Each week I choose a topic within the health and fitness industry that I like to write about, discuss and share with you the reader. My main objective with my weekly fitness blogs is to provide some useful information, tips and facts that people can hopefully use to apply to their own workouts and diet plans. I try my absolute best to be as unbiased as possible when discussing the latest fitness fads, training theories and dieting trends. Even though I’m never one to shy away from giving my opinion on a subject I understand that it’s important to respect others beliefs and thoughts even though I myself may not agree or understand them.

With that said, this past week has definitely been an interesting one. In the last 4 days alone I’ve had 7 people contact me and ask me for assistance with their nutritional plans. My customized nutritional plans and training programs have become quite popular over the last few months to where I’m now currently working with over 60 online clients throughout North America. First, I want to say that I am definitely grateful for the continued and ongoing support that I receive from all my clients who trust me enough to help them transform their lives for the better. However, I still cannot believe how many people have become brainwashed by what so-called fitness experts or diet gurus have told them to do when it comes to certain aspects of training and nutrition. The one common “problem” that I came across this week with my 7 new online clients is that I noticed they all were late night eaters when I looked over their food journals. And what perplexed me the most was that all 7 clients blamed their late night snacking habits for their current body weight issues.

Ugh…..Excuse me while I hit by head with my hand and roll my eyes for the 100th time this week……People, for the last time…….EATING AT NIGHT DOES NOT AND WILL NOT MAKE YOU FAT. WHAT YOU EAT AND HOW MUCH OF IT YOU EAT WILL!

Diets Don’t Work

I like food. In fact I LOVE food. I enjoy food so much that the only time I’m not eating it is when I am training and sleeping and even then I usually get up at least twice a night out of bed to eat some more. The amount of food I purchase in a year is so high that I’m on a first name basis with everyone who works at my local Costco. One of the first things a new client will say to me once they receive their new program is that I’m giving them too much food. Regardless if they are trying to gain muscle or lose fat or a combination of the two they are always surprised by the amount of food I incorporate into their plans. I always make sure to tell each and every one of my clients to trust the plan and to follow it to a T for at least a week before making any changes. Usually within the first 4-5 days on the plan is when most people notice some slight changes in energy, mood and strength in the gym. By week 2 is when they typically start to notice a change in numbers on the scale and by week 3 they are usually hooked and absolutely love how they are feeling and how they are slowly beginning to transform their physiques. So why do my clients feel this way? Because I don’t put them on diets!

Dumb Dieters

I have a confession to make – I myself was once a dumb dieter. Back in the day I would starve myself for weeks and live off mustard and tuna from a can just so that I could get ripped for an upcoming bodybuilding show or lean for the summer season. I would then switch over to “bulking mode” in the offseason and eat everything I absolutely could get my hands on for the sole purpose of adding on as much muscle as possible. What I ended up with was a malnourished looking physique caused by a severe calorie deficit for weeks to months on end followed by a bloated mess who looked like the Michelin Man from overeating and stuffing myself for the remaining part of the year. It was a vicious cycle that caused a lot of emotional and physical damage to my body. Lucky enough, by the time I hit 28 I smartened up, educated myself on proper nutrition and supplementation and ditched the phrase “Dieting Program” and replaced it with “Nutritional Plan” and yes, there is a significant difference between the two.

Dieting in the Dark

Okay, so back to the main topic of discussion – Is eating late at night really that bad for you? Well, the answer is actually yes and no. The general theory shared by many health and fitness professionals when it comes to late night eating is that due to the lack of activity and physical exertion that most people do in the evening, that the body will store any and all unused calories as fat. Therefore according to these people it’s important to get the majority of your calories in during the earlier part of the day. Although this theory does make some sense for some people it makes even less sense to most. Yes, it’s true that if you consume a large quantity of calories in one sitting and do not do anything to try and burn them off, a portion of them will be stored as body fat. However the time of day that you consume these calories is irrelevant if you are sedentary and inactive during the daytime as well. I mean if you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk for the better part of your day and you drive to and from work, do you really think you are burning that much more calories then when you are sleeping or sitting at home watching TV?

Why Quality ALWAYS Beats Quantity

The number one tool that I’ve had success with applying with my nutritional plans that have helped others as well as myself when it comes to building muscle and losing fat through the power of proper nutrition is the quality of foods that we incorporate into the program. It’s so important to understand the roles that essential fats, complex carbohydrates and leans proteins play when helping the body produce results to the best of it’s ability. And to do this you need to take into consideration your lifestyle, level of fitness, gender, age and current physical activity schedule. Rather then worry about eating past 8pm focus on lowering your sugar intake. Instead of counting your carbohydrates, eliminate all simple carbohydrates from your diet for a few days. And forget about consuming that Post-Workout Protein Shake immediately after training, your muscles are not going to shrink without it. Just focus on getting in some sort of lean protein from a whole food source within an hour or two after your training session.

So when it comes to eating at night the choice is up to you. You can sit at home and starve yourself and lose sleep because you’re fasting until you can eat again in the morning. Or you can sit at home and stuff your face with chips and cookies and lose sleep because you’re sitting on the toilet all night. Or you can strategically space out your meals accordingly, practice portion control, and make the healthiest of meals taste amazing by using some creativity so you do not feel as if you are depriving yourself and sleep like a baby.

Just remember, night time is not dangerous for your diet. Not all carbs are the enemy. And restricting yourself from quality calories is no better then stuffing yourself with dirty calories.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove