When to Eat : -
The best way to take is to divide your meals up into small portions every two to three hours. This provides a steady supply of nutrients and macromolecules and eliminates moments of large caloric excess. For most meals you want to take balanced portions of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. The commonly recommended ratio of macromolecules is 40/40/20 which means 40% proteins, 40% carbs, and 20% fats.
There are a few exceptions to this "golden" 40/40/20 macro ratio. First, would be your first meal of the day which should be consumed as soon as possible upon waking. Your first "meal" (I recommend a whey shake here and some oats) you want mostly carbs and fast acting proteins such as whey. This is because after a long night of sleep it has been awhile since you have had protein and you need to get yourself out of the catabolic state. Also, simply waking up is actually a subconsciously stressful event that leads to an increase in cortisol (stress hormone) which may destroy muscle tissue. Fortunately, carbohydrates will help counteract the cortisol spike and easy to digest protein will restore a positive nitrogen balance but fats are not desired because they may slow these events. Similarly, immediately pre- and post- workout nutrition are both important times when fats should be omitted (see link for details). Lastly, for most people carbohydrates are not desired in the last meal of the day immediately before bed because the excess energy from these carbs will likely be stored as body fat. It is important to provide a steady release of protein to preserve lean mass throughout the night so this last meal should have an especially slow digesting protein source such as Casein (found in foods such as cottage cheese, or purchased as a supplement). Some fats from healthy sources can be added to the last meal to further slow digestion.
Regardless of whether you are cutting (trying to lose fat) or try to build muscle a big goal when planning your day is to keep your nitrogen balance positive. You do this by making sure you have a constant intake of protein. In the morning you eat fast-digesting protein to get it in you as soon as possible after a long 8+ hours of sleep and at night you eat slow-digesting protein so it will last you as long as possible while you sleep. During the day simply try to space small healthy balanced meals every 2-3 hours so your body gets what it needs when it needs it.
The same thing is true of your insulin level. You want to try to keep it as constant as possible throughout the day (except for immediately post weight lifting, and possibly first thing in the morning for hard gainers or people bulking). So you want to try to eat slow-digesting carbs, that do not spike your insulin, every 2-3 hours throughout the day: are you noticing a pattern here??? The GI index rates carbs according to how much of an insulin spike they induce; a lower GI number causes less of an insulin flux and is a preferred carb for through the day. There is a good list of healthy, slow digesting carbs below.
So in the morning I suggest having either a whey protein and ground oats shake, or some oats and egg whites first thing when you get up. Your last meal of the day I suggest eating some natural peanut butter and cottage cheese right before brushing your teeth and heading to bed. The rest of your meals should be spaced every approximately every 3 hours and you should pick a protein, carb, and fat source from the list below to include in each. As a final point here I want to note that eating very often may speed metabolism and cause the body to have less of an incentive to store energy in the form of fat.
It may sound crazy to try to eat every two to three hours, but it's not as hard as it sounds. The biggest time investment with eating is preparing and cleaning up after your meals. This issue can be reduced by preparing in bulk. For instance, what I tend to do is to bake enough chicken breasts for a week or more (often greater than 10 lb at one time) and put them in Ziploc baggies in the fridge and some in the freezer for later in the week. Then when I want to eat one I just throw it in the microwave and it's ready to eat. I will make enough noodles or rice for 3-4 days and portion it out in baggies for my coming meals. I boil 8-12 eggs in the morning and put them in the fridge until I need them. I also measure out oats and put walnuts and raisins in a baggie for my oats/eggs meal at work. The only meal I don't usually have sitting waiting for me when I'm ready to eat is fish because I like to pick that up at the store the same day I eat it.
So eating every 2-3 hours isn't hard, just take some time on two nights a week to prepare food for the rest of the week. Overall, being so organized with this part of your life will likely end up saving you time in the long run. If you do this it's easy!
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