How late should I eat?

[mrskeffer08]

I started on Feb. 23. I have not weighed myself yet.. Still kind of scared too. My boyfriend says I look a little smaller.. But i just dont feel like I have lost alot. But I am going to weigh myself in a week. But I was wondering what is the latest I should eat. My boyfriend works usually until 10 at night and comes home and eats and I get hungry from smelling his food.. Sometimes ill get a cheese stick or something like that.. But just wondering whats the lastest I should eat.. Also.. I can not live without slim jims lol. So should i eat them? It says there only 3 carbs for 4 sticks.

Anyother infro would help out alot. Thank you!

[WWJD]

Re: How late should I eat?

Eat as late as you want. I am a nocturnal eater--always have been. I have never been a daytime eater at all, only when I am eating for taste--and that's when I get fat. I believe Dr. Atkins got so much flack for this woe that he had to say eat throughout the day, but I say from listening to my body when I'm maintaining my weight or while on this woe is to listen to my body and follow. So, save some calories for the evening and eat then, that's what I do and I'm still losing. As far Slim Jims if they aren't bothering you and you're watching your carb intake close, then you're fine I guess. But I wouldn't eat them, the ingredients have corn syrup, dextrose, and wheat product which is a no-no big time!! This in the long run this can probably make you never kick sugar. Try some other form of Jerky without the no-no ingredients and 0 carbs. In induction the only carbs we should have are from veggies on DANDR's list and some eggs and cheese in moderation, maybe heavy cream but I don't eat the stuff. Watch out for the sugar and flour/starch in everything. I stay away from the fake sugar too, being it triggers me to eat when I'm not hungry.
In Induction its: 65% Fat/30% Protein/5% Carbs.
Try http://www.fitday.com to help you keep track if you haven't yet.

[canucme]

Re: How late should I eat?

one of the reasons i got so fat was the night time eating (i wasnt on atkins though). i absolutely love watching tv and eating! i would watch biggest loser and eat a whole bag of chips. i am fine all day at work. i eat my breakfast and lunch, fill up on water and eat a nice dinner but once i get in front of that tv i am looking for food! so i was talking to one of the trainers at my gym and his advice to me was try not to eat past 6 or 7 at night and to start going to bed an hour earlier. there are 2 benefits there... if you are sleeping obviously you can't eat but also he explained to me how important sleeping is and it doesn't hurt to pick up an extra hour.

so i started following his advice and i feel much better. i usually eat dinner right around 6 and then i don't eat again until i wake up in the morning. I have been going to bed around 9. a couple of nights i didn't fall asleep until 10 but i never left the bedroom because i knew if i did i would binge out on crackers or something.

[Carbonator]

Re: How late should I eat?

Canucme - I agree. I don't think eating late at night is necessarily a bad thing for some people, but I do think its a bad thing for people who battle their weight. I think it is a lot easier to overeat on calories if there is no cutoff on time. I try to cut my meals off at 7pm. But, one issue with that is that I will eat dinner and before waiting 20 minutes to see if I am still hungry, I will go into the kitchen and make some flax bread for dessert to beat the clock. So, you have to deal with issues on both sides.

I also read how eating late at night is bad for your gastrointestinal system and it can cause/increase nightmares or sleeping issues, which I have problems with. So, my advice would be just to try to eat earlier and if you smell the food from the kitchen and it makes you hungry, try making yourself drink 20 ounces of water before allowing yourself to eat something. Usually I am grossed out by all that water that my appetite goes away LOL

[WWJD]

Re: How late should I eat?

one of the reasons i got so fat was the night time eating (i wasnt on atkins though). i absolutely love watching tv and eating! i would watch biggest loser and eat a whole bag of chips. i am fine all day at work. i eat my breakfast and lunch, fill up on water and eat a nice dinner but once i get in front of that tv i am looking for food! so i was talking to one of the trainers at my gym and his advice to me was try not to eat past 6 or 7 at night and to start going to bed an hour earlier. there are 2 benefits there... if you are sleeping obviously you can't eat but also he explained to me how important sleeping is and it doesn't hurt to pick up an extra hour.

so i started following his advice and i feel much better. i usually eat dinner right around 6 and then i don't eat again until i wake up in the morning. I have been going to bed around 9. a couple of nights i didn't fall asleep until 10 but i never left the bedroom because i knew if i did i would binge out on crackers or something.

But, as you stated you were eating chips, if you eat chips you will gain weight, and more than likely you weren't hungry that also will make you gain weight especially with a high carb snack as chips. Try to eat a high protein and fat snack/meal at night before bed you will not gain weight--being you're hungry when you at. But, if what you're doing is working for you then that is wonderful and keep up the good work. You are fasting at night while you sleep, thus you consume your breakfast and are breaking your fast with a wholesome breakfast.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: How late should I eat?

>>I can not live without slim jims lol. So should i eat them?>>

I didn't think I could live without chocolate ... as it turned out I was wrong.

Slim jims are junk ... why do you want to eat junk?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: How late should I eat?

>>once i get in front of that tv i am looking for food!>>

Stop watching TV then. Do something else ... do something that's more active and stimulating. Break the habit.

[canucme]

Re: How late should I eat?

>>once i get in front of that tv i am looking for food!>>

Stop watching TV then. Do something else ... do something that's more active and stimulating. Break the habit.

even while fat i am up and out of the house by 4:30 every morning to be in the gym by 5. i lift (now cardio) every day from 5-7, shower at the gym and get to work by 8. i leave work around 4:30-5:00 and get home at about 6:00. by the time i have dinner it is 6:30. i shower up and relax from about 7-9 so i can get up and do it all over again. now that the nice weather is here i will do a little more after work around the house but even if i was productive until midnight i would be looking for food when i was done. i am learning to break that habit but with the ncaa tourney starting tonight it is gonna be a real test!

[canucme]

Re: How late should I eat?

But, as you stated you were eating chips, if you eat chips you will gain weight, and more than likely you weren't hungry that also will make you gain weight especially with a high carb snack as chips. Try to eat a high protein and fat snack/meal at night before bed you will not gain weight--being you're hungry when you at. But, if what you're doing is working for you then that is wonderful and keep up the good work. You are fasting at night while you sleep, thus you consume your breakfast and are breaking your fast with a wholesome breakfast.

i agre... whatever works. chips are definitely not gonna work!

the trainer i spoke to said regardless of what diet you are on you shouldn't eat past 7:00, especially anything heavy. this is if you go to bed around 10 like the average joe. if you are a night owl and stay up past 12 then i would assume it would be okay to eat later. this guy is pretty good. i have seen him take over 100 pounds off two different people at my gym.

i'm not trying to tell anyone what to do just passing along a tip i got that works for me from someone who is pretty knowledgable about healthy lifestyles.

[ziggy]

Re: How late should I eat?

eating right before you go to bed can keep you awake. but i find if i eat green leafy vegetables before bed it gives me insomnia.... so now when i eat them if at all i never eat them past lunch

but i do try too not eat anything atleast 1 hour before bed which helps me fall asleep easier but also i don't see any problems eating at night as long as your able to fall asleep

its not like your body is going to store any of it as fat we eat low carb but for someone who ate high carb and was unable to burn off that toxic blood sugar spike ya it would all be stored as fat

[ThinSoon]

Re: How late should I eat?

I have found when I follow the plan, after dinner I'm not as likely to be hungry. Snacking has always been a downfall of mine. I have to admit, once in the groove of the plan, I don't feel the need to eat.... strange! Plus, I do get heartburn at night if I eat late, no matter what I eat. Self-stopping I suppose.

Congrats on getting started and that exercise program!

Tracey

[JulieB]

Re: How late should I eat?

I eat when I am hungry - doesn't matter what time of day it is. The real trick is not to eat when you aren't hungry. I used to eat a bag of chips in front of the TV too, but it wasn't because I was hungry!

[LateNiteDiner]

Re: How late should I eat?

I am also a night time eater. Personally, I don't think eating before bedtime is a great habit and I wish I could break the cycle, BUT I also think a calorie is a calorie. If you can eat/snack/binge after dinner WITHOUT going over on your calorie (i.e. BMR) or carb amounts, then technically all should be fine.

My problem is that I tend not to keep track of what I snack on at night so I have no idea if I'm staying on track or not. An 8 oz block of cheese, a bag of pork rinds, or the leftovers from dinner can disappear in a heartbeat if I'm paying more attention to the TV than my mouth!

[Aprile]

Re: How late should I eat?

I was told by my nutritionist not to eat after 6-7pm. Your body starts slowing down at night preparing for sleep therefore you do not digest and metabolise food like you do during the day when your awake. It can cause indigestion and also you don't burn the food off like you would when your more active during the day. It made sense to me so I try to follow it.

[WWJD]

Re: How late should I eat?

i agre... whatever works. chips are definitely not gonna work!

the trainer i spoke to said regardless of what diet you are on you shouldn't eat past 7:00, especially anything heavy. this is if you go to bed around 10 like the average joe. if you are a night owl and stay up past 12 then i would assume it would be okay to eat later. this guy is pretty good. i have seen him take over 100 pounds off two different people at my gym.

i'm not trying to tell anyone what to do just passing along a tip i got that works for me from someone who is pretty knowledgable about healthy lifestyles.

Oh of course I understand what you are saying. I truly believe what works for one might not work for all. My brother has the abs of steel and truly adhere to eating 5 times a day the size of his palm of what he want except for junk food. Now, I cannot follow that guide by forcing myself to eat--that is how I became overweight in the first place, going beyond my CCCL as Dr. A introduced to us in DANDR. But, in general terms about eating there is no scientific proof that if you eat at night you will gain weight. Unless one is consuming high carb laden foods (going above their CCCL count for the day), and or eating when they are not hungry. Like now I am not hungry and I haven't been all day, the fat girl in me would've ate just because of the taste, but the wisdom in me and from my previous success of losing 100 lbs on Atkins in 8 months and primarily listening to my body tells me another. There are some rare days I might be hungry, then if I'm not at night I won't eat.