Eating past 6pm?

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  • jakobscalpel
    jakobscalpel Posts: 6 Member
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    "Physiologically there is no reason to eat at a certian time unless you have acid reflux and going to bed too soon after eating triggers it. "

    This! If I eat after 7PM, especially after exercising (like last night), I'm the reflux king all the next day (like right now!). If you don't have it, be thankful and eat away at any time of the evening. It won't matter in terms of your deficit.
  • violetness
    violetness Posts: 131 Member
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    I save calories and have a bag of popcorn every evening after my kids go to bed. I really look forward to having that every night, and I am still doing well.
  • jcstanton
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
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    The reason for that is so that your food has a decent chance to digest properly. I would suggest on your 2 exercise nights, to have soup. Eat a big mid afternoon snack. You can even reverse your day and start with a BIG breakfast, medium lunch and then the soup after work out! :flowerforyou: Just a though ....

    ^^This is excellent advice. I've decided recently that, because I usually don't even get home until 7-7:30pm, I'm going to take my lunch and dinner with me to work every day. I'll eat a good breakfast around 7am, I'll eat lunch early around 11-11:30am and I'll eat what I would normally eat for dinner at that time, then around 3:30-4pm, I'll eat more of a lunch meal like turkey on whole wheat and some raw veggies or something. I get off work at 5pm and go directly to the gym. After I get home from the gym, I'll eat a high protein snack like cottage cheese, yogurt, or a handful of almonds.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    I eat dinner between 7-8 most nights, unless I am starving. I will have something after if I am still hungry. I stop drinking ~2 hours before bed so I don't need to get up at night. Bed time for me is anywhere between 10-1230a.

    This "don't eat after 6" rule I think stems from 2 things:
    1. You do need some time between a heavy meal and bed ~2 hours...it is hard to sleep on a super full stomach
    2. Nighttime eating can tend to be "bad" aka empty calories because all of those commercials are talking about cheeseburgers and oreos
    3. Nighttime snacks are OK, as long as they are in you calorie budget

    If you are eating well, and leave a little time to digest your food before your head hits the pillow, it doesn't really matter. Just try not to eat, a huge steak and some potatoes at 10, and plan to go to bed at 1030. You won't sleep very well.
  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
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    I do try not to eat too close to bedtime because I've noticed on this "diet" that I feel bloated in the morning. I usually try to not to eat after 8 pm because I usually go to bed at 10. My dinner is usually around 7:30 or 8 so this works out well for me. Also, you can eat after 6pm, just don't have a really heavy meal. I've read its best to make your heaviest meal lunch or breakfast.
  • Brandongood
    Brandongood Posts: 311 Member
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    I usually make myself a casein protein shake right before bed. Then I have a slow digesting protein feeding my muscles while I sleep. I dont think its good to have too many carbs before bed, because it can cause an insulin spike and turn to fat while you sleep. This works for me.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    This are the times I used to eat when I had to wake up early for work:

    7am - snack
    10am - breakfast
    1pm - lunch
    4pm - snack
    8pm - dinner
    11pm - 0 carbs 0 fat 50g protein shake or tea

    I kept it within my calorie count and arranged so most of the carbs and fats were during the day and almost none to 0 by night. It worked for me.

    And just in case you're wondering, some bodybuilders wake up in the middle of the night to have a snak just to keep the metabolism going.

    That's only because they beleive in the broscience that increased meal frequency increases metabolism, or that your body can only digest 30g of pro in one sitting and you must consume protein every 2-3 hrs to maintain a constant supply of aminos
  • robinogue
    robinogue Posts: 1,117 Member
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    On Tuesday & Thursdays I don't eat dinner until after 6:30. I just try to eat as light as possible and not go to bed on a completely full stomach.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I usually make myself a casein protein shake right before bed. Then I have a slow digesting protein feeding my muscles while I sleep. I dont think its good to have too many carbs before bed, because it can cause an insulin spike and turn to fat while you sleep. This works for me.

    What if you were in a caloric deficit, would the insulin fairy still turn the carbs to fat?
  • Brandongood
    Brandongood Posts: 311 Member
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    I usually make myself a casein protein shake right before bed. Then I have a slow digesting protein feeding my muscles while I sleep. I dont think its good to have too many carbs before bed, because it can cause an insulin spike and turn to fat while you sleep. This works for me.

    What if you were in a caloric deficit, would the insulin fairy still turn the carbs to fat?

    Good point. I just prefer to have casein only before bed.
  • samb
    samb Posts: 464 Member
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    it doesnt matter what time you eat at or how many meals you have as long as u get the cals and nutrients etc that you need in the day
  • iwisheyes
    iwisheyes Posts: 95
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    The way I see it, food is fuel. If you are going to be up and active, you can't let your body run out of fuel. I work sixteen hour days, untill 11pm. After that, I do schoolwork for another two or three hours before going to bed. If I stopped eating at 6pm, I'd be running on empty nearly half my day. Seriously, it is not when you eat, but what and how much.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,550 Member
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    I eat when I want to eat, as long as it's within my calorie limits. All that timing stuff is irrelevant to weight loss (although possibly relevant to controlling blood sugar or building muscles).
  • Bronx_Montgomery
    Bronx_Montgomery Posts: 2,287 Member
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    When did 6pm become too late? I say just do not eat an hour before you go to bed.
  • kellz330
    kellz330 Posts: 19 Member
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    Not eating past 6pm would be impossible for me! I don't even get home from work sometimes til 6:30. Then it's take the dog out, hit the gym, then home to prepare and cook. I consistently eat dinner around 9pm. And this has been working for me to lose weight. It's the quality of the food I'm eating that has been making a difference.

    I just don't understand how the 6pm rule could even have a leg to stand on. Once you eat something it takes 6-8 hours to digest it through the stomach and small intestine and could take up to 24 hours before it's pooped out of the body. So even if you stopped eating at 6 your body would still be processing that food until midnight - 2am ...and then the large intestine will continue to extract sodium and breakdown fiber etc. for nutrient absorption until it is out of the body.
  • alex6971
    alex6971 Posts: 51 Member
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    Never really thought of it like that. Its probably why i havent lost weight in the past. I used to go to bed starving because i wouldnt each past 6pm.
  • fudgebudget
    fudgebudget Posts: 198 Member
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    The reason for that is so that your food has a decent chance to digest properly. I would suggest on your 2 exercise nights, to have soup. Eat a big mid afternoon snack. You can even reverse your day and start with a BIG breakfast, medium lunch and then the soup after work out! :flowerforyou: Just a though ....

    Really? Can you explain that for me?

    Because Digestion is a parasympathetic nervous system dominant process and is most stimulated when you are relaxed

    I agree. There's no reason to wait unless you have problems with heartburn or acid reflux, in which case you wouldn't want to eat right before laying down.
  • jenniebean1680
    jenniebean1680 Posts: 351 Member
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    Nope, those 'experts' have been disproved many times.

    You do want to be mindful of snacking after dinner, though, beause that IS a time when a lot of folks let loose because of stress from the workday, etc.

    But when you put the calories in your body makes no difference. How many is what matters.
  • jenniebean1680
    jenniebean1680 Posts: 351 Member
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    If I didn't let myself eat past 6 pm, I would never eat dinner and I'd never hit my net for the day.

    All my exercise is in the afternoon/evening. I teach spinning at 5:30 or 6:45 pm. Not eating after training like that is bad news bears. It would seriously hamper my body's ability to repair itself and restore glycogen in my muscles for recovery and tomorrow's training.

    Ignore this so-called 'rule of thumb'. It's bunk.
  • MyFeistyEvolution
    MyFeistyEvolution Posts: 1,015 Member
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    Ok in regards to weight loss, eating past 6, 7, 4:30, whatever, does not matter. Meet your macros and call it a day! :flowerforyou:

    Eat a double cheeseburger and fries before bed and you'll prolly crap yourself in the middle of the night. That is about the only thing to think about...how your body reacts to certain foods and if it'll affect your sleep.

    If you are hungry at 10pm, eat something small that packs a lot of nutrition.

    Sometimes I wake up at 3am and end up going to the kitchen for a snack.

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