Is This Why You Gain Weight At Night?
Deep Dive
Takeaway: If you are gaining weight and eating late at night, it’s not because late-night eating turns to fat. It’s because you’re falling prey to the Triad of Overconsumption.
Is This Why You Gain Weight At Night?
We’ve all heard the belief that eating late at night, when your body is inactive, will cause food to be turned directly to body fat…
How much truth is there to this?
Eating late at night can cause weight gain.
However, it’s correlational and not causation.
Many people who struggle to manage their weight do eat late at night, but this fact isn’t what’s causing their weight gain.
The more likely cause for the weight gain is what I call the Triad of Overconsumption.
The Triad of Overconsumption is the presence of three variables:
You skipped meals during the day, which led to feeling more hungry at night.
Because you skipped meals you have more calories leftover, giving you justification to choose high calorie foods.
Lastly, because it’s the end of the day you’ve already exerted your willpower—leaving nothing left for good choices at night.
As you can probably see, all three factors play into each other. When they are present, you are significantly more likely to overeat for the day.
This perfect storm of conditions often happens at night as the day winds down and can be a direct cause of weight gain.
It is the overconsumption of food that causes your weight gain, not the time of day.
Many of my meals throughout the week occur after 10pm because of my schedule. But I don’t struggle with gaining weight because I have a plan to properly control my portions and total calories.
Don’t just take my experience, we can look to entire cultures who eat late at night.
In 2018 I took a trip to Spain. There I noticed that you don’t see nearly as many men and women who are overweight.
Then I experienced a unique cultural difference…
Late-night eating is a staple tradition, sometimes until one o’clock in the morning. The few nights we showed up to restaurants at ten o’clock, we were the first people to arrive for dinner. It might as well have been happy hour.
Regular late night eating, but not a huge presence of obesity.
The time of day is not causing them to gain weight because, alone, that variable doesn’t cause weight gain.
This is great news. It means you don’t have to fear what time of day you’re eating. It does mean, however, that controlling portions is continued enemy number one.
If you find it easier to eat later in the evening due to schedule or preference, then don’t be afraid to do so. Just be sure to stay within your calorie targets for the day.
If you are struggling to lose weight AND are also eating late at night, then double check that you aren’t falling into the triad of overconsumption.
P.S. Speaking of fearing food, we just put together a new guide: The Bottomless Brunch Blueprint. Want a copy? Reply to this email and let me know and I’ll send it over.