this is just a quick question. Recently I went back to the gym and I need to continue going...which means going during the week not just on the weekends. This gets complicated with my work schedule...because of the commute I have to and from work I am unable to go in the mornings which leaves me only with the option for evenings. I don't get home until about 7:30 at night and my gym is outside the city near home. I know that if I go home first that I won't go to the gym so I have to go straight from work. This then doesn't put me home until between 8:30 & 9:00PM for dinner. I try to make lunch a larger meal and have a high protein snack before I leave work around 6 and keep dinner a light lean protein a veggie and a whole grain. I prepare my food for the week on Sundays so there isn't a lot of prep/cooking to do for dinner so it only takes moments to get it ready to eat.
I've heard myths about trying not to eat late or after a certain hour and I was just wondering if there was any feedback on this out there? Is this truth, proven scientific fact, or simply an old wives tale? Is it ok to have late dinner, especially if its so i can try to get in an hour or so of excercise?
Also when I first started and cut my calories I set a goal of 1600-1800 a day to start and for the first couple of weeks I was meeting that or going a bit over and was feeling hungry throughout the day...now 3 weeks into it I'm not feeling hungry at all I'm feeling quite satisfied by the time I get to about 1400. I feel like this may just be because I am choosing healthier more filling types of foods throughout the day and that my body is adjusting to the change, should I drop my intake goal or try to consume more healthy food to get to that 1600 mark? When is it safe to drop calorie amounts?
Well everyone is different. The same thing happens to me sometimes. SOme days I can eat 1400 and be fine but I add more in. I can lose at 1600-1700 a day. If you can too then continue to do so. Let your body know you are getting plenty of nutritious food. A quick way to add healthy cals and healthy fats? Nuts!
For calorie counts: your body is probably adjusting to the new intake level, and that's fine. We don't really NEED the 2400 calories or more that many people consume in a day. I don't know what a healthy level for you would be; you can calculate all kinds of things about your calorie level and weight here. All I have heard is that anything below 1200 is unhealthy. So you've got some room.
As to eating late, I don't know what the scientific info says. Common sense says eating late isn't as good for you; after all, you're consuming calories right before you enter the physical state in which you burn the least calories. However, I'm not sure how much impact that actually has; I'm not a nutritionist. I imagine a quick google could turn up some good information.
I don't think eating dinner late is a big deal. It is very common in many parts of the world. For example, my former roommate, on exchange from Spain, told me that dinner time there is usually around 10 or 10:30 PM.
Some people swear by never eating after 7PM or 6PM or whatever, so it's whatever works for you. I'm a student and I eat at very irregular hours... it has not seemed to slow me down much.
ok, like it or not, studies have proven that it really is calories in vs calories out. the not eating after whatever time may work for some people because of psychological reasons but has nothing to do with the time that they eat. There are many places in the world that normally have dinner at 10pm, have you noticed that they are generally thinner than north americans who tend to eat earlier?
Here is a link with reference to 1 study that was done....
"Many diets tell you not to eat after a certain time in the evening in the belief that the body will store more fat because it is not burned off with any activity. However, a study at the Dunn Nutrition Centre in Cambridge suggests otherwise. Volunteers were placed in a whole body calorimeter (which measures calories burned and stored) and were fed with a large lunch and small evening meal for one test period, then a small lunch and large evening meal during a second test period. The results revealed the large meal eaten late at night did not make the body store more fat
And here is an article on diet myths from msnbc, stating that the eating at night thing is a myth too:
Didn't someone post a newspaper article with a big headline like that not too long ago. Studies show it's how many calories you eat, not when you eat them ??? Something like that?
I think it was Meg. I have to get ready for work but if you're cruising around here today, you'll be able to find it.
Thank you for your feed back everyone. I'll look around for that article SusanB. I think in the end its more important that I get to the gym even if it means dinner a bit later since I ain't burning many calories sitting on my butt at work all day!
I eat every night before I go to bed. If I go to bed on an empty stomach I will no doubt get up in the middle of the night and snack.
I have lost 90 lbs in a year so I don't think it has slowed me down any.
I have heard it mentioned on body building forums that you need to eat high protein, low carb at night so that is what I do.
Terrie
I always eat dinner late--never earlier than 7 PM and often as late as 8 or 9 PM, sometimes even later if it's taken longer to prepare than expected. I go to bed late (usually between 11 PM and midnight), if I ate earlier I'd be starving by the time I go to bed. I also almost always have a cup of tea and a light snack (usually low cal pudding but sometimes more if my calories for the day are low) around 10 or 11, just before going to bed. None of this seems to have impacted my ability to lose weight.
I've also read, and my personal trainer has told me, that it is a good idea to eat just after working out. Your metabolism is more efficient then so your body processes the food more effectively.
but those calories can come from freshly consumed stuff or stored stuff.... doesn't matter where your body doesn't care :P
You don't need to care either. If it's freshly consumed stuff, then it stops you from storing it. And if it's stored stuff, then that's great too. It's all the same in the end.
Question about eating late...need advice
A quick way to add healthy cals and healthy fats? Nuts!
