I still can’t get a definite answer to this question, despite searching the web site archives and old forum posts. So far, as a basic outline, I understand that we should be eating every 3 hours when following Massive Eating, alternating protein and carbs with protein and fat. Now, if I want to eat sooner than that, I need to know the absolute minimum amount of time that I should wait between the two meal variations. For example, my carbs meals are usually 40+ protein and 60-80g carbs and my fat meals are usually 40+ protein and 30-40g fats. My carbs come from fruit, MRPs, dairy foods (yogurt, cottege cheese, etc…), and whole grain breads. My fats come from Udos Choice oil and nuts. How long do I NEED to wait after eating a carb meal, before I should attempt to eat a fat meal, based on the theory that high insulin levels will cause the fat to plant itself on top of my abs? And conversely, how long should I wait after a fat meal before I eat carbs and spike my insulin? Is 2 hours generally a good rule or can I eat sooner. If you need them, my stats are 5’6", 174#, 9% bodyfat by calipers, 23 yrs old, 4000 cals/day, 40%p, 30%f, 30%c. I train 5 days a week while on Massive Eating, Androsol 70 sprays 2x day, ZMA, Creatine w/ 45g 100% fruit juice during last half hour of workout. That’s pretty much everything I can think of. Thanks!
i recall two hours being mentioned between those types of meals. you are alternating protein carb and protein fat meals? how is that goin? i do 4 protein carb meals and then 4 protein fat meals. its going well this way.
I tried to answer this the other day but I think it must not have made it to the forum for one reason or another.
Anyway, the answer is not that clear cut. GI motility, digestion, absorption is very different between individuals. To put this into perspective we have a lab technique where we have a subject swallow a pill and while in the body the pill measures their core temperature. We need to “salvage” these expensive pills for later use (gross, I know) so we get a picture of GI motility this way. Some subjects literally find that pill in the toilet 6-8 hours later while some dont find it for 24. And these are healthy young and athletic males.
So it’s hard to know how your meals are being processed and in what time frame. With that said, I think the best set of guidelines is to “stack” your meals so that you have mostly p+c meals back to back and p+f meals back to back. So even if you dont get the timing right, you will be ok with the blood fat + blood insulin thing.
Example...4 meals p+c back to back and then 3 meals p+f back to back. Then 2.5-3 hours should be a safe bet. Beyond that I would have to write 30 pages on every permutation and interaction between activity you were doing at the time, your meal conents, etc. And since I dont even worry about that myself, I dont think you should either.
One more thing…I dont know what you are doing for PW nutrition but I dont like your creatine + fruit juice during the last 1/2 hour of training. Fructose is not ideal before, during, or immediately after training. Id rather see you do this.
During traning sip a 40g glucose/malto beverage with 3g creatine, 3g BCAA, 3g glutamine.
Immediately after training drink a 50g glucose/malto, 25g whey hydro, 3 g creatine, 3g BCAA, 3g glutamine drink. (Surge with 3g of creatine added works well)
The difference you see with this will be dramatic and is a much more important concern that worrying about whether 2.5 vs 3 hours is ideal for waiting between meals!
Hey John, I use to do what you suggested … keep all p+c meals in half the day, and p+f meals the rest of the day. However, I got some feedback that it was better to mix them up so that I could get some insulin spikes periodically throughout the day, rather than one long one. Any thoughts?
All depends on the goals. If to get lean, then the way I outlined above is superior (I call it “the taper” because you taper off carbs as the day goes on). If to gain muscle, “the stagger” works well but you certainly wont be see too much difference with the taper here also. So it’s up to you when gaining.