bad idea. you need sleep. it will make no difference how long you wait to sleep. the calorie counting is what counts.

go to sleep.

pretty bad theory... If you do not get a good night's sleep, you will actually burn LESS fat.. you would be much better off going to bed, getting a good night's sleep, and then taking a walk or a jog the next day.

When I was in college I used to stay up late specifically to burn calories that I had consumed. I know people say that the only thing that counts is calorie counting but there are some fitness tips put out by doctors and personal trainers related to the timing of eating.

1. Most professionals will encourage you not to eat within 3 hours of sleeping. The rational is that your metabolism slows when you're sleeping and as a result uses less calories in upkeep and converts more calories to fat. In fact, I think Oprah talked about this and how this simple change alone reduced her weight.

The reality, though, is that if you're eating that close to bedtime it's usually not hunger, it's that you're tired and your body wants sleep and you're interpreting it as a hunger resulting in unnecessary food intake. Since you sleep at 12, try not to eat anything after 9. If you get hungry between 9pm and 12am, go to bed earlier.

2. You should, in your day, burn off all the calories you ate and more before you go to bed if you're looking to lose weight. My personal trainer told me that people who use the BodyBug (that caloric output gadget that tracks with reasonable accuracy how much you're really burning in a day) will actually do additional exercises towards the end of their day at 12am if they haven't burned off as much as they need to.

3. No matter what though, you should be getting 8 hours of sleep. The sleep is vital to effective weight loss.

4. Make dinner your lightest meal. By the same rational, make either breakfast or lunch your largest meal. If you're planning on eating something bad, eat it in the morning so your body has all day to burn it off.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Original Post by lanadefemme:

 

1. Most professionals will encourage you not to eat within 3 hours of sleeping. The rational is that your metabolism slows when you're sleeping and as a result uses less calories in upkeep and converts more calories to fat. In fact, I think Oprah talked about this and how this simple change alone reduced her weight.

 

i think that's BS. it makes absolutely no sense that just because you ate something at night while keeping your calories in check, you would store fat.

does it really make sense to you? i mean, honestly?

i want this myth to die. a fast death.

Haha this is one of the funniest things I've heard

Silly! Calories turning into fat while you sleep is a total myth. Don't you ever wake up and your stomach is way flatter than the night before?

Countless studies have been made linking sleep to weight loss. When your body is well rested, you will have a faster metabolism throughout the day!

If you want to make up for over eating, try exercising for an hour rather than staying up the ENTIRE night. You'll burn just as many calories, and it's actually HEALTHY for you.

Original Post by lanadefemme:

The reality, though, is that if you're eating that close to bedtime it's usually not hunger, it's that you're tired and your body wants sleep and you're interpreting it as a hunger resulting in unnecessary food intake. Since you sleep at 12, try not to eat anything after 9. If you get hungry between 9pm and 12am, go to bed earlier.

When i eat before bedtime its not because im tired, its because my stomach is busy devouring itself and the only way to stop it is to eat something lol. I think its according to schedule conflicts why some may eat late. i go str8 to the gym after work (5ish) work out for 2-3 hours and then go home..by the time i shower and all and settle down its like 9pm and eat, then in bed by midnight.

 

4. Make dinner your lightest meal. By the same rational, make either breakfast or lunch your largest meal. If you're planning on eating something bad, eat it in the morning so your body has all day to burn it off.

I do agree that dinner is my lightest meal and is usually cereal or a salad of some sort. steak and potatoes doesnt sit well with me right before bedtime. i find that if i eat something very heavy like red meat or starchy foods i have a hard time sleeping and i wake up in the morning with bad tummy ache and the bubble guts. Lunch is usually a little more filling with some kind of meat and rice and vegies. Dinner is not a multiple course meal for me anymore uinless its the weekend and i eat at 5 or 6pm

Original Post by lanadefemme:

When I was in college I used to stay up late specifically to burn calories that I had consumed. I know people say that the only thing that counts is calorie counting but there are some fitness tips put out by doctors and personal trainers related to the timing of eating.

1. Most professionals will encourage you not to eat within 3 hours of sleeping Might be true, but most REPUTABLE professionals will tell you it doesn't make a difference. The rational is that your metabolism slows when you're sleeping it slows because you haven't eaten in 8+ hours and as a result uses less calories in upkeep and converts more calories to fat. In fact, I think Oprah talked about this and how this simple change alone reduced her weight. Why anyone would take weight loss advice from Oprah is beyond me, the woman has all the resources in the world, can have an entire team of trainers/cheifs/nutritionists/etc following her around 24 hours a day and still can't keep her weight down.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by lanadefemme:

In fact, I think Oprah talked about this and how this simple change alone reduced her weight. Why anyone would take weight loss advice from Oprah is beyond me, the woman has all the resources in the world, can have an entire team of trainers/cheifs/nutritionists/etc following her around 24 hours a day and still can't keep her weight down.

 

 so true. (:

I think the real reason the rule of thumb is to stop eating 3 hours before sleep has more to do with that "late night calories" tend to be junk, unnecessary, or comfort calories more than useful nutrition.  And also some people do have issues with sleeping soundly on a "full" stomach.

As far as my experience goes, I know a relatively stable eating and sleep pattern helps me avoid my bad habits and makes me less likely to want to skip my excersize.  This ultimately helps my metabolism and weight loss, if not directly.

I am with you on this one magikone69

I try my best to eat every 3 hours but it doesn't always work that way. I eat breakfast at 7:15am. Protein Shake at 10:45am, Lunch (salad & tofu or tuna) at 2:00pm, and another Protein Shake at 4:45-5:30pm. Then I'm at the gym from 6:30-8:45pm. By the time I shower, and settle down my dinner isn't until 9-9:30pm... and I finish around 10pm and I sleep at Midnight. It's hard to keep your ducks in a row when you need to take head of your responsibilities! lol!!

But I must say butball if you work out a lot (like I do) then whatever, overeat... your body might need it for that day. Just go to bed and start fresh tomorrow. I say one bad day is really nothing bad... just stuff your face, do what you need to do so you don't crave the food, and then just kick some serious @$$ in the gym the next day, and stick to your diet like glue for a week... you'll be totally fine :). G'Luck!!

Original Post by magikone69:

Original Post by lanadefemme:

The reality, though, is that if you're eating that close to bedtime it's usually not hunger, it's that you're tired and your body wants sleep and you're interpreting it as a hunger resulting in unnecessary food intake. Since you sleep at 12, try not to eat anything after 9. If you get hungry between 9pm and 12am, go to bed earlier.

When i eat before bedtime its not because im tired, its because my stomach is busy devouring itself and the only way to stop it is to eat something lol. I think its according to schedule conflicts why some may eat late. i go str8 to the gym after work (5ish) work out for 2-3 hours and then go home..by the time i shower and all and settle down its like 9pm and eat, then in bed by midnight.

 

4. Make dinner your lightest meal. By the same rational, make either breakfast or lunch your largest meal. If you're planning on eating something bad, eat it in the morning so your body has all day to burn it off.

I do agree that dinner is my lightest meal and is usually cereal or a salad of some sort. steak and potatoes doesnt sit well with me right before bedtime. i find that if i eat something very heavy like red meat or starchy foods i have a hard time sleeping and i wake up in the morning with bad tummy ache and the bubble guts. Lunch is usually a little more filling with some kind of meat and rice and vegies. Dinner is not a multiple course meal for me anymore uinless its the weekend and i eat at 5 or 6pm

 

eating before you sleep doesnt make it turn to fat.

sleeping slows down your heart rate, breathing, and yes, metabolism.  Since you are sleeping for longer hours than you would be awake between meals, your digestion and metabolism of food slows down, this is why you dont wake up with a stomach ache, dying for food.

the negative impact of eating before bed is that your body is digesting, and thus doing work, which can keep you from falling asleep easily.

im a guru when it comes to self dieting/fitness, ive dropped 30 lbs in 4 months, while gaining 15 lbs in muscle, and almost doubling my lifts, i used to literally wake up 1-2 times a night just to consume some protein.  Doign this actually kept my metabolism up 24 hours a day, and i was in GREAT shape at the time.

When I stay up til like 3am doing assignments I usually end up getting actually hungry, i.e stomach rumbling etc so its much better to just go to bed!

Assuming one does burn more while awake, I still wouldn't do this. It's just not practical. It's stupid actually. You gotta rest up.

Original Post by butball:

thankyou for all replies......!!

but i still want to know when excess food  is stored as fat!

and when u say that dont eat more than u burn each day to remain ur same weight, or each lesser to lose weight , when does 'one day' actually ends???? i just tot that if i extended my day by sleeping abit late then i have a bit more hope in burnin extra calorie!?!?

One day = a 24 hour period... Your body doesn't just decide at the end of the day how much weight should be lost or how much food is stored as fat, and you can't prolong that day by staying awake. Its an ongoing process, calculating the amount you eat/burn in a day is just an easy way of doing it. If you wanna burn more calories you should do some exercise or something.

I think youre thinking that say if youre normally awake from 7am til 10pm then you have 15 hours to burn whatever you ate, however if you stay awake til 3am then you'll have 20 hours to burn it off, but it doesn't work like that. Just go to bed at a normal time!!

Agh I have no idea how to explain this? HELP someone?

I'm not trying to be presumptious but it sounds to me like you are looking for a quick fix. I too used to try crazy things to lose weight and once I finally surendered to calorie counting, exercise, healthy foods, 8 hours sleep, ...etc I finally started to see results. The positive ones.

Regardless of sleep you have to burn 3500 calories to lose a lb, period. You need to develope a healthier approach and create a 500 cal deficit per day. I'd be more than glad to explain that to you if you don't know what that means. Were all trying to help.

Ps- it's a whole lot easier to burn an extra 200 cals for the day on a treadmill than it is to lose sleep because that's about all your gaining from your extended waking period. Your body can store fat when your wide awake too if you've gone over your maintence cals. It's simple math. And yes it is proven sleep deprived women weigh more.