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Has anyone ever told you not to eat after a particular time at night so as to avoid gaining extra pounds? Somehow, we may have heard that eating after 7 pm makes us gain extra weight. The statement is not very true. Whether you are awake or asleep, the body needs energy to perform its functions. Even when you sleep, energy is used to circulate blood, operate the lungs and fuel the brain.

 

Is Late Night Eating Really Bad For You?

 

Scientists have consistently proved that eating at night has no relationship with gaining extra weight as long as you don’t take more calories than your body needs. To explain this, the British Medical Journal did some tests on late night eating to find out if there was a connection between weight gain and eating at night. After the tests, they presented an article in their journal to convince readers that late night eating doesn’t cause extra weight gain. The American Dietic Association also affirmed their conclusion and added that instead of watching the time, it’s better to be more conscious of the quantity of food one eats.

Whether you eat in the morning or at night, the body only uses what it needs and stores the remainder as fat.

The only time that night-eating can present problems is when you over-eat or take more than what you need per day. This usually happens when people do not eat well during the day.

If you observe that your night meals are usually very plenty, it’s possible that you are always too busy to have a good breakfast or lunch. This is why it’s difficult to succeed with low calorie diets for a long time.

The best thing you can do is to control the quantity of food you eat. You can take very small amounts at intervals of 3-4 hours. To support your weight-loss campaign, it’s better to distribute your meals to about five per day instead of having three big ones. This will give you the energy you need and prevent you from feeling too hungry when you return home at night.

 

Being Mindful

Another thing that makes people gain weight is when they are not mindful of their feeding pattern. Some people eat for hours while watching the TV because they feel like “enjoying” themselves. People who want to lose weight should not form the habit of eating. Food is not meant to fight boredom or stress. Instead, eat when you are hungry at specific times of the day especially if your activities are not so demanding.

Eating at odd times also creates chances of taking unhealthy foods like chips, ice cream, biscuits and pies. These processed foods also contain so much cholesterol, which is difficult to break down for body use. Check out our healthy snack ideas if you need some ideas.

 

Your digestive system does not know when the moon and the stars take over after the sun sets. Whether you eat at night or in the day, you will only gain weight if the calories burnt are more than what you need. This means you have to calculate the calories you use up per day and try to match it with the food you eat. Reducing food intake and increasing physical activities is also a good strategy.

 

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