The Guilty Food Thread

[John Dickens]

Since starting strength training, I've become much less guilt free about what I eat. Almost anything, down the hatch. Lots of meat, potatos, veggies, dairy and pretty much anything I can get my hands on, hot dogs, bologna, sammiches, pizza, you name it. Gotten stronger and body falt percentage has stayed about the same, so it seems to be working.

But some things are still bad for me, no matter how much I wish they weren't.

This thread is for those things that you probably shouldn't eat, even as an active lifter, but love to eat.

Mine: The cheap, crappy store bought mass produced honeybuns. They're sugar and white flour. Valueless nutritionally. But oh so delicious.

[Marotta]

As long as I'm not above 15% bodyfat, I don't feel guilty about anything. I do worry a little about GM food and preservatives, but thats a different story.

[f4thpathway]

Cotton Candy. And Icees at the movies. But I don't care too much as long as I stay solid. Ice cream, always ice cream.

[Carlos Daniel]

Stuff that I shouldn't eat....hum... I like soda and the diet sodas don't taste so good. I don't really have a sweet tooth but if I spend a week or two without eating sweets I miss it.

[DutchPancakes]

As long as I'm not above 15% bodyfat

I think you mean 20%. Everyone here is above 20% bf, haven't you heard?

[Patrick]

I wish I had a better food to claim as my guilty pleasure, but it's actually Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli. It's the only thing that I like that I know is worthless in terms of nutrition.

[BigShot]

I don't even know if I should feel guilty about it... but I absolutely LOVE chocolate smeared with peanut butter.

Yesterday I ate 4 Krispy Kreme original donuts though. I felt kinda sick after though.

[LeonidasfromSparta]

For me it's the italian Panettone, even though it's not that bad from a nutrition point of view. I'm trying to be careful though, as I'm over 25% bf.

[LimieJosh]

Carrott cake.

[Marotta]

I fucking love those, but the ones without the raisins and shit. I fucking hate raisins.

[msingh]

I 'treated' myself to WW Carrot cake yesterday as part of my carb refeed. It's lowfat though. Tasted like shit. I actually like normal carrot cake though.

[Marotta]

Then stomp being a woman and eat regular carrot cake.

[msingh]

Fucking Dieting man. lol it gets worse, my local pizza place has a special this weekend and i can't do nothin about it. Its possibly the saddest day of my life.

[BigShot]

I fucking love those, but the ones without the raisins and shit. I fucking hate raisins.
There's something wrong with you. Raisins are great...
...though I'm not sure they belong in carrot cake...
...kinda like pineapple is great but doesn't belong on pizza.

No... it doesn't.

[Marotta]

Fucking Dieting man. lol it gets worse, my local pizza place has a special this weekend and i can't do nothin about it. Its possibly the saddest day of my life.

If you're in the shape you claim to be in, you don't need to diet, neither do a lot of the people that do. My pops is dieting, started at 210 (he's 5'10") and lost about 20lb, so I call him an AIDS patient.

[msingh]

If you're in the shape you claim to be in, you don't need to diet, neither do a lot of the people that do. My pops is dieting, started at 210 (he's 5'10") and lost about 20lb, so I call him an AIDS patient.

Was your pops lifting while dieting? Cause otherwise he'd lose lean mass too. That kind of sucks that's why you keep protein high and lift on a cut...

Yeah dude i kinda have to diet. I don't think i've gained a single gram of muscle even though i've gained (and lost) a lot of weight over the years. Now i'll start from scratch, around 10-12% bodyfat since i know my body doesn't like to build muscle, i wont be too ambitious and only eat a little over maintenance. But for what it's worth, since i have so little muscle, once i've leaned out sufficiently, my lifts wont be so bad for my bodyweight (maybe 165 when all is said and done).

[Marotta]

lifting a little, but not much, I tried to get him on to the 5 barbell lifts, but he won't unless I'm there to coach him, which is near impossible with my school/work schedule.

I doubt that you absolutely can't build muscle, try 300+ grams of protein per day, and lift harder.

[msingh]

Dad-strength ftw, it might not count for much in the gym but it IS formidable.

Yea i dont know, i gained 40-50lb and spend hours in the gym lifting heavy shit in the 5 rep range, and now i'm dieted down to my pre-lifting weight, im not seeing anything to show for it. It's actually pretty disheartening. But i've had TONS of protein man, ive paid for at least 100kg of whey. Fuck. What a waste of money. We'll see, i'll give it another crack at 10-12% bf. it might give better lean gains? And i know my numbers dont seem impressive for 220, but when i'm dieted down to 165 it might paint a better picture.

Guilty pleasure -- chocolate mousse, haven't had that for ages. Real stuff not the casein one i make on the diet, although it is high protein!

[Draft]

This time of year? Cadbury Creme Eggs.

[BigShot]

Draft you FUCKER!
I'd forgotten about them! I'm going to have to get some now.

[forgeforth]

I get unbelievable cravings for pizza. I also love dates and all of the associated pastries therein. I'm Lebanese, so that's a slippery slope in terms of sweets, cakes and treats. The good news is I get to have it every time I'm finished training, whether I diet or otherwise. Use your glycogen-depleted state to your advantage and down 70g of simple sugars. It'll keep you sane, especially if you're dieting. Trust me.

[msingh]

^The problem with that argument is that sweets (chocolates etc) come with tagalong fats. So it turns out a lot of those are offlimits if you're limiting fat.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

"So it turns out a lot of those are offlimits if you're limiting fat."

Why would you want to do that?

[msingh]

I've read the guideline that you should have no more than 15g of fat PER meal if you want to maintain your weight. That's basically one tablespoon of oil. Not much at all. Fat is full of calories, a whopping 9 calories per gram, so that's one reason, maybe the main one.

[Marotta]

I can take in over 100g of fat a day and maintain weight.

[msingh]

You must be in caloric balance, so you use up the excess calories one way or another. Maybe towards recovery, building muscle, training in general, or you just dont eat as much protein and carbs, or who knows. The guideline is for the average person though..

edit. i just wanna add 4-6 meals @ 15g is roughly ~90g anyway, so that's not against the recommendation.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

The guideline is bullshit. Less fat means more carbs and the only way to get that many carbs is to eat grains.

[Oran]

I've read the guideline that you should have no more than 15g of fat PER meal if you want to maintain your weight. That's basically one tablespoon of oil. Not much at all. Fat is full of calories, a whopping 9 calories per gram, so that's one reason, maybe the main one.

That is one of the most retarded diet guidelines I've ever read. And that's saying something.

[msingh]

Nothin wrong with grains tho unless you're a crossfitter paleo nut. wait..

Oran, and the reason?

[hamburgerfan]

Because it means you can never eat bacon and eggs with a glass of milk.

[forgeforth]

^The problem with that argument is that sweets (chocolates etc) come with tagalong fats. So it turns out a lot of those are offlimits if you're limiting fat.

I'm well aware of the fats, but your body will replace the depleting glycogen stores in the muscles and liver before anything gets stored as fat. I've done tremendously well in terms of losing body fat through this method. Of course you don't have to eat junk after training, but for me it makes the 12 weeks or so of dieting more doable. At the end of the day, your diet and training will determine the caloric deficit, but giving your body what it needs when it needs balances everything out. In fact I'd go as far to say that such post workout snacking is a staple of my dieting. It's even more improtant while dieting because it keeps you sane.

I don't know, man. If you've established a pretty decent base of muscle and strength, body fat reduction is quite straightforward. I hope you're not restricting your intake too much. It'll catch up with you in the end.

[msingh]

Thing is man, if you're attempting recomp, then on training days you're on a surplus -- so any excess fat you'll consume will be stored as bodyfat. That means you can't really eat fats on training days, you're pounding the carbs heavy since they'll get used for recovery and building muscle and anabolic shit. On rest days you reduce carbs and eat more fats because you're on a deficit so it means a net result of burning bodyfat for energy. The system is quite well designed. It just doesn't leave room for GOOD foods which are not just carb and not fat, or just fat but not carb but a mixture of both. No free lunch basically.

[Marotta]

Fuck all that shit, there are only two adjustments I ever make to my diet, one is "Eat more" the other is "Eat less"

[msingh]

Fuck all that shit, there are only two adjustments I ever make to my diet, one is "Eat more" the other is "Eat less"

Fair enough. This is more for people wanting to recomp around 10-12% bodyfat.

[Oran]

Oran, and the reason?

How can you have the same fat gram guideline for everyone? A 115 lb. woman can eat the same amount of fat per meal as a 225 lb. man? What if you eat 8 meals a day? You can eat more fat than someone who only eats 3 meals a day?

I won't even get into the whole thing about fats not actually being bad for you or for fat loss. And for the record, I'm between 10 and 12% bodyfat and I eat lots of fat. Beef. It's what for dinner.

[aron]

This place is starting to look like the fucking letters page from Cosmopolitan

[Carlos Daniel]

msingh,

For someone who likes Lyle's writings I find it strange that you used such a silly guideline regarding fat intake.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

"This place is starting to look like the fucking letters page from Cosmopolitan "

I say we make it more like Penthouse forums.

[forgeforth]

Fuck all that shit, there are only two adjustments I ever make to my diet, one is "Eat more" the other is "Eat less"

This is what it all comes down to, essentially. It becomes a bit more nuanced the more advanced a trainee you become (i.e. ~12-15), but this is the general guideline. I'm also not completely convinced over the huge quantities of protein required to build muscle, but personal experience leads me to believe that significant fat loss is accompanied by muscle loss, despite having an excess supply of fat. So when I eat less I focus on lean protein intake as well. And the reason that's effective is lean sources contain fewer calories, which is another way to ensure that you're eating less.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

As far as eating grains, when you want to fatten up livestock, you feed them grains. when they eat grass, they do not get as big or as fat. Same with gorillas. Find one mammal that eats grains in the wild.