Eating carbs at night will not make you gain weight. Here’s why.

Should I stop eating carbs past 5pm or should I only eat carbs during the day?

As a personal trainer and nutritionist, this is a question I get asked all the time.    Today I'm here to explain what actually is the best time to eat carbs and if eating them at night really makes you gain weight.  The answer might surprise you because it's not what you think or what you've been told. So read on to learn the truth about eating carbs at night.

So there are many reasons why people gain weight and the leading cause is eating too many carbs, specifically sugar and starch.  But what if I told you the problem isn't eating too many carbs but at what time of day you consume them.  Now most people think if they stop having carbs past 5pm they will lose weight.  Now this does happen but only because you are cutting out calories from your diet in the process. 

only Works in the beginning

This may help you lose weight at first but once your body gets used to it and you experience metabolic adaptation, which causes your body to burn less calories, your results will eventually stop.  You won't be able to reach your desired weight and you may eventually quit and go back to eating normal, which will cause the weight to return.

That is why I never recommend people following this approach or anything else that requires you to restrict a specific macro from your diet.  What you need is a solid nutrition plan based specially on your body, this will help you achieve the best results.  This way you will stick to it and it doesn't matter if you're eating carbs at night or in the morning. 

carb timing & carb type

Now another part of the problem is what kinds of carbs you're consuming and at what time of day.   If you're eating a high glycemic carb for breakfast then chances are you won't be able to lose much weight.  The reason for this is because your insulin is very sensitive in the morning and if you raise your blood sugar it will spike very high and won't come down for the rest of the day.  Your body loses the ability to burn fat for the rest of the day so you can't burn fat but only store it.  

This is why it's very important to eat high fiber carbs in the morning, and even at lunch time if you're trying to lose weight, so you won't stop your body from burning fat.  You will achieve the best results if you do.  But there's also an even easier way to do it, so you don't have to eat brown rice and oatmeal for the rest of your life. You'll even get much better results and your body won't be able to adapt, so you'll never enter a weight loss plateau. 

carb cycling vs. keto

There's two ways you can go about doing this.  The first is carb cycling, this is when you alternate between high carb and low carb days. Workout days should be high carb and off days should be low.  This will speed up your metabolism and still allow you to burn only fat on your low carb days.  It's the best way to get consistent results and never have to worry about getting stuck in the dreaded weight loss plateau. 

But there's another way to do this, and it produces even better results than the former.  It's a form of carb cycling but it takes advantage of your body's natural circadian cycle and hormones to speed up fat loss, allowing you to lose weight at an even faster rate without sacrificing any muscle loss in the process. 

Remember earlier when I said your body's insulin is very sensitive in the morning and less sensitive at night. Well now we're going to use that to our advantage.  Since it's more sensitive in the morning you will only eat protein and fat throughout the day, no more than 30 grams until 5pm.  On workout days you will have a high carb evening and consume all of your carbs for the day after 5pm.  On off days you will only have 1 small carb meal either with dinner or for a dessert.   

burn fat all day

This will allow your body to stay in ketosis and burn fat all day,  but still allow you to get the proper nutrition you need to help aid with muscle recovery.  On off days you will be very low carb and also burn a lot of fat so you can achieve weight loss fast.  And since you're still eating the proper amount of carbs and calories you won't have to sacrifice any of your hard earned muscle gains to lose weight.  Amazing right? 

Now, it works best when you do high volume strength training on your workout days because your muscles are what use up most of the carbs for energy and recovery.  This is just another reason why lifting weights is so important for everyone and not just bodybuilders. Not only does it keep your bones and muscles strong but it also helps you lose weight at an accelerated rate.  And you still get to eat all the foods you love in the meantime.  A win-win for sure and that's why weightlifting is such a powerful and important part of any well balanced health and fitness routine.  Again, another reason why you too should definitely make lifting weights a part of your routine.

conclusion

So now you know that the age old saying "eating carbs after 5pm will make you gain weight", is completely false.  It doesn't matter what time you eat carbs, as long as you eat the right carbs at the right times.  If you eat starchy carbs during the day you will not be able to burn fat for the rest of the day.  So choose your carbs wisely.  

People believe they lost weight from not eating carbs after 5pm, but it was only because they were cutting out all the junk food they would normally eat at night.  It's no different than cutting out soda and losing a bunch of weight because you cut out all those calories.  If you replace those calories with something else, then you won't lose any weight either. It's all about having a balanced diet and eating the correct macros.  That's how you sustain long term weight loss.

Today you learned that eating carbs for breakfast is actually the worst possible time you can have them, since your insulin is the most sensitive at this time.  Obviously, eating lower glycemic carbs instead will be less harmful but the best way to achieve maximum results is to not eat them at all during the day.  You should only eat them past 5pm and mostly on weight lifting days.  On off days, try to stay as low carb as you can, maybe just consuming 1 carb serving with dinner or dessert. 

If you follow what you've learned today in this article and put it into practice, I can guarantee you the fat will melt away and losing weight will never be easier.   You also won't damage your metabolism or sacrifice any of your hard earned muscle mass in the process just to lose fat.  This will help when you decide to go back to eating a normal amount of calories and just want to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle going forward.  

But all in all, carbs at night are not bad so please do yourself a favor and just stop believing that myth, it isn't true. Just enjoy your life, eat carbs at night but not all the time and you will be ok.  You will also achieve your weight loss goals a lot faster and permanently if you do.