I've heard the saying Eat like a King in the morning a prince at noon and a pauper in the evening... does anyone do this, eating thier smallest meal for supper.

I'm tempted to try this but admittedly it's kind of daunting, as I'm used to eating pretty late at night. Most days I don't get home from work until 8:30 p.m.

What prompted this was I have a wii fit, and according to it I've gained weight. I know it's mainly just food because I probably haven't digested what I've eaten last night.

Does the food eaten closer to bed time translate to fat more aptly then food eaten earlier in the day?

I'm nervous because I hate being hungry and certainly can't sleep if my stomach is growling.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

Thank you

I've not done this, but I have many, many friends that do and they all say that, once you get use to it, it makes managing cravings easier. I have kids that typically don't eat very well during the day (school lunch) and want a big dinner at night, so it doesn't fit with my lifestyle.

Optical Goddess, from everything I have read from the most recent findings, it doesn't matter when you eat..it matters what you eat. If you are creating the all important "calorie deficit" each day, things will be moving in the right direction. I have also read you burn more calories sleeping than sitting and watching TV.

Of course, you have had so much success I would just say keep doing what you are doing!

I have occasionally tried it but eating more in the first parts of the day just sets me up to want even more. I tend to eat pauper, pauper, really hungry king!

I kind of do this. I eat a smallish, but filling breakfast. Usually steel cut oats and soy milk. I eat a big lunch and a medium dinner. I try to make lunch my big meal, but it doesn't always work that way. I also have kids that like to eat at night. I just have a smaller portion at dinner. They snack on apples and other healthy stuff at night if they're still hungry. It does take a while to get used to it. Make sure you have plenty to keep you occupied at night until you get used to it.

I once lost 20 lbs in a short period of time by just eating really light at night and not changing anything else. I would eat a sandwich or a protein shake. It's been harder since I remarried. My husband is a really big night eater and snacker.

Thanks all for your replies.

I tend to eat more at night if I'm home w/ my husband. If it's a day that I work until 8:30 or so, I'll eat some Hummus and a pita, maybe a pudding or banana.

When I'm at home w/ him, supper is definately the big meal of the day.

I have decided to just attempt to eat lighter at night, but not force it upon myself. I cannot eat if I am not hungry, so that's where the lighter lunch comes from.

Breakfast isn't huge, but it's generally filling.

To whoever said I should stick with what I got, I agree. I mainly just keep my points in mind. I've been working out more and have tried to be smarter about the carbs...I love carbs. I'm not giving them up, but just trying to match them up w/ protein and such..

but I had heard the idea of eating lighter as the day goes on and was curious to see how it has worked for people in real life.

It doesn't matter what time you eat, if you go to bed the food doesn't sit in your stomach it gets processed- no matter what four hours later that food will be completely gone from your stomach and converted into whatever it's supposed to be, fat, poop, muscle, whatever.

I eat a light breakfast, a decent lunch, then a larger dinner. I do it this way because then if I don't I'll just want to snack anyways. Helps keep me fulfilled longer

It seems that if I eat light at night, I weigh less the following morning than I do if I eat a heavier meal/more food. I know that I'm not gaining 4 lbs. over night, so I think it has to be the food still processing and digesting.

In both these situations I eat the same amount of points, they are just distributed differently, so it's not like I'm actually eating less.

It is also because I feel like if I eat something right before I go to sleep, since I'm sleeping and not using as much energy as I would awake, that the food is more apt to turn into fat.

I've also 'heard' that if you are to eat before you go to bed to eat something like pudding or a banana rather than bread like items because of how the body deal with carbs.

Ugh! This is so much more difficult than it needs to be! I'm beginnign to think it's one of those things that works for some people, doesn't work for others, and others it doesn't do anything.

I think the saying is just a way of overcorrecting the way in which some people eat, which is to skip breakfast, eat meagerly at lunch & then go on an extended binge from late afternoon till bedtime.

Like during my swimming lessons when the teacher has us exaggerate a certain part of the stroke till we realize it's important & then do it more naturally afterward. We were under-doing it before, so over-compensating helps teach us moderation.

Or something like that.

[QUOTE=Optical Goddess;2653184I've also 'heard' that if you are to eat before you go to bed to eat something like pudding or a banana rather than bread like items because of how the body deal with carbs.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure I understand this. Pudding and bananas are also high in carbs.

I tend to eat sort of ''king, vegan king, pauper'' so to speak. That is, pretty much whatever I want for breakfast at 11AM, a super-healthy (all fresh fruit and veg) but large lunch at 7PM, and a small, maybe 200 calorie snack at 11:30PM when I get home from work. I eat at these odd times because I work second shift. It seems to be working for me, the scale is registering a downward trend almost every other or every third day, averaging about 1 to 1.5 lbs per week. I don't care what people read or say on TV, no one will ever convince me that eating right before bed vs. eating earlier in the day doesn't make any difference. It just doesn't make sense. I agree that calories in/calories burned is the main factor, but to say that timing doesn't contribute at all cannot be true. It's not like your body just tallies it all up on an internal calculator at the end of the week and adjusts its own weight accordingly. I do agree that everyone's bodies are different, and their metabolisms are different. You have to experiment and find what works for you. I would say from looking at your ticker that you have found your own road to success. Congratulations for that!

I've heard eat high protein before bed, which is why normally when I get home late on M/W from class I'll eat a quickly made tuna salad or heat up some chicken or something.

Everyone's cousin's naturopath's siser-in-law who once met a chiropractor has some foolproof thing about not eating X or Y or Z at whatever time of day.

Meanwhile, am I the only one thinking that eating like a pauper means eating filling, not-nutrient-dense, carbs? The food of poverty isn't high quality lean protein or fresh vegetables in February.

I always thought eat like a pauper just meant eat a small meal.

Like eat a large breakfast, a medium sized lunch, then a small meal for dinner.

When I posted originally, I was referring to the size of each meal, rather than any gastro-economic statements....although yes, the cheapest foods are usually the ones that are worse for you, like chips and misc. crap.

I have decided that I'm just going to do what I'm doing. A lot of people would find the amount of carbs I eat to be atrocious, but it works for me.

I was just curious to see if there was any truth to this meal size thing as well as when one eats in relation to their sleep patterns.