Late Night Eating – DO IT.

great job Joel, but I’m surprised though, that most people didn’t even know about this. a protein shake would do as well in my opinion.

Yeah..Joel..i like this concept and following it…
But im a vegetarian ..so what can i add in my diet to have Balanced diet .as im doing bodybuilding from last 10 weeks and go for gym in the evening…

Great advice. I absolutely love having a protein shake late because it’s sweet and I feel like it’s a dessert, especially if I use chocolate protein…even just that and water does the trick!

yeah – nut butters and fruit often work for me too….although would not be recommended by experts on account of high calorie content – half a banana has often provided me much required soothness when stomach is growling with hunger just before bed…

I eat dinner around six pm and have a snack at around nine. I go to bed around eleven . I vary what I have, but favourites include…..greek yogurt and walnuts with cinnamon on top, protein shake with 50ml probiotic drinking yogurt added, chicken and celery sticks, cottage cheese with chives , shellfish dipped in a little olive oil mayo, even a two egg omelette with mushrooms in if I am hungry

In my experience, you should go with how you feel. If you haven’t consumed you daily maximum in calories and feel like you could eat a healthy snack, go for it. It has nothing to do with muscle deterioration or decrease in metabolic rate. It’s about you feeling good with yourself and listening to your body. You can’t go wrong with that. Remember to keep it healthy and within limits.

@ Matt:

You’ve got that right, mate. All research points to muscle catabolism occuring after 72 hours or more of fasting. That’s three days! Not overnight…

I just noticed your comment about soy milk above and I wanted to know about that. I substitute soy milk for regular since I realized I had a very low-grade reaction to milk for most of life. I only found out about it when I quit drinking milk. Cleared sinuses and a lot less phlegm were the result. Now, what is the deal with soy milk? Are there issues regarding drinking it? I do eat a bowl of muesli w/ soy milk after 7 in the evening and was curious.
Thanks,
Tom

Also want to ask the question about soy as I need it to assist with Menopause symptoms. I am allergic to cheese and yogurt (the culture) so late night snacks for me need to be things like nuts, chicken breast slices spread with hommous.
PS: if you are going to address this in a later post I’m interested.

Hi Joel,

I really enjoyed your post. I absolutely agree that people go too far with the late night eating rule. My favorite late night snacks are almonds or a grass-fed beef jerky stick.

How about a whey and casein protein shake before bed, the whey will satify your hunger needs and the casein will slowly release amino acids into the blood stream steadily overnight.

@ Bernice:
@ Annik:
Raisians are full of carbs and will raise your insulin levels, nuts have some carbs too. I’d ust stick with protein if you have to have something.

Good advice, i totally agree with it!

Kurt

Can oats be eaten say 30 minutes before I hit the bed? Low and foat, they seem good choice for me for helping me in losing fat and not he muscle. What’s your say?

I have some protein and skim milk before Bed.
that helps my night time Hunger.

@ Alvan:

Unfortunately milk actually has a fair amount of carbs (milk sugar) as well, not to mention the carbs from the sugar with which the chocolate milk is flavoured! ;-)

actually eating meat (esp red meat) late in the evening is not a very good idea. the question is not in the muscle, insulin etc, but the fact, that medicinally you force your digestion work hard during the night, when biologycally is a rest time for this system. so you just exhaust your general inner power with such a pattern. better eat vegetables + a bit fish (easier to digest) or cottage cheese/cheese instead.

and one clarification – leafy green vegetables are also carbohydrates :). they are just not the simple carbohydrates (sugar, wheatmeal, potatoes/starch), what should be avoided late at night, but the complex carbohydrates.

very interesting joel. I always get hungry late at night around 11pm and new i should not eat carbs so as not spike my insulin but i try to eat some protein though with some feeling of guilt. But now i know what to do. Thanks joel for the advice.

Cottage cheese has at least twice as much carbs as protein, so i smell hypocrite ^^

I have tried to deny myself food before bed and when I do I usually end up waking up in the early morning (4 or 5:00am) and binging on food. Weird. I work late into the night and don’t get home until 11 or 12:00. Usually I make a huge salad for supper and leave half for when I get home. It has boiled egg and cheese or chicken and avocado in it. Or I have a few nuts and a slice of cheese.

I do me workout seesion from 6pm to 7 pm, then I run home (just 5 blocks from gym), and take my protein shake, and about 10pm I eat my last meal, a low carb high animal protein small meal, if I don’t, I can’t sleep and loose weight, so, for me, you’re right

Hey, u believe that what was said in this post I actually have been doing all along but felt guilty for doing? I occasionally have a small salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans and pineapple with if I feel to a small piece of baked chicken or grilled fish. Friends and gym instructors have always discouraged me from doing so but my motto is to lose weight and burn calories according to your weight loss goals and personal physical fitness and nutrition. I find that persons usually go by whatever they see in magazines or on the internet completely forgetting to take into consideration what their personal nutrition and physical needs are and learning from experience, I have found a way to successfully lose weight, burn calories and still keep my energy levels etc up even if I dont follow all of the stipulated rules because of my being intuned with my body and what its daily needs are.

Yes, this works–I did it for years. Now my word of caution–as you get older sleep often becomes a problem and eating protein late can screw up your sleep since protein gives your digestive system a workout. So if you start sleeping less or wake up feeling like you haven’t slept–take a break from the late night snack and see if your sleep improves. Sleep is just as important a factor to muscle recovery.

Great advice as always Joel. I really love your approach to food & asociated diet. I’m also glad to have my opinion about late night snacking confirmed as I’ve always thought it was OK to eat something instead of dealing with the cravings. Thanks so much:)

@ Bernice:
bernice,

forget the raisins. they are high in carbohydrates and not helpful right before bed. and no, you don’t have to have animal protein. as joel stated in his blog, you can enjoy cottage cheese or a casein protein shake.

The big problem with eating before sleep, as I understand it, it that during sleep one’s body goes into repair mode. This is an opportunity to heal anything that needs healing, as well as rejuvenation of the body systems for the next day. When the energy and resources are diverted to digestion, this process does not proceed smoothly or at all, depending upon how much food is eaten. And proteins/fats are most complex to digest. One’s body is not going to waste muscle during sleep as much fewer resources are needed during sleep.
Hope this helps clear things up.