Don't agree completely with my trainer's nutrition view

suremeansyes
suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My trainer HAS helped me clean up my diet a bit, however I find some of the stuff he says to be weird. Like he wants me to stay under 100g carbs on workout days, and 70g carbs on my off days but he says don't worry about counting veggies in my carbs. What's the difference between carbs from fruits and carbs from anything else? Oh, corn should count, he says.

I don't get why carbs from broccoli is cool, but carbs from a banana, or corn...count those. Obviously the carbs are WAY higher in fruit, but it still seems counter-intuitive.

Also, he was saying something about not eating certain macro combinations before or after a workout. Shouldn't I just eat what makes me feel best and fits my calories/macros for the day?

Replies

  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    he's using a method that he has seen work for people to get them to eat the right things...is it 100% always "correct" once you go nitpicking and seeing it written with no context of application? No, it's going to sound ridiculous and you're going to blow holes in it with exceptions.

    He's just trying to apply something that has apparently worked for him/another client.
  • 1swolpanda
    1swolpanda Posts: 120 Member
    well i can see why he is saying to count the macros in the fruits because they are easier for the body to convert into fat, carbs from vegies are alot harder for the body to convert, im not going into the scientific reason why, lol. and its just a way to lean u out thats all that is, the body doesnt need as many carbs on off days which is understandable. and u should eat a 2 to 1 carb to protein ratio before and after the lift, the reason why he was saying dont eat certain ones is because 45 minutes after the workout u are taking in the most nutrients of your day because it is in a deprived state, same as in the mornings. and before because that is the nutrients that are going to be readily available for your workout, so u try and stay away from the fats. everything he is saying is sound, just a little weird unless u dont put the backing to it
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    I follow mostly everything he says, because I don't make it a habit to pay someone and then not at least try what they are having me try.

    I guess the issue I'm probably having is him half explaining WHY he wants me to do things a certain way. I'll tell him to explain it more thoroughly so I'm not just blindly accepting what he's saying.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    Not condoning his/her methodology, but they might be just trying to simplify it some. Vegetables tend to have lower carbs and higher fiber equaling total net lower carbs. Fruits have higher carbs from fructose sugars. Corn is technically a grain and not a vegetable, so he/she mentions this like you would also count carbs for breads, cereals, rice, etc... The rest of his logic is pure bunk in my opinion. If timing your carbs helps with better gym performance than by all means, do it. But it does not for some and eating a balanced diet of your macronutrients across a period of time is all that really matters. Also, just my opinion, but carbs look a little low, but I don't know all your particulars. Have a look at www.iifym.com and run the calculator to get an idea of your possible macro split.
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    Right now I am doing 40%fat, 35% protein and 25% carbs which brings me to about 64g of fat, 127g of protein and 91g of carbs. I vary a bit from day to day but always try to get over 100g of protein daily.

    Saturday and Sunday I don't macro track, and do go over on my calories, but I track the calories weekly and am always under or very most at maintenance.
  • 1swolpanda
    1swolpanda Posts: 120 Member
    i agree with cajuntank, he is right the carbs are a little low, but it depends on your output, and timing your dientary needs is ok for some people, mostly athletes, because there body is like a clock themselves, there are times where u burn the most calories but it was because of the activity of your day, and as a personal trainer myself, we dont tell all the facts because most of the time people get lost in the information and thats not what we want, we have to learn how to portray what we need in a minimalistic view for the client
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    Oh, he also says to eat most of my carbs in the evening as opposed to in the morning.

    I don't see why it matters when I eat them?
  • 1swolpanda
    1swolpanda Posts: 120 Member
    ok well to be honest with u idk why he would say afternoon, but again he probably has seen it work with a client or something or seen it work on himself,

    i have learned in the past not to eat the carbs after 5.
    again its from my personal experience of losing weight from 300lbs and what has worked with my clients

    i am not a licensed nutritionist, i have a nutrition certification but i can only give u the info that i have learned or experienced, my body is much differant than yours though, so what works for me, might not work for u, its trial and error because u have to see what works for your body
  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
    well i can see why he is saying to count the macros in the fruits because they are easier for the body to convert into fat, carbs from vegies are alot harder for the body to convert, im not going into the scientific reason why, lol. and its just a way to lean u out thats all that is, the body doesnt need as many carbs on off days which is understandable. and u should eat a 2 to 1 carb to protein ratio before and after the lift, the reason why he was saying dont eat certain ones is because 45 minutes after the workout u are taking in the most nutrients of your day because it is in a deprived state, same as in the mornings. and before because that is the nutrients that are going to be readily available for your workout, so u try and stay away from the fats. everything he is saying is sound, just a little weird unless u dont put the backing to it
    i have learned in the past not to eat the carbs after 5.

    Do you even understand how our bodies process carbs and fats? Yes, de novo lipogenesis (DNL, carbs stored as fat) is present in humans, but it isn't the most efficient, nor the first response that our bodies take to store fat. Through a number of pathways, our bodies oxidize carbs at an equal rate of carb intake. Our bodies would rather burn carbs then fat. So in essence, you are storing your dietary fat as fat, first. Then, when excess carbs (excess energy) are ingested over TDEE, your body then resorts to DNL. This process takes more carbs than you realize.

    Furthermore, the OP's trainer, and you, have seem to have a misunderstanding of pre and post-workout nutrition. Why a 2:1 ratio of carbs and protein? Most of the time, pre-workout meals aren't even fully utilized for the workout. And if you are adhering to a pre-workout meal, your body isn't in a deprived state post-workout. The proteins and amino acids pre workout are still present in the body, minimizing muscle protein breakdown. And muscle protein synthesis post workout has an 8-10 hour window, not 45 minutes.

    And not eating carbs after 5pm? I never go off of looks, as that doesn't prove one's intellectual understanding of nutrition or fitness, but I eat most of my carbs after 5pm. I'm doing ok I think. Meal timing/frequency doesn't matter.

    Get your macros and calories in. Stay away from broscience. Get a new trainer.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    It's all a matter of personal adherence. Your body is not on some form of daily clock of losing weight or gaining weight. It's all about averages over time (maybe days, maybe weeks). People tend to overcomplicate things to the n-th degree and trying to "hack" the body when you are missing the forest by trying to focus in on one particular tree. OP if you have calories, then by all means, eat whenever you like. Timing is irrelevant except for the most elite athlete because they already have everything else so tuned and perfected over many years. At the end of the day, it's what YOU can better adhere to and still meet your goals. I eat whatever I need at the end of the day to finish out my calories first while trying to adhere those calories to my macronutrient %s secondly. Sometimes this is chocolate for the fat and carbs, sometimes this is greek yogurt for the protein...but it does not matter for me what time it is as I adhere to my diet better this way. What will work for you, only you can decide.
  • davesurf20
    davesurf20 Posts: 17 Member
    Charles Poliquin (Google him if you don't know) says you should have low carb at breakfast an higher carb later in the day. The reasoning is that carbs increase production of serotonin, so it makes sense to be sleepy in the evening instead of the morning.

    Try steak and nuts (only) for breakfast - you'll see...
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  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    The advice is silly but it just might be his way of encouraging you to eat more nutrient dense foods. If that's the case, he should just do that instead of hiding it behind some confusing, incomplete advice.
  • tmm_0127
    tmm_0127 Posts: 545 Member
    Is he also a certified nutritionist?

    Because if not, that's out of his scope of practice. - w/o a certification in nutrition trainers can only give you general advice. If you are concerned at all with the diet side of things, you should talk to a nutritionist.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    well i can see why he is saying to count the macros in the fruits because they are easier for the body to convert into fat, carbs from vegies are alot harder for the body to convert, im not going into the scientific reason why, lol. and its just a way to lean u out thats all that is, the body doesnt need as many carbs on off days which is understandable. and u should eat a 2 to 1 carb to protein ratio before and after the lift, the reason why he was saying dont eat certain ones is because 45 minutes after the workout u are taking in the most nutrients of your day because it is in a deprived state, same as in the mornings. and before because that is the nutrients that are going to be readily available for your workout, so u try and stay away from the fats. everything he is saying is sound, just a little weird unless u dont put the backing to it

    Wowza. Broscience 101 batman.
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    Is he also a certified nutritionist?

    Because if not, that's out of his scope of practice. - w/o a certification in nutrition trainers can only give you general advice. If you are concerned at all with the diet side of things, you should talk to a nutritionist.

    Nope, he's in school now for it though. He is just giving general food advice, not specifically telling me what to do. I just find myself questioning some of his "advice", ya know?

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