How late is too late to eat?

Personally, I know that when I go to bed with a stomach full of heavy, greasy food, it really just bothers my sleep and I tend to wake up feeling full, bloated and just plain icky. Even if it doesn't bother my calorie count for the day, I just go by how I feel when I wake.

why would the last thing you eat before you go to sleep be heavy, greasy food? Just curious....

Actually, most of the meals I eat are heavy, greasy foods, including the ones before snoozing.

Anecdotally (disclaimer: from someone who's never had to lose weight), I sleep better if I eat before bed. I usually finish the evening with a book, a glass of red wine or sleepytime herbal tea or sometimes a rum and cran, and something fatty and meaty. I'm thin enough that if I eat a big enough meal I can see it in my profile, my little pot belly, but it's flat again after my preferred nine hours of sleep, so yes, pretty sure my rather efficient metabolism runs just fine whilst I'm sleeping.

now if i eat greasy food before bed that will interrupt my sleep patterns, getting up to vomit is interrupting.

I don't have any documentation of this, so don't demand it from me people, but I honestly believe that sleep is when our bodies hit up the fat stores. Most of the rest of the day we rely on consumption calories, but at night, since no one eats in their sleep, is when the fat burning actually takes place. AGAIN... I have no idea if I am right in this assumption or not.

Then why do you believe it? Because you heard it somewhere or because it makes sense to you?

The whole idea is ludicrous.

Why do people believe that some metabolic processes occur during sleep (digestion, fat storage, etc), but others don't (fat burning)?

It's never too late as long as you have calories leftover AND as long as you know it doesn't bother YOUR sleep. Some people might have issues if they eat certain things too close to bed time. For me, I can't get to sleep on an empty stomach. I'll toss and turn for an hour or two and then go downstairs to the kitchen which is NOT good as I make sure to consume all of my calories before bedtime. Takes a dent out of the next day before the next day even starts. LOL So for ME I eat right up until bedtime if I have calories left. Others' experiences will vary. But there's no hard and fast rule saying you shouldn't eat after X-o'clock.

Personally, I know that when I go to bed with a stomach full of heavy, greasy food, it really just bothers my sleep and I tend to wake up feeling full, bloated and just plain icky. Even if it doesn't bother my calorie count for the day, I just go by how I feel when I wake.

why would the last thing you eat before you go to sleep be heavy, greasy food? Just curious....

Actually, most of the meals I eat are heavy, greasy foods, including the ones before snoozing.

Anecdotally (disclaimer: from someone who's never had to lose weight), I sleep better if I eat before bed. I usually finish the evening with a book, a glass of red wine or sleepytime herbal tea or sometimes a rum and cran, and something fatty and meaty. I'm thin enough that if I eat a big enough meal I can see it in my profile, my little pot belly, but it's flat again after my preferred nine hours of sleep, so yes, pretty sure my rather efficient metabolism runs just fine whilst I'm sleeping.

now if i eat greasy food before bed that will interrupt my sleep patterns, getting up to vomit is interrupting.

that only happens to me if i go too, too heavy on the rum(s)

"Why is the rum always gone? Oh, that's why." --Jack Sparrow

For me whenever I eat after 9:00 pm I pig out - just made a committment to myself to NOT eat after 9:00 pm unless I'm at a party and/or haven't eaten dinner yet. What happens to me is when I eat later at night, I tend to get the sense of "oh crap, I've blown it, might as well go to town on it!" which is of course, very counter productive. I've found that as long as I log, it works well.

Behold, I have the answers to this thread. I will execute this thread like a Libyan dictator... now...



The answers you seek come from within.

Meaning...

"Eat when you are hungry."

Woah woah I know this is groundbreaking advice, every one calm down now. I promise you, it works. We have so much of mfp, doctors, Webmd, HRMs, Jillian Michaels, The Flamboyant guy with the short short shorts, George Foreman taking a POW out of fat. etc that we forget to do one simple thing.

Listen to our bodies... Try it, its awesome. (Just dont talk to your body, people look at you strange unless of course you have something in your ear that looks like blue tooth or hold your phone out like an idiot, people will think your on the phone)

The whole idea is ludicrous.

Why do people believe that some metabolic processes occur during sleep (digestion, fat storage, etc), but others don't (fat burning)?

It's the little elves in my body. They flip a switch when I go to bed.

You eat ELVES before bed?!?!

I'm just spitballing here, but a dietician once told me that it was far more important WHAT you ate later in the evening, particularly with carbohydrates. The way it was explained to me was that it was key to generally keep blood sugars level throughout the day, and eating large amount of carbohydrates (which break down into sugars) just prior to bed will induce a spike in those sugars later in the evening.

I was always told that if I was hungry in the late evening (and usually that's between 9-11pm for me) to go for protien first to feel fuller for longer, than veggies, THEN carbs. No one ever told me not to eat later in the evening, but just to be careful what it was I ate. Which made sense, since those pastries and ice cream right before didn't seem to be helping me much.

I'm just spitballing here, but a dietician once told me that it was far more important WHAT you ate later in the evening, particularly with carbohydrates. The way it was explained to me was that it was key to generally keep blood sugars level throughout the day, and eating large amount of carbohydrates (which break down into sugars) just prior to bed will induce a spike in those sugars later in the evening.

I was always told that if I was hungry in the late evening (and usually that's between 9-11pm for me) to go for protien first to feel fuller for longer, than veggies, THEN carbs. No one ever told me not to eat later in the evening, but just to be careful what it was I ate. Which made sense, since those pastries and ice cream right before didn't seem to be helping me much.

" Purposely omitting or avoiding carbs pre-bed is like telling someone to avoid carbs immediately before starting their 8-hour shift sitting at a desk"
~Alan Aragon

Hi,

Sorry but I agree with leanmean. I've just started to diet bey my doctor and we had a long discussion about my eating habits. he pointed out That I ate little all daywhen I was busy so burned it off storage(which is harder to do) then pigged out in the evening while sat watvching tv, burning nothing off and just allowing it to turn bac k into surplus. I could not understand why my weight was going up, over the day I didn't eat a ridiculous amoun, just at the wrong times. Checked it out on google and can't find any Reliable source to confirm it as a myth, A few state theer is no evidence but most medical sources agree eating before you can burn it off before sleep is not good. This appears to be backed up by the incidence of obesity in shift workers whose eating habits ldont conform to standard patterns eg going home from the night shift having a full fry up then going to bed for 5 or 6 hours, many then get up around 12, stay up till teatime and after tea go to bed for a couple of hours before going to work. Makes sense to me

I was always told that if I was hungry in the late evening (and usually that's between 9-11pm for me) to go for protien first to feel fuller for longer, than veggies, THEN carbs. No one ever told me not to eat later in the evening, but just to be careful what it was I ate. Which made sense, since those pastries and ice cream right before didn't seem to be helping me much.

That's good advice for whenever you eat . Personally I sometimes workout around 9pm and eat 11pm; It doesn't matter as long as it fits your calorie goals. I've never lost or gained weight due to timing of meals.

Behold, I have the answers to this thread. I will execute this thread like a Libyan dictator... now...



The answers you seek come from within.

Meaning...

"Eat when you are hungry."

Woah woah I know this is groundbreaking advice, every one calm down now. I promise you, it works. We have so much of mfp, doctors, Webmd, HRMs, Jillian Michaels, The Flamboyant guy with the short short shorts, George Foreman taking a POW out of fat. etc that we forget to do one simple thing.

Listen to our bodies... Try it, its awesome. (Just dont talk to your body, people look at you strange unless of course you have something in your ear that looks like blue tooth or hold your phone out like an idiot, people will think your on the phone)

I have to be careful listening to my body, sometimes it tells me to hit the drivethru and get a cheesecake along with a milkshake and fries and forget the protein or veggies. LOL Have to filter that 'body voice' b/c that chick doesn't always know what she's talking about. :-) I used to listen to her before MFP but now I'm like 'Look, B*, you're gonna listen to me!' Haha.

I am pretty sure your body isnt telling you it wants Drive thru and cheesecake, I think I would have to leave that to the brain box, which technically is your body but I digress.

The whole idea is ludicrous.

Why do people believe that some metabolic processes occur during sleep (digestion, fat storage, etc), but others don't (fat burning)?

It's the little elves in my body. They flip a switch when I go to bed.

You eat ELVES before bed?!?!

now that would disrupt sleep patterns