Meal timing is very important when it comes to weight loss in your personal training program. We don’t only want to plan out what we eat, but we also want to plan out what specific macronutrients we eat during specific key times of the day, in order to maximize weight loss. Any personal trainer will tell you that planning out certain meals for different parts in the day will amplify your results 10 fold!
For example: breakfast, 2-4 hours prior to a workout, and right after a workout are all excellent times to have your carbs. The reason for this is because there’s a very slim chance of those carbs being stored as fat because your body is going to use them.
Now, if you’re planning to have carbs after that, try to refrain from having carbs past 6’oclock at night. The reasoning behind this is that carbs are used for energy. Whatever isn’t used is going to be stored as fat through a process known as spillover. Chances are, if you’re eating carbs after 6’oclock, you’re NOT going to be using them. This is the case for most people. Now, if you’re one of those people that works out past 6’oclock, that’s fine. We obviously want have our pre workout meal, and our post workout meal. Like we talked about earlier, those are important times to get our carbs in.
Now, let’s simplify and breakdown what macronutrients you should eat and when.
Protein
Most important to note with protein consumption is that you should HAVE IT IN EVERY MEAL! Protein has enzymes in it that are hard to break down, which makes your body work that much harder to break down each gram. Aside from weight loss purposes, we all know that proteins are the building blocks of muscle.
Carbohydrates
Intake of carbs should be kept to the hours of morning-afternoon. As you progress throughout the day, your metabolism starts slowing down because your body is preparing to rest. Carbs should be avoided after 6pm unless a night session of weight training took place. Excellent times to have carbohydrates are 1) For Breakfast 2) Pre Workout and 3) Post Workout.
Fats
Fats, unless you are a hard gainer, should not be consumed in excess. If you eat clean, the fats that already are present in your meats are enough for you. As far as the time of day goes, fats are excellent at night in order to slow the digestion of the proteins you consumed. They are also the last thing you want to consume right after your workout. In this case you do not want to have the fats after your workout because it will slow the digestion, where you need fast absorption and digestion of the proteins/carbs you consumed.
Breakfast should always be composed of all three. However, everyone is different in their personal training program and react to foods differently. Some choose to have minimal fats in the morning and leave them only for night time. Whatever your situation is, make sure you follow the rules above so that you can progress in your weight loss and personal training routine!
Also, check out this video on Meal Timing: Personal Trainer in New Brunswick
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