How important is meal timing? Hold on… I am not talking about how important it is to eat 6-8 meals. How important is it to eat on the dime. For example, If I get up at 8am is it alright if I eat at 8:30am. If I get done with my training at 11am can I drink my protein at 11:15am or does it have to be immediately after. If I eat at 10pm can I go to bed at 11pm. Any information will be praised.
I think it’s very important to eat as soon as you wake up. I don’t much like solid food that early so I drink an MRP, then eat an hour or so later. That said, waiting 30 minutes is probably no big deal.
Same goes with post-workout nutrition: very important, but 15 minutes is no biggie.
As for night time eating, I don’t get your question. Are you worried about late night food “turning to fat”. That’s largely a myth, I think. I go light on the carbs my last meal of the day, but other than that it’s no biggie. I prefer a Grow! shake with cottage cheese mixed in right before bed. I do this both on cutting and bulking phases, no problems. Just make sure this pre-bed shake or meal fits into your calorie guidelines for whatever diet you’re on.
Now, it’s object lesson time. I find that most people who worry about little things like this are missing larger, much more important things in the big picture. Like someone is really obsessing over when EXACTLY to get their post-workout shake, yet they’re not getting enough daily protein or not squatting or getting wasted every other day, etc. It’s what TC would call “minutia”. (Read his Meet the Press interview with me for details on that.) I’m not saying you’re doing this, but I do see it happening a lot. Lesson: Get all the big stuff in order before you fret over smaller (and largely insignificant) details.
thank’s chris
I usually have a hit of Ribose-C immediately after I finish my workout. Then, I mix my post-workout protein/carb shake and drink it in big gulps over the course of my post-workout stretching. Also, I sip a protein shake during my workout as Ian King recommends. All this made quite a difference in my recovery. As far as meal timing during the day, I do not fret over that too much as long as I eat something every 2-3 hours. It can even be something small, like an apple or a banana. The most important thing is to give your body some good calories regularly in order to avoid insulin spikes.