Is eating at 9 A.M. good or bad?

[Rasheed]

 Is eating at 9 a.m. unhealthy? What is the best time to eat in the morning?

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

It depends on the time of your last calorie before you went to sleep. Generally it is a good practice to fast for at least 12 hours from your last calorie of the day to the first calorie of the next day. This has been linked to greater health and longevity, since your body has a chance to clean itself up on a cellular level in that fasting window.

Its also a good practice to give yourself around an hour after you wake up to start eating. I've learned this from nutrition scientists, so you give your body a chance to start functioning normally. When you first wake up you are still adjusting to the waking state and isn't optimal for immediate digestion. To me, this isn't do or die that it has to be a full hour, for example I might have something lighter like a banana or a liquid form of calories around 30 to 45 mins later, but if its a heavy meal I would definitely wait at least an hour or eat it very gradually. 

Same thing applies for eating a heavy meal before bed. Don't do this within an hour before sleep because it will sacrifice your sleep quality/digestion/nutrient absorption. 

So for example if you if you have your last calorie at 9pm the night before, go to bed around 10/10:30, wake up around 7:30/8am, 9 would be a perfect time to start eating a nutritional breakfast with protein, healthy fats, and depending on your energy demands some complex carbs.

I wouldn't rigidly obsess about the eating window (if 12 hours is too long a certain day 10 hours is fine) , that will lead to unneeded stress and everyone has different demands of they daily routines, but try to follow this best you can and it will be great for your health. 

[Rasheed]

11 hours ago, TrynaBeTurquoise said:

It depends on the time of your last calorie before you went to sleep. Generally it is a good practice to fast for at least 12 hours from your last calorie of the day to the first calorie of the next day. This has been linked to greater health and longevity, since your body has a chance to clean itself up on a cellular level in that fasting window.

Its also a good practice to give yourself around an hour after you wake up to start eating. I've learned this from nutrition scientists, so you give your body a chance to start functioning normally. When you first wake up you are still adjusting to the waking state and isn't optimal for immediate digestion. To me, this isn't do or die that it has to be a full hour, for example I might have something lighter like a banana or a liquid form of calories around 30 to 45 mins later, but if its a heavy meal I would definitely wait at least an hour or eat it very gradually. 

Same thing applies for eating a heavy meal before bed. Don't do this within an hour before sleep because it will sacrifice your sleep quality/digestion/nutrient absorption. 

So for example if you if you have your last calorie at 9pm the night before, go to bed around 10/10:30, wake up around 7:30/8am, 9 would be a perfect time to start eating a nutritional breakfast with protein, healthy fats, and depending on your energy demands some complex carbs.

I wouldn't rigidly obsess about the eating window (if 12 hours is too long a certain day 10 hours is fine) , that will lead to unneeded stress and everyone has different demands of they daily routines, but try to follow this best you can and it will be great for your health. 

  Thank you so much, this was very helpful. Very comprehensive. I appreciate it. I will apply this 100%. 

• Personally, I am now focusing on applying Intermittent Fasting into my daily routine. Purpose is not to lose weight. I personally like it, I think it can improve health and increase energy. My question is: Can 12-hour fast be considered as intermittent fasting? I am asking this question because sometimes, as a result of my schedule, on some days, I am unable to do 16-hour fasting, but I am confident that I will be able to do 12-hour fasts, every single day. 

Edited October 6, 2019 by Rasheed

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

27 minutes ago, Rasheed said:

  Thank you so much, this was very helpful. Very comprehensive. I appreciate it. I will apply this 100%. 

• Personally, I am now focusing on applying Intermittent Fasting into my daily routine. Purpose is not to lose weight. I personally like it, I think it can improve health and increase energy. My question is: Can 12-hour fast be considered as intermittent fasting? I am asking this question because sometimes, as a result of my schedule, on some days, I am unable to do 16-hour fasting, but I am confident that I will be able to do 12-hour fasts, every single day. 

Yes 12 hours is a sustainable fasting window. I suppose you could go 14, but I would only do 16 on certain days, not every day. This can be stressful on your body if this means you are sacrificing your total daily calories. Just to clarify, you probably know this but fasting doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with calorie restriction, its just narrowing the eating window. So make sure you are still getting then proper amount of food you need in your eating window.

Ultimately if your goal isnt weight loss, 12 hours had been shown to be really all you need for that optimal metabolic reset. I would only recommend beyond that once in a while or if you are trying to lose weight. 

A good recourse for intermittent fasting, ketosis, nutrition in general is the ben greenfield fitness podcast. He interviews other nutritional experts and has a lot of in depth content to explain the science of fasting.

Edited October 6, 2019 by TrynaBeTurquoise

[Rasheed]

18 minutes ago, TrynaBeTurquoise said:

Yes 12 hours is a sustainable fasting window. I suppose you could go 14, but I would only do 16 on certain days, not every day. This can be stressful on your body if this means you are sacrificing your total daily calories. Just to clarify, you probably know this but fasting doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with calorie restriction, its just narrowing the eating window. So make sure you are still getting then proper amount of food you need in your eating window.

Ultimately if your goal isnt weight loss, 12 hours had been shown to be really all you need for that optimal metabolic reset. I would only recommend beyond that once in a while or if you are trying to lose weight. 

A good recourse for intermittent fasting, ketosis, nutrition in general is the ben greenfield fitness podcast. He interviews other nutritional experts and has a lot of in depth content to explain the science of fasting.

Thank you. I will check out the Podcast.

  12-hour fast compared to 14-hour fast, does it make a big difference?

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

4 minutes ago, Rasheed said:

Thank you. I will check out the Podcast.

  12-hour fast compared to 14-hour fast, does it make a big difference?

No problem. It doesnt make a big difference, 12 hours has been shown to be the sweet spot. But 14 will give you an extra couple hours in ketosis. I would play around with it if I were you. If 14 feels good, go for it, if it feels a little much like you are depriving yourself, stick with 12. Once in a while its been shown that longer fasts like 16+ hours can be beneficial, but not every day. I would try some experiments on yourself, see what feels best.