Three hours.

No reason not to eat before bed unless you have a medical reason not to. Your body is burning up calories 24/7, 365 days/year. That is a fact.
As with all things related to losing or maintaining weight, find what works best for yourself and follow your program. What is right for and/or works for you, may be different for others.

Your digestion system works 24 hours per day 7 days a week. It never stops. If it stops, you are .............................

ninerbuff wrote: »

AMySimmons666 wrote: »

Approximately 3 hours before going to bed,this way your body won't still be trying to digest your food while your sleeping. The best rule is to always going to bed a little hungry,not starving but just hungry enough that you know there's practically no food left in your stomach.

Who's rule is this and where's the actual evidence to conclude that it's necessary? From a fitness magazine? A blog? Some workout guru? What if you nap during the day on on your way to work (commuter bus or train)? What if you're a mom who naps with their baby and just ate? In fact why do babies and most people "naturally" nap after a big meal?

Triple derp.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Me, me, me. I nap in the train at least 1hr a day AnywayI don't agree on the 3h rule either...

I sleep so much better on a full stomach.
If I didn't eat just before bed, I'd never be able to go for a run first thing in the morning. Doesn't seem to do me any harm.

I suspect this was supposed to be a response to a thread from last night asking about the optimum window before bed to stop eating.

OP, you can ask for this thread to be removed by reporting it (if you wish). Otherwise, as other have stated, there is no reason to stop eating any number of hours before bed. I often will have a late night snack because it's easier for me to fall asleep. Barring medical conditions such as GERD, of course. It will have no significant impact on your digestion, your sleep cycle, or your metabolism.

singingflutelady wrote: »

Digestion takes way more than 3 hours BTW.

Is it 24-36 hours or something like that, depending on what you eat?

F that noise.

Nikion901 wrote: »

I googled 'how long does it take food to leave your stomach?" and got back this ...
50% of stomach contents emptied in 2.5 to 3 hours
total emptying of the stomach in 4 to 5 hours
50% emptying of the small intestine 2.5 to 3 hours
transit through the colon 30 to 40 hours

Yep, digestion takes a long time and is gonig on all the time. ... and hey, now I know why I start to feel like I want to eat again after about 3.5 to 4 hours after a meal, and feel really hungry after about 5 hours time. Glad I ran across this thread.

grrr ... typing errors on this damned little keyboard drive me up the wall!!!!

You did great, and that looks about right. Most of our digestion occurs in the small & large intestine. The stomach can be thought of as a food processor by and large, which breaks large globs of food into a sludge for transit. It mixes and grinds the food up and dumps a lot of acid and enzymes on it. Then the food moves to the small intestine where its ground up again (this is a mechanical and chemical process!) and more chemical changes are made that allow nutrients to pass through the intestinal walls into your bloodstream. Finally, the food enters the large intestine (colon) where the stuff really resistant to digestion (think fiber) gets slowly broken down by a bunch of enzymes & bacteria and the sludge is dehydrated.

Your intestine really doesn't care if your stomach is full or not. The action of the enzymes and bacteria are going to work based on presence of food in the intestines. Since that's where most digestion occurs, the whole "food in your stomach" thing is pretty much an old wives' tale.

I love sleeping with a fully belly....mmmmm....sleep.

Go to bed hungry... even slightly...? No way, I'd never sleep!!