Question about how late one can eat?

Hi everyone :) I'm pretty new to the site and I'm really confused about something...

I never eat after 7pm as I've heard you don't digest the food properly. My question is, exactly how many hours before you go to sleep should you refrain from eating? Because I usually go to sleep around/after midnight, and I find myself getting pretty hungry just around then.

I've heard 3-4 hours before going to sleep; but I've also heard 1.5 hrs. Anyone?

i eat within 30 minutes of going to bed because i'm a snacker and once dinner starts i eat until bedtime..i haven't noticed any effects from this and i'm actually trying to gain weight. new research shows that it doesn't matter when you eat the calories as long as you're within your daily allotment. so, if you account for it then don't worry about how soon before bed it is. =]

I personally find that if I eat after 8 (And I usually go to bed around 10:30) on a consistent basis I start putting on weight instead of maintaining or taking it off.

I think I would go in the 2-3 hour range to give your body time to burn those calories a little--so maybe stop eating by 8 or 9?

My dinner is at 8-8.30pm every night... has been for years now. But I don't eat anything after dinner. My main eating problem is after lunch all the way till dinner time, it's like lunch always puts me on a grazing spree.

one can eat as late as one wants ;)

me, i sleep better and wake up hungry if i don't eat after 7 or 8 (usually go to bed @ 11), but i don't have a hard-and-fast rule. 

there's no truth whatsoever to the idea that food that you eat before bed turns into fat, but if you're eating at 10 or 11pm, there's a good chance that's food you don't need.

Same as chrissy.  once i eat dinner at 7pm i snack till i go to sleep i usually prepare mini meals at 9pm and 10 pm each with around 200 or 300 cals,  that is usually on work out days because i like to eat very light meals i never get enough and am catching up before i go to sleep. and it helps me to sleep in i eat right before i go to bed, like right before i lie down then i pass out almost immediatly.

I've heard the "no food after 7p" doesn't really apply. Everything I've seen within the last few years is just stop eating 2-3 hours before you go to bed. However, if you go to bed at 10p, 7p is a good stopping point.

I'm up til 3-4a routinely and stop eating around 10p and it's ok for me.

i eat up until around 11:30 pm. i figure, once 12 am hits, it's a new day.. so i'd be counting for a new day, you know?

ive heard some people talk abt oh, i lost x amt of weight by not eatin after 6pm...

it all depends on your bedtime and like everyone said, your own goals.

i dont like to eat and then go straight to bed bc it just doesnt feel good but..... im no expert either.

i agree you shouldnt really worry too hard about time, just what & how much you're eatin throughout the day

Original Post by pgeorgian:

there's no truth whatsoever to the idea that food that you eat before bed turns into fat

 This.

Though I'd recommend you stop eating before you actually get into bed, otherwise the sheets get dirty.

alot of people started discussing about late night eating then sleep with weight gain.. Apparently, more people than not agree it doesn't affect anything.. The matter is the number of calories consume.. I use to be so scare..being chinese, you see.. Nowadays, if i had midnight snack, i'd have a  small breakfast the next day cause i won't be outrageously ravenous..

It is said one should eat 3 hours before bedtime - reason being it gives the food some time to digest and since there will be no activity for the next 8 hours (assuming that's how long you sleep), there's nothing for it to do but turn to fat.  I typically don't eat past 7:30.  My dinner consists of fruits or a very light small light salad or what one would eat for breakfast (cereal, boiled eggs, etc.).  You will find you will sleep better and wake up starving which is what shuold happen.  Your breakfast meal should be the heaviest (rices, meats, beans, etc.) and as your meals go one through the day they should taper off (note: I workout in the morning so the more reason to eat the heavy foods after working out - restoration).  Yes, it sounds backwards, but it's the right way one should eat.  Of course the true barometer is how you feel.

There are a lot of old wives' tales about eating before going to bed.  The main reason you don't want to eat for a few hours before going to bed is because:

• your body needs growth hormone to rebuild itself
• the prime time for growth hormone secretion is while you're sleeping (a few hours after you've fallen asleep, in fact)
  
• eating triggers an insulin response
• insulin inhibits growth hormone
• insulin takes several hours to clear from your body and return to baseline levels

Thus, if you are eating right before bed (particularly if you are eating a lot of high-glycemic stuff), you are inhibiting your body's ability to rebuild itself.  This is especially important if you are an athlete--you're not getting as much from your workouts, because you aren't allowing the adaptations to your exercise regimen to take place.

Even if you're not an athlete, leaving your body awash in insulin overnight, with no activity to regulate it, isn't necessarily a good thing.  Insulin resistance leads to obesity and thence to diabetes.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by pgeorgian:

there's no truth whatsoever to the idea that food that you eat before bed turns into fat

 This.

Though I'd recommend you stop eating before you actually get into bed, otherwise the sheets get dirty.

sully, you know it freaks me out when you agree with me.

behanna - I have never heard that explanation before. Where is that information from?

I'm a believer of not eating right before bed! The 7pm rule is based on the fact that most adults go to bed around 10pm. I don't eat within 3hrs of bed and I'm usually not hungry by the time I hit the hay... I found that not eating before bed in the past has helped my weight loss... because essentially you're just adding calories for cravings... you don't need to build more energy to sleep.

If you are hungry before bed then have a glass of milk or something.

After years of snacking and watching TV till bedtime I developed esophagitis. I didn't even know how severe it was because once in a while I'd have acid reflux and take some antacids. So I was shocked when a test revealed I had Barrett's esophagitis, which can develop into esophageal cancer! I now must take Prilosec twice a day (the second an hour before my evening meal) and not eat or have wine or alcohol after 7 PM if I go to bed at 10. Tough! 

After years of snacking and watching TV till bedtime I developed esophagitis. I didn't even know how severe it was because once in a while I'd have acid reflux and take some antacids. So I was shocked when a test revealed I had Barrett's esophagitis, which can develop into esophageal cancer! I now must take Prilosec twice a day (the second an hour before my evening meal) and not eat or have wine or alcohol after 7 PM if I go to bed at 10. Tough! 

If you are hungry before you go to bed, you are not eating enough during the day or are missing a food group. eat something small just enough to satisfy you so you can sleep with out hunger pains. If you are hungry you won't sleep well and your body needs you to sleep so it can recover.

 You burn approximately 450 calories sleeping 7 hours.

Just don't eat before you go to bed because you are bored those are calories you don't need

Its not really about when you eat but how much and what you eat!

Personally, i have lost around 20 kgs by sticking to a diet for about 9 months. As long as you can do some exercise to trim the extra fat, a little bit of late night snacks will not effect you that much.

In your case, i would suggest eating something light (like a peanut butter sandwich, if you are not allergic) half hour before bed as your body would become catabolic (muscle consuming) if its hungry for long periods of time. (that may also explain your weight loss to some extent). Losing fat is the key to long term weight maintenance.

jillian michaels says stop eating 2 hours before you go to sleep. you  block the human growth hormones which flow with in the first few hours of sleep. otherwise its just a matter of how many calories you took that day.