Is what I’m doing going to result in weight gain?

There’s that theory that eating late will cause weight gain. But there’s cases where that’s been debunked too. I try to eat around 1200 calories per day,as of recently, I’ve been eating pasta & bread around midnight 2-3 times per week. And I’ll eat something light during the day, maybe a bfast sandwich and light smoothie for the rest of the day. I’m falling anywhere between 1200-1500 per day at most I think. Will this cause weight gain, even if I stay within range?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Weight gain as in seeing the weight of food reflected on the bathroom scales in the morning as it's still passing through your GI tract or weight gain as in gaining fat over time?

    As gaining fat requires a calorie surplus I think you can see that by itself "eating late causes you to get fat" can't be true.

    Now if someone eats MORE because they eat late you might see where the myth comes from. But you are calorie counting.......
  • qhob_89
    qhob_89 Posts: 105 Member
    I have a friend who wakes up and eats chips, candy, etc in the middle of the night. Always been about the same small size since I met her 6 years ago.
    However, I’m more interested why you’re eating heavier at midnight, 2-3 nights/week? I would have assumed you had a weird schedule until you said it was 2-3 nights.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    your body does not care when you eat. it cares how MUCH you eat. you're fine.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited February 2021
    If anything, not knowing how much you're eating is going to be the cause of weight gain, not the timing. Are you weighing and tracking what you eat?
    The "No eating after 8 PM" thing is a myth.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
    edited February 2021
    Nope, it's total calories that matter.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,454 Member
    If that were true I should be obese (not by BMI standards) by now. I eat up to 11pm EVERY NIGHT for years. But I stay within a decent calorie allotment each day.

    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

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  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,281 Member
    I hate the scale and run from it.. then embrace it.. run again.., and let it toy with my common sense.

    My husband is different. He weighs all the time...before bed..during the night..and in the morning..every day... to collect data on how he loses and gains. Doesn't bother him a bit.

    What I've learned from him; He only records Friday mornings weight on MFP ...and the graph provided that shows the trend of weight loss overall going down. This, after times when he gained 6 pounds over the weekend after eating out...but he always compares the gains against each other on the same day to the Friday morning loss.. and he steadily is losing.

    Also by doing this.. he learns what foods make him stall more than others.. what splurge meals take longer to lose and which ones don't affect his next weeks losses.

    So...it is the trend down you need to be focusing on.. not fluctuations that happen naturally because you're a human being and a complex machine.
  • danielleg0094
    danielleg0094 Posts: 38 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Weight gain as in seeing the weight of food reflected on the bathroom scales in the morning as it's still passing through your GI tract or weight gain as in gaining fat over time?

    As gaining fat requires a calorie surplus I think you can see that by itself "eating late causes you to get fat" can't be true.

    Now if someone eats MORE because they eat late you might see where the myth comes from. But you are calorie counting.......

    If I continue to do this will it cause weight gain? Not just being heavier the day I weigh because I ate late

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    You are a bucket of water sitting under a slow dripping tap, in the sun, with a small hole, sitting on a scale.

    Water is going in via the tap, water is going out via the leak and evaporation, therefore the scale reading changes.

    The bucket itself does not change its size or weight.

    Same with the body - this sort of water weight will vary throughout the day but is not fat gain.
  • MercuryForce
    MercuryForce Posts: 104 Member
    I nearly wanted to cry the first time I weighed out what a true serving of pasta is years ago, versus what I thought it was!

    I was okay finding out what 1 serving of almost all foods actually was....but pasta was the one that broke my heart. Now, if there is a day where I know I'm eating pasta, I'll have a light breakfast and lunch or bank some calories over a couple days to give myself the leeway to have at least 2 servings.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,846 Member
    There’s that theory that eating late will cause weight gain. But there’s cases where that’s been debunked too. I try to eat around 1200 calories per day,as of recently, I’ve been eating pasta & bread around midnight 2-3 times per week. And I’ll eat something light during the day, maybe a bfast sandwich and light smoothie for the rest of the day. I’m falling anywhere between 1200-1500 per day at most I think. Will this cause weight gain, even if I stay within range?

    You said in your other thread that you have been more or less maintaining for the past 2-3 years, with a possibly 10 pound weight gain and: one cheat day every week.

    Sounds like you eating 1200 calories is leading to this:

    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

    binge-low-calorie-diet.jpg

    I calculated your maintenance calories on your other thread. Try eating just slightly below maintenance and see if doing that gets rid of the need to eat at midnight several times per week.

    However, since you said on your other thread you are not using a food scale, for more accuracy, do get a food scale and weigh EVERYTHING.