In Ori’s and Tim’s version of the Warrior Diet, both recommend a fairly low glycemic post workout meal. This meal consists of a salad, oils, meat, veges and brown rice. After this meal, anything can be eaten regardless of its glycemic rating.
I was wondering why the normal, high glycemic carb/protein meal isn’t eaten instead to take advantage of the window of oppurtunity thats open after a workout?
I think the reason lies in the fact that when you break a fast with a high glycemic meal it tends to raise insulin levels higher than normal thus favoring fat storage…once you’ve broken the fast with a low glycemic meal and wait a few hours before you ‘pig out’, I believe there is less of a tendency for the body to overproduce insulin and thus ruin your fat burning mode. I think the key here is how you break a fast, and remember, just because a meal is low glycemic doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily ‘no-carb’, so your body WILL have carbs to work with and replenish glycogen storage in muscle tissue. I have been using a protein meal replacement like Grow! or Myoplex after a workout, or better yet Phosphagain 2…with some flax oil thrown in, then I have another low-glycemic meal about half an hour to an hour later. Remember too that using this system trains your body to ‘stretch’ glycogen reserves, so your liver holds more glycogen for training…thus less of a need for the post-workout high carb meal. Another good tip is to consume some protein powder like Designer or Vyopro before your workout.