mastover
Fri, September 11th, 2009, 01:27 PM
I've been receiving a few PM's concerning a post I recently made about why having a carb load meal before bed is beneficial for fat loss. Perhaps I should have expanded a bit more on it at the time, but didn't have the time to elaborate.
The idea behind this type diet is basically for the competitor (bodybuilding/fitness/figure) who's fat loss has stagnated, or for the recreational lifter/fitness enthusiast who's diet and training is already spot on, but has reached a plateau with fat loss.
Generally speaking, it has you on low carbs for 3 days, high carb one day, low carb 2 days, high carb one day, repeat. And the method you use for the high carb days is with one large high carb meal at the end of the day. Huhhh?!?!?! :D
Here is a sample diet:
Meal 1: 5 oz. 96% lean ground beef or turkey, 6 egg whites, 1 yolk, 1/2 grapefruit.
Meal 2: 40-50 gram protein drink with 2 tbls. heavy whipping cream, 4 strawberries in 12-14 oz. water.
or
1 can tuna or 5 oz. chicken, 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 small tomato.
Meal 3: 8 oz. chicken, 4 cups salad (romaine, cucumbers, onions, tomato, green pepper, mushrooms), 2 tbls. balsamic vinegar, 1 tbls. extra virgin olive oil.
Meal 4: same as Meal #2.
Meal 5: 8 oz. lean meat, 2 cups vegetables.
On Monday eat the following in place of your normal 5th meal, and on Thursday add the following as an extra 6th meal:
1.5 cups oatmeal (pre-cooked) or cooked brown rice, 10 oz. sweet potato, 4 oz. banana, 1 cup vegetables, 1 tbls. butter - no supplements with this meal.
The carb load every 3rd then 4th day refuels muscle and liver glycogen stores, prevents any decline in metabolism via thyroid - 3 level suppression and facilitates muscle growth by increasing uptake of amino acids. This infrequent high carbohydrate meal should drive IGF insulin-like growth factors, optimizing the anabolic effect of insulin while minimizing its lipogenic effect.
This type of diet has you rely on fat as a fuel source - being a fat burner through the day every day instead of a carb burner. The premise behind doing the carb meal at night is twofold - 1) Your body relies hugely on fat instead of carbs as a fuel source during sleep. It's a more consistent, steady burning fuel source. So when depleted on low carbs, your body will store these carbs as glycogen through the night. 2) If you have the carb meal during the day (say pre-workout), you simply go back to being a carb burner. When you give your body that choice, it will pick the easy to burn and convert carbs going into your mouth. Then you're back to burning carbs for energy instead of fat.
If doing carbs every day, then tapering your carbs down throughout the day is still the best method and what most people do. This carb loading before bed is ONLY the better method when someone's not doing starchy/complex carbs throughout the day and doing a carb meal every 3-4 days. If your carbs are low during the week, 1-2x a week carb load will restore muscle glycogen and supply a slower trickle of insulin throughout the fast (an anabolic response).
This, in my experience, is fantastic for fat loss. It works when nothing else will even for the most stubborn and insulin resistant person. And the genetically gifted of course respond even better.
However, for the record, I personally dislike low carb diets for the simple sake that I LOVE TO EAT!!! :eat:
IMHO :cool:
The idea behind this type diet is basically for the competitor (bodybuilding/fitness/figure) who's fat loss has stagnated, or for the recreational lifter/fitness enthusiast who's diet and training is already spot on, but has reached a plateau with fat loss.
Generally speaking, it has you on low carbs for 3 days, high carb one day, low carb 2 days, high carb one day, repeat. And the method you use for the high carb days is with one large high carb meal at the end of the day. Huhhh?!?!?! :D
Here is a sample diet:
Meal 1: 5 oz. 96% lean ground beef or turkey, 6 egg whites, 1 yolk, 1/2 grapefruit.
Meal 2: 40-50 gram protein drink with 2 tbls. heavy whipping cream, 4 strawberries in 12-14 oz. water.
or
1 can tuna or 5 oz. chicken, 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 small tomato.
Meal 3: 8 oz. chicken, 4 cups salad (romaine, cucumbers, onions, tomato, green pepper, mushrooms), 2 tbls. balsamic vinegar, 1 tbls. extra virgin olive oil.
Meal 4: same as Meal #2.
Meal 5: 8 oz. lean meat, 2 cups vegetables.
On Monday eat the following in place of your normal 5th meal, and on Thursday add the following as an extra 6th meal:
1.5 cups oatmeal (pre-cooked) or cooked brown rice, 10 oz. sweet potato, 4 oz. banana, 1 cup vegetables, 1 tbls. butter - no supplements with this meal.
The carb load every 3rd then 4th day refuels muscle and liver glycogen stores, prevents any decline in metabolism via thyroid - 3 level suppression and facilitates muscle growth by increasing uptake of amino acids. This infrequent high carbohydrate meal should drive IGF insulin-like growth factors, optimizing the anabolic effect of insulin while minimizing its lipogenic effect.
This type of diet has you rely on fat as a fuel source - being a fat burner through the day every day instead of a carb burner. The premise behind doing the carb meal at night is twofold - 1) Your body relies hugely on fat instead of carbs as a fuel source during sleep. It's a more consistent, steady burning fuel source. So when depleted on low carbs, your body will store these carbs as glycogen through the night. 2) If you have the carb meal during the day (say pre-workout), you simply go back to being a carb burner. When you give your body that choice, it will pick the easy to burn and convert carbs going into your mouth. Then you're back to burning carbs for energy instead of fat.
If doing carbs every day, then tapering your carbs down throughout the day is still the best method and what most people do. This carb loading before bed is ONLY the better method when someone's not doing starchy/complex carbs throughout the day and doing a carb meal every 3-4 days. If your carbs are low during the week, 1-2x a week carb load will restore muscle glycogen and supply a slower trickle of insulin throughout the fast (an anabolic response).
This, in my experience, is fantastic for fat loss. It works when nothing else will even for the most stubborn and insulin resistant person. And the genetically gifted of course respond even better.
However, for the record, I personally dislike low carb diets for the simple sake that I LOVE TO EAT!!! :eat:
IMHO :cool: