Why avoid late night snacking?

No flames. Eat whenever you want. Eat at midnight. No biggie.

Nothing wrong with it!

I think a lot has to do with:

1. The general thought is that people who eat late at night are probably already at or over eating limits for the day and thus just piling it on now. Somehow at like 8pm local time you're magically out of calories/etc for the day.

2. Lots of emotional snacking takes place late at night.

3. Eating before bed can interrupt your circadian rhythm, as per research, and that can have an effect on your bodily functions, including weight gain/loss.

The problem with 1 and 2 is that they are generalizations. Since some people in some other place in the world binge at night and pack on 10,000 calories, it therefore must be bad for me to eat an apple before bed. This is flawed logic.

Also you get nonsensical journalism like: "If you eat just X calories late at night, that's 458324987875 pounds a year!" The problem is that if you aren't going above your TDEE or even close, how are you gaining weight?

However, #3 presents actual scientific thought on the matter. But research is ongoing as far as I know. And if your sleeping is well regulated then you wouldn't apply to that scenario anyway.

nothing wrong with a little midnight snack ! better to eat than to go into starve mode, and have ur body store whatever you eat in the morning!

I eat when I'm hungry - my body doesn't know if it is noon or midnight. It just knows it needs more food. Weight gain stems from overeating - not what time you eat it. If you overate at noon, you would still gain weight.

And some more info just because I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to journalism and health (guess this is me putting my journalism degree to use).

In an ABC News article about it being bad to eat late at night, their main point was this:

"If you go to sleep full, you wake up fuller that you might have been otherwise. In response, you skip breakfast, which drives you to eat more later in the day."

So you see, there's no science or logic behind it. They are generalizing the heck out of things based on someone who's out of control. This isn't a late night eating issue, it's a stop eating a bunch of crap anytime issue.

You know, one time I ate a whole jar of peanuts, therefore peanuts are bad and no one should eat just one because you could eat the whole jar and that's bad.

BTW, in regards to having a late-night snack, Tammy Baker, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association in Chicago, said, "planning an evening snack is the easiest way to get eating back under control and the easiest way to control the size of the snack."

So if you get past the hyped headline and poor journalism, the message of the article is really: don't eat poorly and if you're going to eat late at night, go right ahead (as long as it's healthy for you).

I'm not sure about the late night snacking and circadian rhythms thing, but I do know I had a sleep study and I have been diagnosed with both restless legs and chronic insomnia. Sometimes the only way for me to get to sleep and stay asleep if I'm having issues is to go downstairs and make toast or some sort of snack

i heard theres no big deal eating late ,, its the amount of calories you take in that matter.. 3500 calories = 1lb.. so if you eat that much you will gain a pound.

problem with me is that late night snacking is NEVER healthy for me, its mostly cookies/toast/icecream.

I'm going to get flammed for this I'm sure. I saw a group and popular thread devoted to combating late night snacking so I have to ask, why avoid it?

If you enjoy late night snacking, why not save calories for the evening? I eat a lot at night... Typically 1000 -1200 cals between 8:30 pm and 9:45 pm, then off to bed.

6:30am - 8:30am 450 cals
11:30am - 1:30pm 750 cals
6:30pm - 7:30 pm 750 cals
8:30pm - 9:45pm 1050 cals

This is my typical routine right now. Granted I am eating more than most, but even when I was on 1200 cals for 7 months straight I always saved 500 cals for after dinner eating. IF you enjoy it, why deny yourself?

I'm really just curious why fight it if you like it? Just plan for it

-M

Good luck!

With your weight loss record, you cannot argue with success. Kuddos. As for me. My preference is to load earlier in the day (don't always happen) because most of my activity is earlier in the day. I eat to fuel my body.. That being said, nothing wrong with eating a good snack in the evening.

All the things I have read as of recent state there is no proof that people that eat late at night have a harder time loosing weight. I think the old thought process was that it would be harder to burn off the late night calories because people are less active and therefore those calories would simply turn to fat. I am a night eater myself and I try to save a few hundred calories for my night time eating, it does not seem to have impeded my progress and have lost 30 pounds since Mid November 2011. Perhaps I could have lost more but I need something that will work for me for a lifetime... And eating at night is what works.. Do what works for you...

I was hungry just a few minutes ago. I had a cantelope and some water. Life is good. Now to sleep

I eat late night snacks too. I agree with posts about being hungry preventing sleep. I try to pick light things though because my stomach is super weird about what's in it at bedtime.

Tonight I had a favourite treat: Roasted Seaweed. Yummy and low calorie.

I always save a little for the evening because I know I'll feel peckish around midnight and I figure my body and I already have enough issues, I shouldn't incite any more. Haha

Besides, there aren't really any overweight people in my family (my Aunt is the only exceptions and she's on a steroid for health, so really....) and we've always had bedtime snacks. Toast and tea is a popular choice on both sides.

I joined the group because that is the time I seem to be vulnerable to choosing high sugar and/or high fat foods and tend to binge eat. If you read the posts most people are there to combat those type of bad habits not because it is wrong to eat late.