Ask a Fitness Model

[James Bond]

For breakfast and postworkout, oats are fine. They are low-GI.

 

[Noir.]

oats don't give a hugely insulinogenic response (much less so than fruit). They are firmly in the "complex carb" position. the fiber in it is just a bonus (most fiber from green veggies), but as far as "good" carbs, oats and sweet potatoes are about as good as it gets.

Antecdotally I don't look as good on them, but my workouts are infinitely better. When you're glycogen depleted and dry, carbs will make you look fuller as well (though rice cakes, glycerol, soda, and sometimes donuts do the job better). still, i lurv oatmeal.

 

[lance konami]

Originally Posted by ken

I'm no scientist. I've got two reasons, though.

I'm not comfortable eating food that has that bad of a fiber:carbohydrate ratio. To get 4g of fiber from an apple, you need to eat about 20g of carbs. To get 4g of fiber from oatmeal, you need to eat about 30g of carbs. The ratio gets even worse for wheat and cereal.

I guess, then, I just don't see the point of eating a bowl of oatmeal when you can have an apple instead.

Also, anecdotally, I look/feel less defined the day after I eat starch.

The day before an event (race, match, new Cassidey flick... whatever), I might eat starch, but that's about it.

Well are you eating potatoes? Beans? Yams? Rice?

 

[ken]

My father was killed by an oat. I've had an aversion since.

 

[cpmac7]

Originally Posted by why

It's a great mixer with Everclear too.

that sounds dangerous and delicious

 

[Dashaansafin]

What happens if you don't eat after workout? I just want to slim up and avoiding the protein shakes and heavy meals...

 

[Noir.]

... why would you want to avoid a protein shake? and nothing's really going to happen, but you're not doing yourself any favors. If you do this for five days a week for six months... then I can't say because I wouldn't want to chance losing muscle. Which you would probably do.

My inclination is to say that will have absolutely no benefit to speed fat loss.

 

[James Bond]

Originally Posted by Dashaansafin

What happens if you don't eat after workout? I just want to slim up and avoiding the protein shakes and heavy meals...

The periworkout window is the best time to eat as your body needs the nutrients and won't store anything as fat (assuming your meal is within reason). That's the meal you should worry about least in terms of losing weight.

 

[Noir.]

Was webcamming with a girlfriend last night and channeling my inner patrick bateman. A fatter, more hairy version who doesn't tan in "the salon" *sarcastic, cheeky, murderous smile*.

incoming zomg he's skinny fat!! don't listen!! ya ya bad lighting, bad camera/webcam, whatever. it was night and there's a light from my laptop screen and tv. I just thought it looked kind of cool. Now I feel bad for having flatbread pizza for lunch yesterday. But then I said I was a skinny ***** and ate it anyway. It's funny (read: amazing) what a good photographer, lighting, and photochopping can do. By the way, girls are bad news, fellas. They make you look less pretty

They know how much I like pizza and ice cream...

 

[Eason]

Can we make a cyber thread?

 

[Noir.]

Only on tuesdays. we just missed it

 

[wiscogooner]

Noir -

How does this look (roughly) for a carb cycling moderate day? I'm 5'9" 170# and trying to lean out.


I work a desk job but I do lift 3 days a week (5x5 of the big 6) and do cardio (rowing or cycling) on my off days and rest on Sundays, sometimes Saturdays too depending on how worn out I feel.

 

[Noir.]

How old are you? It's tough to tell a carb cycle for a single day's diet. I'm assuming you're working out between breakfast & AM snack with the snack being PWO. (assuming you're going by the method 2. I've outlined which seems to be the case. If you're doing depletion & refeed a la (1.) or what kunk mentioned doing, the carb intake is too high). A few things that kind of jump out at me, though aren't a huge deal unless you're a bit anal and getting down to the nitty gritty (i.e. won't matter much unless you're sub 8 or 9% already). 1. apple at lunch. Fructose restores liver glycogen and primes your body to use glycogen as fuel. So it's great pre-workout, but afterwards you're going to want to use fat as fuel. On cardio-only days, a few g of BCAA + green tea & some light cardio on an empty stomach has seemed to work well in the past. I wouldn't do HIIT on an empty stomach though if that's your preference. 2. Roma tomato @ dinner. tomatoes are great sources of minerals and vitamins (especially cooked), but I would prefer them in the meal after PWO. 3. 70g of protein in a sitting may be overkill. You'll digest it eventually but I don't know if having that much in one sitting is necessary at your weight. 4. Carbs are perhaps a little on the low side, though if you seem to be more carb sensitive I can understand. 5. Not sure if the whey powder is necessary right before bed. It certainly won't hurt you, but if you like cottage cheese you can just have more of that instead. I don't like cottage so I take a blended powder before sleep most of the time. 6. check where the fats in the dressing are coming from. Good fats are great. Bad fats (trans fats, anything "partially hydrogenated", etc.) aren't. I just took a quick browse through it and didn't pay a whole lot of attention tbh. I didn't see any fats from fish or flax which are great for general health, joints, and to some degree fat loss. Throw some almonds in place of the TJs PB at night on occasion. With that said it's certainly not bad and if you stick with it you're miles ahead of most people who eat 1 or 2 fast food meals a day. How long have you been doing this and how has it been working for you thus far? Results speak more than theory.

Originally Posted by wiscogooner

Noir - How does this look (roughly) for a carb cycling moderate day? I'm 5'9" 170# and trying to lean out. I work a desk job but I do lift 3 days a week (5x5 of the big 6) and do cardio (rowing or cycling) on my off days and rest on Sundays, sometimes Saturdays too depending on how worn out I feel.

 

[thekunk07]

to add my two cents, for what he's planning, carbs are way too high. i have been 40-50g carbs per day and have seen significant change and have had plenty of energy even for thrice-weekly heavy 5 x 5 training. can;t see how those carb numbers would even minimally induce ketosis.

and i prefer cassein before bed as it keeps you fuller, longer.

 

[Noir.]

Yeah that's what I meant with (1) or (2) I outlined early on in this thread. If he's doing method 2. which is basically cycling up and down (mine is low: 160, moderate: 210, high: 265) but not entering ketosis then I'd say carbs are a hair low. If he's doing the ketogenic thing with depletion & refeeds (like what you're doing), they're definitely too high. sub-50g is necessary iirc for ketosis (I was closer to 10-15 up to 45/50 including green vegetables when I did it).

Everyone's different on that though. I feel like crap and am incredibly weak on low carb so I'm not really a proponent. A lot of the really big guys I know love it though because it works so fast. This is antecdotal but most of the pure bodybuilders like it and most people with an athletic background don't (a guy I work with a lot is a former d1 football player and I used to compete heavily in soccer, neither of us like ketogenic). The really big guys who carry a lot of muscle and have a little more bf to shed prefer ketogenic and don't seem to suffer much in the strength or feel-good department.

Casein takes longer to digest and is more ideal before bed because of it. If you're taking 4-5 hrs to digest the protein plus a few hours before catabolic shock, you can avoid it altogether or at least dampen the effects. Not a huge deal but every little bit helps.

Originally Posted by thekunk07

to add my two cents, for what he's planning, carbs are way too high. i have been 40-50g carbs per day and have seen significant change and have had plenty of energy even for thrice-weekly heavy 5 x 5 training. can;t see how those carb numbers would even minimally induce ketosis.

and i prefer cassein before bed as it keeps you fuller, longer.