What time should you stop eating at night?

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cathedralite22
cathedralite22 Posts: 33
in Food and Nutrition
I've heard some people stop eating at a certain time at night. Sometimes I'm not eating dinner until 7or 7:30pm and think that might be too late and one reason why I'm not losing as much weight as I could. Anyone have any thoughts on this topic? What time do you stop eating at night? I'm 62 yrs. old, retired and on this journey with my husband. We love MFP!! Thanks

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  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
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    Sleep does not change how you digest other than slowing down the process a bit. It doesn't magically turn everything into fat and store it unless you are eating in excess. Just stay under your calories, get the right macro nutrients and don't worry :)
  • kelika71
    kelika71 Posts: 778 Member
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    Eat! :)
    I eat right up until I crawl into bed. Unless you deal with sleep issues or something like heartburn, then eat.
    Planning meals and spacing them out fairly evenly does wonders. I do this all the time and I make sure I have enough cals for that last snack before I go to bed.
  • angelicdisgrace
    angelicdisgrace Posts: 2,071 Member
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    A few hours before you go to bed. That's my rule of thumb.
  • mousumi30
    mousumi30 Posts: 52
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    by 7 pm
  • Wendyma1
    Wendyma1 Posts: 289 Member
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    I'm here at 8:45 still trying to get through my dinner. Not feeling the tuna salad tonight and just nitpicking at it. I usually dont get home until 6:00, then have to cook, so I dont usually get to dinner till around 7:00 either. I dont like to eat later than 7:00, but life just gets in the way sometimes, but you need to eat those calories!
  • cathedralite22
    cathedralite22 Posts: 33
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    Thanks everyone!!
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 560 Member
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    I eat my "midnight snack" of Greek yogurt and berries when I get home from work at 12:30 a.m. Hasn't slowed down my weight loss at all.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I eat right before I go to bed every single night - whether I've worked out that day or not. If I don't eat before I go to sleep, I'll wake in the middle of the night sooo hungry that I tend to make poor food choices. Better to eat before bed and be able to make a healthy choice than to say "No more eating at night!" and go to bed hungry only to wake a couple hours later and eat cookies or some other dumb thing.

    Sorry for the run on sentences. On my phone and it is acting dumb on theboards.
  • theflyingartist
    theflyingartist Posts: 385 Member
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    At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter when you eat.. it's what you eat.
    For some people, they get major sweet cravings late at night, so it would be wise to stop eating earlier to not give into the cravings. For me, I've always felt sick if I eat before bed.
    The only change I notice in eating my last meal early in the night (I eat dinner by 6:30 every night, sometimes have a small fruit around 8 and go to bed around 10:30-11), is that I sleep much better, and feel fresh in the morning. Like my digestive system had time to relax and not focus on digesting anything big.
    Experiment and see how your body responds!
  • Lovelystrumpet
    Lovelystrumpet Posts: 44
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    I usually eat late too (after 7.30pm) because I'ma student and my lectures go on till about 6, and when I'm not in term time/at weekends I just kind of stick to this as my 'dinner' time. I find it's fine, as I don't get in bed till midnight most nights, so my food has plenty of time to digest and I don't have to try and sleep with that horrible full feeling.

    If I eat earlier, say 5.30/6pm, I always end up being hungry again at about 10! But if I eat later, I don't eat before the meal, so eating later means I eat less overall, if that makes sense...
  • ImperfektAngel
    ImperfektAngel Posts: 811 Member
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    I eat my last meanl around 9pm and go to bed at midnight
  • cathedralite22
    cathedralite22 Posts: 33
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    Thanks for the feedback!!
  • mynameisuntz
    mynameisuntz Posts: 582 Member
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    Sleep does not change how you digest other than slowing down the process a bit. It doesn't magically turn everything into fat and store it unless you are eating in excess. Just stay under your calories, get the right macro nutrients and don't worry :)
    Perfect post.

    If anyone puts a time limit on when you can eat, they are grossly misinformed on how the human body functions.
  • mapexdrummer69
    mapexdrummer69 Posts: 445
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    Sleep does not change how you digest other than slowing down the process a bit. It doesn't magically turn everything into fat and store it unless you are eating in excess. Just stay under your calories, get the right macro nutrients and don't worry :)


    Awesome.

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