Eating just before bed time

had a long slow run by my novice standards today (9miles at 9 min miles). Ive re-hydrated myself and eaten the 'right' food but Iam starving is it a good idea to eat a bowl of special K before sleeping or is it a bad thing eating carbs just before I sleep.

 Should I sleep hungry or listen to my body and eat?

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Comments

  • I say this while eating a bowl of Weetabix, so I guess my answers are somewhat biased image

    If you're hungry, then it could be a sign that your body is needing feeding to regain energy and carbs. If you eat now, then your body will have time to use the food overnight to give you more energy tomorrow.

    Personally, if I'm hungry then I eat (hence now). So I say go for it.
  • If you are thinking in the back of your mind about hearing it is bad to eat just before bed because you put on more weight, then forget it: it's a myth. I'd follow the previous advice.
  • Sorry, I am just getting kebab here, which is fab.
  • I wouldn't touch Special K with a barge pole!  Although it's common knowledge tht if you eat late at night the food will just store as fat, if you really do need to eat, why not try Shredded Wheat or fruit? 
  • You will find it difficult to fall asleep if you are hungry.  If you eat now then that full feeling will get you to sleep anyway.  BTW calories can't tell the time !

  • Blimpy wrote (see)
    I wouldn't touch Special K with a barge pole!  Although it's common knowledge tht if you eat late at night the food will just store as fat, if you really do need to eat, why not try Shredded Wheat or fruit? 
    Whats the problem with special K? Well I gace in and had a bowl before bed anyway.image
  • I've gone to bed hungry after a long run before, bad idea, felt pretty crappy the next morning.
  • ouch! special K?

    do you realise how much sugar is in special K? check out the label - you'll be surprised - i was! - also check out the calorie content and compare it to other cereals and you'll be surprised there too

    as mentioned above shredded wheat and weetabix are FAR more healthy than special K (compare the labels and see the difference!)

    oats may be another alternative - slow release carbs with some protein there too

  • Blimpy wrote (see)
    Although it's common knowledge tht if you eat late at night the food will just store as fat


    No it won't.

    I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to demonize Special K like this!  OK, it does contain more sugar than cereals such as shredded wheat but you're talking about 4g (16cals) per serving, just less than a spoonful. And I know it's got a higher GI than wholewheat cereals but this isn't such a bad thing if we're talking about post-run nutrition since it will re-stock glycogen stores more quickly.

    The only problem I can see with eating very close to bedtime is that you will still be digesting food when you're trying to get to sleep.  Hence the old tale about cheese giving you nightmares - high fat content, takes longer to digest, disturbed sleep...

  • Yep, most nights I'll have a bowl of cereal before bed, especially if I'm planning an early run the next morning.

    And nothing wrong with Special K..... sure, there's more healthy cereals, but in the scheme of things it's a reasonably healthy choice.

  • BTW, according to nutritiondata.com there's about 10cals* difference between a serving of Special K and Shredded Wheat.  A quick jog up and down the stairs should take care of that.  image  I often get the impression that the way Special K is marketed as the ultimate diet cereal has backfired somewhat and people love to slag it off.

    *In fact, Shredded Wheat contains more calories per serving because the serving size is bigger.  Is this because Shredded Wheat is eaten by Ian "Beefy" Botham, and Special K by young women in red swimsuits?

  • JWrunJWrun ✭✭✭

    Blimpy - sorry but that is a complete myth.

    I eat when i'm hungry - bed or not, usually I'll have bread or oat cakes, bit bland but i just crave carby food, if you like special K- eat the special K.

    Personally, i like cornflakes, with loads of ice cold milk and covered in sugar OM NOM NOM!!!

  • I'm often hungry at bedtime and therefore find it difficult to sleep, so I usually scoff a lovely bowl of porridge down. Works a treat and stops me being quite so ravenous the following morning. image

    FWIW I quite like Special K - but won't buy it because its too bloody expensive and isn't filling enough!! I'd need such a large bowl of it to fill me up, the box would be empty in three days. image

  • I alway eat late at night - otherwise I wouldn't get any dinner!

    I don't think it's massively important to avoid eating late at night, as long as it doesn't keep you awake image

  • Do all of you only eat healthy food ?

    I'll eat anything, curry being my favourite image

  • I haven't eaten Special K since they changed the size of the flakes.  They used to be really small and tasty then they changed them so they were flat and slightly larger than cornflakes. Does anyone else remember this (circa 1979 probably)
  • That'll be about the time Wagon Wheels and Mars bars starting getting smaller!
  • I never go to bed hungry.  If I need it, my late night snack is organic muesli mixed with soya milk or yoghurt.
  • I have a bowl of Weetabix almost every night. No issues here.image

  • image You're my hero.

    Saturday night at 11 o'clock I ate 10 fruit scones and 8 "own brand" snickers bars. By 12 o'clock I felt sickly, went to sleep at 1am, then woke up with a bad stomach at 5am.

    Explain that then?!

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    Debbie Fleming 2 wrote (see)
    I haven't eaten Special K since they changed the size of the flakes.  They used to be really small and tasty then they changed them so they were flat and slightly larger than cornflakes. Does anyone else remember this (circa 1979 probably)

    Do I remember this? you bet I do!

    It was my favourite cereal.

    The small light and crispy Special K was changed for what it is now. 

    Same box, different product. I assumed they'd made a manufacturing mistake.

    The only mistake was the marketing department. Clearly they thought the consumer was only interested in the packaging not what was inside it.

    On reflection, I wish on those responsible for this slight of product, hemorrhoids that kill.

    🙂

  • It depends if you're trying to lose weight or not.

  • Lardarse wrote (see)

    Saturday night at 11 o'clock I ate 10 fruit scones and 8 "own brand" snickers bars. By 12 o'clock I felt sickly, went to sleep at 1am, then woke up with a bad stomach at 5am.

    Explain that then?!

    Question is, what had you had to drink before you ate that?

  • I tend to eat all my calories before doing the exercise as I find my stomach a bit delicate after a hard session.  However, if I am hungry in the evening then I will eat whatever the time is.

    The myth about storing evening food as fat is just a myth.  It has been proven that people who eat in the evening often gain more weight than those that don't but not because it is stored as fat.  There are two other explanations:

    1) Your digestion tends to slow down overnight so some of what you eat in the evening could still be in your stomach the next day.  If you then go on to have a normal or large breakfast then you could be eating more food than you need.

    2) A lot of people who eat in the evening are snacking on high calorie foods, such as crisps, chocolate and popcorn when watching a film late at night, or a kebab or curry after the pub.  If you do this on top of eating a proper evening meal earlier in the evening then you will be eating more than your body requires.

    In both cases it is because of over eating, not the time of day at which the food is eaten.

  • Lardarse wrote (see)

    image You're my hero.

    Saturday night at 11 o'clock I ate 10 fruit scones and 8 "own brand" snickers bars. By 12 o'clock I felt sickly, went to sleep at 1am, then woke up with a bad stomach at 5am.

    Explain that then?!

    Dodgy pint earlier in the evening would be my educated guessimage

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭
    Madlot wrote (see)

    Do all of you only eat healthy food ?

    I'll eat anything, curry being my favourite image

    Curry isn't necessarily unhealthy!

  • Wilkie wrote (see)

    Curry isn't necessarily unhealthy!

    quite right, i make currys at home and its possibly one of the healthiest meals i make, 

  • MikeFrog wrote (see)
    Lardarse wrote (see)

    Saturday night at 11 o'clock I ate 10 fruit scones and 8 "own brand" snickers bars. By 12 o'clock I felt sickly, went to sleep at 1am, then woke up with a bad stomach at 5am.

    Explain that then?!

    Question is, what had you had to drink before you ate that?

     

    Super Moo wrote (see)
    Lardarse wrote (see)

    image You're my hero.

    Saturday night at 11 o'clock I ate 10 fruit scones and 8 "own brand" snickers bars. By 12 o'clock I felt sickly, went to sleep at 1am, then woke up with a bad stomach at 5am.

    Explain that then?!

    Dodgy pint earlier in the evening would be my educated guessimage

    I haven't had an alcoholic drink since sometime in october, I had one pint of cider. Before that the last time I drank alcohol was August. As you may have gathered I barely drink.

  • I don't eat late at night because it stops me from sleeping. I also found that when I have tried different ways of healthy eating, I lost half a stone in a week by not eating anything after half 6 in the evening.

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