Calories in the morning vs. calories at night...what's the dif?

We've all heard the myth that calories count for less in the morning than they do at night.  Could this be true?  Many people are skeptical, many people swear by it.  What's the deal?

In my experience, if eat nothing for breakfast, I binge for lunch and snack time.  In fact, on the days on which I don't eat breakfast, I tend to eat myself almost sick in the afternoon.  I don't think that calories actually count for less in the morning, but I do think that your body will respond better to a brief rise in blood sugar around breakfast time.

I believe that, while calories in vs. calories out is the best way to lose weight, there may be some truth to the "too many calories in the evening can lead to weight gain" thing.  It's not that the calories count for less, it's just that you will burn more calories if you eat breakfast--it increases your metabolism.

There are many different beliefs about this myth, and I would love to hear other people's views on the matter.

Please post and share your thoughts--things you know or want to know, myths you would like to lay to rest, questions...I want to hear what everyone has to say!

It's not that they count for less in the morning's it's just people tend to eat healthier earlier in the day and it gets worse as the day goes on.  How many people do you know veg on the couch at 9am with a bag of chips?  How likely is it that it's 9pm that they're vegging out. 

People also go to bed at night, without working off any of those calories that you just finished stuffing your face with.  When you eat in the morning, you have all day to work those calories off.

I don't think they count for less - like most people, I think that since I have been sleeping and have had many hours of no food intake I NEED to eat in the morning to keep the metabolic fires fueled.  I'm not always hungry until I have been up and about but I'll be starving by lunch if I don't eat...THEN I might wanna eat the really good *BAD* stuff (fast food fries, pizza - you know)...so I try and eat a solid breakfast every day and before 8am... if I eat too late in the day, I don't sleep well - then I am up - then I get hungry -  what a vicious cycle.  I have trouble eating every few hours and haven't really figured out why I should...

The sooner you eat in the morning after waking up, the sooner you shift your body from a catabolic state (catabolism) back to a anabolic state (anabolism).  This is especially important to those who exercise to gain lean muscle mass and can definitely have an impact on metabolism and the construction/destruction of lean muscle mass.

I recommend you research the terms "catabolism" and "anabolism" and its effect on the body.

When weight training or doing consistent exercise, it is very important to not go to bed on an empty stomach (void of calories), and it is also important to consume calories as quickly as possible in the morning.

Keep your meals spread out evenly throughout the day and maintain similar portions of calories and nutrient content in each meal. (% of carbs/protein/fat)  This will ensure a steady and readily-available flow of calories and nutrients while you are awake and will keep your body as anabolic as possible.

There is some truth to it.  Your metabolism is higher during the day, while you are awake, and slower at night when you sleep.  This affects how quickly you burn the calories you intake. 

When you take in more than you can burn within a certain amount of time (I don't remember what this time frame is), your body starts storing it as fat.  This is true even if you have a defecit for the day, because your body will process the food in your stomach and allocate as much as it can to current processes and store the rest.  Later, when it doesn't have food in the stomach, it will find other sources including fat, but it will also take from other sources now. 

Calories in vs calories out is a simplified system that is for weight loss, not fat loss specifically.  Timing for food is important to maintain lean muscle mass while burning fat.

Some people will tell you to have something before you sleep to maintain muscles, others will tell you to avoid eating for several hours before you sleep.  I personally avoid eating for about 3 hours before I sleep because I find that my bodyfat percentage goes down faster when I do that.  But, if you don't want to do that, you should have a small low carb and high protein meal.

In concurance- your body burns carbs more efficiently in the morning versus the evening- so while a calorie is a calorie carbs aren't always equal!  Bon Apetite

a calorie is a calorie but spreading caloric intake over the day makes sense as smaller meals make for an overall feeling of feeling better - not eating before bed isn't a bad idea, i'd guess, for most people but people with diseases such as type 2 diabetes may need some bit of slow digesting food to help control blood sugar increases overnight

I'm just adding my 2 cents to starffy as I mostly agree with him. I think the only thing to add would be that food timing is very important. In the morning like you said fast digesting carbs and protein is a good idea to increase your metabolism (you've been fasting all night). As the day goes on you should switch to slow digesting carbs (mid-day) and fibrous foods (vegetables) in the evening. With the only exception coming right after a workout where you want to take in a fast digesting carb to replenish your glycogen storage and help your muscles begin healing. Protein of course you want to keep throughout the day but again there is a difference between fast and slow digesting proteins. For example Whey(Fast) before a workout and Whey-Casein(Slow) mix after. At night you want to take in a casein protein source before you go to bed to save muscle (poweder form or cottage cheese-which i despise).

I think everyone has the right idea but it mostly depends on what your goals are.  If you're an athlete, or training for an event (triathlon, marathon, etc.), then yes, timing very much matters so you can replenish glyocogen stores and have energy for your next workout.  But if you're simply trying to lose weight, I don't think it matters as much when you eat as long as you stay within your calorie limits.  I, for example, eat a HUGE dinner and even a snack afterwards, right before a fall asleep (1000-1500 calories).  I might occasionally suffer a bad case of indigestion, but it certainly hasn't effected my weight loss at all.  But I also eat breakfast, too.  I try to eat every 3-4 hours and have a little protein with each meal to control my blood sugar.  But I prefer the big dinners just b/c I know I'm at my weakest in the evening hours.

When you take in more than you can burn within a certain amount of time (I don't remember what this time frame is), your body starts storing it as fat.  This is true even if you have a defecit for the day, because your body will process the food in your stomach and allocate as much as it can to current processes and store the rest.  Later, when it doesn't have food in the stomach, it will find other sources including fat, but it will also take from other sources now. 


does anyone know what the # of cals is? not to go over in one sitting i mean.

I think there is no difference when you eat, EXCEPT, it has a difference on how much you burn. Eg. IF you ate 1500 cals for breakfast and nothing during the rest of the day, you'd be full for a while and have energy. If you ate nothing all day, and ate 1500 at night, and go to bed, you'd prolly wake up midly hungry and want to eat. You wouldnt have that energy in you to burn more.

On a more reasonable scale, thats why i have a biogger brekkie and dinner. But I dont feel bad about eating late at night as long as I've burnt enough during the day, and i'm not saving cals for lte night.

I completely agree!  It is best to eat earlier so that you will have time to burn off the calories you consume.  If you consume 1500 calories and burn it before going to bed, you will lose weight.  If you eat 1000 calories and go to bed right away, you will burn those calories.  T.

i agree, if I don't eat all day, then I could eat a bloody horse at night!  so I prefer to spread my food out through the whole day and evening.

but, for weight loss purposes, studies have shown that it does not matter what time of day you eat.  you can eat it all at night or in the day... it's ok...

but it can make a difference for other reasons...

it's ok to do what you prefer... when it comes to choosing time of day to eat...  we all need to make adjustments and find what works best for us :)

I just read my response and noticed that I left out the word, "not" as in, "your body will not burn those calories" if you eat and go to bed right away. 

We should also keep in mind that there are good calories that your body will use and burn more efficiently and empty calories that do not provide nutrition.  T.

"It's not that they count for less in the morning's it's just people tend to eat healthier earlier in the day and it gets worse as the day goes on.  How many people do you know veg on the couch at 9am with a bag of chips?  How likely is it that it's 9pm that they're vegging out. " - ~ I like that - brought some humor to my otherwise dull day!!!

I have recognized a great shift in my body fat percentage when I do no eat late at night. It's my personal preference; I really don't like going to bed with food in my stomach, or I'll get really uncomfortable, bloaty, and just wake up very irritable.

I recall this article I read on a study followed through on mice. I know...not quite the average metabolism of modern homo sapien, but the experiment divided the mice into two groups. One was fed its greatest percentage of food in the morning, and exercised, whereas the other was fed the same amount of calories and exercised but at nighttime, around 11 PM.
The results were very amazing; those mice fed their largest meal at night gained almost double the amount of fat, just from a change in feeding time.
It all has something to do with the body having specific "time zones" that it adapts to do certain things. The body clock feels that night time is naturally to be saved for sleeping and regeneration, and not consumption. If you mess with it, it shows in your body structure.

I never eat breakfast, and I don't binge, period. 

Right now my eating window is from 1-5, but it has been as late as 5-9, so I didn't eat breakfast or lunch, and I didn't binge. 

and how many posts have we seen where the confessee admits to doing okay for breakfast and lunch, then binging at night.

so obviously it's a factor that only applies to some people.

if not eating breakfast encourages YOU to binge, then YOU should most definitely eat breakfast.

if eating late at night causes YOU to gain weight, then YOU should most definitely not eat late at night.

it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out . . .

that was refreshing.