By Shaun Hadsall
CPT and Creator of 4 Cycle Fat-Loss
One of the most common things you’ll hear in the fitness industry is that carbs make you fat.
Well, it’s true – they CAN.
But if you understand how to eat your favorite carbs at the RIGHT times, you’ll NEVER store them as fat. If you do eat carbs at the wrong times, like most folks do, you’ll be scratching your head wondering why your belly isn’t shrinking.
So here are 3 simple carb timing tricks you can use to eat LOADS of carbs without worrying about them “spilling” over and being stored as ugly fat on your belly.
First up – Good:
A good time to consume healthy carbs like non-processed starches and fruits is first thing in the morning or upon waking up -- for a few reasons.
1. You've fasted all night while you sleep so glycogen levels (energy inside your muscle tissue) have been somewhat depleted and this leaves extra room for carbs to replenish lower glycogen stores.
This is especially effective if you workout in the a.m.
2. Your metabolic rate runs highest during the a.m. hours (or after you wake up from sleeping) than it does later in the day so you'll more likely use these carbs as energy and store them in the right spot.
3. Insulin sensitivity is also higher when you wake up than other times of the day, which allows your body to utilize carbs and limit fat spillover.
Next up – Better:
An even better time to consume starches and fruits is a few hours before high intensity resistance training (bodyweight circuits, metabolic resistance training, etc.) or a heavier weight training session.
This will ensure that these carbs are used as energy during and after the workout to avoid fat-spillover. It will also provide you with sustained energy throughout the workout. Better performance equals more fat and calories burned during and after the workout.
Additionally, the extra insulin release at this particular time will help prevent muscle loss and increase gains in lean muscle tissue.
Last up – BEST:
The best time to consume impact carbs is in your post workout anabolic window of opportunity, which is anywhere from 1 to 3 hours after high intensity training.
In fact, if you work out late at night you could actually consume your LARGEST carb serving of the day right BEFORE bed and not worry about fat spillover.
This works best when you’re following more of a maintenance schedule so I don’t recommend using this tip when trying to achieve rapid fat-loss, but it does prove the point that eating late at night doesn’t really make you fat.
That’s because when you work out intensely enough you’ll set off several powerful metabolic triggers no matter what time of day it is:
- Increased metabolic rate and enhanced nutrient absorption (often called partitioning)
- Accelerated depletion of muscle glycogen (faster glycogen depletion means faster fat-loss)
- Release of catecholamines (fat burning hormones)
The end result ends up being increased fat loss and something called “super-compensation” through stimulation of Glut 4 (a glucose transporter).
This effect simply means storage capacity inside your muscles and liver that’s well above normal levels, which is greatly enhanced during the post workout window.
Other benefits include increased insulin sensitivity, glucose uptake, and glycogen synthesis. Again, under these conditions your body will store carbs (and other macro-nutrients) at a much faster and higher rate than normal.
This is why it’s so important to eat the majority of your impact carbs in your post workout meals on days you exercise intensely.
It will immediately help you improve your insulin sensitivity dramatically, which will improve your body’s efficiency at using fat as its fuel source on a daily ongoing basis.
You see, when you understand how to time your nutrients precisely you’ll discover how you can use food to master your hormones, control your metabolism, and NEVER store carbs as fat on the body.
Max out your body’s ability to burn lower belly fat by synergistically using my food timing tricks WITH my Ab “Targeted” exercise protocol.
Experience 7 days of your FASTEST fat-loss ever with the 4 Cycle Solution
More From Fitstep.com
Multiply Your Muscle Fibers...How to Train for Hyperplasia | |
How Do I Get Rid of My Man-Boobs? | |
8 Easy Exercises You Can Do At Home | |
Trash Your Chest With Range-of-Motion Triple Add Sets for Bench Press |
Share This Page...
---
Home -> Fat Loss -> Tips and Articles -> Never Store Carbs as Fat