Nutrition Timing

It’s common knowledge that good nutrition + physical activity play a large role in healthy living. People have different interpretations and various habits around both in order to reach their personal health and fitness goals. Nutrition and activity choices should be reflective of what one is hoping to achieve within their lifestyle.
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Nutrition timing may be considered by some as taking things to the next level. There is undoubtedly more planning and preparation involved to make it work. Although it is quite a complex topic, in simplest terms, nutrition timing is timing your food to manipulate body composition and physical performance. There isn’t one way to time your food intake, but there are certainly a few principles that many professionals agree on as being the most beneficial for improved body composition and exercise performance.

Nutrition timing may be considered by some as taking things to the next level. There is undoubtedly more planning and preparation involved to make it work. Although it is quite a complex topic, in simplest terms, nutrition timing is timing your food to manipulate body composition and physical performance. There isn’t one way to time your food intake, but there are certainly a few principles that many professionals agree on as being the most beneficial for improved body composition and exercise performance.

I have to admit, there were many years when I didn’t pay a lot attention to the timing of my food. I certainly had created habits that supported my goals, but timing was not necessarily one of them. The only time that I would eat specific foods for specific activities is when I was preparing for high intensity endurance activities. A two hour spin class, for example, would mean that I would be sure to get my carbs in beforehand, in fear of energy levels bottoming out too soon. During a triathlon, I would ensure I ingested a fast absorbing carbohydrate source throughout the race, as I tend to suffer from long-lasting bouts of nausea post-race if I don’t.

However, in my day-to-day gym routine, nutrition timing was something I would only consider to an extent. I didn’t give it too much thought, and only made it a priority when it was convenient to do so.

That all changed the moment my goals did. Over the last two months, I have been working on building muscle mass. The wedding is over and ‘winter is coming’ (Game of Thrones? Anyone? Bueller?). That means the season of oversized sweaters and stretchy pants is near and I can afford to give up a bit of leanness in exchange for muscle…. The goal of course being that I will achieve a greater level of leanness a few months from now, due to the increased muscle mass (increased muscle = increased fat burn + improved body composition).

Adding muscle is no easy feat. There are a number of challenges that come along with it that, particularly for women, can be a bit of mental struggle to say the least.

First, in order to gain muscle, you need to eat. Not only do you need to eat, but you need to eat carbs. Yes—carbs! The idea of increased carbs has the tendency to send many women running for the hills. After all, we’ve been conditioned to think that carbs = evil. However, without an influx of carbs, it is very difficult to train in a way that promotes muscle growth (cue the disgruntled ketogenic dieters). Additionally, carbs are necessary for muscle recovery. More about that later. Eating more food is a challenge. Some days it’s really fun. Other days, it’s a struggle. It really depends on one's mental state. The second challenge is the scale. For most, adding muscle means adding weight. If you measure your success strictly by the number presented to you when you step on the scale, I promise you will quickly call it quits. It is very difficult to add muscle without adding weight (my coach likes to remind me of this on the regular. Lean gains = minimal profit). But assuming all goes to plan, this period will be short lived. In the mean time, measurements and the fit of your clothes are your best friend. (the only two things keeping me from crying myself to sleep at night). The final struggle is the fact that I am sore. Really sore. Every day. I am pushing my muscles to the max, and recovery days are a must. When confiding in a friend about these struggles, she reminded me, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.”

So, with all of these challenges in mind, I am eager to stay on track and finish this phase of my training as soon as I can. It’s not a sprint, by any means. But I have no interest in dragging things out longer than necessary. Therefore, I am adopting meal timing as a part of my daily routine to help accelerate my results, best I can.

Here’s how meal timing can help you reach your goals:

Consume Protein at Every Meal
This will help promote satiety throughout the day, as well as aid in muscle growth and recovery.

Carbs Around Workouts
Consuming the majority of your carbs around your workout (before and after) will help ensure you have the necessary energy levels to push yourself to your max, as well as draw glucose into your muscle cells for recovery (rather than store them as fat for later energy use). Your body is more insulin sensitive during this period of time (i.e. it responds to the insulin, rather than continuously pumping it into the bloodstream in a very, "Hey--pay attention to me!" kind of way). This isn’t to say you can’t have carbs throughout the rest of the day. But this is when your body will use them most efficiently. Stack them here. If you do not feed your muscles with carbohydrates (and protein) within the post-workout period (1-3 hours, depending on what piece of research you’re referencing), the theory is that your body will begin to catabolize muscle tissue in recovery efforts. Not ideal. In fact, the exact opposite of what you’re probably looking for. If you’re a skinny minny, trying to put on muscle/size, you probably don’t have to worry about having starchy carbs during other parts of your day. Chances are, your metabolism can handle it. Really, how many carbohydrates you consume during other periods of your day is dependent on your goals.  Different body types will respond differently to nutrient timing techniques.

After today's leg workout. I think I see where last night's movie snacks went to...

Fats and Protein/Carbs and Protein
Fats and Carbs are both energy sources. You need both. But not necessarily all at the same time. Decide whether you want a protein/fat heavy meal, or a protein/carb heavy meal. Most days I work out in the evenings, so I’ll include carbs in the form of fruits and veggies (high fibre) throughout the day, but will primarily load up my lunch with protein and fats (plus veggies, of course). I’ll save my starchy carbs for the early evening, when I’m going to be heading to the gym (sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa, etc). During this time, I will limit my fat intake.

Relax
Nutrient timing isn’t necessarily a must to reach your goals. If you’re up for the challenge, you can certainly play around with incorporating a few of these principles into your daily routines. You can also give it a shot just to see how you respond. Maybe you feel amazing with a certain nutrient timing regime, and would like to keep moving forward with it. Maybe eating carbs pre-workout in the morning causes you to crash later in the day and leaves you with low energy levels. Listen to your body. If thinking about not only what to eat but when to eat it is overwhelming, relax. It’s not for everyone. Maybe one day you’ll be ready to give it a shot, but that doesn’t have to be today.