How Late Should We Really Stop Eating?
By Estela Schnelle MS, RD
www.weeklybite.com
Everyone has his or her own theory about this. I’ve heard it all… “No carbs after 4pm”, “Food turns into fat after a certain hour”. All these myths are false! The truth is, our bodies run on a 24hr clock… not an eight or twelve-hour day. If you are truly physically hungry, you need to eat!
Why are these rules made?
In my article “Dieting vs. Calorie Counting” it states, “eating healthy is very important, but how much we eat is even more important”. This is the main reason why these rules are made. It’s called MINDLESS EATING. For most of us, mindless eating happens in the evening, after dinner, watching TV, when we’re bored, etc… Weight gain generally occurs when we consistently eat for reasons other than hunger (mindless eating). Think about it… we eat dinner, we’re comfortably full, definitely not hungry anymore, but somehow, we still find a way to squeeze a cup or two of ice cream in there. Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with dessert, but you have to account for it. Make it part of your meal. Not the mindless noshing that can occur after dinner.
Make your own rules!
You should know your body better than anyone! Make your own rules. I’ll use myself as an example. It took some time, but I’m happy that I’ve gotten to know my body pretty well. I know how much food is too much for me. I know how much I can eat at dinner and feel content and satisfied. I know that after each meal (including breakfast) I HAVE to have a small piece of DOVE dark chocolate. I know that if I snack too much after dinner, I will not be hungry for breakfast. I know how I will feel the next morning when I over do it at a restaurant the night before. I make it a general rule for myself not to snack or eat after dinner. If I am truly physically hungry after dinner, I will have something small to satisfy the hunger, but the lesson that I take away from that is I either didn’t eat enough for dinner, or didn’t eat enough throughout the day. With my clients, I give them the general rule to stop eating two hours before they go to bed. That way they can feel hungry for breakfast the next morning.
Get to know your body! Try different things out and see what works best for you. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake… that’s the best way to learn! Know that following the rules you have made for your body are better than what any book can tell you!
If you have any questions about this article, want to know more, or have suggestions for future topics, add a comment in the comments section below. If you know of anyone who may benefit from this article click on the “share this” icon below; from there you can post a link to this article or you can email it to a friend.
Tags: Eating Late, Mindless Eating, Weigh Loss, Weight Gain
March 12th, 2009 at 7:22 am
I have found that for blood sugar management, eating a little something before bedtime vastly improves my morning gluose readings which have been the most difficult to control. I wake up feeling hungry, but not ravenous…just right on my hunger scale. Small regular portions of my favorite protein/carb combos keep me on an even keel throughout the day. I have absolutely had to eliminate the old routine of sipping through a glass of wine while snacking during evening TV time. Once I did this, I realized I was a actually a bit hungry by bedtime and this was just fine. My HbA1c results are improving…yay!
March 12th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Hi Lisa! I’m so happy to hear your HbA1c is improving! That’s great news!
And yes, for diabetes, you want to have something small before bed to keep your blood sugar at a good level through the night. Keep up the good work!
~Estela
March 12th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I have so much trouble with no snacking/eating after dinner, but I’m really trying for it. I used to have an ED (well, they don’t ever go away completely I guess) and it’s really hard for me to balance my eating – enough during the day, not too much at night, etc. I love being hungry for breakfast but I only achieve that when I don’t snack after dinner – which is a rarity. I’m glad you talked about this today
March 13th, 2009 at 6:05 am
I usually have a small snack after dinner but it is relatively healthy. The reason I do this is because we eat a pretty early dinner so I’m usually hungry again. I still wake up hungry the next morning so I don’t think I over eat at night.
March 13th, 2009 at 7:40 am
I’ve heard you should eat 1-2 after waking up to jump start your metabolism. I tend to work out in the morning, so I don’t eat for about 3 hours. However, wouldn’t the workout first thing have the same effect? Thanks for clarifying!
Great blog – I just found it via Kath Eats Real Food and am glad I did!
March 13th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Kate,
So glad you like the blog! In regards to eating in the morning, not eating until after you workout is fine. The only time you really need to eat prior to an early morning workout is if you are doing a very intense workout. A good example would be endurance athletes/ long distance runners. Heavy exercising for 90 minutes or more requires fuel. The only other consideration would be if you wake up STARVING (this happens sometimes), you need just a little something to bring the blood sugar up (a swig of oj, 1/4 protein bar), and then you can have a healthy breakfast after your workout.
Hope this helps!
Stay Healthy!
Weekly Bite – Estela
April 1st, 2009 at 12:27 am
Any body have tips they could share on how not to eat in the evening?
When I am at home relaxing after a day at work I always want to nibble, even if I’m not hungry!
I try to stay busy but really I just want to relax
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Hope everybody has (or had) a nice holiday.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 am
Why do many now think that detox entails fasting for days? There is no need to starve yourself for days on end!
Many foods help with the detox process so it would be crazy to deprive youerself of these foods whilst detoxing.