If you try to increase the gap between
last meal and bedtime you are probably
going to do more harm than good. I am
sure you have heard all the "new" theories
about eating more small meals during the
day instead of 3 large meals. First off,
the 3 meal-a-day routine is new, and
promoted by the American food industry.
The reason you should eat more often is
because it actually regulates your
metabolism more effectively. Eating
regularly keeps your body from reverting
to "starvation mode." When you go long
periods of time without eating, your body
assumes it will not be fed again soon.
Therefore, the next time you eat, it
stores as much of the food as possible as
fat.
So here's the point. If you are sleeping
for 8 hours, then you are already going a
long period without any nutrition. If you
don't eat a couple hours before bed,
you've increased that to 10 hours! Once
you eat breakfast...KAPOW, you are gonna
store a lot of that food as fat. If you
add to that the crappy carbohydrate filled
junk most Americans eat for breakfast
(cereal, breakfast bars, etc.) you are
almost asking to get fat.
Tip: eat a slow digesting protein (cottage
cheese, casein protein blend) before bed
with some fruit/veggies perhaps. It will
keep your body out of starvation mode and
into calorie burning mode. Don't eat
cereal...ever, most are horrible for you.
