How Carb Backloading Helps You Lose Fat and Build Muscles Fast

 

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Carb Backloading: How to Torch Fat & Gain Muscle by Eating Carbohydrates

We’ve been taught that eating carbs first thing in the morning helps boost our metabolism and energize us, which is why the typical American breakfast includes OJ, toast, fruit and oats.

We’ve also been taught to avoid eating carbs at night because they can make us pack on the pounds and sabotage weight loss.

While there’s logic behind this claim (it’s true: our bodies demand less energy when going to bed, which suggests carbs eaten at night will get stored as fat, not used for fuel), research suggests that eating carbs at night may actually promote fat loss. This concept is called “carb backloading”, and it goes against everything we thought we knew about eating carbs.

Now, as a quick disclaimer before I get into the details of carb backloading: it’s not a method that encourages you to eat potato chips, donuts and ice cream before bed.

Instead, we’re focusing on quality carbs here, such as sweet potatoes and coconut flour (and I’ll give you a list of the best sources of Paleo carbs for carb backloading at the end of this article). You’ll also want to avoid refined sugar in general, because it offers no nutritional value and damages your health on many levels.

It should also be noted that carb backloading is designed as a natural way to increase muscle mass and fat burning for athletes, as opposed to being a weight loss program.

In any case, carbs are a nutrient that get stored as fat when overconsumed, which is why they should be eaten in moderation (unless you have an extremely high activity level).

What is Carb Backloading and How Does It Work?

You can think of carb backloading as “strategic timing” for eating carbs, based on how your insulin levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day.

Insulin is a storage hormone that helps your body metabolize carbs. Like a “fuel selector” switch, it tells your body when to store carbs as fat and when to store them as glycogen in your muscle tissue.

Carb backloading uses this fuel selector switch to its advantage, and recommends eating carbs based on the time of day your body is more likely to use carbs to build muscle and burn fat. Insulin is more sensitive in the evenings, meaning you can digest carbs easier at night.

Insulin is said to be approximately 30% more sensitive in the evenings and after working out, which means your body can digest carbs more effectively (read: the fuel selector switch is turned on).

On the other hand, insulin levels are the least sensitive in the morning, which means your body is less responsive to carbs and more likely to store them as fat.

As you can see, according to carb backloading principles, steak and eggs may the favorable breakfast choice for muscle building and fat loss after all.

Watch this video – What is Carb Backloading and How to Do It

How Carb Backloading Helps You Lose Fat and Build Muscles Fast

As mentioned above, carb backloading can help you get lean because it takes into consideration when your fat storage hormones are most active.

Simply put, your insulin levels are at their highest peak in the morning, which is when your body is more likely to store carbs as fat. So, ditching carbs in the morning can help accelerate weight loss and allow you to gain more definition.

On the other hand, insulin levels are most sensitive in the evenings and after working out, which is when your body will utilize carbs to replenish glycogen in your muscles and build muscle tissue, rather than storing carbs as fat. Try eating carbs about four hours before bed to best replenish your muscles after a workout.

The best time to eat carbs for carb backloading is said to be 4 hours before you go to bed, and right after your workout to replenish the glycogen in your muscles. Since carb backloading is all about being in sync with your hormonal rhythms, it’s ideal to plan your workouts in the evenings if possible (around 5 pm or later).

If evening workouts aren’t doable with your schedule, you can still practice carb backloading.

If you work out in the mornings, you’ll need to eat a small amount of carbs to replenish lost energy – but it’s still recommended to pair these carbs with a blood sugar balancing nutrient, such as a Paleo protein powder, to prevent excess insulin from being released. Otherwise, your insulin levels will become elevated, which prevents you from being in a fat-burning state.

More Benefits of Carb Backloading

In addition to building muscle and losing fat, carb backloading can help you sleep like a baby.

Carbs help transport tryptophan across the blood brain barrier, which is an amino acid that gets converted to the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Serotonin gets converted to melatonin in the pineal gland – and, as you may already know, melatonin is responsible for regulating your sleep and wake cycle.

Since low levels of melatonin are linked to a disrupted sleep cycle, carbs may just be Mother Nature’s NyQuil.

How to Do Carb Backloading

To summarize, the general guidelines of carb backloading are:

1. Eat protein or healthy fats until 5 pm, when insulin levels are highest, which is when you’re more likely to be in a fat-storage state.

2. Eat carbs after a workout to replenish your glycogen stores. To be in sync with your natural hormone rhythms, it’s best to work out in the late afternoon or early evenings. The average athlete only needs a small amount of carbs, while the elite athlete will require a larger serving.

3. If your daily workout is in the morning, have a small amount of carbs (such as a piece of fruit) paired with a protein source. This prevents excess insulin from being released, and also prevents your body from turning on the “fat storage” switch.

4. Eat your carb meal in the evening, approximately 3-4 hours before you go to bed, to encourage muscle building and fat loss.

Notes:

Some carb backloading experts say small amounts of carbs during the day (after breakfast) are acceptable when carb backloading, as long as it’s less than 30g of carbs, which is the equivalent of one medium-sized banana or two small baked sweet potatoes. When carbs are eaten in smaller amounts, your body releases less insulin, which means the carbs are less likely to be stored as fat.

Carb backloading is most effective for the elite athlete looking to gain muscle and improve athletic performance when training on a regular basis, approximately 4-5 times per week.

Sample Carb Backloading Meal Plan

This sample carb backloading meal plan is based on doing your workouts at 5 pm and going to bed at 11 pm.

Best Sources of Paleo Carbs for Carb Backloading

Since grains, beans and legumes aren’t carbs that are permitted on a Paleo diet, the best sources of Paleo carbs for carb backloading are mainly fruit, vegetables and natural sweeteners.

Carbs break down into glucose and fructose. Glucose is your body’s preferred fuel source because it fills your muscle glycogen stores, whereas fructose fills your liver glycogen stores.

This is why moderating high sugar fruits and veggies (such as bananas and plantains) and focusing on low fructose foods (such as apples and pears) can be more beneficial for building muscle and losing fat.

Apples and pears are better for building muscle and losing fat than high sugar fruits.

Here are the best sources of Paleo carbs for carb backloading:

• Bananas
• Plantains
• Apples
• Berries
• Pears
• Mango
• Peaches
• Dates
• Carrots
• Squash
• Sweet potatoes
• Peppers
• Parsnips
• Beets
• Cassava
• Pumpkin
• Coconut
• Coconut flour
• Tapioca flour
• Paleo chocolate chips
• Raw honey
• Maple syrup

Written by Brandi Black

Author Bio:

Brandi Black is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and the creator of Feel Best Naked, a health blog for women who want to clear up their skin, lose the muffin top and make the bloat disappear. After years of experiencing (and then healing) her own unbalanced hormones, she’s now obsessed with helping other women feel spectacular in their own skin with natural remedies for hormone balance.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

3 Relaxation Techniques to De-Stress Your Mind and Body

 

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Finding time to fully relax in modern society can sometimes feel as difficult as trying to hunt down the extinct woolly mammoth in mid-winter, barefoot (see: impossible). To break out of this thinking and start on a path to regain the lost art of relaxation, it’s important to first understand how our stress response operates.

Stress is regulated by two systems in the body. The parasympathetic system, which controls relaxation, rest, and digestion, and the sympathetic system, which controls our “emergency” response to stress.

To put it simply, our parasympathetic system is in control when we’re relaxed and calm, while our sympathetic is in control when we’re facing an imminent threat (say, from an angry animal).

However, the giant hiccup in this system is that the sympathetic side doesn’t distinguish between that angry animal and another bad day at the office. This results in a chronic stress response that is extremely taxing on the adrenal system, and can leave us feeling run down and even suppress our immune system.

This is why managing stress is so important to overall health. We’ll help you do just that by providing some of the best relaxation techniques you can practice daily:

1. Mindful Breathing

The way we breathe has a profound effect on our nervous system. Ancient yogis instinctively knew this to be true, developing an entire system around the concept of timed and controlled breathing called “Pranayama.”

Modern research has shed light on this ancient practice, showing that specific types of breathing do indeed influence the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems we spoke of earlier.

For instance, studies have shown that alternate nostril breathing (one of the common pranayama techniques) enhances the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, while decreasing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

This is an amazing revelation, considering that breathing exercises are also an extremely convenient technique to integrate into our fast-paced lifestyles.

Below is an alternate-nostril breathing exercise you can do anywhere with just 10-15 minutes, your fingers, and fresh air. Use it during moments of anxiety and stress, or go a step further and practice daily to strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system over time.

Alternate Nostril Breathing

1. Find a comfortable sitting position with your spine straight and shoulders back.

• Relax your left arm in your lap, while bringing your right hand up to your nose.

• Place your pointer and middle finger so they rest between your eyebrows, while focusing on using your thumb and ring finger to alternate closing your nostrils.

• Close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through your left nostril, slow and steady.

• Close your left nostril with your ring finger so both nostrils are closed, holding your breath for a brief count.

• Open your right nostril and exhale slowly, pausing for a beat at the bottom of the exhale.

• Inhale through your right nostril, pausing again at the height of the inhale with both nostrils closed.

• Open your left nostril and exhale, pausing again at the bottom.

• Repeat for 5-10 cycles.

2. Mindful Eating

Aside from making sure we’re nourishing our bodies with only the most natural foods, mindful eating also encompasses the way we eat. In our society, mealtimes are often rushed in an effort to get back to work or otherwise save time.

Not only does this result in eating while we’re stressed (which has a host of negative consequences), it also causes eating to become a stressful activity in and of itself, compounding the problem.

Studies have shown that eating while chronically stressed can impair digestion, cause overgrowths of certain bacteria, and compromise the intestinal barrier (which can lead to leaky gut).

Also, in studies where individuals practiced mindful eating, satiety and hunger cues were improved, with researchers also discovering participants naturally lowered their calorie intake as compared to controls.

So how can we integrate mindful eating into our days?

Below are a few simple techniques that will change your behavior toward mealtimes, hopefully filling your plate with peaceful relaxation, rather than anxiety and tension.

Remove distractions. This can be anything that takes your attention away from your food, such as the television, the newspaper, the computer, etc. Focus wholly on what’s on your plate and strive to remain in the moment.

Address your mood. As you sit down to eat, take a moment to address your emotions. What are you feeling? Try to release feelings of anxiety or anger before taking your first bite by taking a few deep breaths (or even doing a few rounds of alternate nostril breathing!).

Eat slowly. Notice that when your mind begins to wander, you tend to focus less on chewing—an important part of digestion. Practice setting down your fork between bites and/or counting chews (roughly 15 per bite) if this helps you slow down.

3. Yoga Poses that Promote Relaxation

Yoga, known as one of the best techniques to promote relaxation, also builds strength and increases flexibility.

Cat-Cow Pose

Cat-Cow combines deep spinal stretching with deep breathing (which we know is a huge plus when it comes to relaxation). Begin on all fours and lift your head, heart, and tailbone to the sky as you inhale. On your exhale, pull in your stomach, round your back and drop your head. Repeat 5-6 times.

Child’s Pose

Sit comfortably on your heels. Lower your torso forward, bringing your forehead to rest on the floor in front of you. Extend your arms ahead of you and lower your chest as comfortably as you can to your knees. Take long, deep breaths.

Standing Forward Bend

Stand with your feet together. With a slight bend in your knees, bend over your legs until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings. You can either let your hands touch your feet, wrap them around your elbows to let your upper body hang freely, or deepen the pose by wrapping your arms around the back of your knees.

Watch this video – 20 Minute Guided Meditation for Reducing Anxiety and Stress–Clear the Clutter to Calm Down

These relaxation techniques can be practiced throughout your day, allowing you to put your nervous system, your mind, and your body at ease in the face of any threat, be it mammoth or traffic jam.

Written by Megan Patiry

Author Bio:

Megan is an inquisitive nutrition and wellness writer harboring an editorial love affair with the decadent and the nutritious. She is a dedicated researcher in all areas of ancestral health, a certified specialist in fitness nutrition, personal trainer, and professional almond milk latte addict.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook