protein before bed?
 

I spend a lot of time on various sites digging through forums seeing what other active people are up to. I'm at a point where I need to shake up my routines every few months in order to shed another pound or two.

That being said, I see a lot about people eating protein before bed. I've subscribed to the "no eating 2-3 hours before bed" rule for quite some time and was wondering if anyone knows if eating a little protein can help with weight loss.

I've read that slow-absorbing protein (like casein, as opposed to typical whey protein) is good. It gives your body something to go on while you're sleeping all night, seeing as how you're basically fasting that whole time. I was just wondering if this might be something I could try to shake up my routine. Specifically, I tend to get up and jog first thing one or two days a week, so if I were to eat a little protein before bed, would it give me a leg up on that morning run? (otherwise I tend to take it easy since I tend to get hungry while running and have less energy from not having eaten yet)

Any info is always appreciated! Thanks!

I think your practice of not eating before bed is best. The only reasons I can think of to eat a protein before bed is to up you total number of meals or to stave off any supposed muscle loss overnight. I don't think either of those reasons have much validity.

That said I tend to eat protein before bed- I just can't stand trying to sleep on an empty stomach and protein has less calories than carbs or fat and so I hope will do the least harm :o

I wouldn't eat anything so close to bedtime.I do sometimes have a protein drink at lunch and I do think it helps stave of cravings a bit longer.If you're asleep there isn't really any point.;)

I recently started taking a casein shake before bed, in fact I'm drinking one now. IMO it's a good way to preserve muscle while sleeping.

Protein before bed can help spare muscle as been said before, and it might help your morning run as well. I'd still say keep to at minimum an hour before you hit the bed, because you want your stomach relatively empty before you get horizontal — you don't want to deal with night-time acid issues. Casein is usually pretty good as it's broken down and absorbed fairly slowly and keeps the metabolism revved all night without being too mentally stimulating so you can actually get decent quality sleep.

-Nik

Personally I don't eat right before bed, but I have acid reflux issues. You might consider eating a little something in the morning before that run. I get on the elliptical every morning, rain or shine and run full out for an hour. The thing that helps me do that is a banana. It gives me a little extra carb boost to run a lot harder than I might otherwise, and by boosting my workout I'm building more muscle and consequently burning more fat overall.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I was thinking maybe the protein before bed thing is geared more for people trying to gain muscle, not that I'm not toning up, but bulking up isn't exactly my goal. Plus I keep track of calories pretty well during the day and don't think I have a hundred or two to give up during my day in order to have protein before bed. I'll stick with my post-dinner cup of tea to curb any late-night cravings and keep going to bed early. Thanks again!

Really, you don't have to worry about that. It's not possible for women to get bulky naturally. Body-building women have special diets and workouts (most of them involving steriods) they use to get their bodies that way.

Even before I was told not to eat before bed, it always seems more logical not to. You do almost nothing when you sleep, except for involuntary actions like breathing, so food of any kind seems like a bad idea.
Protien would probably be better for you in the morning. Eating breakfast in general is something you should always do, but protien seems to have the best reputation for kick-starting your metabolism and keeping you from being hungry all day.

Actually you'd be surprised at the muscles you can build up. I think it has as much to do with genetics as anything. The women in my family tend to have lots of muscle and be freakishly strong. I have a 6 year old DD with muscle definition in her arms, thighs and stomach.

Having muscles is one thing, being bulky quite another. Women tend to get dense, hard, (IMO sexy) muscles, while men are more likely to look like the hulk. Plus, the time scale of these things can be quite ridiculous. I've been lifting weights (mostly for strength purposes, but I wouldn't mind some extra definition) for almost two years consistently, but aside from slimming down and getting a bit leaner I don't look all that different.

Just because you're doing all the right things that would make a man explode, doesn't mean that you're going to. Worst case, you'll just become "shapely." :)

-Nik

P.S. Might I add that training for strength and training for size are two different things too. I could probably train for size and become all inflated but that's not why I lift weights. Bodybuilders that lift for size lift both moderately heavy as well as high volume (i.e., lots of reps/sets). Strength lifters, on the other hand, only lift for 5-8 reps or less and don't try to work to exhaustion. End result is lots of fat burned, very strong muscles, but not oversized ones.