Is eating only oatmeal as a source of complex carbs (instead of including sweet potatoes/brown rice) an issue? I love the quick prep time of instant oatmeal, especially versus 45 min rice…
Using the Carb Cycling Codex formulas for half of the days carbs eaten in the post workout shake and the remaining 50% split between 1.5 hours after workout and at breakfast, what would I do on a non-lifting day? e.g. This morning I did 40 min morning cardio and tonight (around my usual lifting time, 5:00) I’m going to do HIIT running.
Should I consume my post workout shake and 1.5 hour post workout meal per usual?
I was also kinda bored so I played around in excel and made a spiffy Carb Cycling Codex spreadsheet. If anyone wants to check it out, use it as a template, or submit revisions as they see fit that’d be good karma++.
1.) I know a few people who use only one source of carbs and it seems to work for them. With the rice, I make a huge batch of brown rice and then saran wrap individual cup sized portions and stick them in the freezer. Then you just have to pop it in the microwave for a minute or two.
2.) On non-lifting days, I would consume all my carbs within the first three meals. The body is pretty good at restoring glycogen whenever the time so it’s not really extremely important but if you are going to be doing HIIT running, then I would definitely save some for PWO.
Above all, I’ve noticed significant body comp changes because my diet sticks to the hard cut rules outlined all over the site and is is cheat meal free. But as far as carbs go, four days of the week (lifting days) I’m taking in 75% of my complex carbs after 5:00PM (post workout shake at 6 and carb+protein meal at 7:30) as outlined by the Carb Cycling Codex.
For example, here’s a moderate day:
8:00 Meal 1: 61g CARBS
1 cup Oatmeal
1 can tuna
35g blueberries
1 tbsp flax
I’m probably beating a dead horse here, but I’d rather get my meal plan correct now than later in the summer. Any suggestions/critiques? Or am I right on?
Keep in mind, I can only lift after work at 5-6ish.
I think variety is a good thing. Not only for your taste buds, but for your health overall. Why instant oatmeal? Buy the regular oatmeal (not quick or instant)instead. Regular oatmeal takes approx 60s to cook in my microwave. Throw some berries and nuts on it and it’s set.
id try to shift all the carbs to earlier in the day-obviously this is difficult because it appears you work out closer to the night.
personally I rely on 3 starchy carb servings every day as part of my first 3 meals- sweet potato for breakfast, oatmeal for lunch, rice cakes after my workout.
however your food selection is great. keep going with these and you’ll be fine.
I’m conflicted here with most advice touting that only my first 3 meals contain starchy carbs and the Carb Cycling Codex ( http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=811783 ) touting (due to my 5:00-6:00 PM workout time) that my first two meals and last two meals contain starchy carbs.
I actually also just realized I have a major fluke (according to the Carb Cycling Codex rubric) in my mealplan by not including carbs in my second meal.
Any input on the subject?
I have a few options for sure (and don’t limit yourself to these either):
Meal 1, 5 (PWO), and 6 have starchy carbs (status quo)
Meal 1, 2, 5 (PWO) and 6 have starchy carbs
Meal 1, 2 , 5 (PWO) have starchy carbs
Meal 1, 2, 3 have starchy carbs, 5 (PWO) has only simple carbs.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, keep in mind I’m cutting.
I dont think this is a good idea, just for variety sake. You will get sick of the taste, regardless of the convenience of quick cook oatmeal. You could also develop an allergy to it.
Charles Poliquin has mentioned that oatmeal has a high allergic potential, so making that your sole complex carb and eating that often is just a bad idea altogether. The idea of complex and simple carbs is also a prehistoric idea nowadays. You might be better served using a glycemic index chart and finding carb sources under 50. The lower the GI, the lower the insulin response.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Charles Poliquin has mentioned that oatmeal has a high allergic potential, so making that your sole complex carb and eating that often is just a bad idea altogether. [/quote]
Yep!
I was eating 3 bowls of old fashioned oats per day for the past 3 years. Then about 2 months ago I started feeling really sluggish and irritable. On top of that, my digestion was just awful and I felt like I couldn’t completely void in spite of being in the bathroom several times per day. Then my wife said, “Maybe you’re eating too much oatmeal.” So I stopped the oatmeal and next day felt SO good, it was like I was reborn.
I don’t do so well on oatmeal. For starchy carbs, I eat mainly a high-fiber whole grain bread and a mixture of brown rice, barley, black barley, and black radish seeds. I cook up a monster batch in the rice cooker and freeze some of it.
It is much more important to take in carbs PWO than in the morning. The rationale is to eat carbs when you are most insulin sensitive. The PWO effect on insulin sensitivity is much larger than the morning effect.
In fact, I think that the morning effect is overblown. I’ve experimented with carbs at night with no problems gaining fat. I even read an experiment where when subjects ate a large portion of low-gycemic barley in their evening meal, they had increased insulin sensitivity the entire next day.
ragarding strachy carbs, which would have the lowest insulin response. I know I could look at the Gi index but the insulin response might be different.