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Will Eating Late At Night Make You Fat?

A Common Concern Among Many

The old late night eating myth.

Client: “coach, I think I am not losing weight because I eat too late. Should I stop eating passed dinner time?  

Me: There is no exact time to eat, it’s dependent on what works for you and your schedule.

Client: I’ve heard it’s not good to eat late because you can’t digest it and instead the food gets stored as fat.”

Me: Are you still eating in a deficit?

Client: Yes

Me: Time of day does not affect weight gain?

Client: How?

Me: Because you’re eating in a deficit

You see my friend, it really doesn’t matter what time of day you eat, so long as caloric restriction is maintained you will continue to lose weight.

Calories matter.

 A whole lot.

Energy Balance

My answer to this common question isn’t an opinion, there facts. Let me explain how.

There is something called an energy balance equation. It pretty much showcases the relationship between how much calories you eat vs how many calories you burn.

To lose weight you have to eat less than the amount you burn

To gain weight you have to eat more than the amount you burn

To maintain your weight how much you eat and how much you burn remains the same

You’re probably asking:

How do you know how many calories you burn?

You don’t.

Don’t mind the laughter. It’s not aimed at you.

Am laughing with you

You probably don’t believe me

I wouldn’t believe me

Anyway……

Oh yes, there is no way of exactly measuring the number of calories you burn.

Your apple watch, fit-bit or some equation you found online are far off estimates.

I don’t want you to rely on it as a justification to over-eat because “you’ve burned it off during your work-out.”

That almost never works and so you are better off trying to figure out how much you actually eat.

I think Friends is over-rated.

Waiting for the mobsters to comment down below

A Relatable Story

Client: Wait let me get this straight. So, your saying, as long as I am eating in a deficit, I can eat at whatever time I want. Even at midnight?

Me: Not me saying it, science.

Client: I don’t know coach, that sounds too good to be true.

Me: Let me give you a practical example

Let’s say your eating at 1800 calories to lose weight. If you’re wondering how much you should eat to lose weight > click here.

You decide to eat 1400 calories.

It’s been a very busy day and you don’t seem all that hungry

Midnight looms in, and your stomach can’t stop growling

You twist and turn and do everything you can to fight off the hunger

You even start dancing as a way to mentally distract yourself

Can you imagine?

You’re probably not dancing, but you get my point.

You’re doing everything you can to fight off the hunger because you’re afraid to eat passed a “certain time.”

Why?

Well because the internet and social and mainstream media told you

Back to the story

Hunger eventually takes over; you give in and just go ham on everything in sight

Those pringles… gone

That chocolate cake…. gone

The pint of ice-cream… gone

You’re now full, satisfied, but yet disgusted at yourself for doing that.

Don’t be, it’s quite normal.

What You Could Have Done Instead

Remember those 1400 calories out of the 1800 total calories you ate. That left you with 400 calories to play with.

So, instead of trying to fight off hunger, you could have been more strategic with your food choice to still stay in a deficit.

A high protein/fiber food option would have been sufficed for satiety.

The same fridge that had chocolate cake and a pint of ice-cream, which I wouldn’t recommend keeping at the house for obvious reasons, but stick with my hypothetical scenario.

That fridge also had Greek yogurt, raspberries, watermelon, hard boiled eggs

The same cabinet that had pringles also had almonds and few protein bars

Those 400 remaining calories could have been used from any of those alternative food choices to keep you in check.

Although this is a hypothetical scenario, it is very much real and I am certain you or someone you know can relate.

A long dragged-out story just to say:

Eat in a deficit and you will be just fine

Time of day has no impact on how much weight you gain

Eating excess calories does

Your Next Encounter

The next time someone tells you that eating late at night will make you fat

You have one of two options, either roll your eyes and walk away

You know what, don’t actually roll your eyes. It’s a bit rude and unnecessary

Don’t walk away either

Nod your head, smile (if you want) and go about your day or better yet, you can just direct them to this blog.

Bye!

Not a bad closing statement huh

Don’t answer that

Hope this helped

Take care