Carbs for lunch or dinner?

[Malton]

Should foods higher in carbs such as pasta or rice be eaten at lunch or dinner? I go to the gym in the morning if that matters

I am currently eating heavier meals such as pasta for lunch and for dinner i have a simple salad. Any suggestions or tips/feedback?

[cassiegose]

I actually eat carb heavy meals around workout. If you workout in the morning something like this might work:

Meal 1:
Starchy complex carbs, protein

Workout followed by protein powder immediately after

Meal 2:
Starchy complex carbs, protein

Meal 3:
protein, veggies/fruit, healthy fat

Meal 4:
protein, veggies, healthy fat

Meal 5:
Protein veggies, healthy fat

Meal 6:
protein veggies healthy fat

You could also add in some legumes into meal 4, 5, or 6. These are a great source of fiber and offer protein as well as complex carbs.

[Malton]

Makes sense to me, thanks Cassie!

I dont eat a lot of meat so I subsitute it with a protein shake, would that work as well?

[Malton]

I probably should of worded that better, I don't get a lot of PROTEIN in diet so I usually take protein shake as a substitute

[cassiegose]

I probably should of worded that better, I don't get a lot of PROTEIN in diet so I usually take protein shake as a substitute

I would try increasing protein in the form of food before supplementing with a protein shake. I'm a pretty firm believer in food over supplements. Remember that things like legumes, seeds, nuts, veggies, mushrooms, dairy, eggs, soy, all have protein in them so you really do have lots of options. I wouldn't substitute more than 2 meals per day with protein shakes. In fact, I don't substitute any meals with shakes but thats because I really like to eat.

[Boss Man]

Be aware though that Nuts and Veggies and Whole-grains aren't wonderfully Protein rich, but they could included as a protein top-up, if you're looking for either a Fat or Carb source, with your meal, as you could just slightly reduce the main Protein source so you're not having a little too much protein when you add such things in.

You can also include things like Rice, Quorn and Peanuts in there as well as Flax for Protein.