But can someone explain to me again the science behind carbs with protein, how it helps the amino acids get to where they need to go? Coz I've got it in my head that if I dont have carbs with protein then the protein isn't gona work as good?
I'm 260 pounds round abouts, I go up and down all the time, these days I have around 400g of protein per day and 200g carbs I used to have 600g carbs per day but now I've lowered it to 200g which just comes from oats/sweet potatoes/wholewheet pasta/dextrose.
My diet is 100% clean, I only eat good carbs, and my protein comes from egg whites/fish/whey, I eat green veg with most meals such as broccoli and spinach and I try to eat plenty of fat too such as olive oil/sunflower oil/oily fish/omega 3 tablets but even though I know exactly how much carbs and protein I have each day, I find it hard to measure how much fat I eat, not quite sure how to do it.
Oh and dont get me wrong, I know carbs are great for energy for gym, I usually try eat carbs from waking up to going to gym, and then have dextrose with post-workout meal and then after that no more carbs for rest of day, is this the best way to do it? no carbs in the evening and before bed?
Carbs don't help protein get to where it needs to go. Carbs cause a spike in the bodies insulin level (low GI = long steady increase in insulin, high GI = big short spike) which is the 'postman' for protein.
Having said that, protein and fat also cause insulin spikes themselves, just not on such a grand scale as carbs do. So don't worry too much about carbs at every meal.. but if it's a mental thing.. have 20g of carbs with your meals (instead of say, 100g for your morning meals and 0g for your evening meals). So you can spread it out.. for piece of mind.
In regard to fat, i'm very much the same and don't bother counting them. As long as they are good fats, i'm not too bothered. Fats don't make anyone fat, and im comfortable that my 10/11% bodyfat shows that counting them isn't needed unless you're getting in some serious transfats with your meals.
Regarding carbs before bed, i usually taper them off for the evenings because they aren't too good to have before bed. 1. the energy isn't used throughout the night, and unless you train at night and are glycogen depleted, there's no reason for the carbs to be used for energy and will most likely jump into fat stores. and 2. carbs actually limit the amount of Growth Hormone (GH) released during your sleep.
Having said all that, there is new research coming out suggesting early morning carbs aren't great either. Spiking your insulin at a time when your cortisol is highest is usually physique-damaging. But take that with a pinch of salt as in the bigger picture, your test levels and other hormones are all at their highest in the morning too!
edit: as for 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.. i dont think it matters whether you're 1g per lb or 1.5lb per lb tbh. However, a 200lb man isn't going far wrong if he's eating 300g of protein per day, which will be 1200kcals of protein. if he's matching that with carbs, that's 2400kcals. and with the traditional 40/40/20 split of calories, he will be eating about 140g fat which means another 1200kcals roughly. Totally 3600kcals.
This man will no doubt train, and if he has an even slightly more demanding job than a desk job, he will need to take his BMR (estimated at 200lbs and average height of 5'10) of roughly 2100kcals and knock it up x1.4-1.6 which is gonna be hitting 3300 kcals.. just under what we've calculated earlier.
edit2: just saw you weigh well over 200lbs. I think you're hitting the correct target if you're getting in 350g protein a day.
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