Eating late cause weight gain?

Question

I eat 1200-1600 calories daily to maintain my weight, but I was wondering, does when you eat matter? It might just be me, but I feel heavier this week'...I've been eating around 7pm...same amount of calories daily, though...
is it just in my head? does it matter if you eat alot of your calories (like 600, mainly made up of some meat, 1 1/2 cups rice, veggies) around 7pm-8pm? and sleep at 9-10pm? I've heard that it leads to weight gain, but some people say that it's irrelevant as long as you burn all the calories up...so which is the correct answer?

Answer 1

The time at which you eat doesn't actually cause more gain weight. Eating a sandwich at 4:00 PM versus 11:00 PM isn't going to have differing effects on your body. It's typically not recommended to eat later at night because when people have cravings at night, it's not for something healthy. When you eat late, you tend to grab something unhealthy, like cookies or chips, rather than healthy food, like fruits or vegetables. Nothing's wrong with eating late if you can discipline yourself to eat healthier.

Answer 2

No No NO NO! You body burns calories everyday. If your body burns 2000 calories a day and you eat 1600 calories a day then you will lose weight, period. There is no science behind eating late at night and weight loss. There is science behind eating all your calories in one sitting or in very few meals as your bodies metabloism can slow down but never to the point of not losing if your total calories taken in is less than your total calories expended. Here is some information that will help you determine if the amount of calories your eating is correct for weight loss....

Step 1: Find out what your basal metabolic rate is. Goto http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/basal/basal.html
This is the amount of calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight.

Step 2: Do you exercise? Do you exercise right? Exercising right means that you monitor your heart rate and make sure that you reach your target heart rate and maintain it for the longest period of time while exercising. You have two targets a fat burn zone and an cardiovascular zone. The fat burn is usually 60% of your maximum an d is easier to achieve and maintain and if your goal is weight loss this is where you want to be. Just walking/excising is a good start but if you want to get the most out of your work out find out what your target range is. If you don't belong to a gym then I recommend the
Polar Fitness F11 Heart Monitor Watch.

Step 3: You need to decrease your caloric intake or increase the amount of calories your body uses in a day by 500 calories a day for a week to lose 1 pound. So you can decrease that basal number you got in step 1 by 500 calories and exercise very little(yes you still need to exercise). Or you can decrease it by 250 and exercise off 250 calories or any other combination. Remember that your basal number is the amount of calories you body needs to live. If your number were 2400 then your body burn 100 calories per hour. So if you walk for half an hour and burn 300, 50 of that is your basal.

Step 4: Count your calories, it's not hard and you'll find out that you eat a lot of the same things on a daily basis so you won't have to research everything over and over again. Balance what you eat(equal parts carbs and protien whenever possible) . One of the best websites out there is one from the FDA. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
This database has almost every food on the planet counted and weighed. (Hint: they do a lot of their weights based on 100grams. If you put 0.28 in the serving size this equals 1 ounce). Get a reliable food scale, preferably digital. Weigh everything that you put in your mouth that is not prepackaged. You need to know what you’re eating and how much you’re eating. The number one mistake is "eating healthy". Everyone thinks because it's "healthy" the portion isn't that important. A handful of peanuts is "healthy" and has nearly 250 calories! Eat enough calories and it won’t matter how "healthy" it is your going to gain weight.

Step 5: Adjustments and Variety. If you are doing your best and losing weight but your starving, increase the amount of calories your giving yourself by 100-200 calories a day. Losing weight and starving are not good bedfellows. If you starve eventually you will crack and lose the battle. The more types of exercises you do the more weight you will lose. You will work more muscles and keep your body guessing.

Step 6(optional): If you belong to a gym or have some free weights at home. Use them! Muscle takes up less space in your body than fat (pound for pound). A pound of fat sits
around and does nothing all day, while a pound of muscle, even at rest burns calories(increasing your basal metabolic rate).

Step 7: Sleep, Never underestimate the power of a goodnight sleep. Will power can crumble in a second if your going through your day tired. You end up with a diminished sense of self control and tend to “give in” to temptation.

Step 8: Find a distraction. Read a book, Ride a bike, Play a game. Whatever takes your mind off of food, do it. You will need something that you can turn to in a moment of weakness. Something that will distract you for a half an hour so that your will can reassert itself and help you to make a rational decision.


Good luck!!!

Answer 3

My uncle told me when I was living with him that we must eat dinner before 7pm because if you eat late you go to bed and you don't have time t0\o work off the calories you just consumed.

I'm not sure if he is right but it makes sense, doesn't it?

Answer 4

If you eat in the morning your body gets to use the fuel right away....if you eat at night then you are storing it till morning and some of it will have degraded (Lost nutrient) in your gut during sleep.

Answer 5

It really doesn't matter. It is calories in vs. calories used that determines weight gain or lose.

Answer 6

Don't eat within a couple of hours of sleeping because your body will 100% digest what you ate and turn it into bad fat while sleeping with the food in your system...

Answer 7

If you plan on going to sleep, not long after you eat, then you might want to just skip that meal.

Answer 8

yea what she aid but also when you ate at night your also about to go to sleep so your body wont burn as much fat

Answer 9

No it doesn't matter what time you eat.