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Rules on Late Night Eating Explained By Brian!
Is eating before bed bad? Should I not eat 3 hours before bed? If I do eat, what should I have?
Listen, there have been multiple studies in the last 5 years showing that eating before bed is fine. This is the key though—as long as that last meal doesn’t put you at a caloric surplus, then you WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT!
But you have to think about this. Based on my experience working with people for 30 years, most people hit their "break-even" in calories by dinner.
Let’s say, for example, you are a female trying to lose weight. An average female with normal activity burns around 2000 calories a day. Let's say you want to lose 1.5 lbs a week. You would need to take in 1400 calories a day, no more.
So let’s say you also want to build muscle. To do so, you want to take advantage of your bodies natural protein spikes every three hours—thus getting in a protein serving about every 3 hours.
Let’s assume we break it up like this. 6am: 300 calorie breakfast, 9pm: 100 calorie protein shake (Top Shelf of course!), 12pm: 400 calorie liunch, 3pm 100 calorie shake, 6pm: 400 calorie dinner. That already puts you at 1300 calories. So I would recommend a 100 calorie shake at 9pm to put you at that 1400 calories so you can lose that 1.5 lbs a week, or 6 lbs a month.
Now let’s say your biggest hunger cravings are in the late evenings. For those people, I would recommend switching your 9pm 100 calorie shake for your 6am breakfast. So when you wake up in the morning, when you might not be as hungry, just have the 100 calorie shake. That allows you to have a 300 calorie meal at 9pm before bed!
Would this make any difference in your results? Absolutely not. You are still only getting in 1400 calories in both examples. You are still getting in the same amount of protein for both examples. So you would get the same exact results in terms of weight loss and building muscle.
The reason people come up with these ideas like “don’t eat after 6pm” or "don't eat for 4 hours before bed" is because for a lot of people, as I mentioned, by 6 pm (dinner) they have already exceeded their calorie allotment for the day! Most people are eating around 500 calorie breakfasts, 700-800 calorie lunches (or more), with dinners averaging around 1000 calories. They are already around 2300 calories, and that doesn’t even count any snacking during the day. And maybe they also drank protein shakes between meals hoping to add some lean mass. That could put them at 2500-3000 calories by dinner. So no, they shouldn’t eat anymore the rest of the day! They already took in way more calories than their body burned, so of course the excess calories will most likely grow fat!
Personally, I burn about 3000 calories on a normal day. I am most hungry late evenings. I am least hungry when I wake up. So this is what works for me.
My breakfast, at 6am, is only a Top Shelf Protein shake (2 scoops is 200 calories), and of course 3 Free-T-Up and Triple-GH! I eat a Wiefit Deload bar at 9am (200 calories). I eat a 500 calorie lunch at 12pm. At 3pm I have another Top Shelf shake (200 calories). At 6pm I have dinner (500 calories). That only puts me at 1600 calories after dinner!
I burn 3000 calories a day, but I'm currently trying to lose 2 lbs a week; so I am only taking in 2000 calories a day (a 1000 calorie deficit per day will have me losing exactly 2 lbs a week). That allows me to have 400 more calories the rest of the evening. So that’s where I will have an egg white omelet which includes a some avocado and some turkey sausage. Or I will have a bowl of Greek yogurt with a 1/2 cup of granola and a cup of blueberries all mixed together. Or I will have a chocolate Top Shelf shake blended with a scoop of peanut butter and a banana. And of course I take my second dose of Free-T-Up and Triple-GH right before I hit the sack.
I hate going to bed hungry. I am also most hungry in the evening hours. So if you are like me, eat less during the time of day you are least hungry to be able to have those extra calories in the evening!
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