Eating late at night. Help!

rach3365
rach3365 Posts: 29 Member
edited November 30 in Food and Nutrition
Hello all. I'm very busy working 7 days/week. I'm a nurse's aid at both of my jobs. Sometimes, I work both jobs in the same day making it a 14 hour day and I don't get home until around 11pm. I'm usually starving by the time I get home! I eat breakfast at 8am (at work) lunch around 10 or 11:30 and dinner at 5 when the residents eat.. So should I eat something before bed or suck it up and go to bed hungry?

Replies

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    Timing of meals has no bearing on weight loss. Eat when ever you like or can as long as it is within your calorie goal.
  • Shells918
    Shells918 Posts: 1,070 Member
    I have a tendency to start binging at night. I'm allowing one snack, then off to bed. I'd rather have the calories left over than to pack them all in at the end of the night when they will just sit in my stomach.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    If your hungry with alotted calories left and ypu want to eat, no reason you should not.

    Some people get the notion.less cals are better, not true for everybody.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,649 Member
    Make sure you're eating enough calories to support your ambitious schedule. Then, you can save some calories for when you get home. You don't have to suck it up and go to bed hungry, unless you don't want to save the calories for eating at night. Your choice.
  • kristen_wino
    kristen_wino Posts: 67 Member
    Sometimes if I eat dinner early, but hungry in the late evening, I'll make some popcorn. I'll put the remainder in airtight container, & I'll snack on it whenever I feel like snacking. Or, a plain rice cake wrh hummous spread on top of it. It's low cal snacking. Plus filling.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    Timing of meals has no bearing on weight loss. Eat when ever you like or can as long as it is within your calorie goal.

    This.

    10 pounds, figuratively, melted off me when I found out meal timing doesn't matter. I can not go to bed hungry and I was always told, "stop eating after 5 to lose weight," and I would try this and usually end up in a binge. I now eat less during the day and have an amazing meal at night (all in my calories) and sleep very soundly with a full belly.
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    My largest meal of the day is before bed. There is no magical time of day when calories cause more fat gain. Enjoy.
  • samanthachen
    samanthachen Posts: 360 Member
    edited February 2016
    I love having my late-night snack. I've said this in similar threads, but I have two little boys (5 yrs old and 1 year old), so for me, the only time I get to myself is when they are asleep at night. Haha! I love having a snack with some tea or water or anything else. Often, chips and salsa are my go-to snack. However treats are nice too. They key is logging everything. I have that late-night snack nearly every day. Sometimes small calorie snacks like some cheese or fruit or a little peanut butter. Sometimes large calorie counts like a cookie (or multiple cookies) with milk. It's all about logging it.

    If you are starving and NEED that food, you might adjust your macros. Aim for more protein and fats. You might also consider, if you haven't already, checking what your TDEE and BMR are. I imagine your TDEE is relatively high (compared to a sedentary lifestyle) with all you do, so you should be eating a decent amount of calories. Set your calorie goal based on a deficit from your calculated TDEE. If you just want to use MFP's number, make sure you are set to the proper activity level AND eat back exercise calories at 50-75% (suggested by those more experienced than I).

    I hope this helps.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Do you turn into a furry and dangerous animal if you eat after midnight?
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