Macro-timing for best results

[Ironminded]

I just finished reading some of the articles in the archives on macro-nutrient timing, and looking at the stickies and I still have some questions on how to go about getting the most out of my diet.

I am planning on trying to time my eating, and what I eat, so that most of my carbs come immediately before, during, and after my workouts. I take it that this is the best way to feed my body for the work I will be doing, and to take advantage of the nutrient glut, which occurs, post-workout. This should also lower my insulin levels during the rest of the day helping me to avoid putting on more weight, or to drop weight depending on my goals. I plan on using oatmeal for most of my pre-workout carbs along with natural, no sugar added, fruit juice or dextrose for my post workout carbs.

My questions are mainly what else, besides protein [chicken, beef, cottage cheese etc.] should I add in to my meals to make them more complete, when they do not contain a carb source? The meals later in the day are not such a big concern for me, as salads seem natural to have at lunch/dinner, or anytime after breakfast. However I am without inspiration as to what I should be looking at for my first meal of the day.

I need some ideas for low carb, for the low carb days, additions to chicken or cottage cheese that I can make quickly and easily in the mornings, or the night before that will keep in the fridge for the following morning.

My second, and final question is; I have heard, I honestly can’t remember where, that one's blood sugar and insulin levels are normally very low in the morning. Thus some carbs, oatmeal and the like, at the beginning of the day won't cause an insulin spike which will lead to insulin sensitivity throughout the rest of the day. Does anyone have any research to back this type of a statement up? Or personal experience which supports it?

Thanks all for your time and input.

[Built]

I just finished reading some of the articles in the archives on macro-nutrient timing, and looking at the stickies and I still have some questions on how to go about getting the most out of my diet.

I am planning on trying to time my eating, and what I eat, so that most of my carbs come immediately before, during, and after my workouts. I take it that this is the best way to feed my body for the work I will be doing, and to take advantage of the nutrient glut, which occurs, post-workout. This should also lower my insulin levels during the rest of the day helping me to avoid putting on more weight, or to drop weight depending on my goals. I plan on using oatmeal for most of my pre-workout carbs along with natural, no sugar added, fruit juice or dextrose for my post workout carbs.
The lowered insulin might not do as much for preventing fat gain as you would hope, but it's outstanding at controlling appetite.

No juice, ever - wrong kind of sugar. Stick to dextrose, rice cakes - you want glucose, not fructose for this window. IMO, no-one should drink juice unless it's for a cheat meal - it's nutritionally very similar to coca cola, even the unsweetened "natural" ones. I checked.
From an earlier post:



Nutritional breakdown of juice vs pop: (background on sucrose: it's half glucose, half fructose)
I'm not convinced orange juice is fundamentally healthier than a coke. At least, not if we're talking about anything but freshly squeezed, which is STILL a really, REALLY easy way to suck back a LOT of sugar:

An 8-ounce serving of orange juice (freshly squeezed, from concentrate, whatever) has about 27g of carbohydrate, that breaks down as follows:

Total Carbohydrate 26.8g
...Dietary Fiber 0.5g
...Sugars 20.9g
.....Sucrose 8.617g (so, about 4g fructose in here)
.....Glucose 5.826g
.....Fructose 6.375g

An 8-oz serving of coca cola:

Total Carbohydrate 19.2g
...Dietary Fiber 0.0g
...Sugars 14.7g
.....Sucrose 0.488g
.....Glucose 5.368g
.....Fructose 7.857g
.....Lactose 0.788g
.....Maltose 0.488g

Source: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-B00001-01c20Vr.html

Basically, if you want fruit, eat fruit - it's fresh, it's raw, it's got fibre, it's good for you.

Juice is slightly worse for you than soda pop (or at the very least, not much better). Think of it as junk food, for occasional treats, parties. Not for daily consumption by ANYONE. It's just too unhealthy for that. Like a coke.

You LOVE the taste of juice, well, then drink it. But don't convince yourself it's health food.






My questions are mainly what else, besides protein [chicken, beef, cottage cheese etc.] should I add in to my meals to make them more complete, when they do not contain a carb source? The meals later in the day are not such a big concern for me, as salads seem natural to have at lunch/dinner, or anytime after breakfast. However I am without inspiration as to what I should be looking at for my first meal of the day.


I use cottage cheese and green leafy vegetables as subs for bread and rice. Chicken with buttered green beans, apple and nuts in cottage cheese … breakfast for me is half dozen hardboiled eggs - I toss all but one yolk, add a pat of butter and salt. Some folks like oats with breakfast, I don't. You'll have to experiment - it all comes down to comfort.





I need some ideas for low carb, for the low carb days, additions to chicken or cottage cheese that I can make quickly and easily in the mornings, or the night before that will keep in the fridge for the following morning.


Like I said, hardboiled eggs, and use cottage cheese or lettuce/broccoli/green beans instead of bread/rice/pasta for whatever you want to eat.





My second, and final question is; I have heard, I honestly can’t remember where, that one's blood sugar and insulin levels are normally very low in the morning. Thus some carbs, oatmeal and the like, at the beginning of the day won't cause an insulin spike which will lead to insulin sensitivity throughout the rest of the day. Does anyone have any research to back this type of a statement up? Or personal experience which supports it?

Thanks all for your time and input.

I feel like garbage when I eat carbs in the am, others are fine with it.

[Ironminded]

Thanks Built, I guess I just need to get over this ingrained feeling that I should eat something other then just protien [chicken, eggs etc. ] for breakfast. I wil try things out and see how it goes.

[MaFi0s0]

Coca-cola just makes it into the low GI category, most cereals dont.

[malkore]

Ironminded,

add some fish oil, or nuts to breakfast. I have egg yolks in my eggs, so I have just a little fish oil. next meal is a whey shake (convenience factor) so I add some almonds or peanuts/peanut butter to that meal.

it IS weird to eat P+F and P+C meals, but Built is right, I'm never hungry until I start in on my P+C evening meals!