[quote]Josh Rider wrote:
For some reason, I’m finding it difficult to understand your logic and approach. Your “template” can be summarized as “drink 6 scoops of protein powder, eat vegetables, and eat peanuts throughout the day.” I don’t see how this is an effective or realistic general plan of action to recommend to the vast majority of people (including the prototypic 90kg male that you refer to) when you take into account different lifestyles, personal preferences, and individual needs/goals.
Also, I don’t really understand how this plan creates “flexibility” when half of the day is rigidly planned with almost no variety. Adding protein powder (either as a meal option or as a daily habit) might be a strategy that’s useful for some people who are having trouble meeting their protein targets consistently or who can’t always put together a balanced whole foods meal that is compatible with their overall plan; however, creating the universal recommendation to essentially chug most of your protein target within the first half of the day doesn’t seem too wise. [/quote]
Essentially the idea is to get a relatively baseline level of aminos, EFA and fruit/veg at the start and end of the day. These times for me would usually be considered fixed points; i.e. I will wake up and fall asleep in the same house pretty much every night. Eating during the rest of the day will provide primarily energetic nutrients, enough to fulfil my quota. Extra protein and the such will picked up along the way.
The amount of protein is not fixed - it’s an amount that corresponds to what a handful of studies on the blog I linked have established as a reasonable minimum. This could be replicated in a similar way with 1g/lb or something more conventional. Again the nuts and veg are eaten at the same time as the protein shakes, not throughout the day.
Also one is not limited to just one or two meals between the first and last shake/nuts/veg meals. One can eat as many meals as they want. One can infact can get away with eating virtually anything (within reason) providing it’s more or less within their calorific goals. Then, at the end of the day, that person has still met protein/calorie goals even if the other macros may be a tad off.
By creating fixed points at the start and end of the day it means that the unknown variables in the middle are much less restrictive.
The majority of protein isn’t chugged in the first half of the day but rather split over two large sittings at opposite ends of the day with extra protein grazed on throughout the day. With the above example one would be looking at about 75g of protein in the first and last sittings - not exactly extreme.
It’s entirely possible that I’m missing your viewpoint and if that’s the case then I apologise. In my opinion however… having a protein shake/nuts/veggies when I wake up and before I go to sleep and then eating what I want, when I want during the day is pretty flexible. Less counting calories/macros or planning during the day too!
Finally of course it isn’t meant to be a one size fits all plan - everyone is different after all. I spend a lot of time working in kitchens where I don’t get a great deal of time to plan/prep my breakfast/supper at either end of the day. It means that in the middle of a busy day I could cook myself something or even grab a handful of nuts/fruit and with minimal effort still be nailing my calorie/macro goals.