How to Time Carbs Before a Workout and Still Enjoy Treats

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

Guest: The way that we eat doesn't change.

Nikkiey: Exactly. The foods I eat, I tell people this, the foods I eat don't change, whether I'm losing weight, gaining weight, or maintaining weight. It never changes. I always eat the same things. Always.

Guest: Exactly. You still need to eat healthy foods.

Nikkiey: Quality food, yeah.

Guest: Quality food the majority of the time, but you can still work in things that you like.

Nikkiey: Yeah, like 80%, 90% quality food. I have Dove chocolate every night. I have two to four pieces of whatever fits in my macros every night, because it just gives me that sweet tooth, curbs my cravings, and I'm solid.

Guest: When you're practicing resisting your impulses more and more, you'll pick up your phone and you'll consciously catch yourself that you're about to go through this loop. And it's going to be so easy. Like, you're pulling the peanut butter out, since we use that example so many times. You pull the peanut butter out, and you're like, oh, I just want to eat the rest of it on the spoon. No, you're going to catch yourself. You're going to be consciously aware of the situation. It's going to be like, nope, that's not what I'm doing. That's not what I'm here to do. That's not fulfilling. You're just going to be like, no, this isn't supporting me.

That's usually what comes to my mind right away when I'm in the act of doing something or about to do this pattern, allowing myself to go into the impulse rather than resisting it. I'll be like, no, man, this doesn't support me. And I know it's easier said than done, because a lot of people's brains are wired this way. But you have no idea what's going to happen in five minutes. You have no idea what's going to happen in five days. And you have no idea what's going to happen next week. So stop telling yourself, what if? What if that? You're now basing things out of fear. By saying, oh, I'm not where I should be, I'm not seeing results fast enough. Yet in reality, in the moment, you really are where you should be. You really are creating results. But you're too hooked on how things should be and not grateful for what you've accomplished so far.

Aida: Everyone is so differently built. And honestly, if I compare myself to any other guy that works out as many hours as I do, as hard as I do, he's going to be twice my size.

Nikkiey: And why is that? Let's elaborate on that.

Aida: Because I'm a woman. I don't have the same hormone setup as a guy does. But that does not mean that I can't still look the best that I can or live the way that I can. But again, I am not trying to become anyone other than me. So therefore, I'm also not annoyed anymore. The only reason I'm annoyed when people write that is because I know people are reading my comments. And if there's a woman who wants to look like the two of us, I don't want her to see that, because maybe she cannot cope with that right now.

Nikkiey: I love it. That's your heart, man. I love it, Aida. You're so sweet like that. Nobody thinks about that stuff. That's deep. You're concerned about a woman who may be feeling insecure, who aspires to look like you or I, and she sees that comment. And then that could easily deter her from wanting to embark on her journey.

Nikkiey: If you're focusing on breaking down those calories more efficiently, paying attention to how much fat you're having, how much protein you're having, and how much carbohydrates you're having, that's going to support muscle growth. And again, to reiterate, that's what's going to support you looking more toned.

If you can plan your meals ahead of time, which is so very important, you guys, like the day before, or even just your pre- and post-workout meal, those are the first two meals I would highly recommend you start paying attention to. You want to eat pre-workout. You want to eat post-workout. Paying attention to those two things is going to help you start stimulating muscle repair and start that growth process. The pre-workout meal is what's going to give you fuel for your workout: the protein, the carbohydrates. It's very important to have that fuel for your workout. And then post-workout, as I've already explained.

I used to work with a client who was like, I just don't have enough time to eat before I work out in the morning. And I was like, yes, you do. You have at least 30 minutes from the time you get up to the time you go work out. And listen, you may not want to eat once you get up before you work out, because your body is so used to not eating, right? For the first couple of days, for the first week that you're trying this new thing, fueling yourself before you work out may be hard. It may feel like you're going to throw up in the middle of the workout. But guess what? As you keep doing it for two weeks, three weeks, your body is going to adapt to you having food before your workout, okay? So it's all about adaptation, you guys. Your body is conditioned one way, to not have anything before you work out. And you can easily change it and make it adapt to the fact that you have a meal before you go work out.

Anything that consists of a complex carbohydrate, like oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat bread like I mentioned, whole wheat toast, should be consumed anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes before you work out. And the reason is that complex carbohydrates take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates, and they also produce longer, sustained energy levels than simple carbs do. So if you have it 90 minutes out and you go work out 90 minutes later, you're still going to have a sustained energy level throughout your entire workout. Whereas with a simple carbohydrate like fruits, white rice, rice cakes, English muffins, which is another really good example for you morning people who are early risers and go work out, you'll want to work out when you have these types of carbohydrates. With protein, it doesn't matter. But with these types of carbohydrates, it does.

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.