Niky, I'll take a stab at it

Workouts of 2 hours are long - is there anyway you can cut that down? Cardio in the a.m. and lifting in the p.m. (now that you have equipment at home this might be a possibility?) Studies show that cortisol levels rise after a hour of intense exercise - anything you can do to keep workouts under this time would be to your benefit.

Re: fat burning of the 20 MAS. The nature of the interval training of this type of cardio is that fat burning happens AFTER you workout - it's more anaerobic than aerobic. Protein right after wouldn't really help you cardio-wise, although it's a good idea before you lift. In Fern's AM Cardio on an Empty Stomach thread there are some tips on how to minimize the catabolic effects of a.m. cardio - first one that comes to mind is half a cup of coffee, another is to keep workouts short

Re: lifting. carbs post workout do help combat cortisol by release a controled spike of insulin effectively switching you from catabolic to anabolic. You can also help fight cortisol by taking your anti-oxidants at this time (Vit C&E, green tea) and glutamine. Traditional BBing guidelines do encouage higher G.I. carbs with some protein at this time, so a banana would fit right in. I'm not sure if the pros of this outweigh the cons when following a LC lifestyle, though. You'll have to try and see how YOU feel. And of course, wait to see what Dan has to say

Friday, you could never be ugly But I think you just gave me an insulin spike. Coke? How was it? (It's been years since I tried the stuff).

Nat