It is not a foreign topic for anyone; the behaviour of late night eating and its influence to ones weight has been an accepted concept by people for many years. As a child I remember that the supposition of eating after 8pm was a factor to weight gain. Eventually that concept was widely dismissed by many and even reportedly wrong, as now and days athletes would argue that slow digesting protein is crucial for Anabolic growth. We even developed a phase that carbohydrates at night are linked to weight gain, as their influences on the bodies insulin levels at a rested state will favour storage of fat. All the proposed answers and strategies have conveyed people to practise their principles, and eventually wither away with a new profound secret to prevent weight gain at night. Its a free world out there, you can do whatever you like and what works for you; i’m just voicing my say on the concept and share my opinion on late night eating. If you’re aware on the concept of IIFYM(If it fits your macro’s) already then you’ll understand what I mean in the next part. If not, educate yourself on the rationale of flexible dieting through internet sources. http://iifym.com/introduction-to-iifym/.
So when it comes to late night eating, what do I do? I just fill in the numbers. If I got fat and carbs still available in my macros, and its 9/10/11 @ night I still go ahead and eat them. On countless occasions I have had high carb meals, low protein meals, high fat snacks, huge caloric containing meals, etc all at night, and sometimes even literally right before bed….like in bed. If you know my diet, I thoroughly enjoy having protein pancakes at night. It’s a meal that roughly delivers 600-800 kcal, with <60carbs, and 20-25g fat. Depending on my day, mood, situation, etc, Ill eat it an hour or 2 before bed or even right in bed…Thats a lot of work for you digestive system to encounter during a phase of rest and reduced metabolic activity, however its still all a matter of calories in vs calories out that decides weight gain/loss. I’ve done the above eating ritual countless times and still come out lighter on the scale by the end of the week because I still kept my calories below my caloric need. To sum up my point, I personally don’t believe that late night eating will make you fat. Whether you’re eating carbs, fat, clean/unclean, light or heavy meals…as long as your within your macros, you still have complete control over your weight.
Tyler's Fitness 