Because of the way our body processes macro nutrients and uses them as energy, as well as for building muscle mass or cutting fat, there is an optimal timing of nutrition.

PRE-WORKOUT NUTRITION

Ensure that you get a meal (a shake will do) 15-30 minutes prior to a workout. In the meal, you want to make sure that include 40-50 grams of carbohydrates to fuel your workout and give you more energy in the gym. Also make sure that you get 30-40 grams of PROTEIN in the meal which will help you build muscle over time! Dietary fat is not necessary.

POST WORKOUT NUTRITION

Ensure that you get a meal (another shake will do if time is a factor) immediately following a workout. In the meal, you want to make sure that include 0.4 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight, which will help keep your muscle breakdown rate low. Also make sure that you get 30-40 grams of PROTEIN in a quickly digestible manner like whey protein which will assist in muscle growth. A few bananas in a protein shake is an excellent way to get the macros needed to build muscle, or maintain the muscle while losing fat.

THROUGHOUT THE DAY

 

Because you already know your TDEE and not only how many calories to eat, but exactly how much of each macronutrient, it is important to fill the rest of your day with meals to achieve those numbers!  While there is so much out there on when to eat what, the main thing you need to worry about is hitting your protein targets throughout the entire day.  There is a lot of research about how much protein our body can use and synthesize at one time, but the main rule of thumb is that your body can only process 30-50 grams at one time.  Therefore, if you eat a steak with 70 grams of protein, your body will only be able to use optimally about 30-50 grams of it, with the rest of it not being used in the optimal manner.  Therefore, it would be better to eat your steak over a period of a few hours or at different times!  This means if you need to get 160 grams of protein, you need to eat at least 4 meals (or shakes) with at least 40 grams in each meal!