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meal timing debate

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Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I hate the "must eat before 7 pm" thing because I am NEVER home before then. So to lose weight I have to not have dinner or never eat at home? Luckily that is not true, and I lost -- lost faster than MFP predicted, even -- eating at 9 or 9:30 most nights.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I think most of the "don't eat late" stuff comes from people snacking mindlessly because they are tired and stressed, sitting in front of the TV before going to sleep. It makes you fat because it's extra calories you don't account for, not because it's close to when you go to sleep. Your body is constantly processing and digesting food, it doesn't happen in a routine 16 hour cycle.

    I will sometimes eat something crunchy like pretzels or dry cereal right before I brush my teeth and go to sleep. Hasn't kept me from losing and now maintaining my weight as expected based on my calorie totals.

    This, exactly ... for me at least. I try to limit my snacks because I can easily snack enough to add as many calories as I had at one of my meals ... on TOP of the meals = weight gain because it's more food than I need to maintain my weight. Thus, I try to stop eating by a when I run out of available calorie allowances, no matter what time of day that is.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I don't snack. I actually think that one thing that made this easier for me when I first started was that I did eat dinner so late, so never really felt compelled to eat after dinner (unless it was a planned dessert immediately after, because I had the calories).
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I don't snack. I actually think that one thing that made this easier for me when I first started was that I did eat dinner so late, so never really felt compelled to eat after dinner (unless it was a planned dessert immediately after, because I had the calories).

    I would HAVE to snack in the afternoon if I couldn't have dinner til 9 at night. Most nights im in bed by that time.
    Dinner time for me is around 5-6pm. I cant wait any longer lol

  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    A question- I see a lot of posts on MFP which state meal timing makes no difference to weight loss. Does anyone have the cites for the peer reviewed research to back this up?

    I’m particularly interested in reading anything where they control tested meal timing in relation to bed time, not time of day.

    Thanks
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,492 Member
    I really don't think it makes much of a difference. It might make a small difference somewhere along the time line, but I gotta believe that it's so small and insignificant that it's really not worth worrying about.


    1st world problem, right?
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    edited January 2018
    ryenday wrote: »
    A question- I see a lot of posts on MFP which state meal timing makes no difference to weight loss. Does anyone have the cites for the peer reviewed research to back this up?

    I’m particularly interested in reading anything where they control tested meal timing in relation to bed time, not time of day.

    https://examine.com/nutrition/does-eating-at-night-make-it-more-likely-to-gain-weight/ -- sources linked at the end

    The studies that show differences are often due to the participants consuming less, not due to any physiological disadvantage of nighttime eating.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    ryenday wrote: »
    A question- I see a lot of posts on MFP which state meal timing makes no difference to weight loss. Does anyone have the cites for the peer reviewed research to back this up?

    I’m particularly interested in reading anything where they control tested meal timing in relation to bed time, not time of day.

    Thanks

    https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html/

    A research review. It has the title of the study if you wish to read the full thing that Lyle McDonald is reviewing.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Motorsheen wrote: »
    I really don't think it makes much of a difference. It might make a small difference somewhere along the time line, but I gotta believe that it's so small and insignificant that it's really not worth worrying about.


    1st world problem, right?

    Yeah, that's what I think too. Even if there were some small benefit to not eating after 6 pm or some such nonsense, it would be outweighed by the benefits of focusing on what is easier for you to manage as a lifestyle. For me, not having dinner would be, well, a lifestyle problem, I'd be less likely to stick to it, so I went for dinner when it worked for me.

    That I lost faster than MFP predicted anyway further confirmed me in my view that it doesn't matter and that people flipping out about eating dinner super early are majoring in the minors. Obviously, if it affected my ability to sleep or caused digestion problems, I'd fix it.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    ryenday wrote: »
    A question- I see a lot of posts on MFP which state meal timing makes no difference to weight loss. Does anyone have the cites for the peer reviewed research to back this up?

    I’m particularly interested in reading anything where they control tested meal timing in relation to bed time, not time of day.

    Thanks

    https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html/

    A research review. It has the title of the study if you wish to read the full thing that Lyle McDonald is reviewing.

    Hmm well if I were looking for research about 6 meals a day vs. 3 or less this would be interesting. Not on point if the question is caloric uptake difference if digesting while asleep vs digesting when awake tho.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    edited January 2018

    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    ryenday wrote: »
    A question- I see a lot of posts on MFP which state meal timing makes no difference to weight loss. Does anyone have the cites for the peer reviewed research to back this up?

    I’m particularly interested in reading anything where they control tested meal timing in relation to bed time, not time of day.

    https://examine.com/nutrition/does-eating-at-night-make-it-more-likely-to-gain-weight/ -- sources linked at the end

    The studies that show differences are often due to the participants consuming less, not due to any physiological disadvantage of nighttime eating.

    As I read that the article’s conclusion was based upon the peer reviewed studies that exist “It is pretty hard to reach any conclusions” and none of the cited studies addressed time of eating/bedtime - all cited were about the time of eating/clock time.

    I’ll do some more research, but thus far I’ve not come across one study that specifically looks at whether sleep affects caloric intake - thus I don’t know that there is any peer reviewed scientific basis for a statement that it matters/doesn’t matter.

    I’d love to know if there is any science pointing one direction or another, because if there is I can’t find it.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    All this being said, Meal timing and "eating timing" are different and can contribute to weight loss.

    Eating between dinner and bedtime can tend to be mindless, low nutrient, high calorie foods. And is generally advisable to avoid on a regular or habitual basis. Eating dinner at 2045 and going to sleep at 2100 on the other hand isn't going to affect your "metabolism".

    Eating more, or eating too much will affect your CI, and thus trend towards weight gain. Particular timing matters not at all.

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