Why changing up your nutrient timing will help with your fat loss goals

I have a question for you — what did you eat for breakfast today?

I just finished eating that low carb protein pancake I shared with you  last week.

So, what did you eat for breakfast this morning — or did you even get a chance to eat breakfast?

It’s a scientific fact that those who eat breakfast weigh less and make healthier choices with their meals throughout the entire day. It makes sense to put some thought behind what you’re having for breakfast so it will have a positive impact on the rest of your day.

I’ll let you know a little secret — those who are opting for bagels and muffins and sugary cereals aren’t necessarily in the healthy breakfast-eater camp. I’m not saying those foods are inherently bad or that carbs are evil, it’s just how we distribute them throughout the day that makes all the difference for our fat loss goals.

In my programs, my clients make two main changes to their nutrition:

1. The amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and fat eaten throughout the day
2. The timing at which the foods are eaten

We’ll be addressing the second change today.

(click the video above to watch the training)

What is nutrient timing?

Nutrient timing is the order and timing of which you eat your food throughout the day. Yes, the amount and timing are both important, but I will say that if my clients only make changes to their nutrient timing, would still likely see results. Needless to say, I find nutrient timing very helpful.

I utilize nutrient timing in my clients’ programs and in my own nutrition for fat loss and maintenance, and I’m not just basing this on anecdotal evidence; obviously I’ve seen the results in myself and my clients, but it’s also scientifically supported, since that’s the basis for a lot the changes I ask my clients to make.

Speaking about the little nutrition experiments I’ve run on myself, I’m now able to eat 10%-20% more than I was just a couple years ago, and I credit that majorly to nutrient timing! I’ve also put on a little bit more lean muscle mass, which helps to increase metabolic rate as well, but honestly I credit that to nutrient timing, quite a bit.

How does nutrient timing help?

Leaving all other things the same — your activity level, workouts, the amount of food and ratio of macronutrients you eat — and just changing your nutrient timing, you can see…

1. Higher satiety levels: you feel less hungry throughout the day and more satisfied from your meals.
2. Increases in your ability to burn body fat throughout the day, i. e. becoming more metabolically flexible. I know that’s a big buzzword at the moment, but basically this means that you’re better able to burn dietary fat when you should be burning fat for fuel, and you’re better able to burn carbohydrate when you should be burning carbs for fuel. It can make a big impact on your fat loss and muscle gain goals!

Like I said, there’s also scientific evidence for this. In fact, one of the most recent studies I came across was by Dr. Molly Bray. She had two groups of people who were eating the exact same amounts of food, doing the exact same workouts everyday, but the group who had the lower carb breakfast was not only able to lose more weight overall, but also gained more lean muscle!

For me, that’s a pretty cool study! (I tend to geek out with studies looking at nutrition and training.)

These two changes can make such a big difference in your fat loss goals and can help to decrease hunger even while you’re seeing results. So if you’ve ever tried some crazy diet that’s super restrictive and has so many rules about when you can eat, what you should eat, and when you can’t eat, etc. — there’s an easier way.

It just includes making a couple changes to your diet. For any of my clients, no foods are ever placed off-limits — forbidding certain foods is just not something I agree with, it’s one of my core philosophies.

I hope you found this helpful and helps you realize you don’t need to follow that strict, rigid diet. My current Lean Body Boot Camp is closed and full, but I am opening a waitlist for my February launch very soon. If you want to get on that waitlist or get more information to see if it would be a good fit for you, feel free to join the waitlist by filling out my contact form for more information.

Remember — carbs are not evil! It’s truly how you distribute them throughout the day that makes all the difference 😉