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Going to bed hungry

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  • kes840
    kes840 Posts: 66 Member
    I eat a small snack before I go to bed if I feel bona fide hunger at any level. Otherwise, I wind up waking, craving buttered toast (carb & fat?) and milk (sugar?). Which is not such a bad thing, but I'd rather sleep through.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,130 Member
    I eat a small snack before bed. It's hard to sleep with a grumbly tummy. It's also hard to sleep with a full tummy (IMO). Happy medium works for me.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    edited March 2016
    Im all for hitting the sack vs staying up with mindless eating. But I could not go to bed being literally hungry. Even if its 100-200 calories. Which is why I plan my 6 meals a day. Im either full for larger dinner or have a protein shake after my small dinner and evening workout.

    So people think that if I go to bed hungry that I will wake up with more weight loss (over time?) than if I go to bed with food in my stomach? - more than just the weight of that food itself?

    Ive heard the body burns fat at rest- and while asleep- so would the body be burning the food vs fat stores based simply on a few hours between meals? Meaning- if I eat dinner at 4pm and go to bed hungry- that my body will burn fat stores moreso than if I had a 200 calories snack at 7:30 before bed?

    Im afraid I just can get on board with that mentality.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    I don't lose weight if I'm not slightly hungry at bed-time. I am hungry on maintenance. It doesn't matter how much I balance things, or how much I work with a registered dietician/nutritionist. I have an incredibly voracious appetite and I can pack down food like my life depended on it.

    I don't go to bed lightheaded/grumpy/starving. But I go to bed with a slight empty feeling. I'm with @njaalla on this one. If I'm too hungry, I know I'm up too late.

    I eat a small meal at 9am, medium lunch at 12-1pm, a medium to large snack at 4pm, and a large dinner around 7 or 7:30pm. By 11, I could happily eat again. Because I flipping love eating. But I just go to bed instead.

    But that 11pm hunger is almost right in line with the time split between all your other meals and how you have them spread throughout the day. So having a piece of fruit or a small snack wouldn't be outrageous. Ya know?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    This is one of the reasons I'm in bed by 7:30 most nights. If I'm out in the living room (which is right next to the kitchen) watching tv the munchies are stronger then if I'm snuggled up in bed watching tv, I really couldn't be bothered getting up and walking down to the kitchen to make something.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    What helps me with any after dinner (mindless) snacking beyond what is real hunger--- I brush and floss my teeth and use Listerine- nothing tastes good after all that! LOL.
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    It's hard to sleep with grumbling stomach and it is not necessary.
    arditarose wrote: »
    I don't know. I go to bed with a full tummy. I really like it. It's comfortable for me to eat up until bed time. Meal timing doesn't really matter for weight loss given you are in a calorie deficit.
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    AmyOwl73 wrote: »
    I know this is a hotly-debated topic, but I thought I would share a little observation that I made...
    Earlier, I Googled "how to go to bed hungry", since I am a big time late-night eater... The results were literally 50/50... Every other result said "do it and you'll burn fat". The other half said , "don't do it because you'll sabotage your efforts".. it's no wonder people are so confused. At least I'm confused.. and frustrated.

    FWIW, I am going to TRY to go to bed hungry tonight to see what effect it has on me. I guess that's the only reliable answer I'm going to get.

    I dont understand what you are trying to say. Going to bed full or hung has zero bearing on whether you are going to burn fat or not. If you are in a calorie deficit for the day then you will burn fat, if you are not then you won't; I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp…
    Debmal77 wrote: »
    1. Going to bed hungry and miserable while in a calorie deficit = weight loss
    2. Going to bed full (or content) and happy while in a calorie deficit = weight loss

    I choose door number 2.


    Amen to all of this. I usually save my largest meal for before bed. Carbs make me sleep like a baby. NOM
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Interesting debate. I switched from allowing myself the calories for later at night (which made me grumpy during the day), to eating my calories during the day and going to bed a tad on the "li'l empty" side but not starving. A few other changes in my intake, other than this, finally dropping weight like crazy. Is it cuz I have longer of a "fast" so to speak? Whose to say. But I am happier stuffing my face during the day and not eating anything sometimes as long as 16hrs till next day. You could also say am more of a "breakfast/lunch" person than a "dinner" person. Very rarely do I find myself wanting to munch at night on chips or treats or even uncomfortable enough to graze the kitchen. And hey, no cleanup!

    you just created a calorie deficit….going to bed full or not has 100% nothing to do with it.

    Same amount of calories as when I ate it later in the evening.

    so you just magically started burning more calories because you were not as full before bed? Sorry not buying it…



    were you using a food scale during this time?
    logging every bit of food?
    etc, etc...

    1. Could be magic? Who knows. I like eating all of my food during the day. so all my allotted calories were burned up...er...eaten... usually by 3pm.

    It takes most people 1.5 days to digest food. Your calories are not "burned up" by the end of the day. Time of the day matters not. But more power to you if you want to continue to believe so. :)

  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    MommyMeggo wrote: »
    What helps me with any after dinner (mindless) snacking beyond what is real hunger--- I brush and floss my teeth and use Listerine- nothing tastes good after all that! LOL.


    Great tactic. I do that sometimes too, even in the middle of the day if I don't want to start eating yet.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    It takes most people 1.5 days to digest food.

    What would the half life be - 3 hours ?
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    I never go to bed hungry because I eat 90% of my calories right before bed lol
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    You should feel content...not stuffed but not achingly hungry either...I don't want to do a pm after dinner snack so I either do all my meals a little later than traditionally done and if I need to have something I go for protein or just go to bed earlier.

    Sleep is important in making good food choices the next time around too.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    It takes most people 1.5 days to digest food.

    What would the half life be - 3 hours ?

    No. The half-life would be .75 days or 18 hours.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    It takes most people 1.5 days to digest food.

    What would the half life be - 3 hours ?

    No. The half-life would be .75 days or 18 hours.

    the half life is quoted in the literature as 3 hours, so where do you get that from ?

    Even if the 1.5 days is correct, which I doubt, the half life could be 1 hour, 3 hours or 10 hours as the rate of digestion does not have to be linear.
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    It takes most people 1.5 days to digest food.

    What would the half life be - 3 hours ?

    No. The half-life would be .75 days or 18 hours.

    the half life is quoted in the literature as 3 hours, so where do you get that from ?

    Even if the 1.5 days is correct, which I doubt, the half life could be 1 hour, 3 hours or 10 hours as the rate of digestion does not have to be linear.

    Are you only talking about the time it takes to clear the stomach? Because that is not the full process of digestion.

    "The average transit time through just the large intestine (colon) was 40 hours, with significant difference between men and women: 33 hours for men, 47 hours for women."

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/digestive-system/expert-answers/FAQ-20058340

    Uh oh, I linked to another site, I hope I don't get this thread closed too....

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I'm interested in the time it takes for the nutrients to be passed to the bloodstream. The time it takes for the residue to leave is less interesting.

    So how long for half (or all) the nutrients to be absorbed, or similar.

    For glucose for example the post prandial period is said to be 4 hours at https://openi.nlm.nih.gov/detailedresult.php?img=2811454_zdc1110977750001&req=4 after whichit's the "post absorptive" period.
  • nsa352
    nsa352 Posts: 40 Member
    Go to be starving ? No. Go to bed full ? No Go to bed , a little hungry or satiated ? Yes.
    It isn't possible to sleep when you are starving. Being full is not good either, it disturbs the sleep. The in between is good.
    Going to bed a little hungry means you ate pretty good, but have a little calories deficit. If I want a bedtime snack I avoid carbs, instead I eat things like yogurt.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    I've got hypoglycemia. Going to bed hungry is an insanely bad idea for me, as I can easily wake up with blood sugar in the 40s.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    If my wife goes to bed with a full tummy, she vomits. Therefore, she doesn't eat 3 hours before she expects to go to bed.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    If my wife goes to bed with a full tummy, she vomits. Therefore, she doesn't eat 3 hours before she expects to go to bed.

    Thanks for sharing
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    I've got hypoglycemia. Going to bed hungry is an insanely bad idea for me, as I can easily wake up with blood sugar in the 40s.

    Glad I'm not the only one. :) I usually have some kind of cracker and tea before bed, and eat breakfast almost immediately upon waking. While "meal timing" doesn't have much effect on weight loss, it can have a tremendous effect on health.
  • ValerieDLC
    ValerieDLC Posts: 2 Member
    I go to bed perfectly satisfied and wake up with raging hunger pangs to the point I can't sleep. Your body knows what it needs, don't deny it, just choose smart.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Whether you go to bed hungry or not has no direct effect on your weight loss.

    It can have indirect effects as far as causing poor sleep which then effects workouts, ability to keep on track, etc. I can't fall asleep if I'm hungry unless I'm totally exhausted. Other people get acid reflux if they try to go to sleep too soon after eating a meal, that sort of thing.

    Just do whichever works best for you.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited July 2017
    If I stay up too late I start to get hungry again. I might eat something but usually I don't. The hunger fades away once I start sleeping anyway. I don't even wake up hungry and can easily push out breakfast for a couple hours after waking.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,009 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Going to bed full or hung has zero bearing on whether you are going to burn fat or not.
    Correct...
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    If you are in a calorie deficit for the day then you will burn fat
    Correct...
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    if you are not then you won't
    Correct...

    If you are not a late night eater go to bed hungry. If you are a late night eater don't go to bed hungry. Your style of eating should support your likes and dislikes not sabotage them.

    Personal preference wins again...
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,009 Member
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    If you are a fat burner, you ll burn fat, if you are a sugar burner you ll burn muscle/sugar.

    ???
  • okohjacinda
    okohjacinda Posts: 329 Member
    It takes 21 days or as long as 66 days to form a habit so I am waiting for my body to not get hungry at night or at least get used to the hunger pangs.

    I have acid reflux so it kinda forces me not to eat anything after a certain time. I'd rather have hunger pangs than acid reflux any day.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    I just had a can of tuna or 260 calories from protein and fats. In my case as long as it is not carbs late night eating seems to not be an issue weight wise.
This discussion has been closed.