How late is too late? (Eating at night)

Dahllywood
Dahllywood Posts: 642 Member
edited December 17 in Food and Nutrition
I know that the general rule is that it doesn't matter what time of day you eat, but...
My schedule tonight only allows me to snack an hour or less before bed. I feel like this is too late in the evening. I mean, I can understand snacking at 10pm or 11, but by the time I get home it will be 12:30. Is this still okay?

BTW I think my snack is going to be oatmeal, mmmm. Thoughts?
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Replies

  • HaleighSavanah
    HaleighSavanah Posts: 1
    no later than 7!
  • wildboar1
    wildboar1 Posts: 88
    There is no such thing as too late. Eat when you feel like it, your body doesn't care one way or another.
  • mccarol1956
    mccarol1956 Posts: 422 Member
    If you are hungry and have the calories left then eat at that time. Your body does not know the difference in the time of day!! If I had to go by that time I would never get to eat! I work night shifts and thus I eat all night when I am working.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I eat in bed. It's fine.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    no later than 7!

    Why?
  • Seanb_us
    Seanb_us Posts: 322 Member
    no later than 7

    +
    There is no such thing as too late. Eat when you feel like it, your body doesn't care one way or another.

    Can we reconcile these please? Does it matter if I eat late? If so, does it matter what I eat when I eat late?

    Sean
  • Seanb_us
    Seanb_us Posts: 322 Member
    My thought is this. During the day I move around. Do stuff. So, if I eat, some of the eat gets used.

    If I eat then go to bed for 8 hours, then I do not move around and stuff is not done. All of what I eat remains unused. Perhaps this food becomes ... fat.

    Please reply to discuss my thoughts.

    Cheers,

    Sean
  • JodieElijah
    JodieElijah Posts: 136 Member
    Me personally, I don't like to eat past about 8.30/9pm. But I don't think there's any rule that says you *can't* eat at any given time of the day or night.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    no later than 7

    +
    There is no such thing as too late. Eat when you feel like it, your body doesn't care one way or another.

    Can we reconcile these please? Does it matter if I eat late? If so, does it matter what I eat when I eat late?

    Sean

    No does not matter when you eat. As for what you eat, that depends on your macro goals, and nothing else.

    My thought is this. During the day I move around. Do stuff. So, if I eat, some of the eat gets used.

    If I eat then go to bed for 8 hours, then I do not move around and stuff is not done. All of what I eat remains unused. Perhaps this food becomes ... fat.

    Please reply to discuss my thoughts.

    I get where you're coming from. But your metabolism keeps going around the clock. In a given day, say you burn 2600 calories, total, including wake and sleep time. If you eat 2100 calories total, then your deficit was 500. Maintain a deficit, and over time you lose weight. Simple as that :)
  • BreakinTheChains
    BreakinTheChains Posts: 381 Member
    No such thing as to late.. as long as your within your calories.. Im a shift worker and I eat at all hours :)
  • spammyanna
    spammyanna Posts: 871 Member
    My thought is this. During the day I move around. Do stuff. So, if I eat, some of the eat gets used.

    If I eat then go to bed for 8 hours, then I do not move around and stuff is not done. All of what I eat remains unused. Perhaps this food becomes ... fat.

    Please reply to discuss my thoughts.

    Cheers,

    Sean

    You still "do stuff" while you sleep. Your body doesn't shut down, and still requires calories to function, even if you are just laying there.
  • dixiecup19
    dixiecup19 Posts: 50 Member
    Honestly I would say it's fine to eat at anytime. I only get home from work at 1230 and I plan on eating then, obviously something healthy but I'm still gonna eat since I know I will be hungry. I feel like eating at night keeps your metabolism up longer since your body doesn't go into rest mode right away.

    Idk that's just my opinion but if I don't eat when I get home from work I feel so sick in the mornings.
  • prettytothinkso
    prettytothinkso Posts: 290
    I eat an hour before bed if I'm hungry and have calories left.
  • AngelikaLumiere
    AngelikaLumiere Posts: 862 Member
    It really depends on your body. I can't eat within four hours of going to bed or I get acid reflux. Many people find it difficult to fall asleep if they are digesting a meal (I burn more calories if I get eight hours of sleep as opposed to the nights when I wake several times). Some people are not bothered by eating and then going to bed. You have to figure out what you need. How eating effects your digestion and sleep. I also prefer to wake up hungry because it reminds me to eat breakfast and several studies have proven that eating breakfast before you have been up for an hour helps kick start your metabolism and increases weight loss.
  • LenaMena87
    LenaMena87 Posts: 469 Member
    My nutritionist and I had this talk...after so many years of people pounding in my head that I need to eat before 1800-1900 daily....turns out it was a myth. She said if your body is hungry and you have calories left then eat. Just to make sure you eat 2 hrs prior to going to bed.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    If I am really hungry near bedtime, I eat a light snack .. Maybe a jello or even a snack bar... It is better than staying up half the night wishing I could go to sleep... I do keep it light if it is really late. Balance in all things.
  • shaelataylor
    shaelataylor Posts: 224 Member
    i eat when im hungry no matter what time it is...and so far it hasnt hurt me. :)
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    You should be fine. If you need a little late-evening snack and it fits your cals, do it. I do this periodically also on days I get home late.
  • Hickyvikki69
    Hickyvikki69 Posts: 371 Member
    if you actually look it up you do burn calories n your sleep...not like a whole lot but calories r being used. i honestly have a late night every night and either eat oatmeal to fill me or just a protein drink with a muffin or bagel. it is ur preference when to eat. just make the right choice on what to eat. u will be fine.
  • Shirvona
    Shirvona Posts: 43 Member

    If I eat then go to bed for 8 hours, then I do not move around and stuff is not done. All of what I eat remains unused. Perhaps this food becomes ... fat.

    If this is the way you feel then maybe try going for a walk after you eat for 15 to 20min. I personal usually go to bed around midnight and eat supper at about 10:30, but after I eat I usually do something like walk the dog or climb up and down my stairs while a show is playing (how ever long the show is, is how long I climb my stairs).
  • lsapphire
    lsapphire Posts: 297 Member
    Sometimes you have to. need to get adequate calories
  • lorenzoinlr
    lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
    I routinely eat an hour before bed in fact I'll probably do it tonight. Hasn't seemed to have been a problem.
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
    I don't eat after I go to bed. No crumbs in my bed. I don't want to have to get up and brush my teeth again, either. Wait 'til morning and have breakfast.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
    no later than 7!

    You better be trollin' otherwise I will start a petition to have you banned
  • prettygirlhoward
    prettygirlhoward Posts: 338 Member
    A nutritionist from Max Muscle told me that you can eat 1 minute before bed time, but to eat protein?
  • rc630
    rc630 Posts: 310 Member
    It doesn't matter what time you eat; what is more important is your net calories for the day, or even more important, your net for the week.
    If timing of eating mattered that much, we would be centering our diets around time and not calories. This isn't so for a reason...
    The only reason to not eat late would be if it bothers your stomach, like the poster above with the acid reflux. But eating the same amount of food at 7 pm vs. 11 pm won't make a difference in fat loss.
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
    I eat my cup of ice cream almost every night, when I get off work at midnight, right before I go to bed. It hasn't done me any harm.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    You should stop eating when you either:

    1) Run out of calories
    2) Fall asleep

    What you eat should be determined somewhat by your remaining macro needs. If it's 1 hour before bed and I still need 30g protein and 100g carbs I might eat the leftover shrimp fried rice, for example. But if for some reason I've got a few hundred cals to spare and I'm fat deficient, I'm grabbing some nuts (giggity) or peanut butter/etc.


    Ultimately it would be in most peoples best interest to not focus on acute things, and by that I mean things like trying to manipulate how much fat you gain during the next 2 hours, or whether or not you'll be burning off that piece of toast.

    Since you're presumably controlling your total intake of calories and macronutrients, the end result is that (for those eating in a deficit) fat oxidation will exceed fat storage. Even if, for some reason, you DO put on some fat in your sleep, you're just going to burn it back off by the very nature of you being in a deficit. It happens over time and trying to manipulate short term processes is silly.
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
    Diet-wise I agree theres no such thing as too late. I often eat very little during the day and while I'm at work so I can have a big supper when I get home. (10pm)

    But lifewise, you may wanna rethink your schedule if you're up at 10pm-1am at night eating full meals for no real reason.

    Unless you work some crazy hours. Like a stripper.
  • spinqueen72
    spinqueen72 Posts: 406 Member
    Your body does not know the difference between 7 a.m. or 7 p.m.
    A calorie is a calorie...whether it's the afternoon or 2 a.m.!
    If you're hungry, and it's allowable in your daily calories...go for it!
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