These entries will be short and sweet. The idea is just to touch on common fitness myths I still see circulating around and bring to life some truth about the topic. With that said, lets jump right into Myth Buster #1.

We have heard for years something along the lines of “the calories you eat at night go straight to your hips and waist”. If you are like me this saying will make you cringe. The sad thing is that this belief has stood the test of time. If you are able to think practically about weight management and energy balance then it is clear that things are not so black and white.

If you stopped eating at an arbitrary hour, lets say 6 pm, the amount of calories you have taken in at for the entire day will dictate if you gain or lose weight. On the contrary if you eat a big meal at 10 pm the same rule applies. See the theme? The days total intake will dictate whether you are in a deficit or not. When you decide to consume those calories is highly dependent on personal preference, lifestyle and schedule.

Lets say we have twins who are both 150 pound females. They each need 2000 calories to maintain their weight. Twin 1 eats 2400 calories everyday for 2 weeks straight, but stops eating before 6 pm each day. Twin 2 eats 1600 calories each day for two weeks, however due to a crazy work schedule she eats roughly half of that at 10 PM. So who is more likely to gain weight? Twin 1. Despite not eating past 6 pm she has netted an extra 400 calories each day equaling an extra 5,600 calories over a two week period. Twin 2 is actually in a 5,600 deficit over the same time span despite having a big dinner at 10 pm every night. This puts her in a great place for steady fat loss. To dig even deeper on this, a 2011 study actually showed benefits to eating a carb heavy dinner. Granted this was only one study it further drives home why Twin 2 is in a better place.

So why does late night eating get a bad rap? Quite simply people just tend to overeat at this time. If you have already consumed more calories then you need its obviously a bad idea to eat before bed. Desserts are high in calories and very palatable. This can be a slippery slope for most. This is where self awareness comes into play. If you know yourself to be a mindless snacker or someone who can overeat when tired then it is wise to closely monitor the late night eating.

My personal preference is to eat a bigger meal at night. I feel better when I partition my calories throughout the day to be able to do so. I do understand this may not be everyone else’s preference, however should it be, you can still eat in this manner and manage body weight just fine. Find an approach to eating that is sustainable to your lifestyle and preference and stick with it. Do not let anyone impose unnecessary complicated rules on such a simple situation. Just like anything else, this depends on the context of the individual situation.