Where Should I Place Carbs?

[Tonkabosh]

I made a cutting diet a couple months ago which had nearly the same amount of carbs/calories in every meal, although having read around it seems "one" of the best ways of preserving muscle is to place the vast majority of your carbs in certain meals throughout the day (e.g. around training). This will of course cause some meals to have more carbs than others & in turn have more calories which I was pretty concerned about aswell, but if it's the right way to go then I'll try anything.

Where do you guys recommend I place the majority of my carbs during the day?

I was thinking (ranging from most to least important):

- Post Workout
- Pre Workout
- Breakfast
- Post Post Workout
- Pre Pre Workout
- Before Bed

Does this look about right? If so, it means the vast majority of my carbs will be in Post Workout first, then Pre Workout & so on. I heard that including a lot of carbs in your Post & Pre workout meals is essential as this is the time you're going to be using up glycogen (carb) stores for energy & this is the time your body will most likely be delve into muscle stores & be using up muscle as an energy source which in turn will lead to catabolism. I also heard that along with these 2 meals, the other good time of day to include a lot of carbs is breakfast. Is this because your body will have gone without any food for a while, therefore it needs carbs etc? I thought that in the morning, your body would need protein the most really, I didn't realise it was in dire need of carbs aswell.

Anyway, I'll leave it there & hopefully you guys can help me out. Many thanks in advance.

 

[SouthernLord]

I prefer to load up on carbs pre workout when I am eating restricted cho. More intensity in the gym when your fueled up for action. Eat starchy carbs pre workout (sweet potatoes, oats, brown rice), sip mega dosed BCAA during training, have a whey iso shake immediately post workout, then go home and eat your next scheduled meal. This should not impact insulin as much as slamming 50g of dextrose pwo which is a bad idea when dieting imo, and your glycogen stores will be fine.

 

[future]

First meal of the day and after training. On days where you have HARD bodyparts like legs add in another carb meal during the day.

 

[SouthernLord]

First meal of the day and after training. On days where you have HARD bodyparts like legs add in another carb meal during the day.

How do you feel about high gi carbs pwo when dieting?

 

[Tonkabosh]

In regards to affecting insulin release, I'm not sure if it affects me as I'm an insulin dependent diabetic unfortunately.

Also, Southern... I thought High GI carbs were a must PWO whether or not you're dieting as your body is basically crying out for glycogen? I figured it'd be stupid to eat something such as brown rice, oats etc (high GI) PWO.

To Future: You said breakfast & PWO right? Does that mean I should just consume all my daily carbs in those two meals? If so, what about Post Post Workout? I thought it was essential that you also get some carbs an hour after working out aswell (PPWO). And finally, if I don't consume any carbs in my Pre Workout meal, how will I have enough energy for my workout? Will my body just use the energy from the carbs I ingested for breakfast? I usually have breakfast, then a mid morning snack, then my Pre Workout meal and THEN train. If my Pre Workout meal doesn't contain any carbs then the only glycogen I'll have in my body to be used for my workout energy will be from breakfast.

Thanks.

 

[future]

How do you feel about high gi carbs pwo when dieting?

Depends on your conditioning.

Offseason sure.

 

[future]

In regards to affecting insulin release, I'm not sure if it affects me as I'm an insulin dependent diabetic unfortunately.

Also, Southern... I thought High GI carbs were a must PWO whether or not you're dieting as your body is basically crying out for glycogen? I figured it'd be stupid to eat something such as brown rice, oats etc (high GI) PWO.

To Future: You said breakfast & PWO right? Does that mean I should just consume all my daily carbs in those two meals? If so, what about Post Post Workout? I thought it was essential that you also get some carbs an hour after working out aswell (PPWO). And finally, if I don't consume any carbs in my Pre Workout meal, how will I have enough energy for my workout? Will my body just use the energy from the carbs I ingested for breakfast? I usually have breakfast, then a mid morning snack, then my Pre Workout meal and THEN train. If my Pre Workout meal doesn't contain any carbs then the only glycogen I'll have in my body to be used for my workout energy will be from breakfast.

Thanks.

No it isnt essential.