eating right before bedtime

[il_duce]

Is this a good thing to do?

I have read in some places that your body will store most of the food as fat if you eat it within an hour before you go to sleep.

And if it is okay, should I be eating protein? I am currently working on bulking up

 

[Big N]

Yes, you must eat before bed time. However, make sure you are eating smart foods. The thing that's different about eating before bed is that you have to realize that you are about to go 8+ hours without any new nutrients. Therefore, everything you eat needs to digest slowly.

This means lots of milk, cheese, meat, and fat. Throw in some beans or eggs if you don't have anything else. Use whey as a last resort. Make sure you're still fulfilling your calorie requirements.

 

[DIESEL]

I think this whole "nighttime catabolism" debate is some gimmick created by bored sports physiologists and supplement companies to fill good magazine copy.

Unless you hook yourself up to some feeding machine that can supply continuous protein to your body for eight hours.. your body will go without nutrients for some time during sleep. 3 or 4 hours without eating, in the long run, isn't going to cost you tons of mass. It's "muscular anal-retentiveness" to the extreme.

Also, I think the whole concept of getting up in the middle of the night to slug a shake to stay anabolic is also ridiculous.. fukking with your sleep cycle like that messes with your energy level, and who knows.. it may even mess with GH release that occurs during deep REM sleep. I think the jury is still out on that idea although studies are pending.

Basically, get some proteins in there, a bit of good fat to delay absorption as much as possible, and keep the meal light so you can sleep soundly, but other than that.. don't sweat it. It's ridiculous.

D

 

[Zircon]

Nope I don't think it's ridiculous.

Not saying that you have to stuff yourself, but, you eat at 7 at night, wake up at 7 or 8 the next morning for the next meal? That's at least 12 hours no food.

I think it's a good idea to have something like Diesel suggested before bedtime. Won't make you pick up 2 kg's a week but I think it will help.

 

[il_duce]

I've got just one more quick question. How many calories should I be eating everyday total?

I know how to calculate how many specific grams of protein and carbs, etc. I should be eating from the thing in the bulking up thread, but is there a total amount of calories that I should still be shooting for, or should I not be worried about it if I am meeting the specific totals?

 

[DIESEL]

Using the formula in the Bulking Up thread is a point of reference as to where you should be at. For example, everyone's metabolism is different so where one person may not grow based on that formula one person may get fat.

Therefore, the whole idea is to get the numbers for carbs, fats, and proteins from the formula in BULKING UP thread and use that as a point of departure..give it 2 weeks, and see what happens.. if you are putting on weight you are on the right track.. and look in the mirror to see if it is muscle or fat... if you are still at the same weight then add calories in equal proportions to the original formula... I would up it in increments of 200-300 calories a week until the scale starts to inch upward. Make a note of it in your training diary and voila, your own personal bulking level....

D

 

[payaya]

its not a good idea if you eat before you go to sleep. If your skinny etc they go right ahead, but if you want to lose weight or not gain weight then its a really bad idea as your metabolism slows down as the day goes by.

Your metabolism is fastest when you wake up. Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner but after 6 stop eating, becuase your metabolism slows down, and you body wont be able to burn the fat qucik enough.

So if you eat before you sleep, you arent phicially moving, so basically you arent burninig off a lot of fat.

 

[kickman72]

i think its best to eat about 2 or three hours before bed time

 

[payaya]

Originally posted by kickman72
i think its best to eat about 2 or three hours before bed time

true, my fitness instructor didnt want me eating after 6. But thing is i sleep at about 5am! so i reckon 4-5 before you go to sleep dont eat i guess. But it als depends how active you are as well.

 

[Zircon]

Each to his own. But I thought this thread is for supposed "skinny" guys who want to gain weight at all costs. I'm
one of them.

I do 3 hours Kung fu a week ( pure torture), 2 hours weights (mostly legs) and a total of 12 - 15 hours cycling. So there's no worry for me to gain fat. Th eopposite is true.

Eating before bed tiome (20 minutes) is great for me. If you can work off the excess calories, it'll work.

 

[Big N]

quote]
its not a good idea if you eat before you go to sleep. If your skinny etc they go right ahead, but if you want to lose weight or not gain weight then its a really bad idea as your metabolism slows down as the day goes by.

Your metabolism is fastest when you wake up. Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner but after 6 stop eating, becuase your metabolism slows down, and you body wont be able to burn the fat qucik enough.

So if you eat before you sleep, you arent phicially moving, so basically you arent burninig off a lot of fat.

[/quote]


So, I shouldn't eat before I go to work in the morning because I wont be moving around? So, if I decide to sit on my couch the entire day, I shouldn't eat any food because I wont be moving.

This logic is stupid.

You have to eat before you sleep. Your body will be going without any nutrients for 8+ hours. Your body doesnt turn off when you go to sleep, you still burn calories. In fact, people over 150 pounds would probably burn at least 1500 calories just by sleeping for 24 hours, according to BMR. So, divide your BMR by 3 and you get how many calories you will burn during an 8 hour sleep. In this case, 500 calories.

If you do not eat, your body will still burn the 500 calories. This can come from stored sugars, body fat, or muscle. You WILL lose muscle over this period. Diesel has stated his opinion that it probably isnt a significant amount of muscle. The fact of the matter is, it takes time to recover lost muscle. Not eating before sleep is like taking a step backward before taking a step forward.

Eating before sleep will lessen the muscle loss over this period by supplying nutrients so that the body is not forced to look for sources like muscle and body fat.

To the dude who asked how to determine his daily calorie requirements: You said you have your amounts of protein, carbs, and fat all hammered out. What you do to find your daily calorie requirement is multiply the carb grams by 4, the protein grams by 4, and the fat grams by 9. If you want to know where those numbers come from, they are the calorie per gram of each of those nutrients.

 

[payaya]

Originally posted by Zircon
Each to his own. But I thought this thread is for supposed "skinny" guys who want to gain weight at all costs. I'm
one of them.

I do 3 hours Kung fu a week ( pure torture), 2 hours weights (mostly legs) and a total of 12 - 15 hours cycling. So there's no worry for me to gain fat. Th eopposite is true.

Eating before bed tiome (20 minutes) is great for me. If you can work off the excess calories, it'll work.

you seen to do a lot of cardio for someone who wants to gain weight!

 

[adonis_bb]

keep it simple
comsume a protein shake with fibre, some good fats and primarily casein before bed.

that will offset catabolism for a while, I asked jay cutler about the whole waking up deal and he said that it aint a good idea, especially for young people who need their sleep.

he only does it cause he always needs to go piss in the middle of the night.

jeff willet has a different response, he states that he has mastered it so that it doesnt really affect his sleep, which i reckon is bs.

 

[Zircon]

Kung fu is mostly upper body strength. Not too much cardio.

The cycling that I do I'm sure is detrmntal to gaining weight. I don't have too much of an option though as I do track racing, and this is my training program.

A lot of the training though is explosive in nature, and not pure cardio. Also if I do cardio it's pretty much low intensity just to keep the legs moving.

Funny thing is, even when I stop cycling I don't really gain weight. I just see my body fat % increasing slightly.