whats safe to eat after 8pm?

ryiko
ryiko Posts: 76
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
Whats safe to eat after 8pm?

Sometimes i eat cereal like honey bunches of oats, yogurt, salads, and cottage cheese..any other delicious snacks to make?! how bout good cereals to eat?

Replies

  • Tofuheart
    Tofuheart Posts: 191 Member
    Water is safe to eat after 8 pm. :smile:

    Sometimes I eat a few mini rice cakes or a yop. That holds me until the morning.
  • planetcitygirl73
    planetcitygirl73 Posts: 57 Member
    Actually, you can eat anything within your daily calorie goal for the day. See the following helpful articles about the myth of eating food past a certain time of night.

    http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2225.html

    http://www.weightaholic.com/weight-loss-myth-4-eating-foods-late-at-night-is-more-likely-to-pack-on-the-pounds
  • Good articles overall, but I think Myth #4 is misleading.

    I have been told by two doctors and a registered dietitian that there is evidence of eating the wrong foods late in the day inhibiting weight loss. If you must snack, they suggest to eat only low sugar/low glycemic foods after your last daily meal.

    The exception to the rule is for those who do their weight training at night. Your post workout meal should include a complex carb with a quality protein within 30 to 90 minutes after your session.

    206440.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Food Diary
  • BrenNew
    BrenNew Posts: 3,420 Member
    Whats safe to eat after 8pm?

    Sometimes i eat cereal like honey bunches of oats, yogurt, salads, and cottage cheese..any other delicious snacks to make?! how bout good cereals to eat?


    Kashi cinnamon squares are really good, since you asked about cereals. Though, for myself, I spend almost every night (since joining MFP) enjoying Edy's slow churned, no sugar added cookie dough, or fudge tracks, ice-cream! YUM :love: And I lost most of the weight that I wanted to too, so it never kept me from losing! :happy:
  • Honeybunn
    Honeybunn Posts: 39
    I try not to eat anything containing fat after 8pm: carrots, celery, Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt, Special K Red Berries w/ skim milk, bananas, blackberries, etc.
  • bitty_401
    bitty_401 Posts: 75
    you could eat popcorn or drink tea; just ck your calories daily intake if you eat food and remember that you should wait at least 3 hours before retiring to sleep.
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    Lately it seems people are just pulling numbers from the sky! Don't eat after 6, no food after 3, nothing after 8! WHat the heck? it is "safe" to eat after 8. Of course it is. SHould you eat a massive meal and then head to bed 10 minutes later? no. but snacking a few hours before bed is perfectly fine. In fact, it's a good idea. Your body doesn't know what time it is. It doesn't stop functioning (using food energy) just because the clock strikes 8pm. In fact, let's say you stop eating food at 7pm. Then you go to bed at 12pm, then you wake up at 7am and have a cup of coffee and a light breakfast before heading to work. Your body has surprisingly little energy to function on as you've gone for 12 hours with no sustenance, and followed that with a peice of fruit to tide you over until lunch, get my point? Feeding your body at regular intervals during the day is a good idea. my last snack is usually between 9 and 10pm and I go to bed around 12am. It hasn't "Inhibited" my weight loss in the least.
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
    I agree.. the time thing doesn't work for me.
    I know I go to bed around 11 so I eat last around 9pm but if I get hungry again when I am going to bed I will have a few bites of yogurt or something cause I can't sleep with my stomach growling. I won't have a full serving of food but just enough to kill the hunger for me to fall asleep.
    At the same time if I eat at 9pm and end up in bed at 10pm for whatever reason it doesn't bother me none and has not hurt my weight loss any.

    This may not work for everyone but I think it works great for me.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    i chronically eat late at night. bad habit. hard to break! but i agree, i can't see how it is bad by a set time, just don't fall asleep right away. i think it could potentially be the same as having a big lunch, and then falling asleep for a few hours in the middle of the day.
    your body isn't working as hard when you are asleep, that is all i know.
  • dnd858
    dnd858 Posts: 64
    If you go to bed shortly after that and don't give your food time to digest, I would just recommend eating something that doesn't have too much sugar or carbs.
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,908 Member
    There is only one late night eating 'myth' that I give any credence to, and that comes from Jillian Michaels. The reason I have a tendency to listen to it is because she is one who does not believe in the myth that eating late, in general, is bad for losing weight--a myth I totally don't agree with.

    Anyhow, according to Jillian, if you are going to eat close to when you go to sleep, it is best to limit the carbs you intake because carbs can inhibit the release of human growth hormone, which happens within the first few hours of going to sleep. And human growth hormone is very important in how your body functions metabolically in relation to weight loss.

    So for late night snacks, I would recommend you lean more towards protein than carbs (in other words, have a handful of nuts instead of pretzels as an example).
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    If you go to bed shortly after that and don't give your food time to digest, I would just recommend eating something that doesn't have too much sugar or carbs.

    you do realize that your body continues to digest foods while you are asleep right?
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    I'm one of those people that eats most of their calories before 6p not because I have a rule but because I don't really get hungry after 7. On the rare occasion that I get a tummy grumble late at night (I've even gotten up out of bed because when I laid down I realized I was hungry), I generally have a small peice of cheese. It quick to eat and it will keep me satiated until I get up.
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
    Do not feed after midnight.
    gremlins7kv.jpg
  • dnd858
    dnd858 Posts: 64
    If you go to bed shortly after that and don't give your food time to digest, I would just recommend eating something that doesn't have too much sugar or carbs.

    you do realize that your body continues to digest foods while you are asleep right?

    I do realize that thank you, however, I do believe I said maybe she shouldn't eat foods consisting of a lot of sugar or carbs when you're going to sleep and your activity level is at it's lowest. I would just recommend eating foods with more protein and healthy fats. I didn't say starve yourself before you go to bed--but if you're trying to lose weight then I for sure wouldn't eat a meal loaded with carbs right before I laid down for 8 hours. At least that's what has worked for me!!
  • fjtcjt
    fjtcjt Posts: 199
    Here is an excerpt from a good online article with a list of some foods to avoid for late night snacking:

    All calories are not created (or used) equal
    Think of food as fuel and your body as a fire. Some fuel burns slowly, like firewood. Other types of fuel burn like woodshavings. And some burn like gasoline.

    In the case of your body, we want to apply the analogy not to calorie consumption (burning) but to the transition of sugar from the food to the blood.

    Some calories transition very quickly into the blood. How quickly this happens is known for many kinds of foods. You can see which foods spike your blood sugar by reading the glycemic index. Here are some highly glycemic foods:

    Root vegetables (e.g., carrots, potatoes).
    Sweet fruits (e.g., bananas, pineapple).
    Dried fruits (e.g. prunes, apricots).
    All fruit juices (you are essentially bypassing a portion of your digestive tract).
    All "engineered" foods--corn (after 5,000 years of cultivation for sweetness) is the classic example.
    Air-popped popcorn (the oil in traditional popcorn slows the transition enormously).

    Here is the link for the full article: http://www.supplecity.com/articles/howcaloriesbecomefat.htm
  • planetcitygirl73
    planetcitygirl73 Posts: 57 Member
    Hahahah @ the person who posted the Gremlins poster. It totally reminded me of another article I came across about this that pretty much underlines what others are saying in this thread.

    http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/12/31/the_eating_late_at_night_myth_were_not_gremlins.php

    Also, I love my Edy's Slow Churned No Sugar Added French Vanilla Ice Cream...which is both a mouthful to say and to eat. I often have a cup of that with some blackberries for dessert at night. Yum!
  • McLachfan
    McLachfan Posts: 50
    My trainer said to stop eating 2-3 hours before you go to bed. Your body "heals" all the damage you did to it during the day while you're sleeping and that takes energy. By going to sleep when your stomach is empty, your body is forced to use its fat stores to repair cells. I usually drink a cup of hot herbal tea before bed and that takes the hunger pangs away. And, of course... water, water, WATER!
  • j4nash
    j4nash Posts: 1,719 Member
    anything but carbs
  • gbridge
    gbridge Posts: 2
    :love: :love: Try eating a handful of cherries. They are soooo good for you and will help you to sleep (trust me, I wasn't so sure when I read it either.... but it works for me. And it does not make my blood sugar soar. (diabetic) Gwen
  • Bluemajestic
    Bluemajestic Posts: 53 Member
    A Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut bar is always yummy and should hold you over until morning. But I don't agree with the "don't eat after _". I say if your under your calories, eat! :drinker:
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