Carbs, Bedtime, and Casein

[Wired for Sound]

I just wanted to know your guys' thoughts on eating before bedtime. I almost always train at night, and usually get done about 9:30-10:00 p.m. After my workout I have the usual, you know, 40g whey mixed in water. But then I hear you're supposed to have carbs with your meal after an hour or so...like 2 cups pasta or a sweet potato or something. Since I go to bed at 2ish usually, is this really wise for a diet where I'm trying to build muscle and also simultaneously lose some fat?

Also, I've read that you shouldn't eat ANYTHING 4-5 hours before bedtime when going for fat loss so your body burns fat while you sleep instead of the food you ate. I mean, I usually eat some cottage cheese (fat-free, very few carbs) or a 40g casein shake right before bed to preserve muscle mass.

So I'm just confused. Should I just take my shake after workout, and then eat nothing else before bed? Take the after-workout shake, a before-bed casein shake and then skip the post-workout meal? I want to lose fat, but also preserve/gain muscle at the same time.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

PWO and PPWO always go down. But some of the food choices i don't agree with. If I were you I'd follow WBA's idea on PWO nutrition and PPWO - http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=81505

How many days do you work out a week?

How are you going about achieving your muscle gain/fat loss goal. For instance, are you eating high calories, high protein, medium carbs, + morning/evening cardio and a carb cut-off at night?

 

[mrRuckus]

Those carbs you eat before bed after a workout aren't there to be used for energy. They are there to replenish glycogen levels in your muscles. It's not going to affect your fat levels unless you take too many carbs.

So just eat the carbs.

But really this sort of thing isn't going to matter that much in the end if you still get your protein and calories in sometime during the day.

 

[Wired for Sound]

Alright, right now I'm doing 3 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 1 day off. I follow a fat loss oriented diet/workout for a week, and then a hypertrophy oriented diet/workout for two weeks.

When I'm doing the lean out thing, I take in about 2,000 calories, 300g protein, and 150g carbs which come from either brown rice, a sweet potato, and oatmeal in the morning. In the muscle-building weeks, it's like 3,200 calories, 280g protein, 410 carbs.

Depending on what comes out of this thread, right now I'm planning on taking my Gatorade and whey shake after my workout (which ends about 10 p.m.), and making that it for calories for the rest of the night, save for my before bed casein shake.

As far as cardio goes, it's 5 times a week for 30 minutes in the morning. I'm just jogging at a moderate-heavy pace, but I'm thinking about trying to incorporate some HIIT in there.


*note, I weigh about 180-185 right now at 5'11" with around...I dunno, 10-12% bodyfat?