I was told by a researcher into nutrition that the average Dutch population eats
45% carbs
15% protein
40% fats
I'm not exactly sure what the recommendations of the national nutritionists are, but they are higher in carbs & lower in fats, more like
55% carbs
15% protein
30% fats
It's very odd to see people defend 'clean' eating styles and the only thing they have in common is a high protein intake and avoidance of junkfood.
Then they either go very low in carbs and manage to make me feel bad about eating over 30% carbs..
Or they go very low in fats and make me feel like a glutton, since they eat something like 20-25% fats re total.
%s aren't making much sense in a cutting/bulking diet or when you're extremely active, since obviously fuel requirements go up by a lot.
Many say %s are a retarded way to express your diet in.. and I generally don't plan by %s. But I do keep a close eye on it, as it's so much easier to refer to your intake by %s rather than actual grams or g/kg BW. Just like you folks are clutching to the miles , ounces and gallons and Fahrenheit instead of embracing the kilometer, grams and liters and Celsius (which should be Kelvin).
The mix of fats & carbs on which YOU thrive is so fascinating to watch, it's a source of constant merriment & wonder. It's like being a hybrid car that switches the fuel source constantly. And if you do it right, you manage to insert the right fuel at the right time. I'm really very much into the carb timing.
Taking the carbs during a workout helps with steady blood sugar levels, so I don't produce too much cortisol. But it doesn't do wonders for strength. Especially not if I've dropped carbs waaaaaay low the day before and will drop them again after a WO.
When I only eat the carbs post-WO it is like driving a car on empty. Once the workout is over, there's tons of fatigue, too much cortisol, too much muscle breakdown due to gluconeogenesis and most of the time I'll be diving head first into the food and over compensate. While the glycogen would be filled up again, there's a good chance it will have been used up before the next workout comes around, leaving me without enough energy to finish it.
Contrast this to eating the carbs (even junkfoody marshmallows) the night before a workout. I get a good zzz (carbs increase insulin and insulin shifts the tryptophan/tyrosin balance so that more tryptophan gets into the brain putting you asleep) , glycogen gets refilled BEFORE a workout.
Right before a workout the carbs will make me too sleepy because of forementioned reasons. A small amt of carbs (25g or so) will work great though!
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