Fruit - how late?

[Future Yummy Mummy]

I know to eat the last protein meal 1.5 hours before bed, but can I eat fruit as a late night treat?

[lil_doll]

Hey FYM,

My program says not to eat after 9:30 and to wait 2.5 before bed... and it doesn't appear to differentiate between protein, fruit or crackers... I would assume an empty tummy is best. Maybe someone else knows more and can help out better.

xoxo
Missy

[shuki]

my programme says the same as Missy so I would suspect that is actually the recommended way

[Future Yummy Mummy]

You see, mine just says "last meal (protein and vegetable) before 9pm at night". Elsewhere it says "you must eat before 9pm (or at least 1.5 hours before bed if you are a shift worker."

Quite apart from the fruit issue, if it's actually 2.5 hours then almost all my dinners have been too late.

I shall e-mail the clinic, although I've not a lot of faith in the Singapore clinic so far .........

[FlaMie]

I eat my fruits just before bed even... no problem.

[lil_doll]

Mmm, seems like Singapore almost has a whole set of different rules...

No protein after 9 (as opposed to the Aussie 9:30), only 1.5 hours before bed (instead of the Aussie 2.5), plus being allowed to have cheese daily!

*sigh

I may have to pretend to be Singaporean!

xMissy

[cobie_lee]

Mine says 9pm, and Im in Wollongong.. It also only says last meal (protein and veg) before 9pm, and 2.5hrs before bed..

No reference to fruit

[lil_doll]

Oh yep, mine is actually 9 as well...

[sangi]

yes ! i had the same doubt too.
yesterday was my first day and my last meal was at 9.30pm. couldn't make it before that.
hope to improve my timing today.

[Future Yummy Mummy]

Reply from clinic says:

Hi XXX

Greetings from Cohen’s. Your last main meal for the day has to be consumed before 9pm if you can – if not at least 1.5 hours before bedtime. People tend to post all kinds of stuff on the Forum page. Do check with us if you have any doubts.

You can choose to have your fruit and cracker after dinner .

Have a great day ahead.

XXX
Senior Consultant


To be honest I'm more inclined to believe you guys!

Would someone who has Santa's ear mind checking, please?

[firefox]

I asked the clinic this question before and the answer was that the fruit and crackers can be eaten even close to bedtime. It's the protein that needs the gap. Having said that, I tried to make sure I was done with all eating about 2 hours before going to bed, just so that I could break the late-night snacking habit. Seems to have worked. Off the diet now, and no cravings...

[lil_doll]

Hey FYM...

I think there are just variations between clinics... although what firefox says sounds plausible. It is after all the protein that helps melt the fat! But surely sleeping with the sugar from fruit can't be that great... and I remember once Oprah saying not to eat after a certain time... and her catch phrase was 'not even a grape!'... but then again we aren't on Oprahs' diet, are we?!

xoxo
Missy

[littlemiss]

Strange to see the variation between clinics... hmm.. (I also had a question about cheese intake - see my diary).

9 pm is my dealbreaker, I don't eat anything, either crackers or fruit, after 9. However, FlaMie did a fantastic job slimming down and has maintained the weight so I figure, maybe it doesn't hurt too much.. But when in doubt, don't?

p/s lil_doll... despite the reassurance from the clinic, I think I'd just watch my cheese intake and try to limit it as best I can!

[lil_doll]

Mmm, yeh, littlemiss... I guess that is the right approach with the fluid retention (maybe just watch it and see if you react that way!)... but cheese is such an easy option! But I guess tuna isn't so bad!

hehe

[sundaymorningstaple]

We all must remember that the programme is constantly evolving as well. My programme (created in Dec 07) indicated no food (full stop) 2 hours before sleep. It did not indicate main meals/protein source, fruit/cracker, whatever. So I guess even here in Singapore things are changing as well. I suspect things get modified/localized based on input from the consultant's output to Dr. Cohen.

If you consider that here in Singapore, most are workaholics and often do not reach home until 8:30 or 9:00 or later, then it makes sense that the 9 or 9:30 is pushing it (I never got home before 8:30 and often it was 9:30 or later getting home. My normal retiring time was around 12:30~1:30am and I only ever got around 5 hours sleep a night during the week. So, it would seem to me, with locals tending to put in longish hours, in order for the programme to "fit" they would have had to modify it if they were to be able to sell it to the local population. I don't obviously have any verification of this but it makes sense as I know the vegetables allows have been localized for Singapore.

Therefore, one need to carefully read the programme and adhere to what it says as it is possible the the rest of the diet is constructed around a different set of parameters. Remember the whole thing is rigid so a deviation (not necessarily from the food you are eating) but when or what you eat can have a bearing on the weight loss. Probably won't stop you from losing or it won't stop you from reprogramming your HGH, but it will probably slow down your rate of loss. If one were to check my charts you would know that almost without fail, my loss on weight on Sunday Morning was close or equal to my total lost for the previous Monday thru Friday as Sunday mornings were the only times I got to sleep in and copped a solid 8 hours or more of sleep! I still lost it all eventually, but it could probably be done in less time had I gotten proper sleep every night. I used to try to eat meal 3 around 9:30 or earlier and then have my evening snack of an Apple and two crackers around 10:30pm.

[FlaMie]

Hhhhmmmm perhaps if I stick it to what the rest of you do, I may lose even more?! Well, my clinic told me that so long as my weight loss is not affected, then it is ok to eat my fruits at whatever timing but not the main meal though.

[Future Yummy Mummy]

We normally have dinner at 8.30 to 9 as that's after the sprog's in bed, so we can relax. It's certainly 1.5 hours till bed, but usually not 2.5.

The late night fruit is the 2 nights a week that I'm teaching. I used to get in at 10.15 and have dinner and wine, now it's portion of mango. Need SOMETHING to look forward to........

[Shanara]

My Understanding is nothing after 9pm - that is protein, fruit, crackers.

I had water and if I was really hungry a diet sprite.

Shanara

[curiousgeorge]

I am one of the (ang mo) "locals" that SMS refers to, especially in terms of finishing late. Sometimes as late as 11pm.

I simply can't eat before 9pm, and I can't always stay awake 1.5hours after the meal.

The program is pretty clear - it is MORE IMPORTANT to eat the meal and go to bed than miss a meal. Not optimal, but there you go.

On 'early' nights home, I tend to eat before 9, snack on fruit & crackers sometimes after but usually leave the 1.5 hours before bed clear.

interested to hear from the aussies - in Singapore we have a local list of veggies - is there anything on the allowed list in Oz that we're missing in singapore?

[Future Yummy Mummy]

Another e-mail from the clinic. Fruit can be eaten 10 minutes before bed (I think they took my question "Can I eat it, say, 10 minutes before bed?" literally) but eat crackers an hour before bed.