Sport Cheat Day or Cheat Meal?

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Safeboy43

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Hello all,

I've been into my bulk since about September and gained about 22lbs of mass. Since the beginning, I have been eating totally clean (chicken breast, oatmeal, rice and veggies). Funny enough, I have not had any "junk" cravings until about a week ago. I began to think that a chocolate bar or greasy hamburger would taste good once in a while so I am currently exploring the option of a cheat meal/day.


According to my research on this topic, John Berardi says 90% adherence to the bodybuilding diet as just as good as 100% so I worked some calculations.

3300 per day (My caloric intake) x 7 Days per wk= 23,100

23,100 x 10% = 2310 cheat calories.

According to this calculation, I could have most of my cheat day as "bad" calories (aka Pizza/Doughnuts). Is this really true? Also, you guys usually take a cheat day or just have one "dirty" meal and how often? I have heard once a week is common.

Thanks for taking the time to read!,

Safeboy43
 
stick to cheat meals, not days. no where does Berardi advocate eating like a pig all in one day, and if you read more of his stuff, you'll see he really does push you towards 100% proper eating.

I would only ahve 1-2 cheat meals a week. And keep in mind, a cheat meal is still eaten in moderation. Eating a whole pizza goes way beyond '1 cheat meal'.
 
You might feel like you don't want it in the morning, but maybe at lunch and not at night. So go for the meal, moods change, selecting a cheat day would just push you to eating bad all day when your mood could change towards the better food.
 
Thank you for your responses.

Agreed, 2300 cheat calories seems a bit "too good to be true." What do you think would be an appropriate size for a cheat. 300....1000? It would be pretty easy to get that high with a burger and fries LOL.

Thanks and sorry to flood the board with questions :)

Safeboy43
 
as malkore said, just dont go overboard and overindulge. I think that if the item is calorie rich, just dont have too much of it, and the same should go for if it is not calorie rich, but is considered junk. Just use common sense, and tell your body when to stop, or it will tell you lol
 
Curtis said:
You might feel like you don't want it in the morning, but maybe at lunch and not at night. So go for the meal, moods change, selecting a cheat day would just push you to eating bad all day when your mood could change towards the better food.
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Thanks, I now know what you mean. I had a couple cheat meals this morning consisting of a few cookies and then a diet Pepsi and a tube of Rolos later on. Oh man, did I ever feel like SH*T! Aching muscles, headache and fatigue. All I could think about was getting home and scarfing down a bowl of oatmeal with some cottage cheese. I did that and feel a lot better now. Sure makes you appreciate a balanced diet :)

Thanks everybody :)
 
malkore said:
stick to cheat meals, not days. no where does Berardi advocate eating like a pig all in one day, and if you read more of his stuff, you'll see he really does push you towards 100% proper eating.

I would only ahve 1-2 cheat meals a week. And keep in mind, a cheat meal is still eaten in moderation. Eating a whole pizza goes way beyond '1 cheat meal'.
Click to expand...

Here is a "very brief" look into what Berardi believes. Now I say this is brief and not exhaustive in his belief.

I followed the 95-5 rule during the bulk of my weight loss (but the majority of the time I was A CAST IRON SKILLET AND WILLED IT BABY!); however, sub 10% it was a different ball park all together, that required a different batter at the plate!---------YES......Like that one! HEHHEHE

Buh, huh, ha, ha,

oh........here is the link.......LOL.....Hehehehe :)

Precision Nutrition - Day 6

Precision is a good place for good info

Hope I dont get into trouble......:p

Of course I could give a long chillen version on his view......hmmm........maybe....


EVERYONE HAVE A HAPPY DAY!

Rock on! Love, peace, joy......and all that stuff to you! :)

I am super happy! (thus the---are you high, chillen? type of post!) I go to get BF checked 2morrow.....An inching ever so closer to the magic 7ish.....YES....Thunder my HARD WORK baby!

BUH......nearing 47 isnt old......pfffft......!!! My aging body doesnt know squat......but I do! oh...it does the squat....

Chillen
 
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NoSweatNoGlory said:
good luck tomorow chillen.
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Thank you! That means alot to me! :) Really thanks for taking the time!

I learned alot about myself the last time I attempted to dip below 10%, it was a learnig experience (a bastard learning experience, but well rewarded). and I learned that I dont really have dip so low with the carbs, I have to adjust slightly, but not that great to get the effect I want (while keeping--manipulative deficits running in a tear drop and a reverse tear drop).

I will post the results to 2morrow....

I dont mean to......be off topic....my apologies....


Chillen
 
I would like to one day hit 7%, that is my ultimate goal. But first I want to bulk and gain as much lean muscle tissue as possible. Yes I will have small couple month cuts here and there for a while, but after I am satisfied with my size, I want to be where you are.

btw, how many carbs do you eat ruffly per day? or do you cycle?
just want to learn my man, I will be around these forums for a very long time.
 
NoSweatNoGlory said:
I would like to one day hit 7%, that is my ultimate goal. But first I want to bulk and gain as much lean muscle tissue as possible. Yes I will have small couple month cuts here and there for a while, but after I am satisfied with my size, I want to be where you are.

btw, how many carbs do you eat ruffly per day? or do you cycle?
just want to learn my man, I will be around these forums for a very long time.
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This time around I Flex between 60 to 90 grams per day (sometimes a bit more, but under 100), tear drop and reverse tear drop my calories a bit better (meaning my deficits are never the same everyday, and every 6 days or so, I eat over MT slightly and then adjust backward in deficits), while changing up duration and timing of cardio.

In addition, I changed the volume of my routine from before, and made it be more intensity driven. I lowered times between sets, and set up some personal stations in my garage before and during my weight training, etc. Which embarks alot of differing changes than before.

I changed my squats to higher reps (before 6 to 8, now 10 to 12), and do low intensity cardio between sets (during the rest period), and then its back on the squat rack for another set (3 sets total), for example, and this is......a KILLER.

Most important to note is that this is a MAJOR change than before, and taxing on the body, it has NO CHOICE but to adapt. I provide adequate rest between and I am careful with training because running deficits and training......can be a taxing combination to over training very easily.

I am trying to deal with the adjusting properties of my body, and when you get this low, it will fight you tooth and nail.

If you can learn your own body's adjusting properties and deal with it effectively, you will be successful. IMO, this is an essential and key element to remember when trying to garner low BF.

I did the low-carb (keto) diet before, and it worked, but I just wanted to be a bit more smarter and not having to revert to keto or "extremely low" carb approach.

My carbs are low in a manner of speaking, but their not low enough for ketosis. And, I am finding that though I am 46, I dont really need to do it. I just need to diet and train smarter.


Chillen
 
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NoSweatNoGlory said:
extremely motivating information bro, thank you.

When it is just about said and done, I might come knocking on your door once more.
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I edited in some other information in the previous post.

The main thing I want to get across is a term I call: Functional Adaptability.

It the body's design intention when body fat starts to drop to certain points to make increased adjustments to what you are doing


Generally the lower it gets, the more it will try to adapt to what you are doing to try to stay the same, and save its fat stores, and you have to be wise to this, and work harder at it.......because its working harder than it normally does to prevent you from losing fat tissue. Some fall off the wagon becuase they do not deal with this effectively.



Chillen
 
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NoSweatNoGlory said:
so would the 20-rep squat program be a good example of a higher intensity training program for lowering bf%?
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Lowering BF percentage is (in most raw and basic format) a calorie v activity manipulation.



There are alot of personal variables here, but lets consider things equal. In its raw and basic format, using a 20 rep squat (which is a KILLER), under a deficit can be a main contributing factor in facilitating fat loss (burns calories and would be a very taxing exercise). At the same time, it can cause muscle growth when completed for a time (if diet is in surplus, and assuming one is passed new to training gains).

Yes you could, but if you can get by with doing less, one should attempt this first.

Also, how one approaches fat loss depends on their current level of conditioning and amount of fat tissue that want to come off (and other personal particulars). For example, a person will alot of fat tissue to lose, the approach can be different, than one training and dieting for long periods and trying to get sub 9% BF levels (such as myself)


Chillen
 
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Chillen said:
Lowering BF percentage is (in most raw and basic format) a calorie v activity manipulation.



There are alot of personal variables here, but lets consider things equal. In its raw and basic format, using a 20 rep squat (which is a KILLER), under a deficit can be a main contributing factor in facilitating fat loss (burns calories and would be a very taxing exercise). At the same time, it can cause muscle growth when completed for a time (if diet is in surplus, and assuming one is passed new to training gains).

Yes you could, but if you can get by with doing less, one should attempt this first.

Also, how one approaches fat loss depends on their current level of conditioning and amount of fat tissue that want to come off (and other personal particulars). For example, a person will alot of fat tissue to lose, the approach can be different, than one training and dieting for long periods and trying to get sub 9% BF levels (such as myself)


Chillen
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so its better to start of with less taxing exercises if you are getting results..i see.

thanks for the time man
 
I would definitely say to have a cheat meal once a week. We are human.. we aren't perfect. I always tell people that in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle and actually lose weight (and keep it off), you have to be realistic. Eat well for most of the week and treat yourself to a slice of cake or a nice restaurant meal on a Saturday night.

If you refuse a sweet now and then, chances are likely that you will not keep up with the lifestyle. If you're in it for the long-term, you should reward healthy behavior :)
 
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