If im bulking, at what hour do i stop carbs?

[Sulixe]

I wake up at 6 am and go to bed at 10 AM. If i am bulking, when should i stop the carbs and switch to protein/fat meals? Ive heard carbs before bed is a bad idea, so id like to know how long before bed do i cut carbs to minimize fat gains

[Damienm05]

It depends on your specific goals and your schedule. Say you're already pretty lean and just looking to gradually cut 2-3% body fat over several weeks, I see no reason to cut off carb intake late in the day, especially with an afternoon/evening workout time - with the exception of when your head hits the pillow (obviously you don't need "energy" at this point in your day and should just have some casein with fat or steak or something). Just localize carb intake around active periods of the day and make sure that your macros/calories are where they should be and you won't negate progress just because you ate oatmeal after a certain hour.

Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum, if you have a lot of fat to cut and getting lean quickly is top priority, your best bet is an early workout time with a nice carb-inclusive breakfast, pre/post workout meal. Then go pro/fat for the rest of the day to optimize fat burning. Just don't think that these things are black and white - there's a lot more important issues such as avoiding insulin spikes (high GI carbs), keeping total calories in check, and giving your body the energy it needs to maintain/gain LBM that far supersede just "Don't eat carbs after X time"

[gbrice75]

What time of day is your workout? That will help answer the question. Best case scenario, for a person who has very low bodyfat or simply doesn't store it, I would say a small amount of carbs before bed is fine (i'm talking <20g), but full portion carbs in every other meal.

I've seen your pics - you have a great build but some bodyfat to deal with. I would completely cut carbs out of the bedtime meal if I were you. It's not going to be the make or break of your diet though, just a piece of the puzzle. Cardio, meal timing, macro combinations, training etc all play a role.