I would rather not eat at night but there is a problem

I am a pre-professional ballet dancer, so on a normal day I am in the studio until 9:00 and I get home at 9:15-9:30. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later -- it depends on the day. Anyway, I'm not at home for the whole day because I go to school then I go to the gym then I go to ballet. I make sure I eat during the day -- enough to keep me full, enough to give me energy, not too much to weigh me down during ballet class.

Now it's summer break, so my schedule is different and it's not as big of a problem. In fact, in a few weeks I'm going to a summer intensive and we eat dinner at 5:30 (really early!) so it's ok there, too.

The thing is, when next school year starts, I'd like to decide what I'm doing.

On one hand, I hate waking up full, and I don't like eating very much at night because I weigh-in in the mornings. Also, I feel like I would lose more weight if I stopped eating after a certain time, like maybe 7 or 8.

On the other hand, I usually come back from ballet ready to eat a big dinner. I feel like there is a chance I will feel too restricted if I limit until when I am allowed to eat and that it will lead me to fail at weight loss. The whole idea of what I am doing now is to take it nice and easy, losing about 1 lb a week until I get to my goal which is 35 lbs less than my current weight.

Regardless of what I choose to do, I will not eat over my budget. It's just that I tend to not eat half my calories during the day, so I eat the majority at night. Why? I guess I'm worried I might not have enough left for when I get home from ballet. And, I guess that's why I was thinking about not eating after a certain time.

I guess I could always eat more during the day -- a lot more. Because I can't eat a whole dinner before ballet (I'll eat a protein bar at most) but I'm in ballet from usually around 5-9. So I would have to eat all of my calories between 8am and 5pm.

I guess I'm just overthinking and in the back of my mind, I know that as long as I am eating the number of calories in my budget, I will lose weight at the same pace whether I eat it in the morning or at night or in the bathtub. :)

I just need some reassurance, I think. And suggestions. Do you limit the times you are allowed to eat? Has it made a difference?

Please just someone tell me I am doing everything right! :P

I think I am getting too obsessive about everything being perfect and I really don't want to do that...believe me, though, it's hard to imagine that eating 1,400 calories a day, plus eating back the calories I lost exercising (for net 1,400), and eating 1,800 cals one day of the week as a maintainence day that I can possibly lose 1 lb a week. It seems right logically but in a twisted way I am terrified of it not working because this is my last chance to lose weight. Luckily, I started early enough to do it safely and keep it off for life but it has to work!

*sigh* why can't I just trust CC and all the wonderful people on here and mathematics and logic and the calculators and professional people's advice? I'm really trying!

P.S. I am so sorry that I wrote so much. I did not realize it was that long! I guess I had a lot on my mind! Took me forever to get to sleep last night...

I lost alot of weight by stopping eating at like 7 pm. it helped me! :) maybe if you get hungry after 7 just eat a piece of fruit or celery or something

Oh, you sound like me when I was your age!  I remember being in school all day, then dance class until 9:30, then all day Saturday and Sunday... Anyway, sorry, just remembering!

Definitely make sure you are eating all your calories, and it's fine to eat them at night.  Just be sure you aren't so hungry that you go over your calorie limit and you will be fine.  I definitely agree with not eating too much during the day- ballet is damn near impossible when you're weighted down- but do make sure you are getting all your nutrition.  If you're not comfortable eating a lot at night, try having a bigger breakfast, then have multiple snacks during the afternoon, maybe some protein before class, and a small dinner after class.  Just keep in mind that eating after a certain time at night will NOT cause you to gain weight- eating more calories than you expend will.

As an aside, I've noticed that ballerinas tend to be perfectionists (nothing scientific to back that up, just my own observations)... ballet is so technical that you do need to have some obsessive tendencies to be truly good at at.  When such a huge part of your life involves that sort of behavior, it's definitely hard to switch off during the time you're not dancing! 

I don't want to sound preachy here- but the pressure to be super thin for ballet played a significant role in my massive weight gain (I had to stop dancing because of disk degeneration, but my idea of nutrition was laughable.  As soon as I stopped dancing the weight piled on almost instantly!).  I understand the need to maintain a certain physique, but please, take it from me, geting overly obsessive about food has the potential to bite you in the end.  Not trying to say you're like me, just cautioning you to be careful.

Enjoy your summer intensive, and stay healthy!

hey -i thnk eating at night is only bad if you go over your calorie limit. Also, choose the right foods. Often times night time eating involves poor choices because we are tired after a long and stressful day. If you have a lot of control like it seems you do, you should be fine eating at night. And if you want a rule, make it later like 9 or 10pm to give yourself a chance to get home, shower, and make dinner so it doesnt feel like a rushed "chore" to get out of the way. 

good luck with dancing- i think its great you found a passion and are pursuing it.

(double post sorry)

What's your height and weight now? It doesn't look from your profile pic that you need to lose 35lbs...

I suggest only weighing yourself once a week, that way you avoid fluctuations and eating at night may be less of a problem.

You could also try splitting the meal - eating a smaller meal both before and after class.

I don't limit the times I eat - like you say, it makes me feel too restrictive and I also get obessive about how many calories I have left, and how long I have to eat them in. If I'm hungry at 11pm, I'll eat a snack then - I often do, as I go to bed late. I'm still losing weight - well, I'm losing fat.

Not eating after a certain time is fine if your schedule allows it. Mine doesn't most days. If I'm working I don't get home till 10pm so will have eaten breakfast around 8.30am, maybe a snack around midday, lunch around 6 then dinner around 10.30 pm. As long as you don't go over you limit it should be fine.

Just wanted to let you know, I regularly eat into the night and right before bed, because that's how my schedule is and that's when I get the most hungry. People say eating at night is bad, and they say that because of the fact that by bedtime, you should already have had three meals and you stand a high chance of going over your limit if you eat at night.

However, I sometimes only eat what I call "half-breakfast", and then I save the other half for later in the evening. Or I may just have time for lunch, and then have my whole breakfast as like a nighttime breakfast.

I get up later in the morning, but this works for me. There is no reason to believe that if you eat under your calorie limit that the time of day that you eat it is going to matter. ^_^ Also, if I eat before I go to bed on a weighing day, and I get up and go to the toilet, I don't notice a huge change in my weight. The food you eat gets processed while you're asleep, just like it would when you're awake.

:) Just wanted to throw my two cents in.

xo Ari

(ps: Ballerinas (Ballerinos?) are so freaking cool, by the way.)

Thank you everyone to all your replies! I KNEW there was no sense in restricting the times I allow myself to eat...

:)

brtaylor -- you're right, we most definitely are perfectionists! Sometimes it can be a challenge but I've learned to use it to my benefits. It can be a pain, though. And I agree that getting very obsessive about food stinks, and I've been there. Only recently I've managed to recover (I guess I still have some work, but I feel really great for the most part) from an eating disorder I developed in the 8th grade. So, it's been 3 years and finally I got it dorter out. it took a while! In a way, though, contrary to how it might seem, I feel like were it not for ballet I would have been much worse off. Because, I need to be healthy to dance! It kept pulling me back to reality when things got bad, plus my ballet teacher would ask me, at some point (when I was particularily bad), if I had eaten anything that day. It helped me a lot. It also helped that I would occasionally pass out or almost pass out during ballet class -- that terrified me (and my poor ballet teacher...when the next day she scolded me for not eating and told me she was so worried she couldn't sleep, I felt so bad and I decided I had to get better!!) So, not to worry about sounding preachy, because you're absolutely right. I'm so happy to be myself again. A few months ago I would have defined "myself" as "my ED" but I know better now. Thanks for looking out :)

frusterated11 -- good ideas...and yeah, sometimes I feel like eating is a "chore," especially at night. I find that I don't know what to eat because I can't decide and it's a little nerve wrecking when I'm almost done or completely done with my calorie budget. So, I find myself just eating something so that I can be out of calories and not have to worry anymore! I guess that's something I still have to work on :/ Enjoying food is fun, so...I should enjoy it!!

merylwhite1 -- if you look at the caption under the image, I wrote that this is me at my lowest weight of 111.4 lbs. It was when my ED started and I lost a loooot of weight very quickly. My goal weight now is 110 lbs. I realize this is slightly lower than my lowest weight. When that picture was taken, I was barely eating and I looked sick because of that; malnutrition certainly takes its toll on your body. In fact, I still looked sick even after I had gained all this weight, because even though I was eating much more, I wasn't being healthy. However, that was a good weight for me. I am now going to get back to that weight the healthy way. I just thought I would clarify that! Because there is no way I could lose 35 lbs with a starting weight of 110! If I lost 35 lbs from the amount I weighed in that picture I would be dead because in that picture I had less than 13% body fat. About the weigh-ins...I would love to weigh-in once a week! But sometimes it's so hard to not look at the scale! So I think that, since I already can predict I will be tempted to check the scale more often than once a week, it would be better to weigh in the same way every day. I'm glad you said you're losing weight! It's very encouraging to me because I find myself questioning myself again and again and having doubt in being able to lose 1 lbs a week eating as much as I do. I know it's possible...and 1 lbs a week is very little, but it is a good slope for me, I think.

airee and misscherry -- thanks for the input! And yes, we ballerinas rock! Btw, male "ballerinos" are called dansuers ;) Just in case you were wondering hehe.

On the topic of eating at certain times...does anyone else hate calling meals by "breakfast, lunch, and dinner"?? It's a silly little pet peeve of mine I recently noticed. Because, I'll have breakfast and dinner but I sometimes have two lunched and I don't know what to call them. Lunch? Supper? Haha, sorry about the randomness, I just wanted to know how comparibly picky and wierd I am...

does anyone else hate calling meals by "breakfast, lunch, and dinner"??

I wouldnt call it hate but I know what your saying.     I think more like a Hobbit when it comes to my eating schedule.  Elevensies!! I lost it in the theater hearing that!  Along with a couple of playful pokes from my friends as they exclaimed; "Thats you!"

If had to name my eating it would be;  Morning Munchies, I usually eat a couple of meals in the morning.  I get up at 4 am drink coffee, exercise, and eat between 7-8am then again around 11ish. 

Then its time for...

Afternoon Snackeroo's!  I just pick my way through the day.  Veggies, fruit, yogurt, applesauce, cheese, peanut butter, lean protiens. Yum! Little here little there.

Before you know it the day is done.  It's time to relax and unwind.  I love to cook! The slicing, dicing, seasonings,  the sizzling sounds as it's cooking.  Plating it up as pretty as you please then enjoying it with family, friends, or even in front of the TV.  How could it be called anything else but... my Evening Enjoyments!

The only thing that could muck that up is...  When I finally do settle in with  my savory-sweet-succulent- whatever and there's a commercial on TV!   Here in Austria commercials last 10 minutes what a waste of a beautiful plate!! LOL