gawd, why do people listen to her?

lol

I eat late at night EVERY night. Your body will process the food the same at 12 midnight as it will at 12 noon.

Are you counting calories? 8 months is an awful long time to be at the same weight when you're trying to lose. But at least you're maintaining and not gaining

If you're hungry, eat. Regardless of what time it is. Just make sure you're still within your calorie allowance. If you're not watching calories, however, you may be taking in more calories than you need without realizing it. You'd be surprised how quickly it all adds up. I 'changed' my eating habits and started eating healthier food and even exercising a little bit, but I still didn't lose any weight. Then when I started recording everything I was eating, I was SHOCKED at how many calories I was consuming. Healthy food has calories too. And I was still taking in more than my body was burning.

So I started counting and went from 220 to 133

Do you guys think that eating the cereal before bed might have actually HELPED my body relinquish that pound?

Yes, it's very possible. Did you know that some diehard bodybuilders set an alarm to wake up about 2am to eat? It keeps their metabolism going as they sleep.

Hi LLV!

That's pretty awesome about the bodybuilders! I DO know that eating DOES raise metabolism. This whole weight loss process can get very complicated as you read and hear so much conflicting information!

Cheryl

I definitely think the "don't eat after 7pm" rule is not a HARD-@SS RULE... but a GUIDELINE. I mean, clearly, if you have dinner around 4pm & then don't go to bed until midnight, you need something else in your stomach "after 7pm". I think the common thing is that most people eat dinner about 6:00 or 7:00 & go to bed around 10:30 or 11:30. So see, NOT eating after 7pm - that makes sense.

My routine is normally:
Up at 5:45
Shower at 6:00
Breakfast at 7:00
Snack at 10:00
Lunch at 12:30 or 1:00
Snack at 3:30 or 4:00
Off work at 5:00
Workout 5:30 - 6:30(ish)
Dinner around 7:00(ish)
Snack at 8:30 IF WANTED (hardly ever want a snack at this time!)

Sometimes I have to eat past 7 because - well - I don't ALWAYS leave work on time, & I don't ALWAYS get a workout completed by 6:30 & I'm not ALWAYS home in time to cook/eat dinner by 7pm....

Yup! -I think it's just a guideline.

The longer I'm here at 3FC, the more I learn that there aren't any rules to weight loss. All I know what worked for ME -- but that doesn't mean it's going to work for anyone else! There are many, many ways to reach goal and no such thing as a 'one size fits all' diet plan (sorry, Oprah and diet book publishers! )

I've always had a terrible time following any 'diet' with someone else's rules, especially ones that don't make sense. In the end, we all need to find out what works - and doesn't work - for each of us. We have to create our own rules, and it's a good thing because we're the ones who are going to have to live by them for the rest of our lives.

Thanks, Everyone!

There ARE so many weight loss "rules" and plans and systems! I read a lot and try to take the best from what I read and from what I hear. I've never been able to take any complicated plan that soemone ELSE makes up and follow it, either, Meg!

I think that I am also fighting the crazy hormone thing that goes with menopause, too. My age (55) is also working against me from what I read. My skinny vegetarian mother WAS right when she kept telling me to "get the weight off while you are still young", but, of course, who EVER REALLY thinks that their MOTHER could be right?

Anyway, I am plodding along and trying to do all the "right" things that will get me to ONEderland. I have ten pounds to go! After that I have another forty, and I will weigh what I weighed at my 1976 wedding.

Thanks again for all of your comments, suggestions, and just plain S-U-P-P-O-R-T!!!

Cheryl

I usually eat dinner anywhere between 7:00 and 8:00. I go to bed around 11:00 so I don't eat after dinner, but I'm not hungry before bed. I also have GERD so that plays a roll too.

I do believe that if your hungry, you should eat! Your body knows best. I actually uped my calories this week by 200 extra calories and lost 2 lbs. after a very long plateau.

I too, am menapausal and YES I think your metabolism slows down quite a bit and it is a little harder to get those pounds to drop.

Keep working at it, your doing great !

I find I just don't sleep good if I eat right before bed, I need to stay up at least 2 hours after eating to get a good nights sleep. But again, every body is different!

-Aimee

I find that I sleep best if I've had a snack before bedtime. I just eat when I'm hungry. . I get up at 7:30 usually and don't eat BF til about 10:00. I have a 1PM snack, eat my lunch at 3PM, cook dinner at 7PM, eat a snack about 9PM. If I wake up hungry during the night, I tell myself it is OK to have a Low cal. snack if I need one. If I eat during the middle of the night, I'll eat fewer cal's at breakfast if need be. I don't really care what time of day I eat, if I'm hungry, I eat.

I grew up in a household where we ate dinner every day at 5PM. We always snacked on apples and popcorn late evening while playing card games.

I can limit my carbs, I can limit my calories, I can limit my fat. The one thing I can't do is be HUNGRY.

That's all it ever is, conflicts. I agree with what Meg said below...

Amen!

I really can't stand to eat before bed. If I am hungry and it is bed time, I'll go to sleep. If I wake up hungry in the middle of the night, I just go back to sleep. It is a very personal thing though.

Yeah, the human metabolism actually stays the same regardless of what hour so as long as you are awake and consistent with your meals... it mustve been some sort of rumor that your metabolism settles down at night just because you're about to sleep

The only time I woke up hungry in the middle of the night was when I was pregnant

For the most part, I dont eat after 8pm. Thats just because after a life time of late night snacking, I needed to quit the habit. If Im hungry by 8pm, I'll have a snack, if its 10 and Im starting to feel hungry, I tell myself the kitchen is closed and I go to bed. Ive never woken up hungry because of this.

So, the time limit for me anyway, is all about breaking a habit. It works for me.

To answer your question Cheryl, I think the cereal broke your plateau, because you did something different. You've been keeping food away after 4pm for a long time. Your body got used to it. You threw it a curve ball, shook things up a bit....and you are down a lb because of it. Wonderful!!! Keep changing things up every 6 weeks, and you'll see your 1976 wedding weight for sure!

Cheryl- I just am reading Bob Greene's book. The whole reasoning behind not eating 2 hrs before bedtime is so you will be hungry enough in the morning to eat breakfast, since most of us with weight problems skip breakfast. The farther I read into the book, the more since it makes. You don't need to stop eating until 10:PM if your bedtime is midnight. My problem is I fall asleep at 8:PM and wake up around 10PM for a snack. BTW, we are close to the same age (I'm 53) so I can definitely relate to the menopausal thing.

Hi Shelley!

I heard Bob Greene on Oprah several months ago and guess I needed more info. I SHOULD have gone to get Bob's book THEN so that I could get all the details about the COMPLETE plan and the reasons behind it all. Yesterday I bought Bob's book The Best Life Diet. Is that the one that you mean? I am only at the beginning of the book, but I like what I hear about finding the REASONS behind why you eat. I am finding that REASONS issue to have many layers for me, and it seems that I am just at the few outer skins of the onion, so to speak, on discovering all of my emotional issues that have contributed to my life of SLOTH!!!!

Thanks for the input! Maybe we can discuss more after I have read more!

Cheryl

Yes, Cheryl. That's the book. I read quite a bit while I was getting a pedicure yesterday.