I’m always asked by new clients “what should I be eating?”, “when should I eat carbs?”, “should I not eat carbs before bed?”. All legit questions but in the bigger picture does it really make that much difference?

What the research tells us is that when calories are equated and protein is high it doesn’t really make that much difference when carbs are consumed it is more about the total amount and whether or not you are within your calorie allowance. You can make an argument about consuming a large portion of your carbs around training but that will be covered in a later blog post.

So in terms of constructing meals, to begin with always include a good source of protein with each meal, fibrous fruit or vegetables ie non-starchy fruit or vegetables with a good source of healthy fats.

The reason for basing your meals with protein and fiber is that both protein and fiber have a higher thermic effect when being digested ie you burn more energy. Protein and fiber is also more filling than starchy or processed carbs with fibrous vegetables containing very little calories. Protein is also essential

You then need to decide if you are adding carbs to a particular meal or not. This is entirely up to you. Here are a few options that you can choose from:

• Carbs with each meal of the day
• Carbs with breakfast and lunch then taper off in the afternoon and evening
• No carbs in the first half of the day then backload carbs from afternoon to evening
• Carbs only before and after training

These are all personal preferences. Choose what works best for you, both for your energy levels and your mental clarity.

Personally I have tried every option and the only one I feel best on is carbs with each meal.

With both my in person clients and online clients

I establish a clients daily energy levels and how well the client tolerates carbs and then discuss how carbs can be best utilised each day.

Carbs can also be manipulated for when you are either in a muscle gaining phase or fat loss phase. You always want to keep protein high in order to assist muscle gain or help preserve muscle when in a cutting phase. It is easy to reduce or increase carbs while leaving protein and fat the same.

You can download a free copy of our portion control guide here.

Our next topic will be on resistance training which you can view here

References:

Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9094871

Greater weight loss and hormonal changes after 6 months diet with carbohydrates eaten mostly at night.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475137