Eating past 8'...

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I never saw any point in eating just before reducing my energy expenditure (ie going to bed) but I doubt there's a big effect either way.

Must resist from laughing. #dirtymind

There's no truth in the 'eat before x time' myth. Especially if you think about it - what time zone? What about in summer when it's still light at 9:30pm? What if you eat at 7pm, then fly and land in a later timezone? It's actually one of the less logical diet 'rules' I've heard.

chandelierbee wrote: »

You make a good point, never thought of it like that. I just hear that if the body doesn't use the calories like walking it will get stored as fat but I have a caloric deficit of 1000 and still got per say 900 calories to eat today. Idk I'm kinda hungry/not and just craving a microwaved s'mores quest bar.

I have heard that too and it is nonsense. Your body is working even while you sleep. Eat something like the quest bar, esp if you are under your calories. Your body needs enough nutrition.

It is hard to know what you should be eating without your height and weight. As a general guideline, women should eat at least 1200 calories a day.

chandelierbee wrote: »

I'm 5'8" & 155.

Please eat more food. You can eat 1400/ 1500 and still lose weight.
Regarding the macros:
Protein -- eat all of your protein. O.K. to go over
Fat -- try to eat all of your fat. O.K. to go over
Carbs -- they do not matter one way or another. Go over or under.
~~~
One easy way to get to your calorie number is to eat food with more fat: potatoes with butter or sour cream, whole eggs, chicken thighs, avocados, full fat cheese, nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, full fat salad dressing, tuna, bacon, granola, muffins.
Or eat more carbs and protein. Any way you get to 1400-1500 is good.

I usually go to bed around 10.30pm. I try to avoid eating anything after 8.30pm during the week - because it affects my sleep patterns when I eat late. The thing is, of itself, eating whenever doesn't affect weight loss - but not enough of sleep (over time) really does. That's the reason I give myself a cut off time, which is variable depending on my bedtime. I struggle to fall asleep, and wake more frequently during the night, if I've eaten very close to bedtime.

Weekends (Fri and Sat nights), I may go out and not start eating until after 8.30pm. It's just that, on those nights, I probably won't go to bed until after midnight, so I'm not concerned.

For me, a minimum 2 hour window between last eating and bed is suiting me just fine. I'm sleeping well, and feel so much more rested and energetic as a consequence. I don't think there needs to be hard cut-off point like 8pm, I'd just adapt that to whatever time you go to bed, and subtract a couple of hours.

On hard lifting days a 20g protein shake is good before bed.

And, yeah, you should be eating more. I'd be skeptical about those exercise burns and maybe cut them in half, so you don't need to make sure to eat to your goals with exercise, but you should definitely eat all your original goal plus some extra calories for the exercise you are doing.

Your breakdown of carbs/fat/protein seemed fine and if you ate more in the same ratios you would be reasonably close to your goals, as there's no need to be exact.

The time doesn't matter, eat when you are hungry.

You can eat anything you want just before going to bed and still lose if you are eating less calories than your body uses. I eat a large majority of my calories late at night all the way till i go to sleep. I did not hinder my fat loss and is not causing fat gain. I usually go to bed completely stuffed.