The self-discipline that has kept most us in the training game for many years also ensures that we are more than capable of restraining ourselves when it comes to eating the wrong foods in excess.
But we also want to enjoy life and a big part of life satisfaction involves eating the foods we like. Unfortunately, these often come in the form of largely nutritionally-inert snacks. With precision snacking (conscious snacking done expressly to further fitness progress), however, we can enjoy great-tasting treats without ruining our health and expanding our waistlines. However, even with such healthier snacking, there are optimal times to indulge. The best times to snack are not late at night, when most calories (clean or otherwise) are less readily burned as energy and instead are stored for future use. Another bad time is first thing in the morning, when we have the opportunity to prime ourselves for lipolysis (the preferred steady fat burning state) or glycolysis (carb storage and utilization, which more readily contributes to fat gain).5, 7, 8, 10, 16 By eating carb-heavy snacks (healthy or not) at such times, fat loss is more likely to be stifled and fat gain is more likely to occur. So, what are the best times to snack? The short answer is: any time of day other than the aforementioned ‘no snacking’ times, but, ideally, around lunchtime, pre-workout, post-workout, and with evening meals. Pre-workout (around one hour before training) and post-workout (immediately following training) remain the best times to snack, as the extra calories will be used for energy and to enhance insulin production and glycogen replacement respectively.12, 13