We have all heard the old saying that if you eat at night or before you go to bed you will put on weight. But is it true? The most logical answer is no!

If you have been dieting like crazy and at the end of every day you sneak a granola bar before bed because you’re so hungry, why do you lie awake guilt ridden and miserable? There is nothing wrong with eating just before you go to sleep, as long as you are still not consuming as many calories as you are burning. That’s the only way to lose weight.

Don’t misunderstand me, your metabolism does slow down when you sleep but that doesn’t mean every scrap of food you eat is going straight to your hips. It is a biological certainty that your body burns calories better when you sleep. Studies have proved that the human body is exceptionally well adjusted to eating at night.

We have had thousands of years to evolve, do you really think the hunter-gatherers sat down to eat breakfast lunch and dinner? They were hunting during the day. So you see the human species has been eating the bulk of our diet at night for thousands of years. It’s natural. That is perhaps why food makes us sleepy.

It would be more correct to say if you over eat at night or before bedtime you will get fat. You should really try to eat small amounts of food every three hours, the human body needs the energy to function efficiently. If you are starving yourself, then gorging at night you will get fat. Eat properly and if you feel you are still hungry before bed by all means eat something. Just try and keep it reasonable, no sweets or carbohydrates if you can. If hunger forces you to have the leftover spaghetti, then fine. Do a few extra exercises in the morning and be positive, cheating and knowing you’re going to cheat again are two very different things.