It’s a Spanish tradition: Have your last meal late at night, about 9:00 P.M., not long before you head to bed.

Eating right before bedtime? Isn’t that an invitation to obesity?

Evidently not. There’s now scientific evidence that you don’t gain more weight if you eat late at night. Several studies confirm that when you at has no connection with weight, and survey by the Department of Agriculture has demonstrated that evening eating in particular has no more effect on your weight than morning eating.

It’s the total number of calories consumed daily and expended in activity that makes – or breaks – weight gain. Apparently, the time of day when you consume those calories or burn them is really not an issue. The calories in your bedtime snack will be burned when they are needed. Even sleep burns about 50 calories an hour.

Dr. Howard M. Shapiro

I differ with this article -- I find at night I eat MUCH MORE than I do during the day. "Survey" studies (based on recall) don't mean much in the long run...also, I can say from experience that most Europeans and Asians eat FAR less that Americans do. When we have meetings in London, for example, some of our attendees from the US take a 'snack pack' of candy bars, etc. because they know they won't be getting as much food as they are accustomed to here.

Unless I'm out to dinner, I do not eat after 7:30 p.m. I sleep better when I don't have a full stomach!

I forgot to add that most non-Americans do NOT eat their meals in front of the TV or reading the way us Yanks are accustomed to do. Being mindful of what you are putting in your mouth adds to the satisfaction of your food and you will end up feeling more satisfied with less. I am sure that I am not the only one who has sat in front of the TV (or PC) with a huge portion of food and not even realized you had eaten it all...until it was all gone!

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Mrs. Jim