Why You Should Stop Eating Before Bed?
Believe it or not, there are some health and fitness experts who are advocates of eating before bed, but at the same time, there are also many who are against eating before bed. More than anything, whether you eat before bed or not, it all depends on your approach and your lifestyle. There could be a possibility that you are someone who has a very active day job and you never get a moment to really sit down and enjoy a meal until before you go to bed.
On the contrary, there are some people who work sedentary jobs and eat during the day so eating before bed doesn’t really appeal to them. However, there are still some people who tend to abuse the late night eating and for you to completely get a grasp on where we’re going with this, let us dive a bit deeper into a few reasons as to why you should stop eating before bed
Experience Faster Weight Loss
Did you know that you can experience faster weight loss when you stop eating before bed? The reason being is because your body burns a tremendous amount of energy when you’re sleep. So, when you go to sleep on an empty stomach, there is nothing in your stomach to burn, because you ate earlier in the day. Simply put, nature abhors a vacuum and because your body needs some energy to burn to maintain homeostasis, your body will turn towards stored energy a.k.a. body fat for the energy that it needs. This is kind of like an intermittent fasting approach where you abstain from food for x number of hours. Going to bed on an empty stomach isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but to make it easier on yourself, it does help to have a small glass of cold water or sparkling water to knock out any hunger pains that may arise.
Restless Sleep
Eating before bed can actually cause someone to have very restless sleep. The moment you consume food, your body instantly kicks up a few gears and begins processing the food. Eating right before bed actually goes against your natural, circadian rhythm because it is towards the night that our bodies are supposed to be winding down. Not to mention the fullness that it will cause in your stomach when you’re laying down. A big, full course meal wouldn’t be a good idea, but if someone just had to have a snack, they should keep it as small as possible and leave it at that.
Risk Overeating and Weight Gain
Nowadays, it isn’t uncommon for someone to wake up, have breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks in between, AND end up eating before bed because they want to satisfy cravings. The problem with this is that many people who do this can risk overeating and can actually gain weight. It all boils down to simple mathematics. In order to lose weight, the body needs to expend more calories than what are consumed and vice versa. Most people who have been eating all day and then go to eat before bed are putting themselves in a tremendous calorie surplus. Therefore, they will gain wait because they’ve taken in much more energy than their body needs in the first place.
Conclusion: Why You Should Stop Eating Before Bed?
So, are you convinced on the reasons as to why you should stop eating before bed? Well, maybe you are and maybe you aren’t. Whichever one it is, that is okay, but at least you have enough information so that you an examine both sides of the coin and decide which approach you want to take moving forward in your own lifestyle and eating regimen.