real world situation....Eat junk or Eat nothing at all?

[Bunting]

So here's the deal..you are in a situation where the only food available is junk...pizza,cheese steak etc... and you know you won't have a chance to go out and get something that fits into your clean bulk diet any time in the near future....Do you not eat anything at all and just try to catch up on your calories when you get home? or do you eat what's there?
I know Cheat meals are ok once in a while but pretend that you already have had a few cheat meals that week and are trying to stay as clean as possible...what would you do?

 

[RoidRageX10]

If I knew that I would be in a stituation where I was not going to have healthy foods around, I would make sure that I did not cheat at all for the previous 5+ days. Then, I would eat the junk in MODERATION.

 

[Rodja]

If you're bulking, then it is not the end of the world if you have a less than ideal meal every now and then (3-4x/week).

 

[Saurabh]

Not eat at all.

Junk food not only get you all the carbs and fats you dont need it also gets you stuff like sodium etc that will get you all water retentive.

I have often gone without food for 6-8 hours, not recommended I know, but better to be safe than sorry.

 

[ozarkaBRAND]

just eat.. esp. if you're bulking.

just keep it clean when you can.

 

[pistonpump]

im all for eating junk when needed...keep your diet with clean food but if you must resort to junk then just do it....this being said if your goal is to bulk....also depends on your body type (ecto, meso, endo) The last thing you want to do is fast on a bulk. Just try not to make it a habit because youll be eating more junk before you know it.

 

[JDF]

I would eat in moderation. I def would not want to starve myself and not eat

 

[OCCFan023]

I forget who said it (I think Jay Cutler?) but if you think about it lets say you have 6 meals a day. In one week if your sticking to your diet than thats 42 clean meals. If you have to go off track on one meal thats 2.3 percent of an entire week. If you are faced with a situation where you "must" eat less than ideal foods don't sweat it and just do your best to make good decisions with what you have. If your cutting consider it a cheat meal and then go strong right after (I'd rather eat to keep my body in its usual routine.)

However I rarely know of a situation where its impossible to bring food or get something healthy. But if the occasion does arrive just make the best selection possible.

 

[jminis]

I would eat but hell even at McDonalds you can get a grilled chicken sandwhich. If they only had burgers and cheesesteaks I would get the burger and eat it without the buns. Also making sure I drank water not soda.

 

[Mulletsoldier]

Depends on what you're doing, how strict you are, etc., But as the others said, one meal out of one week of meals is absolutely nothing. At times, I think a slip every now and then is overblown. It won't kill you, just ensure you stick to it for the next week.

If you've been eating 6x/day, working out, your metabolism (unless you're strict Endo) should be revving anyway; it will take that cheese down like nothing.

 

[Bunting]

I'm not saying this situation happens a whole lot but there are definitely times when I get in this situation.
I teach at a highschool and coach wrestling. Sometimes we have tournaments that last an entire weekend. Other times we have dual meets at night where we leave to drive to the other school at 430 and don't get back until 10pm and the only thing to eat there is concession food (pizza, hot dog etc.)Now sure I could pack in advance and all that jazz but I'm saying that say I forgot to pack or just didn't plan ahead. Come on it happens. Nobody's perfect.
or say you are going over to a buddies for the night to drink eat and watch football. I don't think they are going to be serving oats,tuna and chicken breasts as these type of nights. and packing food= you are a complete doushebag and will get made fun of the entire night.

 

[king1033]

in the end your gonna have a lot more work to do when cutting comes into play IMO

 

[OCCFan023]

in the end your gonna have a lot more work to do when cutting comes into play IMO

From 1 restricted cheat meal? Unless your metabolism is complete garbage and your conscience of what you eat it will do little or no damage what so ever when push comes to shove.

 

[Bunting]

I'm on the side of eating just not gorging myself on whatever food is available in these situations and then I just make sure I eat real clean before and after.
I just wanted to see what the general consensus was as some of my friends that are in to lifting would opt not to eat at all in these situations.

 

[king1033]

From 1 restricted cheat meal? Unless your metabolism is complete garbage and your conscience of what you eat it will do little or no damage what so ever when push comes to shove.

even if his metabolism is great eating junk all the time is gonna create a lot more fat than muscle and when he cuts its gonna be a hasle thats all, unless i misunderstood him i thought he was saying all he has access to is junk food

 

[Bunting]

no I was saying that say you are running a clean bulk and you are in a situation where the only food available is junk. Is it better to not eat at all or just cheat your diet.

 

[king1033]

no I was saying that say you are running a clean bulk and you are in a situation where the only food available is junk. Is it better to not eat at all or just cheat your diet.

well then it wouldnt be running a clean bulk, i say gather some money and buy your own food its the only way pretty much unless you have friends you can mooch off of lol

 

[OCCFan023]

I'm still confused by this. Are you asking that 1 time you need to eat dirty or the whole diet would be dirty?

 

[Rodja]

You can be on a clean bulk and have several bad meals in your diet. You can easily restructure your remaining meals to fit within your kcals requirement. Also, kcal fluctuation is a very good thing for the metabolism.

 

[Mulletsoldier]

You can be on a clean bulk and have several bad meals in your diet. You can easily restructure your remaining meals to fit within your kcals requirement. Also, kcal fluctuation is a very good thing for the metabolism.

Exactamundo.

I think where a lot of people fail is, let's say, they cheat on Meal 3, and don't restructure meals 4-6 to accommodate the new kcal level.

If you eat a bunch of garbage on your third meal of the day, make sure the rest are clean. While, most likely, you'll exceed either your fat or carb intake, or both, simply structure your remaining meals high in protein and low in the other necessary group.

Intake vs., expenditure in this case wins out. While specific foods themselves have different effects on your metabolic rate NOT tied to intake vs., expenditure (propensity for fat accumulation, carbohydrate type, etc.,) in this case the balance remains coooool.

 

[jmh80]

Eat.

 

[JDF]

You can be on a clean bulk and have several bad meals in your diet. You can easily restructure your remaining meals to fit within your kcals requirement. Also, kcal fluctuation is a very good thing for the metabolism.

def not calling you out bro but i was on another forum and some guy was saying there is no proof of this. I searched around and found nothing. Do you know of any articles that prove otherwise?

I think that it works for me so I continue to have a really high kcal day and really low kcal day every week

 

[Rodja]

def not calling you out bro but i was on another forum and some guy was saying there is no proof of this. I searched around and found nothing. Do you know of any articles that prove otherwise?

I think that it works for me so I continue to have a really high kcal day and really low kcal day every week

Which part? The kcal fluctuation or meal restructuring?

 

[JDF]

kcal fluctuation

 

[Bunting]

I still think t
he point of the question is being missunderstood.
what I meant was this:
you are running a clean bulk.
you are in a situation that you are forced into cheating from that diet for a meal or maybe two.
there are only two options here. I'm ruling out planning ahead because the point of the question is that you did not expect to be in this situation. I mean come on don't any of you have things come up in your life that are unexpected. We don't all have that boring of lives do we?
so your two options are the following:
1) have a cheat meal or two
2) eat nothing at all

eating healthy is not an option.
I know a cheat meal or two is ok. it won't kill you. My question is basically this: which is the lesser of two evils.
is it better to not eat at all or is better to just cheat your diet once in a while.

 

[JDF]

cheat like a mo'fo

 

[ozarkaBRAND]

I still think t
he point of the question is being missunderstood.
what I meant was this:
you are running a clean bulk.
you are in a situation that you are forced into cheating from that diet for a meal or maybe two.
there are only two options here. I'm ruling out planning ahead because the point of the question is that you did not expect to be in this situation. I mean come on don't any of you have things come up in your life that are unexpected. We don't all have that boring of lives do we?
so your two options are the following:
1) have a cheat meal or two
2) eat nothing at all

eating healthy is not an option.
I know a cheat meal or two is ok. it won't kill you. My question is basically this: which is the lesser of two evils.
is it better to not eat at all or is better to just cheat your diet once in a while.

Option 1