Two truths and a lie

Timing is everything, they say, and I somewhat agree when it comes to food. There are lots of diets that talk about when to eat, when not to eat, what time to stop eating for the day, what time to start eating after you wake up...etc, etc.

The whole timing thing is important, but for me it's comprised of two truths and a lie:

Truth: Eating many small meals throughout the day IS healthier than eating only two or three large meals. By eating small meals/snacks all day, you are keeping your metabolism going and not over-stuffing yourself in one shot. The human body does better when it processes smaller amounts of nutrients and calories throughout the day. Forcing it to break down 3 times as much food as your body has capacity for (which is typical of an American portion-sized lunch or dinner), causes the metabolism to slow and the body to store more of the calories as fat. Bad news.
The other benefit to small meals throughout the day is that you never go hungry. You're always eating and keeping yourself satisfied and your metabolism revving at top speeds.

Truth: Eating late at night is bad for you....maybe. This fact IS true, but only when you have a regular sleep schedule modeled after the typical American lifestyle at present. If you wake up early, spend all day active (awake) and go to bed between 9pm and midnight, yes eating late at night is bad for you. The reason why this is so is uncovered in the lie:

Lie: Eating late at night is bad for you. Your body doesn't care what time it is, it only cares what part of your body cycle it is in at the time. If you follow a similar schedule to the one I outlined above, then eating late means you are eating right before you go to bed. This means that your body will either have to process the foods you eat at a slower rate while you're winding down at a lower energy level, or the food may sit in your system processing at a snail's pace while you sleep. This causes much more of the calorie intake to be stored as fat. Again, bad news. But if you woke up at noon, spend all day active (awake) and go to bed at 3am, eating at 9pm isn't going to hurt you. You still have 6 hours then left in your day to process the food and that is plenty of time.

Timing can be everything, but you have to time your eating with what works best for your schedule. Whatever time you go to bed and wake up, these are my main recommendations:

-Work out before your first meal. It kick starts your metabolism for the day.
-Eat breakfast! It revs up your metabolism and keeps your from becoming ravenous around lunch time
-Smaller meals more often is always the healthiest choice
-Midnight desserts are okay sometimes, but never make eating before bed a habit

What do you think about these timing rules?
And just out of curiosity, what is your favorite midnight snack?
-Mine is pie ;)