Eating late but hours before sleep- is that a no no?

amother

Tue, Aug 31 2021, 9:47 pm

for weight loss?
If you eat late say 8 pm but go to sleep at 1 am or later, Does it matter that you're 'eating late'? If you go to sleep at 10 pm and eat dinner at 5 pm, is that better than going to sleep at 1 am and eating at 8? If yes, why, if you're up 5 hours afterwards anyway.

amother

Canary

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 1:30 am

Calories are calories doesn't matter when you consume them.

If you ate tons during the day, you may want to stop in the evening. But if you didn't manage to eat enough during the day, there should be no issue eating in the evening.

I know some people do not agree at all with this opinion. But I managed to lose 45 pounds this way.

amother

Daisy

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 4:27 am

Many people have great success on intermittent fasting. There are a few formulas, but one is limiting the total amount of hours they eat a day. That can be eating from 12pm until 8pm.

It's called the 16/8 method and it involves fasting every day for about 16 hours. And restricting your daily eating window to approximately 8 hours.
Doing this method of fasting can actually be as simple as not eating anything after dinner and skipping breakfast.
For example, if you finish your last meal at 8 p.m. and don’t eat until noon the next day, you’re technically fasting for 16 hours.
You can drink water, coffee, and other zero-calorie beverages during the fast, which can help reduce feelings of hunger.
Within the eating window, you can fit in two, three, or more meals.
It’s very important to primarily eat healthy foods during your eating window. This method won’t work if you eat lots of processed foods or an excessive number of calories.

southernbubby

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 4:45 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

According to my dietician, the kitchen closes after supper so are you eating supper at 8 p.m. or is this a snack?

amother

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 9:53 pm

southernbubby wrote:

According to my dietician, the kitchen closes after supper so are you eating supper at 8 p.m. or is this a snack?

Eating dinner at 8 pm. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough.

Genius

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 9:56 pm

The timing davka is not an issue, unless your intermittent fasting. If you eat because you’re hungry and you eat healthy food it shouldn’t be a problem.

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 10:35 pm

Timing does matter however everyone’s circadian rhythms are different and so there are really two answers to this.

On average, our bodies start slowing down at night. I could write a whole Torah about it but I think, as with most things in Nutrition, your mileage may vary. I’m assuming you’re a night owl, not a lark with what I say following.

Eating right before bed is actually not so great for you, period. While sleeping, you don’t digest the same way. Calories do not even come into this equation because ultimately, food sitting around not being digested creates other issues. Insulin reactions, blood sugars rising and no easy way to clear it out because your basal metabolism ( which is what you need at rest,) does not account for also needing to digest. Basically you are inducing gastroparesis, which is nasty and also coincidentally a symptom of uncontrolled blood sugar.

Food sitting in your belly can cause indigestion, bad dreams or sleeplessness. These things are proveable.

To your specific question- I think eating late but four hours before you go to bed is likely not a problem. I think that assuming you’re still moving around at a rate higher than sleep, you’re giving your body the time it needs to do it’s work before you shut down for the night. Most professionals will agree in this topic that stopping eating three hours before you sleep is advisable no matter when you go to sleep.

Also to be considered is how much you eat at that meal. If you eat normally, I’m sure it’s fine. If you eat a massive quantity that can’t be successfully digested by sleep time, then that is really still a recipe for inducing gastroparesis.

I eat late frequently. I’m a night owl. Ultimately though eating a meal four hours before bed is different than grazing for hours before bed.

I’m tired and I don’t have time to look up references but in my circadian rhythms studies last year it was very clear that time of eating does in fact matter.

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Sep 01 2021, 10:45 pm

amother [ Canary ] wrote:

Calories are calories doesn't matter when you consume them.

This is very much not true although it may work for you. Always, always, aim for finishing your food three hours before sleep. Not because if calories but health.

See attached. https://I.imgur.com/gGvD8K0.png

amother

Jade

Thu, Sep 02 2021, 10:28 am

Did you think it is a yes yes ?

amother

Thu, Sep 02 2021, 3:09 pm

amother [ Jade ] wrote:

Did you think it is a yes yes ?

notna

Fri, Sep 03 2021, 10:00 am

Would this apply to taking a nap? Like on Shabbos afternoon?

andrea levy wrote:

iammom

Fri, Sep 03 2021, 10:10 am

andrea levy wrote:

What should one do when the Friday night meal is late and they are so tired, they fall asleep right after the meal? Or even if they wait a bit to go to sleep, 3 hours after the meal in the summer is late.

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Sep 05 2021, 12:27 am

notna wrote:

Would this apply to taking a nap? Like on Shabbos afternoon?

I don’t know about you but in general, I feel gross eating and then Sleeping. Even when I used to fall asleep on Shabbat ( Now I’m the energizer bunny) is try to wait until significantly after the meal. I do think that sleep with food in the stomach induced gastroparesis much like exercising with a full stomach. But if you feel fine, then do what feels good.

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Sep 05 2021, 12:29 am

iammom wrote:

This may be sacrilege, but I just don’t eat so much at the meal when it’s late. I don’t go into it starving. If I eat less, I can sleep sooner without feeling gross. Life happens.

amother

Thu, Sep 09 2021, 6:38 pm

iammom wrote:

You can eat the main portion during the day and just eat a light first course Friday night.

notshanarishona

Thu, Sep 09 2021, 7:11 pm

iammom wrote:

I just have kiddush and a small piece of challah. I eat “dinner” at my usual time around 5