Blazinghost's picture
Blazinghost
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Pre and post workout carbs??

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Just trying to see if someone can shed some light on pre and post workout carbs while on a carb restricted diet. I have good luck with results cutting carbs down to 100g or less a day with one cheat meal a week. I usually do go a little flat no big deal but at the tail end of it I start having blood sugar issues. A buddy recommended that I eat .33g of carbs pre and post workout with protein of course. I would prefer not to go hypo while dieting I got a glucose tester and was dipping down into the 40-50's during the middle of the day after 6 weeks of cutting. Any input would be appreciated.

SlowBro's picture

while dieting i always focus my carbs around the workout. if your carbs are low (like 100g/day low), splitting it 50 pre and 50 post is ideal imo. if you think about it, carbs provide fuel for your workout pre and help replenish glycogen post. the only time you want insulin is around training, so having a very small amount of insulin released with your 2 carb meals its no big deal. this leaves you with the remainder of you day carb free, although i think its important to make sure your getting veggies in with your carbless meals. 80-100g of broccoli is my choice.

i have gotten the hypo feeling while carbs are low throughout the day, but it is usually only in the transitioning process from offseason to dieting. after a few days with the carbs focused around the workouts it goes away for me.

irongame427's picture

I really like to cycle my carbs when i diet, but i have 2 100g days and I have 50g in my pre workout meal and 50g in my post workout shake. I know what you mean about that hypo feeling mid day, i feel like total shit, my hands will be shaking, basically sweating, just craving carbs so bad, then off days ( just 2) are 50g only, those suckkk. But then i get back to a 300g day, then 200, then 100, so its not so bad when you do it that way. Like bigs said adding some fat to your carb meals along with eating complex carbs will slow down their digestion giving you that energy source for little longer then normal. Never measured my BG during those low carb times but your legit in dangerous range, below 70 can cause some seriois issues.

You could also try a carb cuttoff, made popular by our resident guru, carbs from 7am-2pm, or fix the window if your wakeup schedule is different, the idea is having 117 carb free hours per week to burn just fat. But during that window you can eat carbs with all your meals if youd like, you still have to keep it under 100g or so, but mentally id feel better eating like 30g with 3 different meals, or even 25g with 4 different meals. Compared to just 2 meals with carbs for the day.

Or check out this carb cycling diet, it works, keeps the body from ever plateauing as macros change daily, and its not torture like alot of diets, you may have to increase or decrease the portion sizes depending as im not really sure of your macros and total cals etc, but itll give you an idea of how it works. itll get you into the singles though. to get down to 3-5% youd have to really drop the carbs, but if youre just trying to get to 8-10% itll do the trick, probably get even down to 6-7% with it, but the lowest ive gotten with it is 8% https://www.eroids.com/forum/training-nutrition-diet/weight-loss/my-deta...

Blazinghost's picture

Holy shit! That's a wealth of info right there. Thank you! I would be happy 8-10%. I was around 10% last summer then had some personal issues that derailed me completely. I'm finally back hitting it again. I will try the carb cycling. I never had an issue with bs until I experimented with some Gh. But I also never had to cut carbs that hard until I got closer to 30 years old guess my metabolism started slowing down. Man I appreciate the help!

Bigs251's picture

if your having blood sugar problems while training try adding in some fat with your pre workout meal such as macadamia nut oil or peanut butter to help stabilize insulin levels. If I had to pick one time of the day that's absolutely necessary for carbs it's post workout. Also you might need to switch over to more complex carbs and less starchy

Blazinghost's picture

You know when I'm putting on weight I eat peanut butter before I workout. Never thought about it cutting. I try and stay with brown rice, oatmeal and whole wheat pastas but I do on occasion hit the white rice which prolly isn't the smartest. Thank you very much for your input I am going to try this out. I guess my next question is do you count that toward your total carb intake? If I'm staying 100g or below does that count toward it or is it a replenishing of muscle glycogen?

Bigs251's picture

It still counts toward it. Personally jasmine rice is my absolute favorite carb to go to beats the hell out of the taste of brown rice.

wanted's picture

While cutting i personally like 3 to 4 rice cakes and my protein shake as soon as im leaving the gym. In the parking lot fast

Blazinghost's picture

Thanks man that's a good idea!