What time is too late to eat?
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Shawtytel
Posts: 103 Member
I have been struggling with what time is too late to eat. I typically don't eat past 6pm Monday-Friday but I'm a late sleeper on the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays I sleep really late til about 1 or 2pm 🤣 and end up eating my last meal between 8 and 10pm. Any thoughts??
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Replies
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It literally does NOT matter as long as you keep a calorie deficit.13
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Thanks1
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I have been struggling with what time is too late to eat. I typically don't eat past 6pm Monday-Friday but I'm a late sleeper on the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays I sleep really late til about 1 or 2pm 🤣 and end up eating my last meal between 8 and 10pm. Any thoughts??
I try to avoid eating after I'm actually asleep at the end of my day, no matter what time that happens. Otherwise, if I feel like it, I eat right up to bedtime, and in the rare case, actually in bed (yes, I get up and brush my teeth after!). I've never found eating timing to affect my long term weight trend, through nearly 6 years of food & bodyweight logging so far.
What I do find is that if I eat late, I may be a little heavier at my next morning weigh-in from digestive contents still in transit, or water weight from timing of carbs/sodium. Other than that, which doesn't stress me at all, the other things that IMO might lead a person to *need* to limit eating before bed - quality of sleep, reflux/heartburn, that sort of thing - those don't affect me at all.
IMO, the only "too late to eat" is individual and subjective, in ways like that. For all-day calorie burn, it doesn't matter enough to worry about . . . I don't think it has *any* direct effect on weight management, but if it did it would be a much smaller factor than compliance to calorie goal, and enjoying one's eating schedule is important for that.5 -
What Quiksylver and Ann said^^3
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I've actually fallen asleep while eating so I'm gonna say when you're dead. Cuz, really then, what's the point?
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🤣 smh0
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I lost 90 lbs in 2014 to early 2015 (215-125), and during that time I worked until about 7 or 8 daily, commuted home, and sometimes stopped at the grocery store or went to the gym (or sometimes ran or biked home). I usually ate around 9-10. It did not hurt my weight loss at all. (Opposite of you, I typically ate earlier on Fri-Sun, on Fri-Sun before plays or concerts often, and at restaurants, and on Sun because work didn't interfere even when I worked).
I've been able to eat dinner earlier during covid, and while I like it in some ways, it makes zero difference for weight loss or maintenance.3 -
I never eat anything after dinner around 6-7pm. An experience with nighttime acid reflux convinced me - not weight loss. But, the side effect is a 12 hour gap making my goals more easily achievable.6
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I usually don't eat after 7 or 8 PM. This has nothing to do with weight loss, though..it's just my natural eating pattern. I also dislike going to sleep with a full stomach as it makes me feel kind of blah when I wake up. I just prefer to give my food time to digest before hitting the pillow.
You should eat as late as you want, though...the whole "don't eat after xx time for weight loss" thing is a myth.4 -
I do not feel well if I eat too close the the bed hour , I just cannot fall asleep , so if I know I would go this evening at 23 to bed, I try to eat at 20-20:30 the latest and so on
Sometimes dinner means also maybe an event in the family and sometimes dinner time it depends upon my daily schedule and the hours of bf and lunch so they can vary
But I do not have a certain limit hour2 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »But, the side effect is a 12 hour gap making my goals more easily achievable.
I've done more than and less than 12 hour gaps, and it has made 0 difference in how easy my goals are to achieve. Indeed, as noted, pre covid, eating at 6-7 would have made 0 sense to me (still difficult), as I rarely left the office other than on Fridays before 7. In fact, I've never had a job where working to 7 or so wasn't expected.
I prefer to have dinner after work is finished, and I prefer to be able to cook it at home, and if that means I eat later, oh well.
Currently I like eating around 1 and 7 or 8, but that's covid specific, and will likely change when I'm at work all day most days and have a less flexible schedule.1 -
Due to GERD, I don't eat after 7 PM. I would say that as long as it doesn't affect sleep or make it harder to stay in your calorie goal, you can eat at any time that works for you.3
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I eat up to 11pm to carb up because I train fasted (start at 5:30am) and don't have my first meal of the day till after 12pm.
It DOESN'T matter time of day or night as long as it doesn't bother you from sleeping or getting things like acid reflux.
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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I'm a night owl but usually eat dinner around 7pm or so because my partner still works and I try to accommodate his schedule. I generally start feeling hungry 4-5 hours after eating so have a snack around midnight. I can't sleep if I'm the slightest bit hungry. This has never had any impact on losing weight.
Do what works for you.4 -
I have no rules about when i finish eating and i often eat quite late into the evening.
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I personally find if I eat or drink too much or certain kinds of foods too close to my bedtime it affects my sleep. Also, if I eat a carb-heavy and or salty snack an hour or two before bedtime it may affect my weight the next morning....which I know is most likely due to water retention anyway. So for me, the reason I try not to eat late at night is for my sleep, not because I think it will cause 'real" weight gain I'd I do.4
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I have been struggling with what time is too late to eat. I typically don't eat past 6pm Monday-Friday but I'm a late sleeper on the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays I sleep really late til about 1 or 2pm 🤣 and end up eating my last meal between 8 and 10pm. Any thoughts??
Doesn't really matter. Time is a human construct to allow us to "measure"...ultimately, most things, including energy balance/management happen on a continuum.3 -
I've actually fallen asleep while eating so I'm gonna say when you're dead. Cuz, really then, what's the point?
This is what I was gonna say. Other than that, it doesn’t matter unless there’s a medical/digestive reason, like late eating affecting your sleep or blood sugar issues that dictate a specific rhythm. Just keep your calorie intake aligned with your goals, and you’ll be fine.
Once upon a time my husband and I both worked evening shifts and finished work at 10PM, so we frequently had dinner at 11PM-midnight and then slept until noon. No problem whatsoever, except for my mom who wouldn’t believe people can live like that. Even she calmed down after I explained to her that we eat dinner after work just like she does, our work just finishes 6 hours later than hers. There’s nothing wrong with having a different eating and sleeping rhythm compared to mainstream society.4 -
Speakeasy76 wrote: »I personally find if I eat or drink too much or certain kinds of foods too close to my bedtime it affects my sleep. Also, if I eat a carb-heavy and or salty snack an hour or two before bedtime it may affect my weight the next morning....which I know is most likely due to water retention anyway. So for me, the reason I try not to eat late at night is for my sleep, not because I think it will cause 'real" weight gain I'd I do.
Yes. If I eat close to bedtime I have bizarre dreams.1 -
I've actually fallen asleep while eating so I'm gonna say when you're dead. Cuz, really then, what's the point?
This is what I was gonna say. Other than that, it doesn’t matter unless there’s a medical/digestive reason, like late eating affecting your sleep or blood sugar issues that dictate a specific rhythm. Just keep your calorie intake aligned with your goals, and you’ll be fine.
Once upon a time my husband and I both worked evening shifts and finished work at 10PM, so we frequently had dinner at 11PM-midnight and then slept until noon. No problem whatsoever, except for my mom who wouldn’t believe people can live like that. Even she calmed down after I explained to her that we eat dinner after work just like she does, our work just finishes 6 hours later than hers. There’s nothing wrong with having a different eating and sleeping rhythm compared to mainstream society.
That reminds me of somebody one time who was shocked that my husband was having a beer at 8 am.
The fact that he had just knocked off night shift and that this was no different to other people having a drink after work at 5 pm seemed to escape her.
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