losing weight while gaining muscle

Question
ok, i have the dieting part down for the most part, i basically know what i have to do to achieve fat loss and still maintain most of my muscle size, my biggest problem is late night food cravings mainly starchy foods, what are some good foods to replace with starchy foods? i am going to give u a typical day for me, so u can get the most accurate assessment for me..................................
here is a typical day for me,i  wake up around 10
eat 2 cups of oatmeal and 4 egg whites,..... around 1230 or 1 i have a southbeach diet pizza(it is actucally a pretty reasonably low calorie meal that is high in protein and contains a low amount of carbs only like 30g 40 g of protein 8 grams of fat )...i work out around 3 oclock and have an apple and a bunch of bcaa's(branch-chained-aminoacids)on top 8 to 10 g in creatine(basically my preworkout meal).....post workout i have vitargo(the extremely high glycemic postworkout glycogen loader 60 g worth..waxy maize) with 10 g of creatine monohydrate additional 5 g of bcaa....followed by 2 isopure rtd's(40 g each of whey protein isolate)..80 g of protein.....this is at around 5 p.m. about an hr and half to 2 hrs later i will typically have 10 to 12 oz of some sort of lean meat(Chicken,turkey,fish,lean red meat) accompanying the meat i usually have broccoli, or some sort of green vegetable, followed by some sort of a potato(should probably eliminate that potato) now the problems arise around 830 or 9///here i am assuming my blood sugars get real low here and i crave starchy foods...i try blunting this effect by using a protein i have that has 6 g of fiber, and is a casein slow relaseing protein, even with that fiber in there, it doesnt seem to blunt my hunger....i would say the worst meals i eat here are anything from chips and salsa, sandwhiches, potato chips, cereal, ....i know there are other facets involved at getting really diced up, such as sodium depleting, carb depleting, then loading, but i guess my biggest problem is again the late night snacks, which essentially sabotage my entire days progress...by the way my weight training workouts are fairly intesne i rarely rest longer than a minute or 2 between sets,  i lift fairly heavy in the 6 to 10 rep range, and i typically pyramid up, will occasionally throw in some drop sets for chest, and some supersets for arms but other than its just pyramiding up with heavy weights. a ronnie coleman way minus his weight that he uses hahaaha...that is a basic background on me man...u seem like a smart dude some advice on how to clean up the diet would be good....i am 6 feet and weigh 205 lbs, my bmr is probably around 2300..but i would say i eat arond 4000 calories a day..i take creatine, bcaas, fish oilds(which supposedly increase lipolysis) protein ... i have theorized that the reason i think my blood sugar drops so much is because of all of the bcaa's i take with the high glycemic post workout creatine, im not sure but i believe the amino acid lucine in their makes u more insulin sensitive..but i need the insulin to blunt the cortisol after i workout and to drive the carbs and protein into the muscle cell...its kind of like a two edged sword....sorry i kind of degressed any suggestions on how to stop this late night starchy food cravings? i will do cardio occasionally, but like i said before i do a fairly high intense weight training for around 45 min to an hr i am constantly breathing hard and sweating(good indication of its intesnity) should i do cardio after i weight train, or first thing in the morning?

Answer
Hi Michael,
Man, you are doing a lot of things just right!  You have no doubt done your research and have been applying fundamentals to your nutrition and exercise regimen.  Let first address that late night hunger.

You are right that the BCAA's can make blood sugar drop.  Glutamine is one along with Lucine.  I suggest you go to your local Walgreen's and buy a $14 blood glucose monitor.  Then in the evening when you are feeling the hunger test your glucose level.  This will give you an exact answer to whether it is low blood sugar causing the hunger.  I have used blood sugar monitoring to learn all about how my body utilizes food.  You may also want to test your blood 2 hours after the workout to see if the high insulin you are creating is causing a rollercoaster ride that ends up hitting you latter at night.  The depleted muscles in a high glycemic environment will soak up the glucose and if your second meal after the workout is not adequate the blood glucose may not fully recover from the high and resulting drop.

If you have not already checked out the book titled "Nutrient Timing" I would recommend it.  It is an advanced form of nutrition, but you are right there with it.  Sounds like you may have already read some of it by the way you are eating.  If not, check it out.

If you find that your blood sugar is low late at night then you need to get it back up, but want to do it with low glycemic foods.  Don't be afraid to eat if the glucose is low - your body needs it.  The starchy cravings are likely the response of the low blood sugar.  If you want to get rid of the cravings eat a meal earlier so that the blood sugar won't drop.  The glucose monitoring can help you determine when exactly the sugar starts to fall.

I am a fan of cardio first thing in the morning.  Your body is in a fasted state and can much more easily tap into fat stores because the body does not have nay glucose in the liver to utilize for energy.  In seventeen years of sculpting bodybuilders and taking weight off overweight people, I have not seen any approach work better than cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  Cardio in the AM, weighs in the PM is a great plan for reducing body fat while increasing muscle mass.  In the morning your body is in a catabolic state and burning fat.  Later in the day your body is in an anabolic state (positive nitrogen balance due to eating) and is able to build muscle.  It is the best of both worlds all in a single day.  

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any more questions about the blood glucose monitor, or if I can clarify anything.

Best of health,
Dr. Bret
doctoremery.com  

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