How late is too late to eat at night???

southernlay_d
southernlay_d Posts: 111
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Quick question. My husband always laughs at me because I come to bed with a bowl full of fruit cut up with two tablespoons of peanut butter melted on top. I don't go over my daily calories, I just make sure I have enough for it. Is this a terrible habit???
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Replies

  • southernlay_d
    southernlay_d Posts: 111
    Fruit and P.B. is a definite improvement. I used to go to bed with cookies, or chips or worse!!!!
  • harleyquinn1504
    harleyquinn1504 Posts: 45 Member
    I don't think there's a time limit on when you can eat. I'd think calories at 5pm and calories at 10pm are the same diff. I eat snacks when I want them
  • ace175
    ace175 Posts: 518 Member
    bump....I sometimes have a late night snack...I think people say "don't eat after 7 pm" or something like that, however sometimes I don't have time to eat dinner until 7:30/8 pm!
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    If it's in your calories, it should be fine. I go to bed with a frozen juice bar every night (midnight). It hasn't slowed me down any.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    As long as you have something light (not a full dinner right before laying down) you are good at anytime. Our bodies burn fat and calories in our sleep, too.

    I've also heard eating something high in protein will turn on our HGH (human growth hormone) when we sleep and burn fat. But I've haven't researched this one so I don't know.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    As long as you have something light (not a full dinner right before laying down) you are good at anytime. Our bodies burn fat and calories in our sleep, too.

    I've also heard eating something high in protein will turn on our HGH (human growth hormone) when we sleep and burn fat. But I've haven't researched this one so I don't know.

    didn't mean to hit reply twice!!
  • WhiteStar2351
    WhiteStar2351 Posts: 87
    Its not a good idea to eat fruit that late at night at all - Fructose (the sugar found in fruit) can only be used by the Liver - once the Liver is full (which it usually is) the remainder is turned in to body fat. If you're eating it at that time of night there is no way that you will be burning off the sugar in your blood.

    A better idea is something high in casein protein (low fat cottage cheese) as the slow burning protein will stave off catabolism through the night and is far, far less likely to convert to fat!
  • kmeekhof
    kmeekhof Posts: 456 Member
    I have heard several different views on this.... I've heard don't eat for at least 4 hours before you go to bed and I've also heard it doesnt matter how late you eat, but what you eat.

    I would say you're fine as long as it's not a huge bowl with fruit and pb..... both easy to digest and your body will have time to metabolism them before you go to sleep and your "furnace" goes on low.
  • chevymom02
    chevymom02 Posts: 11
    i have the same bad habit. i always have to have something before goin to bed.
  • Shaye85
    Shaye85 Posts: 107
    as long as you stop eating 4 hours before you sleep.
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
    Your metabolism slows down throughout the course of the day, but the real difference is how much it slows down when you sleep. So if you were to eat a high fat/high calorie snack right before bed your body wouldn't metabolise all of it-it would store a lot of it. But if you have fruit with a little bit of pb you should be ok-no fat in fruit, and nut fats are good fats...providing there aren't a tone of additives in your pb of choice.
  • southernlay_d
    southernlay_d Posts: 111
    Jif creamy :)
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    There's nothing wrong with eating at night. Your metabolism doesn't change just because it's night time. But, you shouldn't eat carbs or sugars within 3 hours of going to sleep. The sugar causes insulin to be released which makes the body stop burning fat. You need human growth hormone in order to burn fat and HGH and insulin can't be in your bloodstream at the same time. So eating sugars, carbs and starches before bed will make you store fat, while protein will help your body burn fat.
  • southernlay_d
    southernlay_d Posts: 111
    I swear, I cannot sleep without eatting. I will just lay there tossing and turning.
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
    I always eat a cup of cut fruit at around 9pm every night, but I go to sleep usually by 11:30, so I don't know if that's so late. Sometimes I also have a vita top.
  • skinnyfabulous
    skinnyfabulous Posts: 7
    The recomendation is to eat at least 2 or 3 hours before going to sleep, and try to have a light meal, fruits and peanut butter sounds perfect. This is because if you eat and then go to sleep, your body will procese the food a lot faster, and probably absorve more calories. When you're sleeping your body gets into survival-mode, because you don't feed it for at least 7 hours, so it will absorve everything fast, and you definetly don't want that. If you eat 2 or three hours before sleep, your body will have the time to procese all the food, so that way your body will be empty at the time you got sleep, and this will make your body burn your body fat. Burn calories while sleeping! hell yeah!
  • soccermom004
    soccermom004 Posts: 444 Member
    If I'm truly hungry, not just eating out of boredom or habit, and I have the calories I have something to eat. Last night it was hummus and pita chips. Yum
  • southernlay_d
    southernlay_d Posts: 111
    **Le Sigh** Okay, since fruit sounds like a bad thing to eat... suggestions please!
  • timetoshrinkk
    timetoshrinkk Posts: 15
    normally without dieting i would eat a snack at maybe 9pm..perhaps cheese on toast..unhealthy and carby was the plan. Now when calorie counting and tracking i eat my evening meal around 6pm (just done now and its 18.24pm) and don't eat the rest of the night, if i get hungry i make a cup of green tea or hot water and lemon.
  • Georgie_P
    Georgie_P Posts: 62
    It's a good idea to try to break the habit of late night eatting - it slows your metabolism at night thus reducing how fast you burn the calories - even if they aren't that bad

    A good rule of thumb is no more food after 9 and only water after that
  • southernlay_d
    southernlay_d Posts: 111
    eating out of boredom or habit


    Ding DIng Ding!!!
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Actually, you are probably preventing the breakdown of muscle by eating right before bed. The brain can only function on glucose and when we go though times where we aren't eating, that glucose has to come from stored liver glycogen and blood sugar. When the glycogen gets low, the body produces cortisol which then tells the body to break down protein (IE: muscle) to convert it to glucose for the brain to use. By eating right before bed, or even getting up in the middle of the night as some professional athletes have to do in order to maintain their muscle mass, you provide additional sugar in the blood and liver to be converted to glucose for the brain. This prevents some of the cortisol production and muscle breakdown. From a physiological standpoint, it is actually a good thing to ensure that your weight loss is from body fat and not muscle.
  • southernlay_d
    southernlay_d Posts: 111
    I think I am going to have to make the effort to really stop eatting at night. This may possible kill me!
  • treena99
    treena99 Posts: 37 Member
    I once heard that there should be no late night eating, especially after 9pm. For anything after 9pm the body will store it as fat. There is an old saying, " It’s not just how much you eat, but when you eat it, that influences weight gain." I have recently cut out the late night snacks. I now just drink plenty of water, and go to bed early, to refrain from the midnight eating temptations.
  • SaraTonin
    SaraTonin Posts: 551 Member
    I don't have any opinions about what is good or bad to eat at night, I figure go for it as long as you're within calories.

    BUT - DO PLEASE WAIT before going to bed, at least a half hour, because laying down while you are digesting food leads to acid reflux. My uncle would eat a late dinner and drink a beer right before bed every night, and he got esophageal cancer and nearly died.

    PLEASE GIVE DIGESTING TIME. Don't lay down while digesting food!
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    Actually, you are probably preventing the breakdown of muscle by eating right before bed. The brain can only function on glucose and when we go though times where we aren't eating, that glucose has to come from stored liver glycogen and blood sugar. When the glycogen gets low, the body produces cortisol which then tells the body to break down protein (IE: muscle) to convert it to glucose for the brain to use. By eating right before bed, or even getting up in the middle of the night as some professional athletes have to do in order to maintain their muscle mass, you provide additional sugar in the blood and liver to be converted to glucose for the brain. This prevents some of the cortisol production and muscle breakdown. From a physiological standpoint, it is actually a good thing to ensure that your weight loss is from body fat and not muscle.

    I should start saving your posts Tonya, so good!
  • fiensiferum
    fiensiferum Posts: 7
    !i always heard don't eat after 7p.m.
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    I normally eat my prunes right before bed. I haven't had any problems with my weight loss because of it.

    I seriously don't see a problem with eating before bed. I believe its what you eat before bed that needs to be addressed.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    A calorie is a calorie. Eating at night won't make you fat, unless you're over your calorie needs.


    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060202080832.htm

    http://weightloss.about.com/library/quiz/blmyth6_a.htm

    http://www.criticalbench.com/food_eat_lose_weight.htm

    http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/02/09/eating-late-at-night-does-it-matter/

    http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2225.html
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    Its not a good idea to eat fruit that late at night at all - Fructose (the sugar found in fruit) can only be used by the Liver - once the Liver is full (which it usually is) the remainder is turned in to body fat. If you're eating it at that time of night there is no way that you will be burning off the sugar in your blood.

    A better idea is something high in casein protein (low fat cottage cheese) as the slow burning protein will stave off catabolism through the night and is far, far less likely to convert to fat!

    This is good to know.
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