Weight Loss Support - Eating after 8

I heard that it is bad for you to eat after 8 at night. Is that true and if so, why?

Thanks.

I think it's a mental trick to stop folks from snacking at night. It's sooo easy to blow a whole day with TV munchies.

I do eat whenever. As long as I stay within my calorie counts ... I can eat.

Because of work scheduling, I often eat at 10:30 pm or a bit later. I don't think it matters when you eat, just how much you eat during an entire day's time.

I think that some people believe that, since your metabolism slows during sleep, that you will be more likely to store calories consumed closer to bedtime as fat, but I don't think it really works that way. Even if you did store late night calories as fat, you'd burn them off the next day when the day's deficit kicked in.

I agree that generally people just want to discourage late night snacking.

My mother used to stop me from eating after 7pm but I think what matters is how much you eat that day... not what time you eat it

It's calories in vs calories out. Doesn't matter when you have them. I think that people (myself included) have a tendancy to eat more, or eat extra at night, and that's why they say that.

Now, I often eat dinner after 8. I generally have a fairly later lunch (1:30 or 2pm), and am not hungry for dinner until after 8. And the main chunck of "my plan" is to not eat when I'm not hungry! So I lose weight just fine eating after 8)

I agree with the others. It's a way to put the brakes on and eliminate overspending calories. You make a strict rule to NOT eat past a certain time and that's that. No more calories can creep in. It can be quite effective for curbing that nighttime mindless eating, where a whole days "good" food behaviors can be blown out of the water.

I DID use this method early on in my journey, but when I gained some control, I re-arranged my calories to safely have some for the evenings and now sometimes I eat right before bed. But it's all accounted for and within my calorie budget. No overspending of calories for me. Weight loss continued nicely and now I'm maintaining just fine.

It's all about finding what works for you, with being open to change things as needed.

My mother used to stop me from eating after 7pm but I think what matters is how much you eat that day... not what time you eat it


Yep! It doesn't matter WHEN you eat, it matters WHAT you eat!

The thought that it is bad to eat after a certain hour is a lot of hogwash. It all depends on how many calories you eat . It is what you eat , not what time you eat.

I agree with others, it is only a trick to prevent late night snacking. Last night, my husband came home shortly after 8pm and we ate dinner a little after that. I got home at 7pm, prepped dinner, did a variety of things so if I didn't eat after 8pm, then I'd have to skip dinner.

I just noticed the title of this thread "is it bad for you to eat after 8 PM?"

Just to echo and repeat - the only thing that is "bad" for you/us is to take in more calories then is needed to create a calorie deficit. THAT'S the "bad" thing. And then of course when you're maintaining, the "bad" thing would be to take in more calories then is needed to maintain. Keep those calories in check. Keep those calories in check. KEEP THOSE CALORIES IN CHECK. You do that - and it's all good. :)

I've recently needed to add a pre-bedtime snack - I'm forced to work out in the evenings, and discovered that if I don't have something those nights, I'll wake up about 2am because my stomach is growling so crazy! It doesn't take much to avoid it, though - just an 80-calorie mozz stick or a couple of ounces of meat will do the job. I tried a piece of fruit, but that doesn't work - it seems like it has to be protein/fat (but that's just me).

I think the only thing that could be bad is having a heavy meal and then going to bed, since that could interfere with sleep and poor sleep causes increased cortisol (stress hormone) which leads people to feel hungrier the next day. I would keep it fairly simple and light if it's close to bed time, but there's no magic hour.

I ditto everyone else - the time of eating seems to matter very little compared to the quantity of calories and quality of food consumed, as a whole, over the course of the day. If you are genuinely hungry later in the evening, as I often am, it is better to plan in a late evening snack into your calories than to risk ravenous hunger and bingeing/overeating later on.

Interesting! I always thought it was because at night that the food just stayd on you so to speak lol I try not to eat too late if for no other reason than I get nightmares.

Yep! It doesn't matter WHEN you eat, it matters WHAT you eat!


I agree

I would not have been as successful as I have been had I not planned to eat a fairly high percentage of my daily calorie budget in the evenings. That's when I get hungriest, and I didn't want to set myself up to fail.