A Basic Diet and Nutrition Guide

[AmyJ]

Overview

This is a guide for individuals that would like some direction regarding nutrition and proper diet. I am sure many of the experienced people here already know all of this information, but we were all learning at one time, and I wanted a place I can link new members of our forums to in response to common diet related questions. While there is a wealth of great information already posted throughout these boards, I couldn't find a place that listed all the basic diet info a beginner needs in a brief easy to understand thread. I hope someone can benefit from my diet guide


Contents

• Overview
• When to Eat
• What to Eat
• How to Read Nutritional Info
• The Importance of Water
• How to Lose Fat / Cutting
• An Example Day
• Conclusion

[AmyJ]

When to Eat

The best way to eat is to divide your meals up into small portions every two to three hours. This provides a steady supply of nutrients and macromolecules and eliminates moments of large caloric excess. For most meals you want to eat balanced portions of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. The commonly recommended ratio of macromolecules is 40/40/20 which means 40% proteins, 40% carbs, and 20% fats. Resources such as http://www.fitday.com are very helpful in balancing meals.

There are a few exceptions to this "golden" 40/40/20 macro ratio. First, would be your first meal of the day which should be consumed as soon as possible upon waking. Your first "meal" (I recommend a whey shake here and some oats) you want mostly carbs and fast acting proteins such as whey. This is because after a long night of sleep it has been awhile since you have had protein and you need to get yourself out of the catabolic state. Also, simply waking up is actually a subconsciously stressful event that leads to an increase in cortisol (stress hormone) which may destroy muscle tissue. Fortunately, carbohydrates will help counteract the cortisol spike and easy to digest protein will restore a positive nitrogen balance but fats are not desired because they may slow these events. Similarly, immediately pre- and post- workout nutrition are both important times when fats should be omitted (see link for details). Lastly, for most people carbohydrates are not desired in the last meal of the day immediately before bed because the excess energy from these carbs will likely be stored as body fat. It is important to provide a steady release of protein to preserve lean mass throughout the night so this last meal should have an especially slow digesting protein source such as Casein (found in foods such as cottage cheese, or purchased as a supplement). Some fats from healthy sources can be added to the last meal to further slow digestion.

Regardless of whether you are cutting (trying to lose fat) or try to build muscle a big goal when planning your day is to keep your nitrogen balance positive. You do this by making sure you have a constant intake of protein. In the morning you eat fast-digesting protein to get it in you as soon as possible after a long 8+ hours of sleep and at night you eat slow-digesting protein so it will last you as long as possible while you sleep. During the day simply try to space small healthy balanced meals every 2-3 hours so your body gets what it needs when it needs it.

The same thing is true of your insulin level. You want to try to keep it as constant as possible throughout the day (except for immediately post weight lifting, and possibly first thing in the morning for hard gainers or people bulking). So you want to try to eat slow-digesting carbs, that do not spike your insulin, every 2-3 hours throughout the day: are you noticing a pattern here??? The GI index rates carbs according to how much of an insulin spike they induce; a lower GI number causes less of an insulin flux and is a preferred carb for through the day. There is a good list of healthy, slow digesting carbs below.

So in the morning I suggest having either a whey protein and ground oats shake, or some oats and egg whites first thing when you get up. Your last meal of the day I suggest eating some natural peanut butter and cottage cheese right before brushing your teeth and heading to bed. The rest of your meals should be spaced every approximately every 3 hours and you should pick a protein, carb, and fat source from the list below to include in each. As a final point here I want to note that eating very often may speed metabolism and cause the body to have less of an incentive to store energy in the form of fat.

It may sound crazy to try to eat every two to three hours, but it's not as hard as it sounds. The biggest time investment with eating is preparing and cleaning up after your meals. This issue can be reduced by preparing in bulk. For instance, what I tend to do is to bake enough chicken breasts for a week or more (often greater than 10 lb at one time) and put them in Ziploc baggies in the fridge and some in the freezer for later in the week. Then when I want to eat one I just throw it in the microwave and it's ready to eat. I will make enough noodles or rice for 3-4 days and portion it out in baggies for my coming meals. I boil 8-12 eggs in the morning and put them in the fridge until I need them. I also measure out oats and put walnuts and raisins in a baggie for my oats/eggs meal at work. The only meal I don't usually have sitting waiting for me when I'm ready to eat is fish because I like to pick that up at the store the same day I eat it.

So eating every 2-3 hours isn't hard, just take some time on two nights a week to prepare food for the rest of the week. Overall, being so organized with this part of your life will likely end up saving you time in the long run. If you do this it's easy!

[AmyJ]

What to Eat

When designing your diet you should try to pick from the foods described below:

Protein:
Tuna, Salmon, or most any fish.
Low fat Cottage cheese.
Eggs (especially the whites).
Chicken breast (boneless skinless).
Turkey breast (boneless skinless).
Lean beef.
Low fat or no fat cheeses.
Low fat pork.
Milk protein isolate.
Whey protein.
Soy protein.
Essentially most any other source of protein so long as it is low in saturated fat and carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates:
Sweet potatoes.
Oat meal, oat bran, oat bran cereal (i.e. cheerios).
Bran cereal.
Brown rice.
Wheat bread (try to limit to 2 slices per day).
Beans.
Low fat popcorn (low fat butter spray makes this a delicacy).
Fruits
Maltodextrin (during workout).
Dextrose (during workout)
Vegetables.
Stay away from refined grains and anything that says "enriched" or "high fructose corn syrup" on the label!

Fat:
Omega 3 capsules (i.e. fish oil capsules).
Flax seed oil.
Primrose oil.
Borage oil.
Olive oil.
Nuts , peanut butter (as long as it does not contain hydrogenated oils).
Egg yolks.
Fish (salmon especially).
All other fat should come as a by-product of your carbohydrate and protein intake.

This list of foods came from Layne Norton's pre-contest advice article. I suggest everyone who plans on cutting read this awesome article!

Another good list of foods: BuffedWildCat's list(there's also some more good guidelines in here, it's worth a read.)

Do not avoid fats. Fats are just as important in your diet as carbs and protein. They should make up at least 20% of your diet. If a processed product advertises that it is low/no fat, most likely they have replaced the fat with sugar. Try your best to avoid sugar at all costs (except for immediately post-lifting). The key here is to check the nutritional information.

As you are starting your diet, you do not need to be extremely picky about the macronutrient ratios you eat your protein/carbs/fat. I like a 40%/40%/20% protein/carbs/fat, some people like a 50/30/20, and even others like 33/33/33 ratio. The more important part is that you need all the macronutrients. Do not leave one component out; don't cut out all carbs or fat. Just eat healthy carbs and fats within your plan and at the appropriate times.

Regardless of whether you are cutting or bulking, you should be getting at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight to promote lean mass. Some sources suggest more than that! I suggest that if you are trying gain muscle you should be eating at least 1g of protein per pound bodyweight of what you would like to weigh, with respect to reasonable short terms goals.

[AmyJ]

Reading the Label

One consistent thing I've seen with people that are new to bodybuilding is that they don't know what to look for when they read the nutritional information on products they eat or drink. The most important advice I can give on this topic is to find products that have no nutritional information listed at all because it is a whole food that does not have ingredients (like fresh chicken breast or broccoli) or those that only have one or two ingredients listed (like oats).

Items that have a long list of ingredients are most likely not good for you and should be avoided.

The next thing I look for on a nutritional label is how much sugar is in the product. In general, I won't eat anything with more than 1 or 2 grams of sugar. Sugar can be hidden if you are looking at the ingredients.
Sugar can be listed as:
syrup
corn syrup solids
high fructose corn syrup
high maltose corn syrup

Maltodextrin is a tricky one as well. It goes under "carbohydrates" not sugar on the nutrition information, but it spikes your insulin just like a simple sugar, so it needs to be avoided along with sugar (except it's great for post-lifting nutrition).

After determining if there is sugar in my food, I check for trans-fats. In the US it is now a regulation that you have to list trans-fats on the nutritional info. If you see ANY trans- fat listed, don't eat that food. But that only applies if it is more than 0.5g trans-fat. I always check the ingredient list for partially hydrogenated oils. If you see the word partially hydrogenated anything, that food should be avoided.

Saturated fats should also be minimized. These are not as important as trans-fats. For example, eating a couple egg yolks a day and a steak a few times a week should not be a problem, but I would not add big pads of butter to all my foods. I do try to minimize the amount I am eating in my foods, though. For example I eat over a half dozen eggs a day, but only two yolks. When I have ground beef I make sure to get as much of the fat out as possible, and I choose lean steaks and cut off the fat around the outside.

Summary of what to look for
-short ingredient list (ideally one ingredient - the food you're buying)
-no/low sugar
-no trans-fat
-low saturated fat

[AmyJ]

The Importance of Water

Water is an important part of your diet. So important that I wanted to give it special attention and its own post! It is the only beverage I drink. If you are drinking soda at all, that should be the first thing you change in your diet. Replace it with water ASAP. Caffeine will dehydrate you so if you drink coffee, sugary flavored teas, or soda you need to drink extra water to make up for it. There is no nutritional need for those other beverages?so don?t consume them. (some tea may be used for its other health benefits, but do not add sugar)

Water is needed to burn fat and build muscle. H2O is vital for many of the chemical reactions that make up our metabolism. We have all heard it many time that it is the most abundant compound within out body. We are virtually made of water. It is one of the main building blocks needed to run your body, so don't short yourself on water. Always have a water bottle with you. I suggest filling 3 or 4 1-liter water bottles and timing yourself throughout the day to make sure you conveniently get enough water each day. It's easy to overestimate the amount of water you drink. Try to drink 3/4-1 gallon of pure unflavored drinking water each day.

This is the best place alcohol fits in, so I will talk about it here. Drinking alcohol is unacceptable. It depletes vitamins and causes dehydration. These are at times the least of the problems it creates but serious nonetheless. With things like this if you cannot see a logical reason that you can back up with science why it is beneficial for you, don't consume the substance. The best rule to follow is: Only consume things because they contribute to your overall life goals in a positive way!

[AmyJ]

Losing Fat / "Cutting"

For those of you that want to loose weight: loosing weight is really pretty simply. You need to take in fewer calories than you expend during the day. The easiest way to figure out how many calories you expend during the day is to calculate your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR). This will tell you how many calories you burn during a day if you just slept all day.

In order to calculate your BMR you can do a quick internet search for a calculator, or use this calculator from Short One to calculate it.

In order to lose weight, figure out your maintenance calories and start your diet with that amount while eating clean foods. I would do this for a couple weeks to start. If you really eat clean you will most likely start to see some changes. If, after close to a month, you find you are not loosing weight, cut 100 calories from your daily diet for one week. If you still see no changes cut another 100 calories/day for an additional week and continue this cycle until you start loosing. However, never go below your actual BMR.

For example, my maintenance calories are about 2100 calories/day. So I would start with that, if I saw no progress, the next week I would go to 2000 for a week, then 1900 ect. but I would never go below my BMR of 1300 cals/day.

A good rule of thumb is to not exceed loosing 2 pounds/week. If you are loosing more than 2lbs a week, you are loosing something other than fat. You may be loosing muscle mass, water weight, or even bone density.

Also, do not make the mistake of cutting calories too low. If you dip your caloric intake too low your body will go into a starvation mode where it hangs on to every bit of energy (including fat) it has for dear life. So start your diet with clean foods at maintenance calories for about a month and go from there.

While you are cutting you may consider taking BCAAs to help preserve muscle mass while losing fat on your caloric restricted diet. BCAAs are an important class of amino acids http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1367018 . Also, as stated before, you need to be eating 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight whether you are cutting or not.



Bulking

If you are trying to gain muscle, do the opposite: Eat over your maintenance calories while on a good lifting program. It's that simple

[AmyJ]

Conclusion

Now that you have the knowledge it's all about consistency and dedication!

This diet is for someone that is serious about his or her goals. This diet is not intended for people who want to "act" like they are on a diet. If anyone ever tells you their going on a diet for two months, or they are going on a diet to get ready for summer ect. they are not serious about changing their body. A diet is not something that someone can go on and then off, a diet is simply the foods you eat. Therefore, one of the most important aspects needed for success is a true desire to do it right and the willpower to stay dedicated to what you know is best.

Your body is basically a machine. Foods are needed to provide this machine with the correct building blocks and fuel. It's much easier to eat the right foods if you eat on purpose, and by that I mean if you only consume things based on your goals and the nutritional content they provide. If you eat foods for taste or social or emotional reasons then you will have a much harder time reaching your goals. So get into the right frame of mind before eating. Finally, just like a good workout program, meals should be well thought out and follow a plan/program.

I wish you the best and hope that you achieve your goals!

[AmyJ]

Also I wanted to thank JoeyTS for his help in editing and formatting this guide!

[JoeyTS]

Originally Posted by AmyJ

Also I wanted to thank JoeyTS for his help in editing and formatting this guide!

good stuff.

[buffgrk]

nice work babe

[AmyJ]

An Example Day

Here's an example of what my day looks like. My current goals are to gain as much muscle and strength as possible and I accept a small associated gain in fat that will come with trying to remain as anabalic as possible.

Sample Diet:

~5:30 a.m.
Every morning first thing is a whey and oats shake. One scoop optimum 100% whey (natural) and 1/4-1/2 cup ground oats. Oats are ground dry in blender ahead if time. I blend a large portion of dry oats to use throughout the week. Oats and whey in morning is in water for fast absorption.

~6:30
Then 1 hour later I have 3 boiled eggs (only 1 or 2 with yolk) and a bowl of 1/4 cup old fashion oats, with walnuts and sometimes raisins or blueberries.
First multi Vitamin

~7:00
15 minutes Pre-workout is another oats and whey shake, same as before.

workout
During workout (at the half way time, about 30 minutes into workout) 5g BCAAs in water.

~8:45
Post-workout 28g whey protein isolate + a little over a half scoop (the scoop that comes with optimum whey) maltodextrin and 1/2 scoop dextrose. The sugars are from Now Foods.

~9:30
Post workout is a complex carb such as sweet potato, pasta, or brown rice, a vegetable such as brocolli or asparagus, and a large baked boneless skinless chicken breast.
Second multivitamin

I always run late and rush to try to get to work. I leave right after that meal.

12:30 p.m. (at work)
Next is another chicken meal, but only half a breast, a vegetable, and very small carb portion, or if non-workout day and I had more time to cook I'll have salmon.

3:30
another eggs and oats meal as before.

5:30
another 1/2 portion chicken or fish as before, I don't have a carb side in this meal, just the meat and fat.

8:30-9 p.m.
Right before bed, Pre-bed 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese and a heaping tablespoon of natural peanut butter.


Notes:
On non-workout days I sleep in longer and thus its one less meal. Because on days I don't lift there's not a need for the pre/during/post shakes, but everything else is the same.

Although not consistent enough to put on the schedule, bananas, sometimes an apple, are favorite snack foods, but only one portion every other day at most.

On non-workout days I try to go to store and pick out something different to cook. For example, tonight I had 1/3 lb steak, 1/2 sweet potato, some asparagus and a cabbage/red pepper/red onion/tomato/radish salad.

On non-fish days (once or twice a week I have rice and salmon as stated earlier) I take a 1g fish oil pill with each chicken meal.

I do not currently count calories because my goal is to have a large excess coming from quality foods. I try to get 1.5g protein per lb body weight. I simply tailor carb (side dish) portion size according to my weight gains or losses. If I need to lose a little BF% I cut down side dish size, gain weight I increase side dish size. I have a feel for when I'm gaining too fast or too slow and adjust. Protein and fats are more constant. If a day is very fat-free, a spoon of peanut butter and/or more fish pills are used.

Obviously an individual will need to make adjustments to suit his or her current goals. For instance, someone trying to loose fat would have to slowly reduce the amount of carbs and fat in their diet by shrinking the portion size of the side dish in each meal. On the other hand, an adult male would likely have to increase the protein content by having a whole chicken breast where I have half portions listed for some meals.

[The Brotherhood]

Nice post, and nice hat

I agree with pretty much everything except the GI part. GI is irrelevant unless your diabetic or have insulin related diseases.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=1503011

[devire1]

Originally Posted by AmyJ

Fruits (limit to 2-3 servings per day).

Only reason to limit them is if you're on a low carb diet, other than that there is no good reason to limit. The fact that they contain fructose and only replenish liver glycogen is irrelevant except maybe in your PWO meal since throughout the day you're prodominatly using your liver glycogen for your energy needs. Most fruits also have a very low GI becuase of the frutose and fiber as well.

[AmyJ]

Originally Posted by The Brotherhood

Nice post, and nice hat

I agree with pretty much everything except the GI part. GI is irrelevant unless your diabetic or have insulin related diseases.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=1503011

Yes, I understand your point and it is well taken. However, my target audience is people very new to all this people. Many of these new people do not understand what the GI that is often refered to means, so I wanted a brief mention of it so that thye can at least begin to understand more techincally written posts and articles. Also, there are some corellations with GI index and quality carb sources. If we are talking to someone totally new to this it is a good recomendation that on avrage if they, if given the information regarding GI, have a choice between a low GI carb source and a very high GI carb they should be using the low GI carb for a side dish.

Thanks for the link, and thanks you for the kind words

Originally Posted by devire1

Only reason to limit them is if you're on a low carb diet, other than that there is no good reason to limit. The fact that they contain fructose and only replenish liver glycogen is irrelevant except maybe in your PWO meal since throughout the day you're prodominatly using your liver glycogen for your energy needs. Most fruits also have a very low GI becuase of the frutose and fiber as well.

That comment was result of the cut a paste of that particularfood list example. The link to the origianl article is provided below the list. As you can see, it refers to cutting.

I agree that while cutting an excess of fruit is simply an excess of carbs. Nonetheless, I editted the list to make it more general. I believe all the fruit in the world is a great addition to one's diet when simply recomping or bulking.

thanks for checking out my diet write-up.

[DAVO17]

Great post, thanks.

[divided]

reps! great posts.

[JDOutlook]

Originally Posted by AmyJ

An Example Day

Here's an example of what my day looks like. My current goals are to gain as much muscle and strength as possible and I accept a small associated gain in fat that will come with trying to remain as anabalic as possible.

Sample Diet:

~5:30 a.m.
Every morning first thing is a whey and oats shake. One scoop optimum 100% whey (natural) and 1/4-1/2 cup ground oats. Oats are ground dry in blender ahead if time. I blend a large portion of dry oats to use throughout the week. Oats and whey in morning is in water for fast absorption.

~6:30
Then 1 hour later I have 3 boiled eggs (only 1 or 2 with yolk) and a bowl of 1/4 cup old fashion oats, with walnuts and sometimes raisins or blueberries.
First multi Vitamin

~7:00
15 minutes Pre-workout is another oats and whey shake, same as before.

workout
During workout (at the half way time, about 30 minutes into workout) 5g BCAAs in water.

~8:45
Post-workout 28g whey protein isolate + a little over a half scoop (the scoop that comes with optimum whey) maltodextrin and 1/2 scoop dextrose. The sugars are from Now Foods.

~9:30
Post workout is a complex carb such as sweet potato, pasta, or brown rice, a vegetable such as brocolli or asparagus, and a large baked boneless skinless chicken breast.
Second multivitamin

I always run late and rush to try to get to work. I leave right after that meal.

12:30 p.m. (at work)
Next is another chicken meal, but only half a breast, a vegetable, and very small carb portion, or if non-workout day and I had more time to cook I'll have salmon.

3:30
another eggs and oats meal as before.

5:30
another 1/2 portion chicken or fish as before, I don't have a carb side in this meal, just the meat and fat.

8:30-9 p.m.
Right before bed, Pre-bed 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese and a heaping tablespoon of natural peanut butter.
[/b]

So basically you spend about 3-4 hours a day on your nutrition?

That's a bit excessive. Reducing a few of your meals will make your meal scheduling a lot easier, without much drawbacks (your body isn't like a furnace that needs a constant intake of food to stay active)

[liftjunkie06]

Good thread.

[Screamin]

Originally Posted by JDOutlook

So basically you spend about 3-4 hours a day on your nutrition?

That's a bit excessive. Reducing a few of your meals will make your meal scheduling a lot easier, without much drawbacks (your body isn't like a furnace that needs a constant intake of food to stay active)

Hardly.

60% (my own personal opinion of the appropriate percentage) of your gains will come from proper nutrition. Why not spend 25% or your time awake managing it?

[The Director]

Great post.

I'm gonna stick this thread in my profile for the starters.

[AmyJ]

Originally Posted by JDOutlook

(your body isn't like a furnace that needs a constant intake of food to stay active)

Actually it is. Your body is a machine that needs fuel. By eating every 2 to 3 hours you increase your metabolism. If you only eat 1-3 meals a day you end up eating more because you are hungry. When you finally do eat, and you have a glutton of food at that point. This extra energy from each meal gets stored as fat to use during the long gaps between eating.

Originally Posted by JDOutlook

So basically you spend about 3-4 hours a day on your nutrition?

That's a bit excessive. Reducing a few of your meals will make your meal scheduling a lot easier, without much drawbacks

I don't think I spend near that much time on my diet. At work I have two 15 minute breaks and one half hour break that I spend eating. Most people take their whole hour lunch break eating, so that's about the same. The oats and eggs meal, shakes, and cottage cheese meals all take less then 10 minutes each. I probably spend 20 minutes eating my post workout meal. So all-in-all I'd say that's about 2 hours spent eating each day. In my opinion that's pretty in-line with the average person eating 3 meals a day.

It may actually be less time spent then the average person because all my meals are prepared on two days of the week. So I'm not driving to a fast food place, waiting at a restaurant, or even cooking dinner every night. Two nights a week I spend an hour or two making everything I need for the rest of the week.

Thanks for bringing up this common misconception!

[JoeyTS]

Originally Posted by JDOutlook

So basically you spend about 3-4 hours a day on your nutrition?

That's a bit excessive. Reducing a few of your meals will make your meal scheduling a lot easier, without much drawbacks (your body isn't like a furnace that needs a constant intake of food to stay active)

I also do not see where it adds up to 3-4 hours. BUT, even if it did, what would be the issue?

If a person has to drive 15+ minutes to thier gym, lift shower, change ect... then drive home, it may add up to 3 hours of the day--so should they just not lift because it takes 3 hours of the day??? NO! well diet is equally, or even more imprtant, than lifting, so there is no reason anyone should want to be a slacker and say it takes too much effort. If you think it is too hard, then sorry but you won't get very far in this game.

Remember what this site is about. This is not lazySlackers.com its bodybuilding.com. A site dedicated to bodybuilding. What successful bodybuilder do you know of that thinks its too hard to eat right?

You got to do what it takes to reach goals brother!

[Kiwi_Fella]

God, this is a really good thread. It would answer nearly every noobs questions I see on here everyday.

Well done, even coming from a girl

[Pearson666]

is it true that i need to eat fat in order to burn fat?

i think my macro is something like 45/45/10

Do i need to eat more fats? because i have been losing fat and gaining/maintaining muscles..

[PersianCoco]

Awsome post.

[Crunchbar]

very good thread!! so far the only thing i would like to point out is the part about sugar in foods. I thought this was very helpfull for the most part.

However, I disagree when u say to only get foods with low/no sugar. If the food's sugar is coming from fruit, or natural honey, then that generally is a fine food in my book.

[AmyJ]

Originally Posted by Crunchbar

very good thread!! so far the only thing i would like to point out is the part about sugar in foods. I thought this was very helpfull for the most part.

However, I disagree when u say to only get foods with low/no sugar. If the food's sugar is coming from fruit, or natural honey, then that generally is a fine food in my book.

thanks

The no-sugar rule is directed towards foods that are in a container of packaging with a label and multiple ingredients, not fruits or natural honey.

Although they should not even be buying those multi-ingredient crappy foods in packages, people still do, but at least they should read what the stuff is made out off and avoid refined sugars and sugar related substances, among other things...the list is sooooo long I wish nobody bought that junk.

Aside from a few exceptions, if it is a naturally occurring whole food, such as fresh fruit, then it is a great thing to be eating!

As with any food, just make sure the calories from sugars in fruit are counted towards the day's limits/goals and all is well.

thanks for helping me clarify that issue. I agree fruit is a good thing

[chaldean]

Thank you so much for your article. I have one question;

Your last meal of the day I suggest eating some natural peanut butter and cottage cheese right before brushing your teeth and heading to bed

how can you eat a peanut butter sandwitch before you sleep when you say NO to carbs at night? Just eat the peanut butter by itself with a spoon?

[AmyJ]

Originally Posted by chaldean

Thank you so much for your article. I have one question;


how can you eat a peanut butter sandwitch before you sleep when you say NO to carbs at night? Just eat the peanut butter by itself with a spoon?

No bread. I eat no bread ever actaully because I fill out my carb needs throughout the day with oats, sweet potato, and veggies which are a better choice, I think. But for sure no bread right before bed.

Yes, just have a spoon of peanut butter if you go with this pre-bed option. I mix mine into the cottage cheese. lol but at first I did not and thought the whole combination was strange. Now after having it for a long time I love it and just spoon the peanut butter into the cheese and mix it

[JoeyTS]

Originally Posted by Pearson666

is it true that i need to eat fat in order to burn fat?

i think my macro is something like 45/45/10

Do i need to eat more fats? because i have been losing fat and gaining/maintaining muscles..

In my opinion if you are happy with your current progress and results, are getting your food from healthy sources so you enjoy overall good health, stick with your macro ration until you find a need for a change.

Again, just my opinion--"don't fix what aint broken." I have nothing scientific to back it up.