There is a strong debate in the fitness community about eating after 7pm at night.

Well here in this post I am going to give you my take on it.

The time is 11:38 PM. And you know what? I’m eating.

What?? Eating after 7 PM?! Yes, you have read correctly, but I’m I breaking the rules?

As far as the whole “no eating after 7″ stuff goes,ha, ha, whatever….

According to some ‘fitness gurus, yes I am breaking the rules, but to be honest, that’s what I do and so should you.

Here’s why:

Let me just say that most rules of thumb in the fitness world are just people over complicating the matter and this whole ‘no eating after a certain time’ is exactly the same.

The recommendation is based on the idea that our metabolism slows in the evening as you prepare for bed, and eating during this time should be avoided so as not to have those calories stored as fat.

A good premise agreed but,

What we really want to avoid in the evening are foods that will rise your insulin, specifically carbohydrates, and for several reasons.

• 1. Your insulin sensitivity drops in the evening, which simply means that your body is not as responsive to insulin at night as it is during the day. When insulin sensitivity is low, carbohydrates are more easily stored as fat.
• 2. When blood insulin levels rise, fat burning takes a downward spiral and a “storage” environment is created within the body. This is a good thing after exercise or after an overnight fast to allow the body to “refuel”, but not good when your metabolism is slowing in the evening hours.

So, we can see why eating carbohydrates late at night aren’t ideal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t eat anything.

There is one very important tissue to think about here: MUSCLE. Think about what not eating does to muscle tissue.

If you finished dinner at 7 P.M. and then ate nothing until you woke up the next morning at 5 A.M., you just went a full 10-hours without feeding your muscles whatsoever.

This is a sure recipe for muscle loss, especially when dieting and already restricting calories.

Now, you may be thinking “I don’t really care about muscle” (especially if you are a female reading this), but believe me, you do.

Muscle is the most important tissue in the body. Let me tell you why:

When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down, and that also means weight-loss becomes all that much harder. Regardless of your physique goals, you want to maintain as much calorie burning muscle as possible. The slower the metabolism the fewer calories you burn at work and at rest.

So, back to the topic, what do you do to curb late-night cravings and assist with muscle tissue maintenance?

 A small meal consisting of a slow release protein and if possible, a small serve of green veggies (green beans are great here).

Something like cottage cheese with a small serve of slow release protein in ideal. It digests slowly over time, providing a mild, but steady influx of nutrients to muscle throughout the night, all while not interfering with your insulin levels.

Do you agree or disagree with me? Let me know in the comment section?

What is your favorite late night meal or snack?

Scott