“Don’t eat after X o’clock”(Bullocks)

[highkick09]

Here’s why:

What we really want to avoid in the evening are foods that give rise to insulin, specifically carbohydrates, and for several reasons.

First, when blood insulin levels rise, fat burning takes a dive and a “storage” environment is created within the body. This is a good thing after exercise or after an overnight fast to allow the body to “refuel”, but not so good when metabolism is falling off in the evening hours.

Secondly, something called insulin sensitivity drops drastically in the evening, which simply means that your body is not as responsive to insulin at night as it is during the day. When insulin sensitivity is low, carbohydrates are easily stored as fat.

Needless to say, we can see why eating carbohydrates late at night isn’t a smart move, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t eat anything.

Just think about what not eating does to muscle tissue.

If you finished dinner at 7 P.M. and then ate nothing until you woke up the next morning at 7 A.M., you just went a full 12-hours without feeding your muscles whatsoever.

This is a sure recipe for muscle loss, especially when dieting and already restricting calories.

Now, you may be thinking “I don’t really care about muscle”, but believe me, you do.

When you lose muscle, metabolism slows, and weight-loss becomes all that much harder. Regardless of your physique goals, you want to maintain as much calorie burning muscle as possible.

Always.

So, in order to curb late-night cravings and support muscle tissue maintenance, a small meal consisting of mostly slow digesting protein and fibrous green veggies within a couple hours of bed works best.

Animal protein (chicken, fish, beef, etc) are great choices for a late night meal, as is something like cottage cheese. Both digest slowly over time, providing a mild, but steady influx of nutrients to muscle throughout the night, all while not interfering with your insulin levels.

Or maybe I’m just a rebel who doesn’t know what the heck he’s talking about? ;-)

agree or disagree?
whats muscle and brawn members think?

[BendtheBar]

I eat 70% of my calories, including all my daily carbs after 5:30 PM. Post-workout.

Eating a lot of carbs when you are just sitting around, in my opinion, is a big no-no. You're better off with fats and protein.

I think there are a ton of variables, and many things work for many people, but in general I think an excess of carbs is a bad idea unless it's a refeed or post-workout. I'm not saying "avoid all carbs". I am simply not a fan of rice/grains every 2.5 hours throughout the day.

It all comes down to finding out what works for you. And that sometimes requires you to look past the "conventional" modern wisdom of "fat is bad", which usually means eating more carbs.

And of course, if you are trying to bulk, and are a hardgainer, all this goes out the window.

[highkick09]

ah mate thats really interesting, i have my biggest carb meal when i get home from gym, but its bean and veg, i was wondering 12,carbs (bean source) totally with a **** load of vegies?
thats all i ever eat beans and veg and lean meats etc, unless its a mad sunday of eating as much crap as i want lol

i agree fat doesnt make you fat, calories do

read a good few books to understan fat doesnt make you fat!

actually now im curious to have my steak.beans/veg at 7 ish pm,

might just go have steak more veg

also bbendthebar i have read some of your articles

surely post workout, eating cookies etc i know the deal with gloycen and insulin, i just couldnt put crap in me after workout lol

allow bulking a different story

im a sturrborn ass when it comes to my diet lol drop from 60grams protein to 40g protein
lol

might put some artifical sweetner in shakes for post workout if i play the gloycen idea?

[BendtheBar]

I'm not sure about artificial sweeteners PWO. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they were a bad idea, but I might be completely off base.

You're young and strong, so I would just stick with what you're doing. Eat those beans!

It's OK not to eat junk post workout. I have always eaten a sweet treat post workout because my body craves it. I figure if the craving is there for me, it must be for a reason.

[highkick09]

actually mate your right! why would i change it if its already going well lol, good point basically just shot myself in foot there

oh mate you ever hear of chromium?
i take it with my meals, helps with insulin and it stops food cravings no joke maybe something for you to have a lurk at
i sees

thanks again,



thanks for advice mate