Hey guys!

I need some advice on when to eat which macros during the day and what sort of ratios they should be in - primarily regarding my preworkout meal (breakfast) in the morning and my post workout meal. My current macros are 86g fat, 253g protein, and 347g carbs (I have a fast metabolism) and I go to the gym around 7:00am. Also, since I eat so many carbs, I am definitely curious about what ratio of carbs I should be eating pre and post workout.

My current breakfast consists of 24g fat, 35g protein, and 45g carbs.

My postworkout meal (including my shake) is 5g fat, 62g protein, and 81g carbs.

Thanks!

Ben

p.s. I'm a big breakfast eater, so I wouldn't shy away from eating a lot of food first thing in the morning if I need to!

if you want an easy method, you can use the "plate portion" method. where you just make sure that the amount of one of the 3 macros ( protein, carbs and fat) are in the right size on your plate for every meal. Thusly you'd eat the right amount of all 3 with each meal. (374 gram of carbs per day seems a bit much tho.. that is far beyond maintain or buildup level, i would adjust that a bit more towards a 40 pr./40 c. /20 f. ratio)


Now when it's about the finetuning, the believes might start to separate wether you should eat carbs in the morning, or rather pre workout or even only past workout.

I personally eat mine all over the day. I need carbs to get started in the morning. (mostly rolled oats) and i also need them after a workout, to refill energy. And a few before.

Some swear you should eat as many carbs as you can early in the day, whilst others say omg no! this is the worst. Others believe to eat them only post workout, in order to not consume carbs at all while times when your body is not being extremely active.

I actually do good with the Morning carbs, a few in the meals over the days, and a good bunch past workout for refill.

Which seems to be similar to your current setup.

But i am afraid everybody might be a bit different in that matter. And the rest is a bit of trial and error, if you'd see you gain fat, you might want to switch things a bit around. Until then i think it's really just best to go logical about it, and eat carbs where you need them, or feel you need them.

I am certain you will get more great advice on that.

Hey hey @England11!

In simple terms...it doesn't really matter when you eat your macros, as long as you get what you need into your body each day. This can be seen by looking at people who do IF...they have like 8 hour windows to get ALL of their macros in. So timing is somewhat irrelevant.

You want to have energy for the gym, and generally that comes from carbs and fat, so they should be part of your pre-workout meal like you currently have. You should then aim for another balanced meal after you workout, again with what I would call considerable carbs. Every meal should include protein if you can.

The main thing to avoid is lots of carbs, especially sugary carbs, right before bed. This will just load you up with energy that you aren't going to use in a hurry, so it has more potential to be stored, IMO.

If you are pretty active still during the day after you have been to the gym, there is nothing wrong with having carbs throughout the day. If you are pretty sedentary for most of the day, you may want to load up on more carbs for breakfast and eat less later on, but really it's up to you.

Jordan

Ben,

That seems awfully high for macros at just 145 pounds. All a fast metabolism means is you are more efficient at processing foods and using energy but it still doesn't mean you can't over do it. As to your question, as Jordan said nutrient timing is not too critical as long as you are eating enough nutritious foods to meet your macros. I will add, however, the following:

1) It is best to have a slow digesting protein like Casein before bed and a fast digesting protein like Whey before and after workouts

2) It is best to eat the majority of your carbs post-workout when they are needed most regardless of time of day - some people train later at night

3) Healthy fats can be eaten at all meals

Eating a large breakfast is OK. I do IF and my "breakfast" is at Noon or 1PM. I eat a lot of protein and moderate carbs and fat as it is my first meal. My largest carb meal is my last meal at night post workout.

John

Sorry for the late reply everyone. I read them when you posted them.

Thank you for all of the advice!