The 6 PM Rule

I was recently asked about the 6 pm rule ... the rule that states that you shouldn't eat after 6 pm.

The myth: not eating after 6 pm will help you lose weight.

The concept: by stopping your food intake at an earlier time like 6 pm, it will help you at least maintain a more stable weight because the likelihood of you moving around a lot in the evening is not very likely. Because of this, by ceasing food consumption at an earlier time, you will burn more of the calories you eat throughout the day.

The truth: the most important part of a healthy lifestyle is balancing exercise with eating. If you have ever been to Europe, it is very clear that they have a very small percentage of overweight people. If you haven't been to Europe but have been to a nice restaurant, the same concepts apply to those who live in Europe: eat the correct portion size and move.

It doesn't seem like a hard concept, right? Except for us Americans, it is very hard. We are all about getting what we have paid for - the small portion sizes of the fancy restaurants aren't filling and we want to be full when we leave a restaurant.

Also, for most Americans, there are a million things to do in a day and not enough time to do it. Traveling by cars is fastest and we want to park as close to the building we need to get to in order to arrive there fast. There just isn't enough time in our daily schedule to exercise ... or is there?

One of the most important things to remember about exercise is that you need time to do it - setting aside time in your schedule to exercise is just as important as setting aside time to eat. Make exercising a part of your daily routine. And don't stop there. Park far away from where you need to go, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and if you live close to many stores and restaurants like I do, walk there instead of driving for 2 minutes to where you want to go.

So the 6 pm rule has a great take-home concept: make sure you burn the calories that you're eating. It's okay to eat at 11 pm but just remember that those calories still need to be burned.