When do you eat your carbs?

I had the chance to speak with someone who has competed in fitness / body competitions and they made a couple suggestions to me, so figured I'd share.

1. Don't eliminate simple [fruits] / complex carbs, simply move them to early in the day - try not to consume after lunch. Instead of the standard meat, veg, starch for dinner, have meat, veg and a salad [or extra veg].

2. Don't do a cheat day [or whatever name you may feel most comfortable calling it], but do have cheat meals every couple days [e.g. Tues, Thurs, Sun] for breakfast or lunch - not dinner [this ties back into #1].

3. Make every effort to eat 6 meals a day, evenly spaced every 2.5 - 3 hours, and try to ensure some protein at each [again refer back to #1]. It's up to each individual how they get the 6 meals in [e.g. 3 meals plus 3 protein shakes, 3 meals plus 3 snacks, etc.]; the key was consistency.

It should be noted this advice was proffered specifically as it relates to weight loss for me [I still have 120lbs to lose]; it was not intended for someone training for a specific sport / competition etc. However, it would work well for anyone looking to lose weight with a focus on adequate nutrition, cardio, weight training and rest / recovery periods. Additionally, it is assumed there are no medical conditions requiring an alternate nutrition program.

What I personally like most is how simple it is to incorporate into everyday life, AND that it wasn't extreme in any way [e.g. not eliminating an entire food group or sub-group]. For me it means not having my fruit as an evening snack, instead adding it to my breakfast / lunch, and eliminating the starch [rice, pasta, couscous, etc] I would have had for dinner.

Have you tried something like this? Did you see results or feel better in general?

I eat carbs whenever I want them, as long as it's within my calorie goal.

I have heard numerous times that it is best to eat carbs earlier in the day. The metabolism and digestive systems are supposedly more active. I however usually save my carbs/calories for dinner. My husband is not dieting and he will request certain foods to eat during the week. For the most part dinner is my only starchy meal. While it might be better to eat carbs earlier in the day, I've still be losing weight just by reducing total intake.

I had the chance to speak with someone who has competed in fitness / body competitions and they made a couple suggestions to me, so figured I'd share.

1. Don't eliminate simple [fruits] / complex carbs, simply move them to early in the day - try not to consume after lunch. Instead of the standard meat, veg, starch for dinner, have meat, veg and a salad [or extra veg].

2. Don't do a cheat day [or whatever name you may feel most comfortable calling it], but do have cheat meals every couple days [e.g. Tues, Thurs, Sun] for breakfast or lunch - not dinner [this ties back into #1].

3. Make every effort to eat 6 meals a day, evenly spaced every 2.5 - 3 hours, and try to ensure some protein at each [again refer back to #1]. It's up to each individual how they get the 6 meals in [e.g. 3 meals plus 3 protein shakes, 3 meals plus 3 snacks, etc.]; the key was consistency.

It should be noted this advice was proffered specifically as it relates to weight loss for me [I still have 120lbs to lose]; it was not intended for someone training for a specific sport / competition etc. However, it would work well for anyone looking to lose weight with a focus on adequate nutrition, cardio, weight training and rest / recovery periods. Additionally, it is assumed there are no medical conditions requiring an alternate nutrition program.

What I personally like most is how simple it is to incorporate into everyday life, AND that it wasn't extreme in any way [e.g. not eliminating an entire food group or sub-group]. For me it means not having my fruit as an evening snack, instead adding it to my breakfast / lunch, and eliminating the starch [rice, pasta, couscous, etc] I would have had for dinner.

Have you tried something like this? Did you see results or feel better in general?

I have heard numerous times that it is best to eat carbs earlier in the day. The metabolism and digestive systems are supposedly more active. I however usually save my carbs/calories for dinner. My husband is not dieting and he will request certain foods to eat during the week. For the most part dinner is my only starchy meal. While it might be better to eat carbs earlier in the day, I've still be losing weight just by reducing total intake.

The reason most professional coaches will give you is that you eat the carbs at the beginning of the day (not all, obviously) is because then you will have quick fuel available to you as you are being active during the day. Eat more protein and fat at the end of the day, because you don't need fast energy while you're sleeping.

Edit: this is more for athletes/very active people who are not looking to lose weight.

These discussions usually go down the toilet all the time. Ohh you are wrong, or you are right or this guy is right and random guy pulls random study. I train late in the evening and it is an ideal time for me. I take my carbs early because it has worked for me and not because someone told me that I should. It is because I know what my body wants. At the end of the day I want to finish my meals with higher protein and very little carbs. I workout pretty intense with very little rest and really heavy weight. My body seems to be working fine on it because I don't leave 1 cent before I leave that gym after a weights workout. There are other things that have not worked well in the past and I adjust to what works best. My meals at times end up moving up beyond lunch time because of my job so I may have my 2nd meal at 2-3 pm and that is where I shut off my carbs. I want to keep my glucose levels as low as possible from that point to the time I go to sleep because that has worked for me then and it is working now. I mean eating all your carbs at night can work but are you really going go to sleep after eating like 200 grams of carbs 3 hours later when your metabolism slows down because your body produces less energy?

In reality I don't shut off my carbs completely because my other meals after are full of fibrous vegetables that have an adequate amount of carbs.

I mean eating all your carbs at night can work but are you really going go to sleep after eating like 200 grams of carbs 3 hours later when your metabolism slows down because your body produces less energy?