eating bad vs not eating at all

[UNDERTAKER]

I wondering this......so lets say you are someone (like me) who is looking to bulk. And, your sick (like me) and the only thing that sounds even the slightest bit appealing to you is a nice big fat cheesesteak. I am wondering for gaining mass what is worse to eat bad food with lots of trans and satuarated fats or eat noting at all. What sparked me to ask this was Christmas. I was at my girlfriends and her mom made nothing but junky food, I couldnt leave to go get anything healthy and I was there all day. So I had to eat bad.

 

[theamazing3000]

for bulking my vote would be eating bad. At least you are still getting calories and your body will not think its starving. now when cutting I don't honestly know!

 

[Lean One]

Quite simply, eating bad is way better than not eating at all. One crappy meal is not going to make you fat if you're pretty cinsistant most of the time. What would you rather do... Gain a few oz of fat, or loose a few oz of muscle? :think: That's a no brainer to me.

 

[UNDERTAKER]

I get that, but given the trans and sat fats of most bad food, wont that break down muscle as well?

 

[MaDmaN]

I get that, but given the trans and sat fats of most bad food, wont that break down muscle as well?

Your still getting the protien from the steak.remember when you dont eat your body shuts down fat burning process and eats muscle.As far as the body is concerned fat is much more important than muscle when in starvation mode..

 

[bioman]

Junk's better than nothing..at least for me. I hate the thought of catabolizing more than I do getting fat although I'm fairly lean to begin with. If you're more heavy set or trying to cut the situation is different.

 

[jjjd]

"bad" food is DEFINITELY better. fwiw, the general principle in eating is this. it is MUCH more important to GET the good stuff (proper vitamins, minerals, anti-ox's etc.) than to avoid the "bad" stuff - trans fats, etc. fwiw, most of the bad stuff, trans fats excepted aren't bad per se. just bad in large amounts.

iow, it is better to get your veggies/fiber, etc. AND have some rubbish stuff in your diet, than even to eat "clean" if you are not getting all the other stuff you should be getting. that's part of the reason behind multi's etc.

your body is much better at handling crap than it is at formulating substrates out of thin air. it can't do the latter.

personally, i'd rather eat a bunch of crap AND get my omega's, my greens (i have a juicer), my fiber, my vitamins, then eat even very clean (chicken breasts, etc.) and NOT get the phyto's and good stuff

i know a guy who diets down to 5-6% and still includes mcd's hamburgers in his diet all the way down. it's total calories that will mostly define your fat loss, not so much where they come from (with a little bit of exception)

and if you're bulking (IMO), crap is not bad. it's kind of good, actually. but you're talking to a guy who just downed 12 cookies at 110 calories each along with my protein shake!

and if you're natural, saturated fat isn't even bad. too much is bad. without saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet, your T levels will actually be lower! i have never found, otoh, ANYTHING good about trans fats... but maybe i;m missing something?

 

[Lean One]

i know a guy who diets down to 5-6% and still includes mcd's hamburgers in his diet all the way down. it's total calories that will mostly define your fat loss, not so much where they come from (with a little bit of exception)

You talkin' 'bout me??

Excuse me now, I have some egg foo young to pound down. :run:

 

[jjjd]

sweet.

and btw, i AM sexier than you

my nose isn't triangular and i don't have that crooked smile like you do

 

[Lean One]

sweet.

and btw, i AM sexier than you

my nose isn't triangular and i don't have that crooked smile like you do

:rofl: :lol:

 

[w00kie]

This topic is just right up my ally. I have a guy here at work who works out with me sometimes, but he never eats and he wonders why he hasn't gained jack in the last year and still wonders why he has a belly....hmmmm....He'll maybe have 500 cals a day...maybe.....I try to tell him all the time that not eating won't help, but he just won't listen.....oh well, its not my body

 

[wranglergirl]

I consider myself a expert on this topic......... being 5'11 i have been as low as 120, and as high as 220 ( WOW).........SO i have done my fair share of yo- yo dieting...... But i also know that I need to eat, at least attempt to eat often in the day........to maintian where i am now, 129!!!!!! althought after my prednosone kick, i am sure to be 10 pds heavier and not all that happy with it................tell your friend to eat!!!!!!!

 

[CROWLER]

I agree 100%

I see threads arguing over if you should eat brown rice or white rice, milk before bed or lacto ovium dessicated whale snot for a slow release.

I think there are rare individuals who can sustain the so called perfect diet year in an year out. BUT the majority of people get burned out and just end up giving up.

I have been on these boards for YEARS and have seen so many guys come an go especially the ones who try to take every FREAKING supplement and eat PERFECT. I wonder how many got burned out because of trying to do EVERYTHING exactly right instead of being 70% right but continuing their progress instead of burning out.

 

[Lean One]

lacto ovium dessicated whale snot for a slow release.

WHAT?? AAAHHHHHBWHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! :rofl:

 

[MarcusG]

......
personally, i'd rather eat a bunch of crap AND get my omega's, my greens (i have a juicer), my fiber, my vitamins, then eat even very clean (chicken breasts, etc.) and NOT get the phyto's and good stuff

i know a guy who diets down to 5-6% and still includes mcd's hamburgers in his diet all the way down. it's total calories that will mostly define your fat loss, not so much where they come from (with a little bit of exception)

......

You're totally wrong about total calories being the main variable in losing fat.

Eating clean vs fast food hamburgers, fries, sugary crap is NOT the same even if the caloric intake is similar.

Even different macronutrient ratio's in 'clean' food produces different hormonal profiles.

 

[jjjd]

i may be totally wrong, but my body disagrees since it works for me

and to make it very clear, i am NOT saying it is the same. i AM saying it is the main variable -kilocalories.

 

[Newb017]

^^^ bump

performace wise, your food intake matters, you cant eat fast food and expect your body to perform good, but in terms of strictly metabolism, your body doesnt care what it is, if your body burns 3000 calories a day and you only eat 2500, you will lose weight

 

[jjjd]

the answer of course is somewhere in the middle. the calorie model is based upon using a bomb calorimeter. your body, otoh, is not a bomb calorimeter. so, believing the 1 cal is 1 cal is 1 cal is simplistic and wrong. otoh, it is LARGELY true. iow, imo (and ime) calories are the MAIN variable, but macronutrient ratio and other factors do play a part, but not a primary role in losing fat

and as i said, imo, for health and performance, it is far more important to GET the good stuff, than to avoid the "bad stuff" if you had to make a choice. i'd rather eat 2 big macs and some toll house cookies AND veggies, phyto's, anti-ox's, etc. in a day, than to eat "clean" (chicken, rice, etc.) but not get my micronutrients, phyto's etc.

 

[Ziv]

i agree on eating clean but that doesnt mean i don't agree on eating fast food. While same old theory, once in a while is not any problem since you need some high carb day and vary the calorie intake once in while. Of course mostly i would agree on taking high calorie on clean food. Me myself i wouldn't take too much saturated fat cause i know if my body fat go to sky high then when i hit the cardio, i am gonna burn quite an amount of my muscle as well, sometimes maybe too much even though i still maintain my protein high. Conclusion is once in while is not a bad idea, but if you take it whole year round, then it will be a bad one. If you are in bodybuilding then of course u need to eat clean since u will be stepping on stage. But if you are in power lifting then obviously you don't have to care so much about your appearance. Thats what i feel, didn't mean to offend anyone.

 

[jjjd]

but saturated fat =/= bodyfat. i disagree with your general thesis, but i respect your opinion. obviously, ceteris paribus it's better to eat (generally) clean ( i still recommend getting SOME saturated fat, for instance) AND get your micronutrients, phyto's, anti-ox's, etc. but i still posit that having several dietary holes (not enough of the good substrate stuff and i am not talking carbs/prot/fat is far worse in the longterm than eating clean but missing out on the good stuff.

i'm really big on supp'ing with micronutrient/mineral/substrate rich supp's

dessicated liver (and fresh liver), brewer's yeast, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, etc.

 

[merllin_2000]

Although i would have to agree about eating bad vs eating nothing, no one can perform a perfect diet year round. One of the things i do about this is keep nutritional fact sheet's from all the major fast food joints in my gym bag. I might not always eat perfect, i could still try to be intelligent about my choices. You can get the nut. fact sheets about the fast food rest. from there individual websites.

 

[jjjd]

and when bulking, ime, it's nearly impossible (or maybe i am just not disciplined enough) to eat clean AND get 4000 kcals +.

it's just a royal pain in the arse

 

[sweet-physique]

I like to follow this simple rule:

a) If had parents, I'll eat it.
b) if it comes from a parent, I'll eat it (this covers the whey, cottage cheese, and eggs.)