dropSoul Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 (edited) http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/nine-surprising-facts-about-your-stomach?page=3 http://www.aolhealth.com/medical-myths/medical-myths-eating-before-bed http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1106907/fact_or_fiction_eating_before_bed_makes.html?cat=5 Summary: Weight gain is not based on a 24 hour clock. Eating before bed causing weight gain is a myth. It's not the time of day. What you eat and how much anytime of the day causes weight gain, if it's not expended over time (not a day) and it accumulates. I figured as much. I eat every 3 hours, even if that 3rd hour is before bed. And I'll wake up and eat too, once or twice a month. I can't sleep if I don't eat a little something and fat loss and muscle building is very dependent on a good night's sleep and low, or lack, of stress. Edited February 1, 2009 by dropSoul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John V Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 It would be great for me if this were true. As soon as I shift away from late night eating, weight drops off quickly. In an anecdotal way, this hypothesis is disproved by my case. Also, resting the GI tract while sleeping allows for a thorough cleansing and more complete detoxification of the gut.( from the 3rd link: "there are other medical complications that could come into play by making it (eating before sleep) a habit" ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dropSoul Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Did you calorie estimate? I figure about 1200 - 1900 calories a day -- I vary daily to not get the body used to anything consistent. If I space my food out in 3 hour increments, then nothing to it. Usually though, before bed is a spoon of peanut butter and/or a handful of almonds and a little green food or some small amount of slow carb. Light meal, I should say for me has had no impact because of the constant food keeping the blood sugar levels even and the metabolism up. Anyway, everyone is different, so I changed the title with a "maybe?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John V Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Did you calorie estimate? I figure about 1200 - 1900 calories a day -- It's kind of like getting on the scale, I don't want to know. I eat a LOT of calories. During the day I'm a 100 kilo rabbit and at night a 100 kilo boar. No small part of this has to be viewed holistically, as my poor habit relates to my lifestyle and numerous psycho-emotional factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollyMormon Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I am really glad you posted this. I have been kicking myself for eating late at night. I wanted to not be hungry and was torn between eating all my meals and not eating before bed. Before bed is my hungriest time. I am still breastfeeding at night so I still burn calories while I sleep. Unfortunately I also get dehydrated. Now I won't stress about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dropSoul Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 500 calories a day are spent on breast feeding I hear and it also helps shrink the tummy back. Don't worry about it. It's excess calories over and above your needs that get stored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Nearing Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I take a shake before bed every night. Other than that I usually try to keep food away if I don't have an hour to digest it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 It's kind of like getting on the scale, I don't want to know. I eat a LOT of calories. During the day I'm a 100 kilo rabbit and at night a 100 kilo boar. No small part of this has to be viewed holistically, as my poor habit relates to my lifestyle and numerous psycho-emotional factors. I actually think that it's very natural. In evolutionary terms anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theresaann Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 John I agree with you. When I don't eat after 6, 7 pm the weight drops off easily. Like really easily. This was true for me also before kids, when i was in my twenties, so I don't think age related metab slow down has anything to do with it. It DOES have to do with supporting the body's natural detox rhythms. If we are aligned with the rhythms of nature, we sleep when it gets dark and get up when it gets light. At any rate, the body really does have a rhythm of when its detoxing and thats between 10 pm and 2 am. So, if we are digesting food or staying awake, we aren't using our energy as efficiently to detox as we could. Also, the thing about craving food at night-a lot of this is neurohormonal stuff-stress builds up during the day and when what we actually need is SLEEP, we eat for stimulation and to raise serotonin. Probably more sleep earlier and eating a lot of high nutrient food to balance hormones would help that. I know that sticking to this rhythm myself-not eating at night, sleeping early and eating high nutrient content foods I don't have cravings at night and if I REALLY stick to not eating after like 6:30 pm, man, the fat just melts off. A good friend of mine who has been working out hard and consistently for like 8 months was frustrated cause he wasn't losing his gut or, what he hated the most, his "double chin", so I mentioned that even though he's working out hard, that half bag of newman's oreo cookies at night was probably not helping his fat loss efforts....so he stopped eating at night and lost 23 pounds in three weeks...so, there you go. I say, give it a try and see what happens. But the breast feeding thing-no way, you have to eat, just make sure its high nutrient content foods....at least this works for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dropSoul Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Still it makes sense that, eating before bed, like a few almonds or a teaspoon of peanut butter, or a large kale salad with low fat low carb dressing (yeah), and/or a protein shake with water or that 40 cal. almond milk, is not going to effect weight gain *if* one is not going over the calories required to lose or maintain. I'm at 1200-1500 a day no matter how it's broken up. But I would say that all calories are not created equal, if you eat sugar you'll want more and sugar turns to fat lickety split. But shoveling in the high calorie, crap food will make you gain weight whether that is during the day or night. Night time snacking can get out of hand and I guess an all or none thing is good for some, but it doesn't make sense medically. You actually can gain weight by over exercising, stress. And keep weight by not eating enough for your needs. My bigger, hopefully ripped some day, muscles crave good food. (Swigs some nutribody protein, trying to get up to 100 grams a day.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneyvegan Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 From personal experience if I eat a big meal late at night I stack on the fat.I only ever have small meals after about 6pm, otherwise I'm in trouble, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theresaann Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 yes, I think this has to do with circadian rythms, and hormones and natural cellular detox cycles. I know it pushes buttons for people -night time eating feels so comforting sometimes, and it does! But I'll tell you, give yourself a week and see for yourself. It can be pretty amazing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinaKina Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I always eat before I go to bed. Not really intentionally, it just fits in with my schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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