CARBS AT NIGHT!!!!!!!

[GenetiKing]

I know this is a topic more suited for the Diet Board but I'm gonna post it here anyway, so there!

My diet is, for the most part, solid. I get around 200 grams of protein daily (I'm currently about 210 lbs). Also, it's pretty clean. Breakfast is usually a Met-Rx bar followed by some oatmeal (with Optimum 100% Whey mixed in) and tuna a few hours later. The afternoon is usually some protein snaking (usually sandwich meat, turkey, ham, etc.) and some good carbs before I hit the gym. The evening meal (after training) is usually some fruit, veggies, and a good meat-source protein with another Whey Protein shake. Sometimes I'll have another Met-Rx bar a couple hours later.

The only thing is...right before bed, I crave simple sugars!! Bad!! Sometimes I even wake up a few hours after I fall asleep and I'm craving junk food. Does anyone else experience this or is this unique to just me? My willpower during the day and early evening is unshakable, I could live off tuna and oatmeal if I had to, but it seems like I give in much easier at bedtime or sometimes right after. Anyone else experience this?

------------------
Backstage, '75 Olympia:

Serge Nubret, "I look like I can take you."

Arnold, "Keep looking."

[This message has been edited by GenetiKing (edited April 17, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by GenetiKing (edited April 17, 2001).]

 

[bignate73]

how many cals are you taking in daily? are you very far in a deficit? if you are minimizing your carbs so much and then you hit up simpler sugars right after your workout, insulin levels will spike and probably fall at just about the time you are about to sleep....hence your cravings. throw some oatmeal in with your fruit post workout and it should keep your insulin levels more stable, since its a more complex carb. you will be satiated at least until you go to sleep.

 

[Valdez]

That happens to me all the time. I usually will down some complex carbs with meat for the last meal. what works pretty well if your craving simple sugar (sweet) is to have a bowl of cereal because the lactose changes the gi and it takes much longer to absorb the carbs.

works for me.

 

[Cackerot69]

Craving occur when insulin levels are no longer stable. If you keep a steady intake of complex carbs (preferably low GI), you should be fine. One misconception is that eating carbs are night will make you fat. This is completely untrue. Eating carbs at night is no different than eating carbs at other times during the day, sure you will be inactive for 6-10 hours, but that doesn't mean your body doesn't require energy. While you sleep your body is repairing broken down muscle tissue (especially inportant for you high volume guys ), this requires energy. Additionally, after 8-10 hours of fasting, your body will start to eat up muscle, by eating carbs before bed, you will saturate liver and muscle glycogen stores, giving your body an extra source of energy throughout the night, thus you will avoid or at least retard catabolism.

If you already eat carbs at night, i just wasted a bunch of time typing that out, but you may want to try an carb suppressant. The best one i have found is 5-HTP. 5-HTP is most popular as a sleep aid, but is also a powerful carb suppressant.

Or you could always take the easy route and just eat some sugar free sweets. Such as sugar free pudding, jello, etc.



[This message has been edited by Cackerot69 (edited April 17, 2001).]

 

[bignate73]

there you go. more info than i put...but there you go!

 

[Robboe]

What is the goal of your diet?

Lots of protein supplelemts i see. You may be getting enough protein, but if you're trying to grow and aren't getting enough overall calories you'll hit dire straits.

Why use so many supps? Why don't you structure your diet to accommodate more real food:
Eggs
Roast beef
Steak
chicken breast
turkey
Fish - tuna, salmon(good fat from salmon)
oatmeal ( i see you already do eat oatmeal)
Rice
pasta
potatoes
wheat bread <--My diet saviour.
Natural Peanut butter
flax
olive oil
sunflower oil
egg yolke.

There's a list off the top of my head that can be put together to make one kick ass diet without the use of ANY supplements.

 

[bigjoeko]

yeah i have the same problem ....at night i crave bread, cereal crackers the easiest way to stop this,,,is just don`t buy them .. but its not me who is buying them...TODAY IAM STARTING MY DIET...FOR REAL THIS TIME NORMALLY IT WOULD LAST 3 DAYS SEE HOW THAT WOULD GO............

 

[Cerebus]

I also have those cravings. But after training I try to keep the carbs level as low as possible, so they shall not make me a fat ass by morning. Unfortunatly what helps me with those late night cravings is smokeless tobacco. Nasty habbit but it keeps me from eating. All I can say is self-control man. Another solution for me is water. If I feel I need something I just drink some water and pretend it's something else. Hope you find a solution that works for you.

 

[bignate73]

Originally posted by Robboe:

There's a list off the top of my head that can be put together to make one kick ass diet without the use of ANY supplements.

do you consider a multivitamin/mineral a supplement? it takes an assload of different veggies to make up for the nutritional deficiencies of todays normal diet. from what you listed, it would be ideal for me...hehe, but i take a vitamin. just curious.

 

[Cackerot69]

Everyone should be taking a good multivitamin.

 

[Robboe]

Supplements, to me, are anything that isn't necessary.

As an athlete i need more than the RDA of vitamins, therefore i consider then essential and part of my 'diet' if you will.

I sometimes also consider protein powders part of my 'diet' if i'm finding it hard to get all of my cals in for one reason or the other.

I take multivit and extra vits. I also eat plenty of fruit each day. I eat veggies if i have time to prepare them.

 

[GenetiKing]

Okay, thanks all. Maybe I'm not the only one.

Robboe,
All I'm doing is eating one or two Met-Rx bars and then usually two servings of a 20-gram-or-so protein powder daily (Optimum Whey here lately). To me, that's not really that much in the way of supplements as I try to get the majority of my protein intake from the foods you mentioned.

Cackerot,
What exactly is 5-HTP, I'm not sure I've ever heard of it?

Sometimes I think this is more of a psycholgical issue rather than a physiological one. I wonder if I don't subconsciously want junk food and sweets at night since I "think" I've sacrificed so much during the rest of the day to keep my diet right.

------------------
Backstage, '75 Olympia:

Serge Nubret, "I look like I can take you."

Arnold, "Keep looking."

[This message has been edited by GenetiKing (edited April 17, 2001).]

 

[Cackerot69]

5-HTP works by manipulating serotonin, a neurochemical critical to a wide variety of brain functions. Serotonin, in turn, is made in the body from 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan, which is simply a modified amino acid obtained from plant sources.

Without adequate levels of serotonin, you'd probably suffer from depression, sleep disorders, addiction, and obesity. However, for the purposes of this article, we're primarily concerned with how serotonin affects appetite.

Studies have shown that there's often a direct association between obesity (due to overeating) and decreased brain serotonin levels. Without adequate levels of serotonin, the brain perceives that the body is starving and turns on the hunger mode. Obese people who suffer from low levels feel chemically compelled to eat more and more. Once they ingest carbohydrates and various sugars in general, they experience a temporary increase in serotonin levels.

That's why some people are willing to eat an excess of junk food that's entirely lacking in protein.

That's also why drugs like the now banned Redux (dexfenfluramine), which increased serotonin production, were successfully used as an appetite suppressant in the treatment of common obesity. Once serotonin levels retained to normal levels, the food-jones disapeared.

Other "addictive" substances raise serotonin levels, too. Examples include alcohol, tobacco, certain narcotics, and caffeine. Obviously, I'm not suggesting that you add these things to your fat-fighting arsenal — it's just an interesting point.

Conversely, serotonin levels drop during periods of stress. The stress generally causes an increase in cortisol levels, which reduce levels of serotonin. This is probably why some people eat to "make their problems go away."

Interestingly, during clinical trials in obese subjects, the intake of 5-HTP caused a voluntary decrease of the intake of both carbs and fats, but not of protein. Very cool, huh? That means that it exhibits sort of a selective appetite suppression, which is just the thing for athletes.

That also means that 5-HTP should also help people adhere to a low-calorie/high-protein diet — like any one of the ketogenic diets floating around.

Individuals who are already under medical treatment and are using drugs which alter serotonin metabolism shouldn't take 5-HTP, unless your Doctor recommends it. Anti-depressants and L-dopa are examples of drugs that shouldn't be taken at the same times as 5-HTP.

As a nutritional supplement, most individuals can safely use 5-HTP at a dosage of up to about 75 milligrams a day. Users can take that in divided doses, or take it all at once before a meal. While much higher doses have been used in very specific circumstances, definitely don't use more than 75 milligrams per day. You don't need it. 5-HTP is very powerful and a little bit goes a long way.

If you decide to use 5-HTP, it's a good idea to make sure your diet contains adequate amounts of Vitamin B6, which most of you already get. This particular vitamin aids in the body's conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin. It also helps prevent the accumulation of tryptophan metabolites and delays (somewhat) the rise in 5-HTP-induced rises in serotonin. No additional B6 is needed beyond that obtained in a typical B vitamin (you don't need more than 10 milligrams per day).

Adequate protein intake is also important if you want to give 5-HTP a spin. Quite obviously, if you're knocking out most of the carbs from your diet, you want to at least partially replace the calories with protein to keep you from losing muscle.

One last point: whatever you do, don't drink alcohol within 6 hours of using 5-HTP. Alcohol greatly affects the metabolism of 5-HTP, so you'll not only be loopy, you'll regain your carb yearnings and wake up in a mountain of Twinkie wrappers.

You should be able to find it at a local Health Food store, if not, I'm sure it is available at most online supplement distributers. I know www.dpsnutrition.com sells it, you may want to shop around, although DPS is usually the best out there.

 

[GenetiKing]

Wow! Fascinating stuff, Cackerot. Thanks for all the info man.

One thing however...reading what you have posted, it sounds like this supplement may be more applicable to obeise individuals rather than me (I'm about 8% bf) or am I wrong?

Interseting that I've never heard of it before. I will look into it. Thanks again bro.

------------------
Backstage, '75 Olympia:

Serge Nubret, "I look like I can take you."

Arnold, "Keep looking."

 

[Cackerot69]

It will help anyone trying to lose fat that is hindered by cravings.

 

[teslet]

If you are craving carbohydrates (not just carbohydrates but if also exccesive food), then it is simple you are lacking EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids).

This problem and many others associated with EFA deficiency are discussed in the book: "Radiant Health" by Brian Scott Peskin (ISBN: 0-9651551-3-7).

EFAs are essential fats needed by our body to properly function, most food processing destroys them, etc. Anyway they can be found in oils such as Cod liver oil, Flaxseed oil (preferably, take the latter), etc. Since you are around 200lb take about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon in morning and one more later in the day close to night.

Before I began taking Flax oil, I used to endulge myself in sweets, but when I see candy now I don't really need it anymore.

This is not an actual supplement, it is food our bodies need!

 

[Kryp2o]

Originally posted by teslet:
If you are craving carbohydrates (not just carbohydrates but if also exccesive food), then it is simple you are lacking EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids).

This problem and many others associated with EFA deficiency are discussed in the book: "Radiant Health" by Brian Scott Peskin (ISBN: 0-9651551-3-7).

EFAs are essential fats needed by our body to properly function, most food processing destroys them, etc. Anyway they can be found in oils such as Cod liver oil, Flaxseed oil (preferably, take the latter), etc. Since you are around 200lb take about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon in morning and one more later in the day close to night.

Before I began taking Flax oil, I used to endulge myself in sweets, but when I see candy now I don't really need it anymore.

This is not an actual supplement, it is food our bodies need!

This makes sense.

 

[GenetiKing]

Teslet,
I've never considered that lacking EFA's might influence cravings. I try to cover all the bases in my diet and give my body all the nutrients it needs but I'll be honest...I've never given much thought to EFA's.

Thanks bro.

------------------
Backstage, '75 Olympia:

Serge Nubret, "I look like I can take you."

Arnold, "Keep looking."