fixed cutting diet

[Burning_Inside]

heres what I've learned so far from reading this board.

i've learned from reading this board for a while, that carbs at night would not be a bad thing, and here's the reasoning.

You grow when you sleep. Your metabolism is slowing down, yes, but it does not stop, and it's a fact your body does most of its growing when you're sleeping. Now if that's the case, why in the world would you NOT eat before bedtime when you're body is going to be needing all these calories? What would your body use as fuel during this time of major body repair/growth if you didn't eat anything? If you ate a small meal of pure protein, what I gather is that instead of the protein being used to go to the muscles and repair any damaged tissue and make the muscles grow, it's just going to be used as general fuel to keep the metabolism going, the way i see it is that the glycogen from carbs being broken down are used as fuel to essentialy get the protein to the muscle where it should go. this is why i see not eating a small balanced meal before bedtime a bad idea.

I also learned that you don't want to eat before cardio in the morning as stated above in these threads.

Now can someone explain to me if I'm wrong, and if so, why?

 

[Rockaho]

I can't. I'm learning.

 

[Cackerot69]

OK, first of all that whole "fat burning zone" has nothing to do with having food in your stomach. I know the theory (that's all it is, a theory), since there is no glycogen for the body to use as energy, it will go straight to fat stores. Now think about this, which is a more efficient immediate energy source, fat (9 cals per gram), or protein (4 cals per gram)? If you are doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, your body needs immediate energy, it can burn muscle for fuel faster than it can burn fat. Now, the body is designed for survival, which do you think it would hold onto in case of starvation, muscle or fat? FAT. Fat will keep you alive longer.

Additonally, there is no proof, and very questionable evidence that this theory has any merit. There is no research on athletes comparing various cardio training times and the relation to fat loss when combined with weight training. There is some research on non athletic, non weight training, obese women and morning cardio, but this has no relation to a weight training athlete.

Doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is a guaranteed way to lose muscle. When you wake up in the morning you are entering (or you are already in) a catabolic state. A serious catabolic state. You're losing muscle. Your priority at this time is to supply your muscles a fast acting nitrogen source to halt the catabolism and ignite anabolism - muscle growth. When you wake up you have just endured a 6, 8, or 10 hour fasting. Your muscles have had no nutrients, and no protein over an extended amount of time. The last thing you want to do is enter an intense cardio session under this catabolic condition. Like I said, this is a guaranteed way to lose lean muscle.

This does not mean that doing cardio in the morning is bad, just that doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is bad, the worst thing you can do while trying to lose bodyfat and preserve muscle mass.

About carbs before bed time, carbs are an energy source, just like protein and fat. The only time carbs are stored as fat is when glycogen stores are full AND there is no energy requirment not met. Now, during the night you are either living off of glucose, muscle protein, or fat. If you eat only protein and fat before bed, the protein will quickly be converted to glucose (roughly 60% of dietary protein is converted to glucose and used as energy), and have the same effect as carbs. The fat serves pretty much no purpose other than slowing the absorbtion of food, keeping you out of catabolism for longer period. So, eat a good portion of protein (30-50g), enough carbs to saturated glycogen stores (30-50g)m and enough fat to keep food absorbtion relatively slow (10-15g), and you have yourself a perfect pre-bed time meal.

 

[Burning_Inside]

Cack', Here's my theory, if you eat a pre bedtime balanced meal, and your body during this time is in a slowed state of metabolism, then your cortisol levels shouldn't be high at all when you wake up. That's just the way i see it. i should do a google search to see if theres any research anywhere.

 

[Burning_Inside]

Ok here's a link or 2 i found you might want to read.

http://www.muscle101.com/cardio.html

http://www.leehayward.com/art17.htm

http://www.femalemuscle.com/nutrition/morningaerobics.html

granted I couldn't find any sort of pure scientific research papers.

i tried doing a search for why i shouldn't do it first thing in the morning, and all I found was one page telling me not to do it, because it would tear your muscles down and you should take their product first thing in the morning instead (yeah it was a product site)

i agree that cortisol breaks down muscles, there's no doubting that, however, i don't think there's a huuuge amount of it in the morning floating around your system, especially if you eat at night before bedtime. However, I know that it is unavoidable, and am prepared to lose some muscle in trade for burning far more fat. that's just the way i see it.

 

[MindGame]

how do i find out my heart rate needed to burn fat when do cardio ,?

 

[Burning_Inside]

taken from : http://www.affordablesupplements.com/9_29_99_female_fitness.asp

One average method that is used to determine the target heart rate to get into this fat burning zone is calculated by 1) taking 220 - your age. The number you get is your maximum heart rate. If you’re getting anywhere near this number you’re working TOO hard! If a clock isn’t handy, a good way to tell you’re alright is by the “talk test”. If you’re breathing quickly but still have enough air to talk or sing (under your breath is usually recommended if you’re in public) then you’re doing good. If you start feeling dizzy or get a sideache stop and rest or ease it up a bit until you feel better. 2) take your maximum heart rate x .60 and .90 . Your heart rate should fall between these 2 numbers. 3) Take your pulse for 6 seconds and then multiply by 10 to get the number of heartbeats in 1 minute

 

[MindGame]

thx

 

[Cackerot69]

It's really just common sense here.

After approx 10 hours with no food, you will start burning muscle. Now, by prolonging this fast, and adding cardio (which is catabolic in itself), all you are doing is increasing muscle breakdown. Period.

The reason you haven't founf any research stating that it is detrimental to do cardio on an empty stomach in the morning, is becuase...well, nobody has performed it, nobody has performed any research comparing different cardio times in athletes with relation to muscle breakdown. The ONLY research that even suggests this is superior was done on fat women with no experience in any kind of athletics.

Bottom line, don't do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, and eat your pre-bedtime carbs.

 

[Belial]

i'd agree with Cack here. As logical as the "cardio on an empty stomach first thing" sounds, I wouldn't do it. The first thing I want to do when i wake up is fill the tanks again. i usually do my cardio (well, llimited cardio) in the afternoon, right before meal #4. My metabolism's up and running, glycogen stores are doing okay, my body's nowhere near as severely catabolic as it is in the morning, etc.

There's nothing magical about the "fat burning zone" During exercise, your body gets the energy it needs from wherever it can. Afterwards, it redistributes it as necessary. So what if I'm burning 200 calories of glycogen? That's a 200 calorie deficit for the day, and 200 more calories that the body will need to get from somewhere, eventually. 200 calories of fat, well, big deal. Same deficit. The body compensates for all energy expenditures and intakes. You can't "fool it" into just dropping fat. it's smarter than you.