is it bad to eat before bed?

I've been doing my diet for five days not and I always seem to have calories left to eat after dinner.  Is it bad to eat before bed?

oh no thats rubbish!  esspecially as i spend my excess on yummy things like grape juice n skinny cow ice cream!

yes.

you sleep, your calory burn at the time is low (you don't do anything), sugar goes into your blood, sugar not used for energy, sugar goes to fat.

btw, sugar = carbs, and protein can be turned to carbs in the liver.

you burn about 0.9 calories per kg of your lean body when sleeping.

you can eat, just make sure this food is slowly absorbed and that you won't get too many calories in at once while you're not doing anything.

an ok food before bed would be 3% cottage cheese (fat makes digestion slower, thus making absorbation to blood slower)

hope this helps...

i think i'll try and organise my eating so i have all my calories way before bed dont want to undo my hard work!

If you believe in the calorie count principle, which I do, then over the long term it is more important what you eat and what you burn then it is when you eat.  So, as long as you are staying within your calorie guideline you can eat at night.  But there are other considerations.  Personally, I experience indigestion if I go to bed with too full of a stomack.  On the other hand, I can't sleep if I'm too hungry when I go to bed.

I read that "eating at night makes you gain weight" is a myth--it all boils down to the number of calories in vs the number of calories burned. If you burn enough calories more than you eat, you'll lose weight no matter when you consume them. Some believe the myth that eating at night causes weight gain is due to the fact that at night, you tend to eat more junk rather than healthy food choices--and junk food is packed with calories and fat. (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3263249.stm )

also, the metabolism is at its slowest in the evenings, your least amount of calories should be at night, i find it difficult to do this cause dinner has been my biggest meal since i was about 6:/

yeah i'm definately a night eater.  I usually eat dinner around nine and then eat some goodies about 10 then sleep about 12.  I am still under my calories even with the ice cream!  i suppose its all about being organised.

Dinner should be you biggest meal because you are going to fasting for 10 to 12 hours after dinner.  You should be eating small meals throught the day.

I would like to comment on trhawley's comment...

you are right about the caloric count thing, if you don't give your body enough calories it will take it from it's own storages..

though you're missing the point, timing IS everything. timing determines which storage your body will choose, and how it will behave.

if you feed yourself correctly (about every 2-3 hours), your body's sugar level should always be about normal.. that way your body does not use your muscular sugar storage to keep itself going, and the calories you burn are almost pure (when you catabolize it's never only fat) fat.

eat a big meal all at once you add fat, then burn some of it, and also use muscular sugar storages.

and at the end of the day what you actually take off your body is the amount of calories you didn't support your body with, you choose whether they be all fat, or fat and muscle.

I haven't and won't go through effects of metabolic changes attached to the timing of your eating.

It's nonsense. I actually had a nutritionist order me to eat within 1 hour of going to bed.

As I have said in my other postings... Eating late at night is no different from eating during the day.  You WILL NOT gain weight.  All still comes down to how many calories you are consuming during the day and if you are creating a deficit.

Kim

Ben_B - I've noticed that nearly all of your posts as of lately make no logical sense.  Where are you pulling this information from exactly?

Go and look at Steve Torano, National Bodybuilder at the Bodyperformance Tv site.  Maybe you will learn a few things.

Don't be so quick to judge.  Each and every has their own opinion. We are not here to debate...

kimmygirl - are you referring to my post?  Because I really am curious where he is getting his information from, I want to verify that it's true.

Do me a favour....first of all we are actually not allowed to advertise other website in this forum, but here it is....go and look at his videos on... youtubedotcom and search for BodyPerformanceTv... he has approx 148 videos up of all bodily issues.  Quite interesting I must add. watch it and then you can form your own opinion.

Hope this helps!
Kim

Oh and by the way, check out my weightloss video....youtubedotcom/skotteljonsie

Its the vid "Kim's weight loss journey"

Tell me what you think

kimmygirl - Why are you answering my post that is directed at ben_b?

Are you saying that he is getting his information from this Steve Torano guy?

You're confusing me.

Hehee..... no, sorry, I just thought that should you have any unanswered questions about weightloss etc etc. you could take a look at this guys vids.... they are very interesting. They have helped me to lose 110lbs in 7 months!

I always save at least 100-300 calories for at night and I'm losing weight.  The only time it slows down is if I eat more than my calories for the day.  I don't believe that eating at night is bad, just don't fill up on junk and stay within your calories for the day and you will lose weight no matter what time of day you eat.

If you're counting calories and know how much you are eating and  expending , just do  the math and eat within the amount you can afford and you'll be fine.

But as for the sleeping part, it's not good to eat 3 hours before bedtime because it may disrupt you from falling asleep.

Eating healthy food items should be considered though.  I heard that carbs can make you sleepy too.  Think good carbs.