Question about Nutrition

[NeedToImprove]

guys is it ok to eat a slice or 2 of pizza or a macdonalds burger once in a while, when doing a cutting diet and training program?

i mean i eat healthy, i stopped with sodas, fried food, cakes and fat meats,and i eat lots of vegetables and lean meats and i do lots of cardio. just wondering how bad is it to eat those when cutting

btw i lost 3 kilos in 2 months, i think thats good.

 

[[S]alvatore]

Yes you are human. Unless you are dieting for a competition, yes you can cheat once in a while. And don't rely too much on what the scales say, go by how clothes fit, and what you see in the mirror.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Don't do it while cutting, it'll throw your system completely off. Wait until after you finish cutting when your body is accustomed to how to assemilate food properly.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

3kg = 6.6lbs

A cheat day is the best way to keep you on your diet. If you're super strict, everday for the whole cycle, you're going to get "burned out" of this whole diet thing. Keep the portions down, and keep it to only one day a week, and you should be just fine.

 

[reyalp]

cheat meals are okay every once and a while. just don't overindulge.

the answer to your question could be overexplained, but the above is short and sweet.

 

[Shiftkey]

Try not to have a cheat meal more than once a week. Generally cheat meals are a GOOD idea if you only have one a week because it can keep you from bingeing.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Don't do it while cutting, it'll throw your system completely off.

But this is precisely what we want to achieve.

The body constantly strives for homoestasis, to the extent that it will adapt to anything we throw at it over time. When going on a typical fat loss diet you have some initial success and then things slow down - because your body is adapting to the lower calories/carbs/whatever. You have to change things up to get it going again.

Same thing here, we need a high calorie high carb high fat **** meal which our body is not accustomed to processing, so that thyroid output remains high and metabolism is kept roaring. There's no way it can cope with the input after a period of strict eating so there's no way you'll get fat. Glycogen will be replenished, blood sugar will be up, your thyroid output will be good and you will be amped to train and eat properly again.

Plus all the psychological benefits above.

Cheat meals are good for your body and your mind - depriving yourself of them is detrimental. Of course how often you cheat is individual but most people could handle a cheat meal or two once a week. If your fat loss results are not what you think, it's not because of that one day, it's because there's something wrong with your overall regime.

I had to answer because I'm on a cheat day myself, just had a box of donuts with 2l of tropicana, got a huge slab of brie in the fridge, and there's the first of four pizzas in the oven.. hehe. With a diet pepsi, natch.

 

[reyalp]

HOLY HELL, IT'S WBA!

but as usual, he's 100% right. after around 14 days of a caloric defecit, your thyroid output of t3/rt3 starts to change, and it's necessary to eat a little extra for a while to keep those hormones in check, since they regulate your metabolism.

in the bodybuilding world, the process of scheduled maintenance/above maintenance caloric intake during cutting is called a "refeed".

i cheat, but i still cook everything i cheat with. steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and a nice glass of iced tea to wash it down with (no sugar, of course). good stuff.

i think it helps, too. when i wasn't cheating i was dropping weight quick, but with a significant LBM loss....now that i cheat, i'm actually not dropping any significant weight, but i'm still losing body fat percentage points, and that is just fine by me

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

But this is precisely what we want to achieve.

The body constantly strives for homoestasis, to the extent that it will adapt to anything we throw at it over time. When going on a typical fat loss diet you have some initial success and then things slow down - because your body is adapting to the lower calories/carbs/whatever. You have to change things up to get it going again.

Same thing here, we need a high calorie high carb high fat **** meal which our body is not accustomed to processing, so that thyroid output remains high and metabolism is kept roaring. There's no way it can cope with the input after a period of strict eating so there's no way you'll get fat. Glycogen will be replenished, blood sugar will be up, your thyroid output will be good and you will be amped to train and eat properly again.

Plus all the psychological benefits above.

Cheat meals are good for your body and your mind - depriving yourself of them is detrimental. Of course how often you cheat is individual but most people could handle a cheat meal or two once a week. If your fat loss results are not what you think, it's not because of that one day, it's because there's something wrong with your overall regime.

I had to answer because I'm on a cheat day myself, just had a box of donuts with 2l of tropicana, got a huge slab of brie in the fridge, and there's the first of four pizzas in the oven.. hehe. With a diet pepsi, natch.

If you were in the midst of your cutting session while your body was in ketosis you have just screwed yourself royally, basically you'll have to start over to get your system back into burning fat instead of carbs (ie. controlling your insulin).

The biggest problem that you are going to have if and when you complete your cutting stage is to work on controlling your cravings. The key to eating whatever you want is controlling when you eat and how much. If you couldn't wait until after your cutting phase, will you be able to control yourself after?

The problem that people have with dieting is that they don't understand that it's not about restriction, it's about balance. You diet the wrong way, you'll get craving and you will cheat, then you try to justify yourself. Diet correctly and you'll be able to eat whatever you'd like but it will need to be in a controlled manner.

 

[Warboss Alex]

If you were in the midst of your cutting session while your body was in ketosis you have just screwed yourself royally, basically you'll have to start over to get your system back into burning fat instead of carbs (ie. controlling your insulin).

if in a ketogenic state or a reduced carb state (basically where glycogen is very low) then the last thing your body is going to do is use those carbs as fuel. it will shove them right into the muscles, supercompensating in this way. the sudden increase of carbs will also pull in the associated water bloat etc etc but the bottom line is that these carbs aren't being used as fuel (or going to bodyfat) because the body is craving homoestasis as always and will not use these as fuel if it's been used to using fat for an appreciable amount of time. if it's using ketones as energy then it won't suddenly switch to using carbs (glycogen), it will instead push the newfound glycogen into the muscles - this effect is manipulated by precontest bbers to get their muscles looking 'full' after being depleted so close to a show, they go low carb for some days then suddenly increase carbs - the body doesn't store these carbs as fat but puts them in the muscle. (also cheat meals tend to be high in sodium, another micro manipulated by bbers but that's another story)

now if you were to constantly high carb then the body would switch back to burning carbs but in this case it's a rare occurrence (relatively, eg once a week or once every 10 days) so it's not going to be enough to stop the body burning fat for fuel.

I confess that I've had no direct experience with PURE ketogenic diets (zero carbs, every day) but I use the above methodology for targeted ketogenic diets which include daily carbs, postworkout carbs etc and it works just fine. fat loss is usually BETTER when cheat meals are involved.

plus you can stay in ketosis even eating carbs every day (how many depends on the person).

now if you're having a cheat meal means it becomes a cheat day, then a cheat week, then a cheat month, well, perhaps it's best you don't cheat - on that self control issue I agree with you.

my cheating lasted the first half of the day, now I'm back on the proteins+fats after the cutoff, got a chicken stir-fry planned with a pile of chinese veggies (except water chestnuts, EW) and a couple of dollops of peanut butter* prebed.

of course all this is individual and these are just my personal observations and opinions, if you know something that works for you do it .. but in general having a cheat meal once a week or whatever is going to do more good than harm in most cases.

basically alvatore got it spot on - unless you're trying to get down to 6% then there's no need to adhere to a strict diet with no room for cheat meals. especially if you feel deprived, you should never feel that way, ever. the best diet is the diet that doesn't feel like a diet.

* - on that note, I've recently discovered that natural pb is a good sleeping aid. if you have trouble getting off to sleep try some.. might just be me but you're not losing anything to try it.

 

[[S]alvatore]

But this is precisely what we want to achieve.

The body constantly strives for homoestasis, to the extent that it will adapt to anything we throw at it over time. When going on a typical fat loss diet you have some initial success and then things slow down - because your body is adapting to the lower calories/carbs/whatever. You have to change things up to get it going again.

Same thing here, we need a high calorie high carb high fat **** meal which our body is not accustomed to processing, so that thyroid output remains high and metabolism is kept roaring. There's no way it can cope with the input after a period of strict eating so there's no way you'll get fat. Glycogen will be replenished, blood sugar will be up, your thyroid output will be good and you will be amped to train and eat properly again.

Plus all the psychological benefits above.

Cheat meals are good for your body and your mind - depriving yourself of them is detrimental. Of course how often you cheat is individual but most people could handle a cheat meal or two once a week. If your fat loss results are not what you think, it's not because of that one day, it's because there's something wrong with your overall regime.

I had to answer because I'm on a cheat day myself, just had a box of donuts with 2l of tropicana, got a huge slab of brie in the fridge, and there's the first of four pizzas in the oven.. hehe. With a diet pepsi, natch.

Stick around