I think the first time I ever considered that eating at night time might be bad for you, was when I was about 16 years old. I’d read something about celebrities not eating after 5pm to try and lose weight, so I thought that was what you should do. This is something that we hear a lot and I know there is a bit of confusion out there about how late at night you should eat, and whether or not you should eat carbs before bed. So hopefully I can clear up that confusion for you!
How Long Before Bed Should You Eat?
Honestly, this doesn’t really matter. If you eat 1 hour before bed, or 3 hours before, it doesn’t make a difference. What matters is what you’re eating at night, what you’ve eaten for the rest of that day, and how much you’ve eaten.
For example, if you’ve eaten hardly any carbs throughout the day or haven’t eaten much in general, having a bigger meal with carbs at night won’t matter. This is because overall, you’ve probably eaten the right amount of calories and carbs that day. If however you’ve eaten a lot of food in the day, some of it high in carbs, and then you go and have a big carb heavy meal, this will most likely be stored as fat, regardless of whether you eat it at 5pm or 9pm.
What Should I Eat At Night?
Again, this does depend on what you’ve eaten that day. I will say that your body can best process carbs earlier in the day and after a workout. So if you are not exercising on this day, you should limit most of your carbs to breakfast and morning snack.
A few good low carb dinner ideas include:
- San choy bow
- Zucchini noodles and meatballs
- Salmon or steak with roast pumpkin, cauliflower and steamed greens
- Cauliflower fried rice
If you go to the gym after work, then you should definitely eat some carbs for dinner. The absolute best time to eat carbs is after a workout. Your body will not store the carbs as fat at this time; it will use them to replenish your body. After a workout, you have about a 2 hour window to eat a high carb and high protein meal.
A few good high carb, high protein meals include:
- Steak with roast white or sweet potato and steamed greens
- Stir fry with protein, lots of vegetables and brown rice
- Honey soy chicken with steamed greens and brown rice
- Sweet potato curry with lentils, served with chicken
I hope that explains things a little better! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Xx
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