How many of you believe in no junk food while bulking? How many of you are IIFYM?

CompeteNPC

CompeteNPC

Banned
How many on this forum carry the attitude of "If its not considered clean I will not eat that."

How many of you are "If It fits my macros I will eat it!"
 
mickc1965 said:
Somewhere between the two
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I'd rather eat clean 95 % of the time than eat pizza. Its not like you can really enjoy pizza anyway if you want to fit it in your macros. If I'm going to eat pizza, I'm reserving it for a cheat day and eating as much as I want to. A few slices of pizza is gonna use up tons of your macros that should be spread out for the rest of your days meals. So I would just rather eat foods like chicken, oatmeal and rice 6 days week. Pizza is reserved for that one day where I allow myself to eat pretty much whatever I want to. Some weeks i don't even have a cheat day, it all depends on my mood.

Today for example they brought in pizza for the office. Did I have any? Nope I did not. Wasted macros if I eat it since I prepped all my meals last night. I have extremely high goals and Saturday we are going to a Halloween party so Im saving my cheat for then.
 
I am actually far closer to eating clean on a bulk, set protein at ~1.2g / lb, fats at ~0.5g / lb then the rest from carb sources (oatmeal, oatcakes and wholemeal thins) and when I go out for meal then I will treat myself to stark and chips (fries to everyone else outside the UK)
 
mickc1965 said:
I am actually far closer to eating clean on a bulk, set protein at ~1.2g / lb, fats at ~0.5g / lb then the rest from carb sources (oatmeal, oatcakes and wholemeal thins) and when I go out for meal then I will treat myself to stark and chips (fries to everyone else outside the UK)
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Yeah thats good. In the long run you will be much happier and feel better. I always feel like total **** after eating junk food my body just doesn't respond well to it. Over the years I've been finding different alternatives to junk food that I enjoy the taste of. For example cookies and pizza. They got that protein pizza out now and the one that is called Real Good Pizza. But I still even prefer making my own pizzas at home with the ingredients that are hand picked by me at the store. Pasta, I will load up on that right now but its always gonna be whole wheat which doesn't bloat me like regular pasta. I also found a really great pasta sauce that only has 20 mg of sodium per serving. Oatmeal I can eat as much as I want of that and be fine along with any low GI carb source. Most people will not understand our lifestyle but if they ever had goals of competing they would understand. Plus its just a good lifestyle to have and good eating habits.

You can bulk cheap also! Eating should not cost you much money.

Look at this guy, one of the best in the business. Only eats chicken, fish, rice and oatmeal as his main foods. Thats it! He has lots of money also but chooses not to waste money on things like protein bars.

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I havent had a cheat meal in maybe a month or two and it was a steak fries, and some dessert with my parents. When I have "cheated" I ve limited it to just one meal.
 
I think it is dumb to not allow yourself to have any "dirty" foods or free foods. If you can go without them, great, but I believe allowing these foods in your diet can alleviate binging or excessive cheat meals. I follow the 10%-20% rule where I let 10% or so of my calories to come from dirty/free foods. For example, I will have a serving or two of cereal, pastry, ice cream, etc daily. I have noticed by having a serving of cereal a day, 120 cals or so, makes me not crave larger cheat meals.

Here are some good articles

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AntM1564 said:
I think it is dumb to not allow yourself to have any "dirty" foods or free foods. If you can go without them, great, but I believe allowing these foods in your diet can alleviate binging or excessive cheat meals. I follow the 10%-20% rule where I let 10% or so of my calories to come from dirty/free foods. For example, I will have a serving or two of cereal, pastry, ice cream, etc daily. I have noticed by having a serving of cereal a day, 120 cals or so, makes me not crave larger cheat meals.

Here are some good articles

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Allowing room for these depends on my waist . As a competitor Ive dierted down so many times, with two hours cardio a day and going through difficult times because at the start of the prep if I were leaner, I wouldn't have to suffer very, very much, still suffering mind you.
 
John Smeton said:
Allowing room for these depends on my waist . As a competitor Ive dierted down so many times, with two hours cardio a day and going through difficult times because at the start of the prep if I were leaner, I wouldn't have to suffer very, very much, still suffering mind you.
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Keep in mind that the majority of the people on here will not compete. For the average person who wants to be lean and have a good amount of lean mass, there is nothing wrong with giving 10% of cals to free foods. The only time I would not personally do it is if I was in a severe deficit and did not have too much room to add foods not dense in nutrients and filling.
 
This thread inspired me to go out and buy an amys organic pizza, two Edwards pie, chocolate, Cup of Ice cream, pecab flavored, and some herseys bars and milk last night. I was still hungry though out the night and kept eating. My muscles look way fuller and stomach is out a bit more.. Still looking good though. I slept well, and slept in longer than I have been this week. Today is scheduled to take a day off weights, which I feel heavy weight training really hamper cns function, and days off are needed. Ill be doing some cardio today
 
I was out in the sun wiping my car down and starting posing. I look good, was doing an abs and thighs, stomach looking tight, and muscles are popping. Arms haven't popped like this in a while.
 
Out of sight out of mind. If I don't see junk food I don't crave it. I can fulfill most of my sweet tooth craving with peanut butter, PESelect protein, and coconut water.
 
CompeteNPC said:
How many on this forum carry the attitude of "If its not considered clean I will not eat that."

How many of you are "If It fits my macros I will eat it!"
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I would lose my mind if i never had *treats*

My diet though consists of around 70-80% *clean* foods. Playing around with new foods over the years you get to know whats nice or not nice.

I would rather eat sweet potato any day over say chocolate... In terms of getting carbs that is. So finding what works for you is key

I do still enjoy *junk* foods.. If i go out for a meal which is about once a month i always have the 3 courses and i dont strain about... oh thats no very healthy. Any food in moderation is fine. We only have 1 life so live it. You can keep in good shape all year round with being flexible. Its when people abuse junk constant that further down the line health issues may arise.

Get veggies in.. A good protein source and some healthy fats and then have some more enjoyable food and your health will keep ticking just fine.

My uncle recently... Im kinda swaying topic here but.. Hes such a healthy eater (Far farrrrr better than me) and his meals are home cooked everyday. Hes turned 60 and his health (Heart ' Joints etc) have honestly been terrible. (Heart surgery recent and 2 hips replaced) So diet is a good advocate for health but on the flip side health can get bad for anyone. Some peope have a sh*t diet and remain very healthy.. Look up Mattdoesfitness on YouTube his diet is borderline awful but hes in awesome shape and done bloodwork after a good few year of eating anything because he feared it could be bad.. Got a perfect blood screening in terms of cholesterol and all perfect levels. But.. Going with IIFYM. If it works for you then... Perfect. Sorry for the sway but just good to validate some points.
 
bell1986 said:
I would lose my mind if i never had *treats*

My diet though consists of around 70-80% *clean* foods. Playing around with new foods over the years you get to know whats nice or not nice.

I would rather eat sweet potato any day over say chocolate... In terms of getting carbs that is. So finding what works for you is key

I do still enjoy *junk* foods.. If i go out for a meal which is about once a month i always have the 3 courses and i dont strain about... oh thats no very healthy. Any food in moderation is fine. We only have 1 life so live it. You can keep in good shape all year round with being flexible. Its when people abuse junk constant that further down the line health issues may arise.

Get veggies in.. A good protein source and some healthy fats and then have some more enjoyable food and your health will keep ticking just fine.

My uncle recently... Im kinda swaying topic here but.. Hes such a healthy eater (Far farrrrr better than me) and his meals are home cooked everyday. Hes turned 60 and his health (Heart ' Joints etc) have honestly been terrible. (Heart surgery recent and 2 hips replaced) So diet is a good advocate for health but on the flip side health can get bad for anyone. Some peope have a sh*t diet and remain very healthy.. Look up Mattdoesfitness on YouTube his diet is borderline awful but hes in awesome shape and done bloodwork after a good few year of eating anything because he feared it could be bad.. Got a perfect blood screening in terms of cholesterol and all perfect levels. But.. Going with IIFYM. If it works for you then... Perfect. Sorry for the sway but just good to validate some points.
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Great post. Come contest time I tend to have to not cheat, and sticking to certain foods , at that time-frame, seem to work best for me. That said Ive heard once your in shape you can go off diet a bit. Like Dorian yates he eat steak, fries, and cake, two weeks out from a Mr. O.
 
I find time for all types of food at anytime, including junk food during cuts. I usually do TKD's and pay attention to nutrient timing whether on a cut or a bulk, and will eat junkier carbs peri-workout to fuel tough workouts. I'll then eat clean the rest of the time and lower my carbs. This has worked the best for me over the years.
 
Me personally, I eat clean virtually all of the time (couple of days I don’t over Xmas and that’s about it for a year).

But for me that’s because find it easier than IIFYM or 80/20 etc as I used to have a horrendous diet. I just find it easier to not have it around at all than to exercise moderation.

However, for most people who can moderate it’s fine.

Key message I believe in though is that your nutrition (and training) should fit your goals.

If you want to look ‘ok’, then ‘ok’ nutrition and a bit of training and you’ll get there. If you want to look good/very good your nutrition and training must be good/very good (how I’d perceive many on AM are), if you want to look excellent then ...........in this group it’s people who compete, plan to compete, IMO there is less room for crap foods at this point.
 
I find foods that I love and just make them macro friendly or find macro friendly versions
I love Chinese style dumplings and the macros on most store bought are awesome
Other stuff I make healthy versions like grilled chicken pizza with Califlour crust
 
bell1986 said:
I would lose my mind if i never had *treats*

My diet though consists of around 70-80% *clean* foods. Playing around with new foods over the years you get to know whats nice or not nice.

I would rather eat sweet potato any day over say chocolate... In terms of getting carbs that is. So finding what works for you is key

I do still enjoy *junk* foods.. If i go out for a meal which is about once a month i always have the 3 courses and i dont strain about... oh thats no very healthy. Any food in moderation is fine. We only have 1 life so live it. You can keep in good shape all year round with being flexible. Its when people abuse junk constant that further down the line health issues may arise.

Get veggies in.. A good protein source and some healthy fats and then have some more enjoyable food and your health will keep ticking just fine.

My uncle recently... Im kinda swaying topic here but.. Hes such a healthy eater (Far farrrrr better than me) and his meals are home cooked everyday. Hes turned 60 and his health (Heart ' Joints etc) have honestly been terrible. (Heart surgery recent and 2 hips replaced) So diet is a good advocate for health but on the flip side health can get bad for anyone. Some peope have a sh*t diet and remain very healthy.. Look up Mattdoesfitness on YouTube his diet is borderline awful but hes in awesome shape and done bloodwork after a good few year of eating anything because he feared it could be bad.. Got a perfect blood screening in terms of cholesterol and all perfect levels. But.. Going with IIFYM. If it works for you then... Perfect. Sorry for the sway but just good to validate some points.
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This is a great post. For the majority of us, we are not going to compete. So why not keep 10-20% of our daily calories for free foods. Even at 2,000 calories, that is only 200-400 calories which is not a lot. A serving of cereal is only 120 cals give or take.

Even if one is a competitive bodybuilder, until that person is deep in prep, it is easy to fit those foods into their diet. Once they are deep into though, it can be difficult to fit free foods into their diet and it should be absolutely dialed in.

Read number 8 in this article

This 10% wiggle room will allow you the freedom to eat a few extra things not on your menu without the guilt and subsequent psychological crash that usually accompanies such perceived transgressions.
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I also came across this article last week, it is a very good read.

Two week's of eating food that would cause the average fitness person to suffer self-loathing, paranoia, deep depression, and delusions that their previously finely-tuned body was irrevocably damaged had negligible effects on the 15 study participants.
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AntM1564 said:
This is a great post. For the majority of us, we are not going to compete. So why not keep 10-20% of our daily calories for free foods. Even at 2,000 calories, that is only 200-400 calories which is not a lot. A serving of cereal is only 120 cals give or take.

Even if one is a competitive bodybuilder, until that person is deep in prep, it is easy to fit those foods into their diet. Once they are deep into though, it can be difficult to fit free foods into their diet and it should be absolutely dialed in.

Read number 8 in this article



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I also came across this article last week, it is a very good read.



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Its important to keep my stomach trim, tight, you can definitely go out and enjoy yourself . If its contest prep time you can go out, just bring your food with you, or if out to eat, just make sure its on your diet. Contest prep time, prepping and bring food with you is easiest bc you know macros already there , etc
 
John Smeton said:
Its important to keep my stomach trim, tight, you can definitely go out and enjoy yourself . If its contest prep time you can go out, just bring your food with you, or if out to eat, just make sure its on your diet. Contest prep time, prepping and bring food with you is easiest bc you know macros already there , etc
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And once you have gotten down to bodyfat % in the single digits, you want to stay lean as much as possible. Bulking is a mind **** for sure but its something that has to be done even though I hate it personally with the exception of eating lots of food. If I could stay super lean all year round and continue to build muscle I would but thats unrealistic since I'm not on gear.
 
maggie.stine said:
Do you agree?
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Absolutely. See my posts above. I think there is nothing wrong with one giving themselves 10-20% of their calories to free food. I personally think it helps keep sanity. Now, depending on one's calories, this can be hard. Also, if one is in contest prep, especially deep in it, this could be hard. But for the majority of the forum members here, who will not compete, having a bowl of cereal daily will not hurt. That is roughly 110 calories give or take.

I used to give all of my calories to "clean foods" then when I would have a cheat meal, I would binge. Since I allow myself to have a small amount of free foods daily, I no longer feel the need to binge when I go out to eat. I am satisfied with the cheat meal without binging since I am not depriving myself.
 
AntM1564 said:
Absolutely. See my posts above. I think there is nothing wrong with one giving themselves 10-20% of their calories to free food. I personally think it helps keep sanity.
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10% is really not a lot, as you already pointed out. For people that don't make money by doing this I think it's pointless to be so stuck up regarding food. You wanna eat healthy? Grow your own chickens and broccoli :) Offcourse if having a strickt eye on your diet is your "thing" that fills up that hole in your life (soul) and makes your days have a meaning than I don't see anything wrong with it.

Joking aside, I can not ever consume 3k+ kcal's of clean bro foods on a bulk for longer than a week. Just don't have the appetite for it. Even with stuff like MK it doesn't help much.

I guess it comes down a lot to how much stress you have in life, how much quality sleep you get and how burned out you are. If I would work less and sleep better my appetite would probably be better. And there is also the point that as of now, I have a life outside the gym and preping food and thinking about what I am going to eat all day every day is just not possible - nor do I really want for my life to revolve so much arround food... I think about it to much as it is. So for me, getting in the kcal's on a bulk is the primary goal. I have an eye on macros but just to the extent that I eat enough proteins and not to much simple carbs and bad fat... But this is all prety loose. On a cut things change though. Then I start eating clean, as otherwise it's just needlesly painful.

Oh and getting by without a blender would also be painful :)
 
Throughout my current bulk, I found a mix of both to be good. I do IIFYM, mostly eat clean food, but still have a fair share of "dirty" food day to day. My meals consist of protein shakes, a single poptart (not the whole 2-pack), eggs, cheese, peanut butter, fruit, lunch sandwich, rice, potatoes (varying from red, white, sweet) and protein bars. Since 12/4 I have gained 5lbs and my waist has remained the same. I started off in a 300 calorie surplus, upped to 400, now i'm at 500 because weight gain has stopped/slowed.

Point being.. I really think calories are calories. My fiance follows the same regimen, except she's reverse dieting at the moment, and is also seeing results. Definitely a believer in IIFYM, but it's no excuse to eat junk all the time.

Maybe this has already been said - just wanted to throw my 2c out there though.
 
During my bulk i have just started if im having simple sugars i will just train in the evening and have them after training or within a couple hours along with dinner that night. I crave biscuits etc late at night anyway so it suits me perfectly. Your body's insulin sensitivity is primed after training so fat gain would be negligible if anything.

My fats are all healthy though or as healthy as they can be.. i dont believe in having a ton of bad fats in general when the fats that are my favourites are mostly healthy.. I love nut butters ie almond butter etc.. I make mashed avacado with chicken and just use that for sandwiches etc.. Easy to get good fats in. Your gonna collect the odd bad fat here and thier but as long as it isnt trans-fat your fine.

With carbs.. EVERY carb is converted to the same. Glucose in the blood. From chocolate to sweet potato. Its just broken down and absorbed at different rates. Obviously they both can be 60 grams of carbs in each say but the micronutrients (Which are important also) are different big time between the two but balance is key. If you incorporate a GDA you can minimise the insulin spike even with high glycemic foods. I always add cinnamon to oats etc as it doea help slow absorption (Glucose meter tests). Its an extra cost ofcourse but if you want to test them out its worth getting one. My body responds well to Chromium Picolinate also (Tested)

Play around with meals so *clean* foods aren't as boring.. Season meats. Get some reduced salt & sugar ketchup etc.
I eat alot of 0% fat Greek Yoghurts.. On thier own they taste not nice at all. I have been throwing in 15 grams of 100% cocoa solids & a stevia sweetener (About an extra 35 calories) i can eat that Yoghurt alllllllll day. On its own? I struggle to enjoy it. Quality protein source.. Good calories for the portion also. So tweaking foods can be a game changer. Cocoa is one of the healthiest foods thier is aswell. People link it to chocolate (Bars etc) thinking it's in the same category. Wrong. Fibre content is brilliant and also full of anti-oxidants.

I download'd a podcast yesterday of reverse diet'n and starting a bulk after a cut and how it affects peoples mentality.. The main concept that concerns everyone is going from being so lean to a little fluffier. The podcast was about 4-5 fitness guru's (Am sure we have all heard of) and they were saying pro's and con's of it all and also the diet aspect of things.. What i gathered was people were overshooting calories based on old maintenance calories previously and thats when the fat gains would appear quicker.. If you get to your new maintenance and be clever about it and just add 200-300 extra calories above. Yes you will see a little more fluff but it will be over a long period of time and then your metabolism will increase and your body will stabalise. Im up in Scotland so its not the time of year for getting the t-shirt off so i dont mind the extra fat but i am still being conservative about it. Im never gonna compete i just want to look good and feel good also.

So all in all.. Do what suits your lifestyle? Eat 100% clean? Brilliant! Eat very flexible.. Brilliant! We only live once so having a balance is a better life in general

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