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My question is, does it matter at what time during the day you get the protein/fat/carbs you need?

I usually begin my day with protein (70/30 whey casein and water) and oatmeal or fruit, or both.

At lunch I usually have a salad with chicken, or a soup with some sort of protein (chili, seafood salad, etc).

And at dinner I usually have a steak with veggies, or some other protein with veggies, followed up with another protein shake before bed.

So, most of my fat intake is coming from my dinnertime meal, with most of my carbs in the morning, with protein spread evenly throughout the day. I know you're supposed to eat 4-6 small meals and I usually snack on some nuts (cashews, peanuts) at least once a day.

Does this matter? I'm trying to lose fat...6'3, 205. I can include workout data if needed, but it's basically chest/tri's/shoulder monday, legs wednesday, and bi's/back friday with cardio (Basketball) a few times a week.

Any suggestions/advice appreciated.

There are lots of different theories on this. I've been generally following "The Warrior Diet". This recommends undereating through the day and overeating at night. Some recent research has shouwn that having carbs later in the day is more satisfying and makes it easier to maintain a calorie deficit. John Keifer calls it "carb backloading" and has written about it recently. http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/n ... k-loading/. The number of meals a day doesn't matter. The "carb-backloading" method requires training late in the day. "The Warrior Diet" is usually training early in the day. Both are different that the conventional approach.

See this critique and especially Jimmy Smith's comments in the bottom. http://byebellyfat.com/does-carbohydrat ... loss-work/

Is short, try different ways and stick with what works for you.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Thanks for the links; very interesting. I guess you could consider me a "carbophobe", but I've been trying to get the whole idea of carbs make you fat out of my head.

I've come to the realization that even though I've lost a good deal of weight going low carb, I think I have lost a considerable amount of muscle in the process too. Not to mention my strength gains have really slowed, and almost stopped, while my weight loss has plateaued. Body weight exercises like chin ups and dips have continued to progress, most likey due to my reduced body weight.

I'm going to give the backloading a shot since my workouts are almost always in the evening. I'll cut the oatmeal and fruit in the morning, and add some fruit as a dessert to my nightime meal.

Do you think I should add some sort of carb supplementation? My protein is roughly 1g carbs and the only carbs I have been eating are fruits and veggies, minus the oatmeal in the mornings (whole grain, approx 100 cals). So things like apples, watermelon, green beans, legumes, lettuce, sweet potatoes are the only carbs I eat.

I think the type of carb matters a lot. Grains and sugars are probably counter productive but starchy veg like roots and gourds are probably best. Some people do well with legumes, others don't. Of the common grains, oats and white rice are probably the best.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Maybe I'll try laying off the fruit for a week or so and see if that helps. Of course long term wise I plan on eating fruit daily, but maybe a couple of months to lose this last 10% or so of body fat will be worthwhile.