Late Night Eating – DO IT.

I usually eat cottage cheese, but sometimes I mix protein powder with sugar free cool whip, it tastes like dessert!

I enjoy a Protein Shake made with water. maybe a handful of almonds too.

I have a full smoothie of blueberries or strawberries, plus a banana, rice protein(not whey), rice bran, mineral clay, and seaweed and algae greens with stevia for sweetener each night. I sleep soundly and sore muscles are usually repaired by the morning. I’m 72 years of age and have gained 16 lbs of muscle in 6 months and stay in shape for snow skiing. I now weight 196 lbs.

Love the article and I LOVE my Gourmet Nutrition chocolate-peanut-butter-bar as my last meal-which is usually at 9:30-10pm! (I have tweaked the recipe from the book a bit- I add 3/4c. water, replaced the Splenda with Sweetleaf stevia (6-7 packets) and put it in 325 degree oven for about 6 minutes-it’s like a brownie!) I look forward to it all day and enjoy every bite! P.S. Just compared some side by side pics from July 08 and yesterday- wow! Thanks Joel! :)

I’m another one of those “can’t sleep on an empty tummy”s; I go with the protein shake.

I absolutely agree. I have tried to stop eating by 8pm and when I did I woke up in the middle of the night from hunger pains. It was totally uncomfortable.

Instead I usually have some turkey or chicken with hummus about an hour before bed. It makes me feel great and I am really hungry when I wake up, but I can make it through the night!

I totally agree, plus you don’t wake up feeling extremely hungry the next morning.

Hi Joel,

My favorite late night snack is a “meat roll-up”: lean lunch meat, rolled up around a smear of goat cheese, a slice of dill pickle or pepperoncini and a long slice of cucumber. Super yummy!

I agree with your logic; however, my naturopath instructed me not to eat after 7pm, not because of fat storage, but because digestion uses a lot of energy. If our bodies are using energy to digest, then they aren’t getting recuperative sleep. So, by stopping at 7pm, most of our night is spent on restful sleep. What do you think about this?

A dense carbohydrate such as celery with organic almond butter is a perfect late night snack. Actually any dense complex carb is good as it will not effect insulin release.

Actually, carbohydrates are not stored as fat except under extreme circumstances. The fact that the pathway does exist has apparently caused confusion among people who think this will be a problem for them. One of many many papers on this subject can be found at:
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v53/n1s/abs/1600744a.html

Basically, you are right: you can eat at night if you aren’t putting yourself into positive caloric balance.

Thanks for the clarification on this issue.
I have never followed that rule.
I will eat many low carb items up till 2 hours before bedtime, fruits 1 hour before and Casine protein shake 1/2 hour before bedtime.

I like to drink a protein shake late at night. Whey or Casein. If I don’t have protein I’ll get half an apple and walnuts o peanut butter.

I stay up late always so eating late is a must for me to keep my body and mind alive. Sometimes I even get a short workout done at midnight.

Thanks For The Information.It’s Great To Know That We Can Still Eat After 7 P.M
Thanks For Sharing.Have A Great Day.

good to hear that,my fav is cottage cheese with some chilli flakes mixed in.

Why do I always crav carbs in the evenings, then? I KNOW I should eat protein!!!!

I agree with what you are saying! I like the idea of a snack in the evening – becasue there is a lot going on in our bodies while we sleep.

Thanks for all the great valueable tips, i have already been implementing some of these tips in my diet plan and it seems to be working….thanks again! some of my late night snacks are beef Jerky,popcorn,and cottage cheese.

Holly Rigsby recommends a protein snack before bed and also emphasises that it is a myth not to eat three hours before bed, spread by a famous talk show host who has trouble keeping the weight off. I have either learned something new or had re-confirmed good information ever since Holly introduced us to you! Thank you so much!!!

Fully agree. Your muscles grow and recover during the night and starving for 12 hours does not make sense. I like to have a glass of milk with protein powder, seems to work. Don’t wake up dehydrated either.

Hi Joel, what is your take on fruit, which generally has a high glycaemic index? Sometimes late at night I crave plums, don’t know what that’s about!!!

Hello mate, I really agree with u, it is ok to eat protein after 7 pm. I used to do that for a month and I gained some pure muscle.

Woohoooo! Off for my late night snack! I love this site! A lot of great info. So glad I found you! :D

You should read Eat Stop Eat

I like your point- I was always told “never eat after 7…” but what you wrote does make sense, could you give me more options though of food ‘allowed’ after 7? Are fruits ok? nuts,almonds? pretzels? popcorn?

My all-time favorite late night snack (midnight or so) is a banana with peanut butter. Good or not so good….or down right bad?

finally an expert who agrees ive been doing this my whole building career and when i didnt i would have to get up in the middle of the night and eat and didnt see the same results
so thank you for this great post

I’ve heard before. Makes sense to me. If I don’t eat something later after dinner, I’m starving in the am. I have to remember it’s OK to eat! I just have to choose something besides buttered popcorn :(

that’s very informative. I LIKE having more knowledge.
Cottage cheese is easy, but what do you just eat a piece of chicken on it’s own?
louise;)

That makes alot of sense!!
a good thing to know, no need to deprive :)

Yep I agree with that and don’t like to hear the mindless “it’s not good to eat after x o’clock” which I actually heard just today. But if I asked that person a simple “Why?” I would get either a blank stare a “I heard it, it’s true” or some really stupid answer proving that that person has no idea what he/she is talking about. The only thing however I would recommend is that an hour or two pass between your last meal and zzzzz, that way you will have more energy in the morning cos if you eat like 5 min before going to bed your body will use some energy to digest and absorb the food. Plus you don’t really use muscle for fuel while you sleep but rather fat. There are a lot of proofs of this in studies, especially because you don’t use your muscles for movement while you sleep therefore you are not using your muscles glycogen stores. So I don’t agree that you will lose muscle in your sleepjust because you didn’t eat for several hours, heh trust me I tested this.

I’ve yet to have a problem with late night eating . I maintain weight and have found that I sleep deeper and more restful with food in my system . I do some protein and yogurt if all I need is something really light….

I often use a protein shake before bed. Even quick absorbing protein like whey is great to raise nitrogen environment in the body.

this not new think, in the Bodybuilding world this has been know for long time.

if you take Glutamine or HMB before bed time this will help with muscle loss, plus not sure with Protein shake to take-Casein or Soya as they are slow release protein, also from the Bodybuilding world you can mix Protein shake & leve it by your bed & when you wake to go tolet, you down the Protein shake at the same time & keep the muscle loss to a =

I agree with John O. – I sleep much better on a full stomach. I’ll lay awake for hours if my stomach is growling. My favorite late-night meal is a bowl of (granola) cereal. Plus, I’ve read that drinking milk before bedtime helps satiate appetite, in addition to its health benefits. Is that true?

i make a shake out of GNC pm protein. i just use two scoops, a little water and ice, and sip on it about an hour before bedtime. i’m not starving when i wake up for breakfast!

My after 7pm snack is a large hand full of raw almonds or raw pumpkin seeds. This always prevents me from waking up in the middle of the night hungry. On the night of heavy squat or dead lift workouts I will also make a shake with Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard 100% casein; this is a slow digesting protein.