Cheating within caloric guidelines.

[Nate]

Alright, let's say I maintain my current bodyweight at 2700 calories per day, with a macronutrient ratio of 40/40/20. All of my calorie intake comes from clean food sources, likes yams, chicken, whey, and peanut oil. What if I were to eat a piece of apple pie after say, my fifth meal of the day, and cut down the calories on my last meal to compenstate. Even thought I ate the apple pie, my calories will still finish arond 2700 or so.

Over time, this would have a negative impact on my body composition but not overall weight, right?

 

[HyDr8]

The problem with that logic is how that piece of pie would affect you insulin at that time of day. Might make you feel hungry and then you eat something else. Blown diet. Insulin spikes are a problem unless its PWO.

I thing if you're going to cheat at all, do it early in the day. Or just make the day a cheat day and get over it.

 

[Monolith]

Go ahead and eat the pie, but call it a cheat meal, not "part of your cutting plan"

It's full of sugar and isn't going to do you any good. But if it keeps you from binging on a whole bunch of stuff thats even worse, than its the better choice i guess.

But yeah, if youre eating an apple pie every week, at the end of a month youre going to have a higher %bf than someone who was being strict with their diet. Common sense really. :/

 

[Nate]

See, I'm not "cutting" at all. I'm simply trying to maintain my current body, that I'm perfectly happy with. The pies are homemade and don't contain nearly as much sugar as you think. Plus, the fat in the crust will slow the digestion of the sugar. It's not like I "have to have pie", I'm simply trying to add things back into my diet slowly that I cut out to reach the point that I'm at, and I think it's entirely possible with minimal negative effects.

 

[hardasnails1973]

take 500-1000 mgs as a saftey net. I had so much food on satruday and then sunday woke up 3 lbs lighter thanks to 3,000 mgs ALA

 

[Nate]

Originally posted by hardasnails1973
take 500-1000 mgs as a saftey net. I had so much food on satruday and then sunday woke up 3 lbs lighter thanks to 3,000 mgs ALA

yeah, i normally supplement with about 500 mg of ALA on a daily basis anyway. thanks for the tip.

 

[Twin Peak]

Originally posted by Nate
Alright, let's say I maintain my current bodyweight at 2700 calories per day, with a macronutrient ratio of 40/40/20. All of my calorie intake comes from clean food sources, likes yams, chicken, whey, and peanut oil. What if I were to eat a piece of apple pie after say, my fifth meal of the day, and cut down the calories on my last meal to compenstate. Even thought I ate the apple pie, my calories will still finish arond 2700 or so.

Over time, this would have a negative impact on my body composition but not overall weight, right?

I'd say this is probably 98% accurate yes.

Note that your bodycomp over time may not change at all. That doesn't mean this had no effect, as it is quite possible that with clean eating you would have improved body comp over time.

 

[chaznad1]

3000 mgs ALA in a day???,, jesus christ are you sitting on a pot of gold,,,thats almost the bottle size i buy ,, but i must say it sure as hell is worth it

 

[Nate]

Re: Re: Cheating within caloric guidelines.

Originally posted by Twin Peak
I'd say this is probably 98% accurate yes.

Note that your bodycomp over time may not change at all. That doesn't mean this had no effect, as it is quite possible that with clean eating you would have improved body comp over time.

Interesting.

As the holidays approach, I'm going to start throwing a cheat snack into my food intake every so often. It won't be a daily thing, but it will probably come a lot more often than usual, as I haven't cheated in about five months.

I'll let you guys know how it goes and how it effects my body composition. My metabolism has slowed a bit in the past year, but I've always been fairly tolerant to sugar. Who knows, maybe the initial impact will be positive. Any other comments would be great.

 

[MeLo]

uh.. pardon me... but.. what's ALA? something a 15 year could choke down too?

 

[Mudge]

I will fatten up on crappy carbs even if staying within caloric guidelines, if the sodium goes through the roof then weight can change but I will notice it on my waist pronto.

I keep my cheats to once a week ideally speaking.

 

[trigga happy]

hey

Whats ALA??

T.P

 

[_Aj]

Originally posted by trigga happy
hey

Whats ALA??

T.P

ALA is Alpha Lipoic Acid, mainly used as a glucose disposal agent and a powerful anti oxident.

I find whenever I cheat I am more than eager to get back into my dieting routine the next day. Sometimes I go overbourd and fat gain is apparent, but you have to live one in a while. We are all human, and for the most part care about our bodies, that is why if you cheat, don't stress to much about it.

 

[Nate]

Well, I've had pretty decent luck with this strategy thus far.

Let me pose yet another question...

Is it a good strategy to have a high carb, low fat homemade pizza at the end of the day on sunday, after strictly adhering to a no carb diet earlier in the day? Also, is it poor strategy to make a cheat meal as meals 4 and 5 bunched into one, say, 800 calorie meal? In other words, I would normally eat two meals of about 400 calories three hours apart, but on my cheat meal I'd eat a bigger meal of 800 calories at some point in time in the middle.