I usually goto bed around 10 but not asleep till midnight. I read or watch a movie.

However I'm finding with kids and their football and music lessons etc, that eating a good healthy dinner before we go at 4:30 5:00 is too early then when we get home around 9 I'm starving.

So I have been having a snack at 4:30 then dinner at 9 but I find I wake up in the morning feeling blah lol. And I have to cook after football especially as kids are starving they basically run sprints and drills for 2 hours.

Thanks
Amanda

I always eat dinner around 8pm with a snack around 10:30 or 11... I did it when I lost 50+ pounds before, and it's not stopping the weight from coming off now. If you don't like eating a big meal late at night, try doing 2 smaller meals at both times, or do the meal at the earlier time, and have the snack late. Just make sure it fits your plan.

Thanks I always thought there was rule not to eat so many hours before you sleep.

This whole thing is so confusing to me. I am going to the doctors later this week I just hope it's not my doctor that's there and that it's one of his partners lol.

Different food plans work for different people. Personally, I eat late, but don't ever feel like eating when I first wake up. I usually don't eat my first meal until I've been awake for several hours. I've been that way since I was a kid. Eating early makes me nauseous for some reason, so I don't. So I'm doing sort of an intermittent fasting thing. I eat big snacks/small meals around noon or 1 and then again at 4 or 5, and then have a large filling dinner around 8, and a sweet treat that fits in my calories around 10:30 or 11, later if I'm working out in that period (I work out at night, too, which is supposed to be "bad"... But it's when I have more energy.)

Other people are ravenous first thing in the morning, or wake up and go to the gym. Do what works for you. I tried the early work outs, the big breakfast, smaller lunch, tiny dinner thing... No bueno. I am always hungry at night, so I tailored my food plan to stop me from snacking at night. I found what works for me. It might take some time to settle into what works for you, but you'll find it.

How many calories are you eating at dinner that you are starving a mere four hours later? Perhaps you need to eat a larger meal at 5 o'clock? Or are you going into the evening hungry because you haven't eaten enough breakfast and/or lunch?

As far as how late to eat, it's really a very individual thing. Some people can do large meals in the evening, others can't. Personally, I eat a light dinner (around 350 calories) at about 5 o'clock and am totally fine for the evening and am not hungry when I go to bed at 9 o'clock. But I'm ravenous when I wake up and breakfast is by far my largest meal of the day. My body just seems to like calories in the morning to get me through the day when I'm up and active, rather than at night when all I'm going to do is sleep.

I am a night time eater to which is why I think that having dinner at 5 then I'm hungry again when I get home.

I know this is a process. I'm trying when I get the hunger twinge to just drink water and stick to my eating times. I haven't started tracking my meals just yet, I will though next week I am just taking baby steps right now, as I know if I try to do to much right away I'll get fustrated and quit.

The 'experts' say that it is better not to eat lots of calories late at night, because you are less likely to burn them off. If you eat more calories whilst you are up and doing stuff, you are going to burn them quicker.
I think you have the right idea though - do what works for you in these early stages. You can get stricter with yourself as you go on.

Another reason for not eating a lot of food late at night is that lying down is not the ideal position for digestion. It is better to be upright. This is what my father's doctor told him. Something to do with the position of the pancreas.

I wish you had told us the other times you eat during the day but on what you've told us so far, I would opt for the big meal in the late afternoon that you first mentioned and eat a small meal when you get home if you are hungry.

I often eat my evening meal around 5pm. As my calories needs are less than yours i can get by until bed time with nothing more than coffee and a piece of fruit usually. Tonight i have to be somewhere at 5.30. This is throwing me off because i don't actually want to eat early today but i will want to eat properly when i'm out and won't be able to. So i will get ravenous. To avoid that i'll eat something before i go and top up my appetite when i get back but it won't be so late, probably 7.30.

If the kids are eating their evening meal at 4.30 5 it would make sense for you to eat then too from the point of view housework.

When all is said and done, its total calories in and out. I have been in situations where i've literally been able to eat only twice a day with the second meal being before 12am, and still put on weight because of the size of the meal and the calories in it.

Avoid intense hunger but don't eat until you are full up. Eat until you are just satisfied.

This is how my body works and in my opinion is just logical. Eat when you're going to be active. Don't eat if you're not going to be active. It seems like a lot of 3FCers skip breakfast and eat huge dinners, though, and still successfully lose weight. You have to figure out what works for you.

I think breakfast is recommended by all weightloss and diet experts. I don't think there's anyone who advises against it. I think the reason for that is because it wakes up your metabolism from sleep mode.

Agree with what Pattience said about eating and then lying down. Bad for reflux, etc.

With time, I think you'll find you'll have to eat less.

I never ate breakfast when my kids were young. When I started my new lifestyle I made myself eat something. I know at first I was hungry all day long. After a few weeks it leveled out and I now wake up ready to eat something.
We eat an early dinner. We eat about 5, and then nothing the rest of the evening.

I do eat breakfast, usually 2 eggs. Then something at noon, then at 5, and most nights I do have a snack. It's the evening that is killing me right now for hunger I've always been a snacker person so I'm trying to break that habbit, and eat meals. I can't do the 6 meals a day like some recommend, as I'm just not hungry enough during the day. I'm sure it will all start to even out, or atleast I hope it does.

It makes more sense to me to focus on the bottom line - total number of calories consumed a day rather than on when they are consumed. For me, for instance, the 6 meals a day woe is a hundred times better than three meals - because no matter how much I eat for a meal, I'll get hungry again 2-3 hours later (like clockwork!). So, I think that if you, OP, are hungry in the evening, then plan your day to accommodate eating then. It doesn't have to be a big meal if that makes you feel "blah" in the morning.. have a light meal, or a couple of snacks. The best way to increase chances of success at weightloss is to make it as easy and as possible - otherwise it just won't be sustainable.

Hi

I'm not sure if this helps... but my behaviour modification therapist and nutritionist have both told me that you should NOT have a cut off for when you eat. If you go to bed hungry, you don't get as good of a rest, your body won't go into as deep of a sleep.. and lack of sleep can result in a weight gain of up to 6 lbs in a year.

The main goal is to not have a crazy HUGE meal before bed, as your body isn't actively working to burn it all off.... but if you're truly hungry, have a snack.. keep it light, wait 20 mins.. if you're still actually hungry, have another small snack. Don't punish your body... listen to it's cues and learn to give it what it needs.