http://www.amazon.com/SECRET-Live-Sl...9391413&sr=1-1


Basically it says that we shouldn't eat our biggest meal of the day (or none at all) after 3:00pm. She says you can tweak the time to 4:00 or 5:00, the time is flexable. She points out Sumo wrestlers eat very little in the morning and big meals before bed time. No wonder I look like a Sumo wrestler these days! LOL!

What do you think?

Heidi

Research has shown that it doesn't matter if you eat at night if those calories are part of your daily allotment, because the body processes the calories the same way. However, it is believed that the reason night time eating causes a problem is because usually it's unplanned, so it's extra calories, plus the fact that we tend to eat more fattening foods at night. How many people munch carrot sticks while watching Letterman? It's the more fattening foods that call to us at night. For that reason, a lot of experts do advise us not to eat anything for 2 to 3 hours before bed time. However, the cutoff is usually a more reasonable 7 or 8pm.

I can't imagine stopping eating at 3pm. I personally think most people would get too hungry and be more likely to binge or grab something unhealthy later. But I've not tried it, so

I am not familiar with the book, but I don't eat after 3pm. It's not because I'm on any kind of plan that prescribes it; I just don't like to do it. Maybe just a few times a year, for social purposes. I eat my dinner for breakfast.
But since I'm obese, obviously this is not the magic bullet.

I think that you could point to lots of groups of people who DO eat big meals late and don't look like sumo wrestlers!

All I know is eating at night hasn't stopped me from losing... but as Suzanne says, I have to work to keep it healthy food.

Me for one.

I eat late at night, every night, and have clear through my weight loss journey. And it's not just a little snack of carrot sticks. My late-night 'snack' is more like a meal. The reason? I tried that silliness of practically starving myself after a certain time of day and refusing to let myself eat. Well, that didn't work. I'd lie awake at night so hungry I couldn't sleep and many nights I'd end up in the kitchen anyway eating a bunch of crap that I shouldn't. So I decided no more of this nonsense, if I'm hungry at night, I'm going to eat. So I simply saved a good portion of my calories for eating late at night (because I'm hungrier at night than during the day anyway) and I make sure, every night, that whatever I've decided to have is counted in with my calories for the day.

Worked fine for me. I lost over 85 pounds doing it that way and I didn't feel starved or deprived. Nobody should. I don't believe in deprivation. This isn't a diet for many of us, it's a lifestyle change, so why be miserable for the rest of your life because you're going without food when you want it most? That's insanity. Just PLAN what you're going to eat. Everything I eat at night I make ahead of time so when I'm ready to eat (sometimes not until after 11pm) I have something pre-made to grab so I'm not tempted to fix something I probably shouldn't have.

There are people with health issues that can't eat at night and people who swear they gain weight if they eat past 7:00pm (and it's possible they really do, I can't speak for everyone because I don't know everyone's situation), but I say if you don't have health issues or any other reasons why you shouldn't eat past a certain time, don't deprive yourself. If you're hungry, eat. Just make sensible choices, stay within your calorie range and you'll be fine.

I agree. I can't sleep hungry. Perhaps I could train my body to be sated (is that even a word?) earlier in the day, but it would require a lot of food to get me from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Also, my schedule is set up to where I must eat after 7 pm, because that's just when I get home. And when I get home, I need something to eat. I don't think I've ever implemented a daily deadline, even when I was in was in weightloss mode.

i think the theory is that cutting yourself off somehow means or inspires that you will simply eat less. If I were to give myself a deadline, I'm afraid the binge eater might come out of me and try to compensate. Or, she would not be able to stand it and go nuts after

Heather, I too know people like that. My mother will not eat before 3 p.m. most days and she is at a normal weight. It's just what her body does.