Weight loss and night time snacks....

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

02/24/2009 01:03:15 PM · #1

OK...I'm going to put this MYTH to rest. I am doing this for my own mental health (I spent a few hours trying to explain this to my wife).

In the above picture there are 4 ways you can eat your daily calories. The calories in black are the amount of calories a person needs to maintain their weight (Or if you are trying to lose weight, it's the amount of calories you've set for yourself to lose weight. How to do that properly is another discussion). The first bar shows a 'typical' eating style. Breakfast lunch and dinner are all eat, and the total calories eaten are 3000. In the second bar, the the only difference is the time you've eaten. You may have eaten your last meal late in the day, but you've still stayed within your caloric intake. I will skip the third bar for now. The forth bar shows that you've added a snack to your day. How is it that you have a snack and still stay at only 3000 calories: You didn't eat ALL your calories in the first 3 meals, saving some for the end of the day. At the end of the day, you've achieved what your body needs to stay healthy.

Now that third bar. That shows that on top of eating your 3000 calories you've consumed a late night meal of 200 calories. This means you will gain weight over a period of time. Eventually, you will stall at whatever weight 3200 calories is for you (Each individual is different...genetics, daily activity etc come into play). The reason you gained weight was not because that snack happened to be at a late time in the day, but because you ATE TOO MUCH!! If you would do as the forth bar has done and eaten your snack WITHIN your caloric intake, you would have maintained your weight (Or weight loss).

Now back to the second bar where dinner is eaten late in the evening. A common myth is that by eating late you are going to gain weight. This is not true. Your body does not metabolize your food differently because you happen to be going to bed within the next few hours. Your body still burns calories while you sleep. Having a bed time snack should only be avoided if you personally feel sick when doing it. There are no health risks to eating before going to bed so long as you are doing it in a healthy manner. High protein and fat type snacks are better as they take longer to metabolize and make you feel fuller. Your body DOES NOT gain weight hour by hour...it's over the course of weeks and months and years of over-eating that you gain weight. SO...if you are hungry, it's 1130pm and you haven't eaten ALL your calories and you need a healthy snack and know just what to eat THEN EAT IT.

This post is in response to the argument my wife and I had tonight on this very topic. Please people, when it comes to facts, use FACTS from RELIABLE sources and not infomercials.

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

02/24/2009 01:12:01 PM · #2

You got a lady and you want her gone/huh, huh, huh, huh
But you ain't got the guts/huh, huh, huh
She keeps naggin' at you night 'n' day/huh, huh, huh, huh
Enough to drive you nuts/huh, huh, huh, huh
Pick up the phone, leave her alone/huh, huh, huh, huh
It's time you made a stand/huh, huh, huh, huh
For a fee, I'm happy to be
Your back door man, hey

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

02/24/2009 01:56:34 PM · #3

Hmmmm.

I read an article that showed how sumo wrestlers would eat and then sleep to gain more weight than if they had eaten and then gone on with their day. Had something to do with how the body processed calories differently when it was at rest vs. when active.

Here

Sorry to pee in your punchbowl, but it seems that when you eat is important.

Message edited by author 2009-02-24 13:59:30.

IreneM

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

02/24/2009 02:14:32 PM · #4

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Sorry to pee in your punchbowl,

LOL! I'll never drink punch again.... ;-)
Back on topic: If you eat a good breakfast, a reasonably good lunch and nothing at all after 6p.m., only drink mineral water or tea without sugar or milk, it does wonders for your weight. Life is crap but you certainly get thinner ;-)

02/24/2009 02:31:52 PM · #5

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Sorry to crap on your platter...but time is not relevant. Living in Japan I'm very familiar with how Sumo wrestlers eat, and it takes years to get to where they are and their food consists of healthy high calorie intake, which means eating more in volume. Doing that before training would cause nausea, pain and pretty much the inability to move. Thus eating later in the day. The meals are also insanely high in calorie, most of that being liquid calories (Easier to consume) in the form of hotpots. It's still calories consumed not time.

Originally posted by facts:

At the end of the day, the more calories you eat, the more weight you gainâ��regardless if itâ��s during the day or at night. Even the healthiest foods, when eaten in greater amounts than needed for energy will be stored as fat. It is not possible to circumvent the laws of thermodynamics and energy balance. It all comes down to calories in vs. calories out.

The reason most people think that eating at night causes weight gain is because people tend to eat extra at night. They might not take into account what they have already eaten during the day and this leads to weight gain. But, if you have eaten well balanced meals during the day and saved some of your extra calories to eat at night, you will NOT gain weight.
So if you eat the same exact meal at 5 p.m. or 9 p.m. it will not affect your body differently. As long as they have the same amount of calories, what really matters is the total amount of food and drink you had over the course of the day, week, or month and how much energy you expended during that time frame.

However, the reason most people do gain weight when eating at night is because they have a late dinner after not eating for a long period of time. This makes it hard to make good food choices and also to keep portions in control. You may end up picking up a slice of pizza or two whereas if you werenâ��t as hungry you would have time to cook a healthy dinner without sabotaging your diet. The second concern that comes with late night eating is â��mindlessâ�� snacking in front of the TV, while studying for finals, or hanging out with your buddies. People tend to pig out on ice cream, cookies, or pizza (not on celery and carrots) and this leads to weight gain because it is usually extra calories taken in.

So aim to spread your calories out throughout the day and if you do have to eat a late dinner, donâ��t worry about it leading to weight gain as long as you have not overeaten during the day. Just remember, it all comes down to the total number of calories taken inâ��regardless of what the clock says.

Having read the link, where a man says he heard about something from a friend (broscience) he's delivering second hand information as fact. Your body does NOT metabolize food differently when sleeping. There is not a flood of nutrition that your body can't handle and therefore is stored. Your body is far smarter than that. It will continue to use whatever energy it requires for muscle repair, energy replenishment etc. What's left over will be stored. What is left over at the end of a days weeks and months, not hour by hour.

Message edited by author 2009-02-24 14:39:40.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

02/24/2009 02:34:58 PM · #6

Originally posted by IreneM:

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Sorry to pee in your punchbowl,

LOL! I'll never drink punch again.... ;-)
Back on topic: If you eat a good breakfast, a reasonably good lunch and nothing at all after 6p.m., only drink mineral water or tea without sugar or milk, it does wonders for your weight. Life is crap but you certainly get thinner ;-)

The life is crap part is what causes many people to lose focus of their diet and trickle back into bad eating habits. Being able to eat moderate meals over the course of the day will prevent you from feeling the hunger pains and you will be able to sustain your diet for as long as you like.

ErikV

Nikon D7000

02/24/2009 02:41:54 PM · #7

Actually you need to add one more graph. Graph #5 includes daily exercise -- 3 miles of walking/running (or something equivalent) will burn away 300 calories so you can have your three meals AND your snack and not worry about all of this stuff.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

02/24/2009 03:14:42 PM · #8

Originally posted by ErikV:

Actually, that bar isn't necessary. All this is assuming that exercise is already being done, that 3000 calories is what you need to maintain your current healthy weight OR the 3000 calories is your reduce calories (A deficit) in order to lose weight at a moderate rate. Cardio exercise is not the best way to create a deficit in calories. Again, that's a completely other topic. If you are interested in knowing why check this out

How do to cardio if you must

Spork99

OM System OM-1

02/24/2009 03:48:13 PM · #9

Originally posted by heavyj:

Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Hmmmm.

I read an article that showed how sumo wrestlers would eat and then sleep to gain more weight than if they had eaten and then gone on with their day. Had something to do with how the body processed calories differently when it was at rest vs. when active.

Here

Sorry to pee in your punchbowl, but it seems that when you eat is important.

Sorry to crap on your platter...but time is not relevant. Living in Japan I'm very familiar with how Sumo wrestlers eat, and it takes years to get to where they are and their food consists of healthy high calorie intake, which means eating more in volume. Doing that before training would cause nausea, pain and pretty much the inability to move. Thus eating later in the day. The meals are also insanely high in calorie, most of that being liquid calories (Easier to consume) in the form of hotpots. It's still calories consumed not time.

Originally posted by facts:
At the end of the day, the more calories you eat, the more weight you gainâ��regardless if itâ��s during the day or at night. Even the healthiest foods, when eaten in greater amounts than needed for energy will be stored as fat. It is not possible to circumvent the laws of thermodynamics and energy balance. It all comes down to calories in vs. calories out.

The reason most people think that eating at night causes weight gain is because people tend to eat extra at night. They might not take into account what they have already eaten during the day and this leads to weight gain. But, if you have eaten well balanced meals during the day and saved some of your extra calories to eat at night, you will NOT gain weight.
So if you eat the same exact meal at 5 p.m. or 9 p.m. it will not affect your body differently. As long as they have the same amount of calories, what really matters is the total amount of food and drink you had over the course of the day, week, or month and how much energy you expended during that time frame.

However, the reason most people do gain weight when eating at night is because they have a late dinner after not eating for a long period of time. This makes it hard to make good food choices and also to keep portions in control. You may end up picking up a slice of pizza or two whereas if you werenâ��t as hungry you would have time to cook a healthy dinner without sabotaging your diet. The second concern that comes with late night eating is â��mindlessâ�� snacking in front of the TV, while studying for finals, or hanging out with your buddies. People tend to pig out on ice cream, cookies, or pizza (not on celery and carrots) and this leads to weight gain because it is usually extra calories taken in.

So aim to spread your calories out throughout the day and if you do have to eat a late dinner, donâ��t worry about it leading to weight gain as long as you have not overeaten during the day. Just remember, it all comes down to the total number of calories taken inâ��regardless of what the clock says.

Having read the link, where a man says he heard about something from a friend (broscience) he's delivering second hand information as fact. Your body does NOT metabolize food differently when sleeping. There is not a flood of nutrition that your body can't handle and therefore is stored. Your body is far smarter than that. It will continue to use whatever energy it requires for muscle repair, energy replenishment etc. What's left over will be stored. What is left over at the end of a days weeks and months, not hour by hour.

Believe what you want. I don't really care.

When I've asked my doctor about it, his reply has been the same, "Don't eat between dinner and bedtime."

From this and your other posts, it's clear you must have a PhD in physiology or similar field and have it all figured out, so what exactly was the point of your OP?

karmat

Apple iPhone 7

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

02/24/2009 03:59:52 PM · #10

Cited as a myth

another page that deals with this

Probably the best support for your argument though, is that it is not easily found as an opinion on the american heart association site, american diabetic association site, or some other dietic/nutrition site I looked at, indicating (to me) that it probably is a non-issue generally speaking. (I'm not saying it isn't addressed, I just couldn't find where it was addressed.)

I canNOT eat before i go to bed. Caffeine (chocolate) keeps me awake, and I tend to have reflux/heartburn type stuff. gack.

edit -- found this on teh american dietic association
food myths
quote -- Timing has no direct effect on how your body uses calories. What you eat, not when, makes the difference. No matter when theyâ��re eaten, excess calories can add up to extra body fat.

from the same site

Message edited by author 2009-02-24 16:04:44.