Satisfying After Training Menus?

[Erik]

If you have late practice and get home at around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m., what do you eat for dinner?

A big feast at Fresh Choice is great at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays after BJJ, but before bed? When really hungry for, say, a steak and potatoes?

Eating too much before bed is extra extra fattening. I'm trying to cut weight without passing out at work or on the mat.

Any ideas?

[Spartan]

......Eating too much before bed is extra extra fattening. ....

It isn't eating before bed that is fattening. That is a popular misconception. It is what you eat that makes you fat. Consuming excess fat and sugar will fatten you up, no matter when you eat them. On the other hand, eating a nice steak before bed is healthy. It supplies you with amino acids during the hours you are asleep. You will wake up feeling energetic. Some people would probably freak out at this. But there is strong scientific evidence behind it. People I know have gained muscle and loss weight with this diet.

Having said that, it is very unproductive for people to attempt changing their physiological composition by trying fixing up one meal here or there. You should take a total approach, ie research your calorie requirement and your daily calorie intake. From there, you decide how much (and what types of )carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to take. Otherwise, it is a hit or miss approach. No different from trying to learn self-defence by asking whether a left hook is better than a right uppercut.

[CosimoTe]

Erik,

I find myself often in the same situation. While I'm not a big proponent engulfing of a 16oz porterhouse and a spud before hitting the hay, there may be something that you can do. Ive known many people who, rater than eat three large meals each day, split the meals into two portions. Spacing out your meals, say every 4 hours or so, may allow you to have some of that steak before your training, then something lighter or the second half after training.

[shevbo]

I also get home near that time after training and i have a HEAVY meal. I am very hungry when i come back so i usually have some pasta, sausages, veg, fruit, hot tea and then a muffin to top it all off.

Then i feel bliss. :D

[Erik]

These are great responses, guys, but not answering the question -

What's satisfying yet not too caloric right before bed?

Fruits have a lot of sugar, which wakes me up, as does Vit. C (another great reason OJ is so nice in the morning).

Starches turn to fat if not used in 12-24 hours, which makes them good for the next morning's workout (if there is one) and for carbo loading but bad after BJJ and before sleep (then 9 hours of desk work).

Meat is not a bad idea. I guess meat with some veggies - very Atkins. Or legumes.

Any other ideas?

[Erik]

I also get home near that time after training and i have a HEAVY meal. I am very hungry when i come back so i usually have some pasta, sausages, veg, fruit, hot tea and then a muffin to top it all off.

Then i feel bliss. :D
We call that "food coma" at work... I just got back from lunch and am feeling quite blissful... must... keep... working....

[Vehemence]

I
Eating too much before bed is extra extra fattening.


As far as I've read it's only the complex carbs that aren't used up when eaten at the end of the day and get put on as fat. So I guess just avoiding anything that isn't easily processed like the usual breakfast foods and pasta would probably help.




-Tyler

[milkthecows]

I take a early dinner (about 7pm) so I get hungry before I sleep. I usually mix my proteins with low fat milk and that usually fills me up enough to be able to sleep. But on nights, esp after training, thats not enough, so I'll just take something with low carbs and high protein. I'm quite a frim believer of protein before bed. So in that case, I'll either take 1 or 2 cans of baked beans or tuna or half boil about 4 - 5 eggs. That should do the trick. I don't fill myself till I'm bloated, I find it a pain to sleep in that situation.

Hope that helps.

[blessed_samurai]

Why not cottage cheese, some fish oil pills, and a protein shake?

[blessed_samurai]

I'm still with the cottage cheese as it takes practically all night to get that stuff digested and that way I don't have to go all night without protein...sure beats setting the clock for four hours later to get a protein shake :D I usually add some whey with skim milk and take my fish oils and ZMA and off to bed I go.

[Shiro_ryuu]

I like to have some cottage cheese before sleeping.

[tkdcanada]

As far as I've read it's only the complex carbs that aren't used up when eaten at the end of the day and get put on as fat. So I guess just avoiding anything that isn't easily processed like the usual breakfast foods and pasta would probably help.




-Tyler

You mean simple carbs (white breads etc..) they will go right to fat in a very short time a couple of hours. Complex carbs are the good ones that take longer but still should be used up in 12-24 hours.

I say as some above and go for protein. I find it's satisfying. Why not a can of tuna, some chicken, some yogurt or cheese, some nuts even or a smoothie (my personal favourite made with yogurt, banana, berries, ice, any fruit....) I know fruits have sugar, but generally, if it's natural sugar I don't worry about it.

[Spartan]

Bread, ie starch is not simple sugar. It is complex carb. The GI of bread ranks it almost as undesirable as sugar. But that is misleading as bread takes longer to digest and would not cause insulin spike until then.

Furthermore, not all sugar goes directly into fat. That is condition specific. After digestion and absorption, glucose is burned for energy and used to replendish glycogen store (in muscle and liver) depleted after exercise. Only excess glucose is stored as fat. After your workout, it is beneficial to take in glucose and protein.

Fruit sugar is called fructose. Fructose in fruits is healthy. It does not come in high concentration. High fructose corn syrup (HCFS) used as sweetener in so many processed foods, on the other hand, is the primary cause of obesity.

[Peter Rehse]

I thought Beer was the obvious answer.

A couple of observations.

Sumo wrestlers eat a massive lunch and then go to sleep - they swear that napping is the key. The school of thought is that your resting metabolism is different from active and more inclined to convert fuel to fat.

If I go to bed immediately after eating a large meal I don't sleep well. I don't think our bodies are designed to digest food as we sleep at least not in the immediate stages.

I also think that fat intake is neglected with respect to training. When I trained after work I would usually eat a couple scallops fried in olive oil or something similar about 30 minutes before. Quantity was not so important.

After training I would eat again - there was a time it was almost always Donar Kebabs but these days its something more healthy.

I find that consuming a little bit of fat goes a long way to controlling hunger. I first learned about fat being a saiety factor in a nutritional biochem course at uni. That little piece of information has been very useful to me.

[Spartan]

It is desirable to consume easily digestable protein and carb 30 minutes before workout. After workout, there is a 2 hrs optimal window when you should replendish nourishment.

Needless to say, Sumo wrestlers are hardly models of healthy living.

[blessed_samurai]

Spartan, don't you mean the 20 minute "window of opportunity" in reference to post-workout nutrition?

[StanLee]

A couple of pints of bitter and a donor kebab!

[Spartan]

Spartan, don't you mean the 20 minute "window of opportunity" in reference to post-workout nutrition?
You may want to take a "protein+carb+creatine" drink in 20 minutes to avoid entering a catabolic state. That should not be that big of a concern as your pre-workout protein/carb/creatine drink has supplied your body with amino acid, glucose and creatine (optional). But withn 2 hours, the "window of opportunity" remains open.

[KRJMAA]

I have to agree with Spartan. There is a 2 hour window after working out where you should consume a meal made up of 50% protein and 50% complex carbs.
If I'm coming in from just a class I take in a solid meal of lean read meat, fish or chicken, some brown rice and steamed veggies.
Normally I lift four days a week I for 45min to an hour then get on the mat about 15 mins later so I take in a shake of (protein-carbs-creatine) then within 45min of class ending usually about three hours later I eat my meal.
This is my daily breakdown
7:00 --- eat breakfast oatmeal, eggs, OJ, water, a black cup of cofee
9:00 --- drink a shake
11:00 --- eat lunch (chicken, fish or lean meat, steam veg. half a baked potato)
1:00 --- drink a shake
3:30 --- drink a creatine/protein shake
4:00 --- lift
4:45 --- drink (protein/carb/creatine shake)
5:00 --- teach class and workout
8:00 --- eat dinner (chicken, fish or lean meat, steam veg. half a baked potato)
10:00--- protein shake and go to sleep

It works for me, but I've pretty much fine tuned it to fit me through trial and error. It won't work for everyone. Everyone has there own take on nutrition but nothing is set in stone. The science can provide the numbers but what happens in your body can't be determined until you try it.