Eating before bed

[TechBoyJK]

I'm really trimming down my diet.

I still find myself pretty hungry before I go to bed. How bad is this? I don't eat alot, but sometimes I'll have something like a bowl of cereal, or a pb&J sandwich.

It is hard to fall asleep when I'm hungry, and if I go to bed hungry, my stomache is usually killing me when I wake up.

Does what I eat when I go to bed turn into fuel for the next day? Or is it just dead weight?

 

[crownjules]

Originally posted by: TechBoyJK
I'm really trimming down my diet.

I still find myself pretty hungry before I go to bed. How bad is this? I don't eat alot, but sometimes I'll have something like a bowl of cereal, or a pb&J sandwich.

It is hard to fall asleep when I'm hungry, and if I go to bed hungry, my stomache is usually killing me when I wake up.

Does what I eat when I go to bed turn into fuel for the next day? Or is it just dead weight?

It's not bad so long as you're not loading up on carbs. Those will become dead weight since your body well decide it doesn't need the calories to burn (you're asleep = very slow metabolism and no activity) and stores them as fat.

Eating a food with a good amount of protein before bed is best. Protein is slower to digest and it won't all go immediately to fat while you sleep. Since it takes longer to digest then it may help your wakeup hunger. But let's face it, most people that go 8 hours without eating are going to be hungry.

 

[Kaido]

I have a couple tablespoons of natural Peanut Butter, sometimes with rice cakes. The natural PB makes me feel really full within like 5 minutes. Otherwise yeah, you can get a stomachache when you wake up, and it can be harder to sleep since you've just put food (energy) in your stomach.

 

[StageLeft]

I think the best way to lose weight is to go to bed hungry. Take a can of tuna in or something but if you can sleep that time away hungry you're golden.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: crownjules

Originally posted by: TechBoyJK
I'm really trimming down my diet.

I still find myself pretty hungry before I go to bed. How bad is this? I don't eat alot, but sometimes I'll have something like a bowl of cereal, or a pb&J sandwich.

It is hard to fall asleep when I'm hungry, and if I go to bed hungry, my stomache is usually killing me when I wake up.

Does what I eat when I go to bed turn into fuel for the next day? Or is it just dead weight?

It's not bad so long as you're not loading up on carbs. Those will become dead weight since your body well decide it doesn't need the calories to burn (you're asleep = very slow metabolism and no activity) and stores them as fat.

Eating a food with a good amount of protein before bed is best. Protein is slower to digest and it won't all go immediately to fat while you sleep. Since it takes longer to digest then it may help your wakeup hunger. But let's face it, most people that go 8 hours without eating are going to be hungry.

Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[crownjules]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

I was working under the assumption the before-bed meal was still within his daily limits for calorie intake. If it isn't then yes, he needs to cut out the meal or cut back somewhere in his other meals so he can.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: crownjules

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

I was working under the assumption the before-bed meal was still within his daily limits for calorie intake. If it isn't then yes, he needs to cut out the meal or cut back somewhere in his other meals so he can.

Right, but if he is within his goal calorie intake the source doesn't matter. If carbs get stored as fat, they'll get burnt off anyhow since he's in a caloric deficit. Source doesn't matter since the thermic effect for a small meal won't really vary that greatly.

 

[Maverick2002]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: crownjules

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

I was working under the assumption the before-bed meal was still within his daily limits for calorie intake. If it isn't then yes, he needs to cut out the meal or cut back somewhere in his other meals so he can.

Right, but if he is within his goal calorie intake the source doesn't matter. If carbs get stored as fat, they'll get burnt off anyhow since he's in a caloric deficit. Source doesn't matter since the thermic effect for a small meal won't really vary that greatly.

The assumption here is that the person is in fact in a caloric deficit. This is extremely difficult to determine spot-on. You can get an average by keeping track of what you eat for some time, but you won't know exactly.

That said, the idea when losing bodyfat is to hold on to as much LBM (muscle) as possible. Naturally you'll lose some, but hopefully not much. If a before-bed meal source is in question, I would argue that a fat & protein snack is preferable to carbs unless you have a really big appetite, in which case drinking lots of water and eating as much salad as possible will give you some satiety without going above your caloric needs.

 

[KoolDrew]

Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

:thumbsup:

Not eating before bed is just one of those diet tricks to make you consume less calories. If you remove calories from a time period where people are very likely to overconsume calories, you lose weight. Which is actually the idea behind most diet "tricks," it's just a different way to reduce calories. Which is one of those things I find funny about diet books. They advertise as some revolutionary way to lose fat without paying attention to calories and calories don't matter, but the end result for any successful diet is reduced calories. The only difference is how this calorie deficit is acheived and maintained.

 

[JellyBaby]

Some other tips for you:
- Eat a breakfast even if you're not hungry because it makes you eat less throughout the day.
- No sodas or fruit drinks, just water and milk.
- Eat your carbs with fiber. Fiber's good for you, helps make you feel full, it slows digestion and has a positive effect on insulin response.
- Eat whole grains, not refined grains which have nutrients stripped away (brown rice, whole grain pasta and whole grain cereals are great).

I usually have a small snack after dinner before bed. Something with fiber/protein. Add a glass of water and I'm feeling very full.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: crownjules

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

I was working under the assumption the before-bed meal was still within his daily limits for calorie intake. If it isn't then yes, he needs to cut out the meal or cut back somewhere in his other meals so he can.

Right, but if he is within his goal calorie intake the source doesn't matter. If carbs get stored as fat, they'll get burnt off anyhow since he's in a caloric deficit. Source doesn't matter since the thermic effect for a small meal won't really vary that greatly.

The assumption here is that the person is in fact in a caloric deficit. This is extremely difficult to determine spot-on. You can get an average by keeping track of what you eat for some time, but you won't know exactly.

That said, the idea when losing bodyfat is to hold on to as much LBM (muscle) as possible. Naturally you'll lose some, but hopefully not much. If a before-bed meal source is in question, I would argue that a fat & protein snack is preferable to carbs unless you have a really big appetite, in which case drinking lots of water and eating as much salad as possible will give you some satiety without going above your caloric needs.

And your argument would be wrong. Bodybuilders love to stress how you lose so much muscle in the night, blah blah blah. That's not true. Your body burns glycogen and fat stores for energy. Your LBM doesn't really get touched. In this case, calorie source wouldn't really matter. If the calories are going a bit over what he'd like, he can change to something like a small salad, full of fiber that fills him up for very few calories.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

:thumbsup:

Not eating before bed is just one of those diet tricks to make you consume less calories. If you remove calories from a time period where people are very likely to overconsume calories, you lose weight. Which is actually the idea behind most diet "tricks," it's just a different way to reduce calories. Which is one of those things I find funny about diet books. They advertise as some revolutionary way to lose fat without paying attention to calories and calories don't matter, but the end result for any successful diet is reduced calories. The only difference is how this calorie deficit is acheived and maintained.

If people would just track their weight every morning and track what they eat each day on Fitday, there wouldn't be any need for these silly tricks.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Well, the problem with this is that if you're over your caloric maintenance, the source of calories doesn't matter. If you burn 2500 and your meal before bed puts you at 2600, you won't lose an ounce. As long as you're within your caloric range while on your diet (lower than maintenance), you can eat what you like before bed. Most people overeat at that time and the body just stores it as fat. If you don't overeat, you have nothing to worry about.

:thumbsup:

Not eating before bed is just one of those diet tricks to make you consume less calories. If you remove calories from a time period where people are very likely to overconsume calories, you lose weight. Which is actually the idea behind most diet "tricks," it's just a different way to reduce calories. Which is one of those things I find funny about diet books. They advertise as some revolutionary way to lose fat without paying attention to calories and calories don't matter, but the end result for any successful diet is reduced calories. The only difference is how this calorie deficit is acheived and maintained.

If people would just track their weight every morning and track what they eat each day on Fitday, there wouldn't be any need for these silly tricks.

Yes, but telling people that doesn't sell.