So, I hope everyone is well!! My question - I worked my second job last night and didn't get home until 12:00am. I was hungry but hated to eat that late but I did anyway...LOL!!! Is it better to just go to sleep and not eat or just bite the bullet? Please advise.

I say, eat if you are hungry and don't worry about how late it is. If you have the points then go for it. I know if I don't use my points, I wake with a pounding headache and arrive in the kitchen hungrier than a bear

Hey Scott. I agree with Carrie, if you're hungry- then you should eat. Ignoring your bodies' hunger cues is the reason many dieter's wind up in the yo-yo dieting spiral. My only word of caution about eating late is eating anything that might keep you awake (i.e. chocolate and other things with caffeine) or things that could cause discomfort when you lie down (i.e. spicy foods) - otherwise feel free to eat a healthful meal that's within your points-range, regardless of the time of day.

Scott-I say EAT if your hungry and have points and if you don't have any points left, try some 0 point veggies, like baby carrots or something, this way you don't feel as guilty. If you don't you will wake up starving and want to eat everything and anything and risk having a bad points day the next day. Just my thoughts.

Scott, if you are hungry, and plan to still be up a couple hours or more, EAT!. When getting off work at a more 'normal' hour, one ALWAYS plans to be eating a meal of sorts. That is natural, even when you get off at midnight.

I would, perhaps, keep it light. Personally, I would probably have a salad of some kind, along with, perhaps a veggie burger on a light bun. That would give you the almost zero point salad (depending on dressing) to chew on a bit, along with the light sandwich to satisfy your hunger more fully. This is how I'd handle that situation. But by all means, when you are hungry, truly physically hungry, you do need to eat. You will lose weight BETTER when you do this, as contrary as some people might still wrongly think.

Don't let yourself worry about eating something when you're hungry, no matter what the clock says. I think the myth that eating after a certain hour at night slows down weight loss has been proven to be false. Just keep it light.

cheers

pattyjo

This same thing is talked about in meetings.

We have a 24 hr period in a day, as long as those points are used within the 24, you can eat at any time. Points must be used....

So I would say your safe Scott.

Scott,
I'm actually up late most nights (sometimes I don't go to bed until 4-5 AM). I usually eat dinner around 6-7:30 PM and depending on what I had and how filling it is determines when I'm going to get hungry again. Last night (even though it was the night before weigh in for me) I was starving around midnight. I don't know about you, but I can't sleep when I'm hungry. I figured I could either eat something now that was reasonable, or I could wait an hour and be so hungry that I'd be stuffing my face with anything I could find to do so. Well, I don't have a lot of things around here that don't have to be cooked, so I opened up a can of tuna, added a little bit of fat free mayo and mustard and ate that. I've learned over the past couple of weeks that when I'm hungry, I should eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat. If I think I'm hungry when I know I'm not, I have some water and find something to keep me busy. LOL! I've read a few times that calories in are calories in. Doesn't matter what time of day you eat them. Like Tobe said, if it falls within 24 hours, it still counts as that day. :)

I had mentioned before i work different hours, 6-2:30,12:30-9, 8-4,10-6:30.........and i eat my dinner when ever i come home from work. Today i worked 8-4 but had my lunch at 1;30, so i wasnt hungry when i came home.I then went out shopping for a few hours, came home and i just now finished my dinner.And its almost 10 Pm, I eat late night, not because i have points left, but because i need to eat dinner. Tomorrow i work 7-11:30( yeah short day,before the holiday week) So i will eat my dinner at a "normal" time, meaning 6 or so.
I eat according to my work schedule, no matter what the time.

Hi there! I actually did a 30-day experiment with this--I tried not eating after 7 pm for 30 days to see if it boosted my weight loss (I've lost 50 pounds since November) and I didn't lose any faster than when I ate late-night snacks (assuming you have the points for the late-night eating). I like eating at night, and since the weight loss was the same, I don't see anything wrong with it

Slim Katie...thanks for letting us know about your experiment....I've always wondered if eating at night, even if you have the points left, had slowed me down at all..Glad to hear that..I'm starved right now but I'm out of points....

Patty