbs in roughly 4-5 months by not eating much after 3 pm, so I wonder if I was doing things the *right* way, but I'm thinking I might NOT have been to be honest.

    It was easier for me to eat less, exercise more and not worry about meal times with my other half because I was on a day shift schedule in a retail store, and he was on overnight shifts at another retail store.

    Now it's just the whole, getting used to eating meals together, and NOT over eat that I'm slowly getting accustomed to, and I COMPLETELY realize that weight loss is definitely NOT an overnight thing. It took me 15~ years to put the weight on, and it certainly won't go away on its own in say, a week. I don't have unrealistic goals. I'm pretty happy with things this time around, because I'm working on MYSELF, not just obsessing over how much I can lose in a week, like I used to. Sometimes it's frustrating, but it's all part of the process, I suppose. But, thank you all again - - I did get some great feedback :)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Thank you all very much for the responses! To be honest, I was just curious if anyone could shed light on it. I KNOW that it isn't true weight loss, as I tend to be almost neurotic about weighing myself every morning, out of curiosity mostly. I'm not discouraged or anything, but am slowly seeing weight loss about once a week roughly. I was just wondering how it all worked out on a day to day basis. It's a much slower weight loss this time, mostly because I am not having my last meal before 5pm. About a year ago, I had lost close to 50 lbs in roughly 4-5 months by not eating much after 3 pm, so I wonder if I was doing things the *right* way, but I'm thinking I might NOT have been to be honest.

    It was easier for me to eat less, exercise more and not worry about meal times with my other half because I was on a day shift schedule in a retail store, and he was on overnight shifts at another retail store.

    Now it's just the whole, getting used to eating meals together, and NOT over eat that I'm slowly getting accustomed to, and I COMPLETELY realize that weight loss is definitely NOT an overnight thing. It took me 15~ years to put the weight on, and it certainly won't go away on its own in say, a week. I don't have unrealistic goals. I'm pretty happy with things this time around, because I'm working on MYSELF, not just obsessing over how much I can lose in a week, like I used to. Sometimes it's frustrating, but it's all part of the process, I suppose. But, thank you all again - - I did get some great feedback :)
    Roz, sounds to me like you're on the right track. Keep in up. :drinker:
  • IrisFlute
    IrisFlute Posts: 88 Member
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    Mealtime is absolutely relevant. Read this research study:

    http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

    OP is off-base with her idea about losing or gaining 1 to 3 lbs overnight -- you can't meaningfully track your weight by the hour -- but she's actually correct about the fact that you will lose more weight overall if you eat earlier in the day.
    Nice try.

    A study with self reported intake with no mention of test subjects activity level to examine effects on people with metabolic syndrome. Sorry but no.

    Also:
    Conclusions: High-calorie breakfast with reduced intake at dinner is beneficial and might be a useful alternative for the management of obesity and metabolic syndrome.
    Not very definitive there on a study about metabolic syndrome

    OK, I retract my earlier statement on this thread. I have now read lots of information that says I was wrong, and that time of day doesn't matter for weight loss. So much for my certainty! I just wanted it to be scientifically true because it feels right for my body, but I guess it's easy to fall into the trap of looking for research to bolster what we already believe in.

    In any case, good luck to you, Roz!

    These forums make me happy even when they prove me wrong.
  • Solar_Cat
    Solar_Cat Posts: 188 Member
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    The simplest explanation is that if you weigh yourself at the same time each morning, you've been fasting longer if you had dinner earlier. The weight you lose during that fast is primarily via sweat and urine. The longer you fast, the more you lose.

    Dinner at 4:00 p.m., weigh-in at 6:00 a.m.: overnight fast 14 hours.
    Dinner at 7:00 p.m., weigh-in at 6:00 a.m.: overnight fast 11 hours.

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