Small (and potentially obvious) eating tips aka timing is everything

nkylerich
nkylerich Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This'll be short but I noticed something about the timing of my eating habits versus weight loss and weight gain and it's in-line with what dieticians tell you.

1. Eating Late At Night Leads To Weight Gain: You've probably heard about those people that cave-in to midnight hunger pangs and eat something then gain weight right? What if I told you that it's less about what they ate and more about WHEN they ate? Your body naturally burns more calories during the morning and afternoon hours than it does right before bed. I found this out the hard way by eating two sandwiches later in the day. This caused me to gain over a pound and a half over the course of two days. If I ate those several hours before bed? I actually LOST weight!

2. If You're Going To Indulge Do It Early: Tying into the above, the best time to eat a hearty and maybe calorie full meal is during the early hours right after you wake up or during the afternoon. I went to a party which had all the unhealthy options you could think of yet I didn't gain a pound! Why? For one I limited myself, four pieces of pizza and two square pieces of cake, I had only had one bowl of cereal up to that point and didn't eat anything else over the course of the rest of the day. For two I ate them at midday, I did NOT eat them before bed, after midnight, or in the AM hours, this allowed my body to work through it for as long as I was awake.

So the moral here is probably what your parents typically told you when you were younger, don't eat before bed, have your body work on that meal, otherwise you'll regret it when you get on that scale in the morning.
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Replies

  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    nkylerich wrote: »
    Ok, this is more agreeable, in my case I seem to always gain weight if I eat before bed, but if I eat several hours before I either remain steady or lose weight. I also have other problems though and am a guy but those problems are gross and shouldn't be discussed on a public forum.

    LOL. That's OK. We're all a little gross sometimes... :p
  • nkylerich
    nkylerich Posts: 11 Member
    Yeah but my grossness tends to come at bad times. Anyways I'm actually proud that the way I'm going about this is working to an extent. I just dread my birthday and thanksgiving being back to back......I'm not sure my method will help in that case.
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    As everyone has said, this is down to preference. You will be most likely to lose weight if you schedule your big meals for the times when you are most likely to be hungry. This is just an issue of adherence. I prefer to eat as you describe but only because I get most hungry in the morning and the early afternoon. At weekends I actually tend to consume fewer calories than in the week when I'm working (if I'm not drinking) by having a large brunch and a small dinner. However, other people do not feel hungry in the morning so it makes more sense for them to wait to eat until later in the day when they feel hungry. Do whatever works best for you. There's no magic involved.
  • BeYouTiful94
    BeYouTiful94 Posts: 289 Member
    Literally lost my 23 pounds, eating the majority of my food at night. Talking like 300 calories all day and then a thousand plus in dinner, ice cream, and snacks from 6pm to 10,11,12 at night. And if I’m feeling real hungry, waking up at 2 or 3 am for a nice snack. And have maintained my goal weight range for over a year and a half.

    Buuuuut if youuuu fine better success by eating earlier, I’m happy for you, and by all means do continue to do so. That’s why your journey is yours and mine was mine :)
  • watts6151
    watts6151 Posts: 905 Member
    Does my 3am(ish) snack class as eating
    Late or an early breakfast
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Of my daily 2500ish calories, and the 30ish lbs I've lost over the last year. 10 of it I lost twice. 1600 daily calories are eaten between getting home from work and going to bed 3 hours later.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I eat most of my calories later into the day and right before bed.

    Yea... no regrets here ;)
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I'm going to say calories not meal timing is what is important.
    I have not noticed when I eat having an impact on my weight. I weigh myself once a week in the morning after I use the toilet and before I eat or drink anything.
    To gain an actual pound of fat you need to eat 3500 calories over your maintenance level. If your food did not do that at 6 pm it isn't going to do it at 10 pm. You might weigh yourself the next day and have undigested food, waste you have not passed, or water retention causing the scale to go up.
    If you ate less than you used to at a party and the whole day then you took in fewer calories that day. It wasn't because the party was earlier in the day.
    Your body burns calories all day and night. You don't have to burn more calories right after eating something. CICO is everything you consume and burn in the whole day/night.

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