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After 6?

Are you looking to to strip the fat off of your body quickly and easily?

Well then you need to cut back on your carbs after 6pm. This is the GOLDEN RULE!

Eating carbohydrates increases blood sugar, and increased insulin output follows. Therefore its not necessarily eating “food” that blunts the night time GH release, it’s eating carbohydrate food, and that’s why some authors recommend not eating carbs before bed (also a good reason not to drink alcohol before bed either)

Based on the scientific literature, you can enhance nocturnal growth hormone release by refraining from consuming carbohydrates within 90 minutes of going to bed. So if you go to bed at 9 pm, then the advice of not eating after 7:30 is logical. If you go to bed later, then the cutoff will be later, so absolute rules like “don’t eat after 7:30 pm lack the customization factor. Any time you can customize, do customize. Once you’ve implemented this “cutoff time,” then adjust it according to your results: push back earlier if not enough results, push ahead later if results exceed your expectations.

Another reason not to eat heavily at night is simply because you are the least active at night and your metabolism is slowest while you are sleeping. Doesn’t it seem logical that if you eat a huge meal and then go lie down and do nothing for 8 hours that it will be more likely to be stored as fat? Rather than looking at the traditional model of 24-hour calorie expenditure, it pays to look at what is going to happen over the next several hours (and also consider what has happened over the last hour or so, as in the case of post workout recovery), and then adjust your nutrition accordingly.

When your goal is fat loss, you can also use the “carb slow method” and front load your starchy, calorie-dense carbs early in the day, and make your late day meals mostly protein and fibrous carbs only. All evening meals should be small, calorically speaking. Although the exact recommendations vary, there is a strong agreement among the experts that eating a lot of carbs and eating a lot of anything before bed is not a good idea in the context of a fat loss program. Here’s what two top experts in the field of fat loss have to say.

“Bodybuilders are some of the leanest people on Earth. In an attempt to shed every ounce of excessive fat, bodybuilders often stop eating late at night. Specifically, many will reduce their carbohydrate intake as the day progresses in hope that more fat will be lost. My experience has shown that eating carbohydrates at night, under certain circumstances, cause you to store calories as fat.”

-Chris Aceto

“I strongly recommend moving the last intake for the day as far away from bedtime as you can. 3-4 hours is ideal, but at least 2-3. This increases the length of the “fast” which in reality nighttime is – broken by breakfast. Using this method consistently is one of the most effective ways to lower body fat – and it doesn’t take a lot of effort.”

- Ian King

“But, Frank I don’t want to lose body fat! I want to gain muscle don’t I need all the extra calories I can get so I can get the best natural growth hormone response that I can?

In that case, especially if you are a naturally lean ectomorph type — and especially if you’re having a hard time gaining (muscular) body weight, then the exact opposite advice may be in order! You may need to intentionally eat right before bed!To get the best of both worlds (gaining lean muscle, and optimizing hormonal response, while keeping body fat at bay), the bedtime meal should usually consist of a lean protein (slow-released being ideal), like lean red meat, chicken breast, egg whites, low or non fat cottage cheese or a protein shake — No heavy carbs or starches.

Protein foods work just fine, but some people like to use casein-based protein shakes as their pre-bed time “meal.” Research by Boire showed that this type of protein supplement stayed in the bloodstream longer than fast acting proteins like whey.

In the extreme case of the real “hard-gainer” who can’t seem to gain an ounce of muscle no matter what they do, then even large carb-containing meals at night may be beneficial, simply to get enough calories. Remember, muscle gaining programs require a surplus and far more calories than fat loss programs and the ectomorph often needs to eat and eat and eat in order to gain muscle.

That’s why knowing your outcome or goal is the most important thing in realizing the body of your dreeam. There are a thousand roads to Rome they say. Just pick one.



By: Frank Sherrill

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