Hey guys, what do you use as your PWO Shake during your cutting stage. I was told that while cutting I should avoid starchy carbs within my last 2 meals..On my high carbs days I normally take oatmeal and whey..but i'm kinda confused on what to take on my low carb das? Any ideas?

Tons of fibrous vegetables and some fruit.

I was told that while cutting I should avoid starchy carbs within my last 2 meals..

Many people feel that specific post-workout nutrition is absolutely necessary, and many people feel that simply a well-balanced meal post-workout is just fine. In my personal opinion, it is really a matter of carbohydrate tolerance.

Among those who feel that PWO nutrition is essential, you will find that whey protein with an extremely fast-acting, refined carbohydrate is ubiquitous...yes, even for cutting. The idea is that if you take the whey/refined carb shake IMMEDIATELY after a very strenuous strength training session, the carbs will be soaked in immediately by your recently-worked muscles, so therefore those carbs won't be lingering around in your blood, affecting your insulin, etc...In order for the whole thing to work though, you have to take it immediately after working out (when your muscles crave those carbs most), and those carbs have to be very refined so they won't linger around for long in your blood. ALSO, make sure that your lifting session is STRENUOUS...if you put in a mickey mouse session, then those muscles won't crave the carbs, etc...

If you are taking a meal after this PWO shake, then experimentation is really your best bet...a little trial and error can go a long way. If you use more refined carbs here, and can fall asleep without trouble, wake up in the morning feeling fine and not tired, or hungry (and you are losing fat after a few weeks), then by all means, use those more refined carbs. Your muscles will thank you for it. I'm not talking about pure sugar here (like many take in their PWO shake, BTW)...I'm talking white breads, white rice, pasta, fruit, etc...All fruit contains fructose, which, for all intents and purposes is a more-refined carbohydrate.

If you wake up hungry and/or tired, then chances are that you want a more "timed-release" stream of carbs to get you through your overnight fast, and should look for lower-GI foods such as whole grains, sweet potatoes, brown rice, oats, etc...

Like I said, there are a million different ways to do it. See what works for you, which you feel best with, and most importantly, which one gives you the best fat loss/muscle maintenance results. Whey/refined carb immediately after workint out is a pretty safe bet, and I would advise that you do it, especially if your diet is pretty low-carb.

Tons of fibrous vegetables and some fruit.

Do you mean, a Protein Shake with a salad on the side?

Hey Chris2121, thanks for your response. I definately feel my PWO meal is important, if not the most important meal in my day. Since I am cutting, I follow a carb cycled phase. On my low carb days my first 3 meals consist of starchy and fibrous carbs, where afterwards its all fibrous. So after workout I'm wondering whether a Protein Shake mixed with Fruits (say bananas and strawberries) would do the trick.

Hey guys, what do you use as your PWO Shake during your cutting stage. I was told that while cutting I should avoid starchy carbs within my last 2 meals..On my high carbs days I normally take oatmeal and whey..but i'm kinda confused on what to take on my low carb das? Any ideas?
Okay, so you're carb cycling? Please get a little more specific and list out a sample of carb (and calorie if you can) amounts for each day.

A simple solution is to just make sure your low days fall on non-weightlifting days. :)

Knowing your training split would help too, though I'm not sure if you structure your split based on the carb amounts. Or do you? For example:

Sun: High Carb - Quad/Ham Workout
Mon: Low Carb - Bicep/Tricep/Forearm Workout
Tue: No Carb - Cardio Only
Wed: No Carb - Cardio Only
Thu: High Carb - Back/Chest Workout
Fri: Low Carb - Shoulder/Calf Workout
Sat: No Carb - Off or Cardio Only

That's just one example. Tell us more about your situation and plan though.

If you are carb cycling like this, I'd probably just drop the PWO shake thing anyway. But I guess you could still use a high-carb PWO shake on your "high" days. On the "low" days just use less carbs. Make sure your "no" days (which don't really mean "zero" but just very, very low, at least IMO) just fall on non-workout days. Again, just one example and idea.

FYI: I am far from an expert on carb/calorie cycling, this is just from memory from what I've read on the subject.

Do you mean, a Protein Shake with a salad on the side?

oh no, sorry, I misread your post. What I meant was if you are going low carb and you want to eat carbs, eat plenty of veggies throughout the day, instead of starchy carbs.

As for PWO...I personally enjoy whey and fruit, but my recovery time was substantially greater when I switched to dextrose. So even if your cutting, you might wanna try the dextrose. But if sugar isn't your thing, u can try throwing oats and/or fruit in there. From my personal experience, dextrose just enhances recovery...it doesn't make you more "cut" per se.