stillgoingstrong,

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean by slow & fast burning carbs? I'm thinking you're meaning either polysaccharides for "slow burning" and either mono or disaccharides for "fast burning"?

From my physiology classes as an undergraduate, I know you have Polysaccharides, which are carb molecules composed of long chains of monosaccharides (complex carbs), and mono, disaccharide, and oligosaccharides which are shorter chain carbs (simple carbs).

Since carbs in and of themselves aren't directly burned as energy, but converted to glucose, where they then enter the tricarboxylic acid cycle with the end outcome being ATP, ATP then is the fuel for most all functions, I'm wondering why eating short chain carbs within 15 minutes of a workout is better for weight loss, than eating complex carbs after a workout, where it costs more energy for the body to break down the complex carbs?

If you think about it, how would the body differentiate between 15 minutes, and 17 minutes after a workout? Would any carbohydrate intake that takes place after 15 minutes be for naught?

Additionally think about the time it needs to take for the body to digest the carbs in the stomach, transport the carbs through the bloodstream, further breakdown the carbs, and then go through the citric acid cycle to produce ATP.

I'm really writing this for the sake of dialogue, and perhaps I can learn something different.

When I was dieting for bodybuilding shows, I reduced my simple carb intake and stuck mostly with complex carbs, as it takes more energy for the body to produce energy from complex carbs.

I certainly don't profess to be an expert on the subject.

I do agree with your advice to reduce your overall carbohydrate intake if you are not able to do much cardio.