Cheat Meal??? Lift, Non Lift, or off day?

[slfmade]

So let's say a person has a schedule something like this.

Mon - Lift
Tues - Cardio
Wed - Lift
Thurs - Cardio
Fri - Lift
Sat- Cardio
Sun - Off

It seems most people eat their cheat meal on their "Off day"; however, to me it would make more sense to have your cheat meal on your lift day.

More than likely you'll be going over your daily calories and macros when you do a cheat meal. So wouldn't it make more sense to have a calorie surplus on one of the days your body is most likely to use it? It seems this would also make sense when it comes to macros as well.

I don't cheat much at all....maybe once a month, but was still curious on what day would be most advantageous.

Thanks

[Armykid93]

So let's say a person has a schedule something like this.

Mon - Lift
Tues - Cardio
Wed - Lift
Thurs - Cardio
Fri - Lift
Sat- Cardio
Sun - Off

It seems most people eat their cheat meal on their "Off day"; however, to me it would make more sense to have your cheat meal on your lift day.

More than likely you'll be going over your daily calories and macros when you do a cheat meal. So wouldn't it make more sense to have a calorie surplus on one of the days your body is most likely to use it? It seems this would also make sense when it comes to macros as well.

I don't cheat much at all....maybe once a month, but was still curious on what day would be most advantageous.

Thanks

What your saying makes sense to me as well

[Exilus]

I believe you would burn consume/burn the same amount of calories at the end of the week, no matter what day is your cheat meal.


However, if your cheatmeal is something like pasta, riche (not overall junk food), then i believe it would benefit you that day by giving you increased energy from carbs to do gym/cardio. so you could end up burning more calories via a more intense lifting session, that day.

[gbrice75]

Depends on what time you train. If you workout first thing in the morning, I'd eat the meal the night before. I'd you workout later in the day, I'd probably make it the meal prior to my pre workout meal. Either way, you're ensuring that at least some of those calories are being put to good use and mitigate some of the potential 'damage'.

[slfmade]

Depends on what time you train. If you workout first thing in the morning, I'd eat the meal the night before. I'd you workout later in the day, I'd probably make it the meal prior to my pre workout meal. Either way, you're ensuring that at least some of those calories are being put to good use and mitigate some of the potential 'damage'.

Makes Sense!!! Thanks

There's 3 places that BrownGirl and I wanta make sure we eat before leaving Vegas and moving to the boonies. So we're going to do one per month, but that's gonna run into our cut. Do you think we should do it this way or do one a week during our lean bulk and not cheat at all during the cut?

Feb - Sushi (not a bad cheat)
Mar - This Cajun Restaurant in Vegas (so so)
Apr - Famous Daves (the worst cheat of the 3)

Thanks Guys

[gbrice75]

The 'cheats' will affect your mental state more than anything else. Unless you plan to go completely nuts with the food, I wouldn't worry much. 1 cheat meal per month is nothing IMO.

[bodybuilder]

The 'cheats' will affect your mental state more than anything else. Unless you plan to go completely nuts with the food, I wouldn't worry much. 1 cheat meal per month is nothing IMO.

I have a 1 cheat meal a week but now days i walk around with a fairly low bodyfat. I guess i can see once a month for someone trying to cut.

[oatmeal69]

There may also be something to be said about changing things up. Have a cheat meal once a week on your days off. Your body starts to react to having a bit more and working a bit less, then you go right back and force it to adapt again.

[Armykid93]

Great thread. Super informational

[slfmade]

Good Deal...So one cheat meal per month isn't that bad, and if I'm working out in the evening (which I do) it would be most productive if I ate my cheat meal on a lift day?

We always talk about Brown Rice being a great carb source, how bad is the white rice in sushi? This is the only thing I really question about eating sushi on more of a regular basis. I don't like cream cheese and ALWAYS tell them to leave it out and that seems to be the worst part about sushi nutrition wise.

[jimmyinkedup]

I dont think in the long run its going to make any difference whatsoever. None at all imo. Eat it when its convenient or if u wanna plan a special night oout or have a special occasion eat it then. Ultimately the timimg will be irrelevant.

[FireGuy]

If I am running a carb cycle diet where I am well below TDEE on "low" and "no" carb days I have had good results scheduling the high carb days on days off. If you are in a calorie deficit you are not going to spill or add fat doing this and it gives your glycogen stores a chance to actually fill up a bit. I understand the cheat meal concept and carb cycling are two different things but this may offer some insight into different ways to approach it.

[gbrice75]

Good Deal...So one cheat meal per month isn't that bad, and if I'm working out in the evening (which I do) it would be most productive if I ate my cheat meal on a lift day?

We always talk about Brown Rice being a great carb source, how bad is the white rice in sushi? This is the only thing I really question about eating sushi on more of a regular basis. I don't like cream cheese and ALWAYS tell them to leave it out and that seems to be the worst part about sushi nutrition wise.

Don't worry about the white rice at all. Other than lacking the fiber and other nutrients of whole grain rice, they're practically the same.

I dont think in the long run its going to make any difference whatsoever. None at all imo. Eat it when its convenient or if u wanna plan a special night oout or have a special occasion eat it then. Ultimately the timimg will be irrelevant.

I agree that in the long run, there will be no noticeable impact, and know know you're big on meal timing not mattering, but I still personally put some merit in it. We know that our bodies don't wait until the end of the day to add up calories, they simply use what they need at the time. With that in mind, I feel meal timing can be manipulated to work in our favor, or on the flip side can be ignored to work to our detriment.

[jimmyinkedup]

I agree that in the long run, there will be no noticeable impact, and know know you're big on meal timing not mattering, but I still personally put some merit in it. We know that our bodies don't wait until the end of the day to add up calories, they simply use what they need at the time. With that in mind, I feel meal timing can be manipulated to work in our favor, or on the flip side can be ignored to work to our detriment.

I know we see this differently.
I have an idea.
At the end of the summer im willing to do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you consider optimal meal timing. Ill then take 4-6 weeks ( or whatever needed+ couple weeks adaptation time) off and return to pre diet stats and then i'll do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you would consider the worst possible meal timing.
Conditions - calories and marcos must be identical.
Then we can compare.
We can log it here.
Thoughts?

[--->>405<<---]

^^id like to see the results of that

[BrownGirl]

I know we see this differently.
I have an idea.
At the end of the summer im willing to do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you consider optimal meal timing. Ill then take 4-6 weeks ( or whatever needed+ couple weeks adaptation time) off and return to pre diet stats and then i'll do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you would consider the worst possible meal timing.
Conditions - calories and marcos must be identical.
Then we can compare.
We can log it here.
Thoughts?

Ooohhh..that sounds like an interesting experiment!

[jypoll]

my cheat meals are somewhat healthy and are usually just high carb.. and thus i do them as preworkout on heavy lifting day

[oatmeal69]

Don't worry about the white rice at all. Other than lacking the fiber and other nutrients of whole grain rice, they're practically the same.

What do you think about all that gly***ic index stuff? I mean, it seems to me that given white rice alone, or an equal quantity of brown rice (or say unprocessed oats) with a protein, the protein and more complex carb would be better?

[oatmeal69]

I have NO idea why it starred out that word... ?

[jasc]

Good Deal...So one cheat meal per month isn't that bad, and if I'm working out in the evening (which I do) it would be most productive if I ate my cheat meal on a lift day?

We always talk about Brown Rice being a great carb source, how bad is the white rice in sushi? This is the only thing I really question about eating sushi on more of a regular basis. I don't like cream cheese and ALWAYS tell them to leave it out and that seems to be the worst part about sushi nutrition wise.

Ask for your sushi to be made with brown rice. Many places do it around here. Doesn't taste quite as good, but still tasty. I eat sushi regularly and it's very healthy if made right (except for the 10 million mg's of sodium from dunking in soy sauce).
I'll usually get Tuna rolls with brown rice, green onion, and cucumber/avocado depending on the day. Tastes great n good for you.

[jasc]

I have NO idea why it starred out that word... ?

This site blocks out the letters "c e m" when used in that order. It has to do with a certain company.

advan***ent
repla***ent
de***ber

[slfmade]

I know we see this differently.
I have an idea.
At the end of the summer im willing to do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you consider optimal meal timing. Ill then take 4-6 weeks ( or whatever needed+ couple weeks adaptation time) off and return to pre diet stats and then i'll do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you would consider the worst possible meal timing.
Conditions - calories and marcos must be identical.
Then we can compare.
We can log it here.
Thoughts?

This would be really cool. And post progress pics. IMO we don't have enough vet members here post pics. Would be interesting seeing the physique you guys bring. I know what Gbrice is sporting, and we just saw Hazards impressive transformation in another thread. I find it all interesting.

[Standby]

your a normal guy trying to lose some weight. id have my cheat meal on my off day and relax and enjoy myself. its 1 meal on sunday with your girlfriend and some tv or whatever it is you like to do stop punishing yourself

[Standby]

and for the record you already drive a viper. any guys or girls wont notice your 6 pack they will notice your viper lol

[Sgt. Hartman]

To keep the thread on topic, I don't think it makes one iota of difference when you have your cheat meal. If you're worried about fat gain from a cheat meal then I would be more concerned about the amount of calories and the macros consumed during the rest of the day and less concerned about the timing of it.

I'm gonna have to side with Jimmy on this. I think that believing we can manipulate the timing of our meals, WO's, or cardio sessions to affect our body composition is underestimating the complexity of the human body and its ability to adapt to nearly any situation. There are probably very few circumstances where I believe that meal timing matters at all and those would just be someone trying to get very lean ie. below 7% or so. A year ago I would have argued with this post and called myself an idiot but this is my opinion today. Maybe I need to quit reading stuff written by the top nutritional experts like Alan Aragon, it just makes way too much sense to me.

[oatmeal69]

So this is to say that "no carbs before bed" and all that stuff is bogus? Is it now completely debunked, or is the jury still out?
I like the idea that the body isn't on a 24-hour clock, it doesn't just add everything up at the end of the day. It's a consistent, long term plan that wins.

[slfmade]

So this is to say that "no carbs before bed" and all that stuff is bogus? Is it now completely debunked, or is the jury still out?
I like the idea that the body isn't on a 24-hour clock, it doesn't just add everything up at the end of the day. It's a consistent, long term plan that wins.

I can tell you from personal experience that for me....no carbs before bed is BS! If you go to my log you'll see that I have increased LBM and reduced bodyfat all while taking in over 300g of carbs a day and about 80g of that comes right before bed. This is also being done WITHOUT aas.

That being said...I do know that some people are carbs sensitive and these people should avoid it or at least give it a shot and see how it goes.

I would recommend you try it for 2 weeks or so and track gains/losses.

[Standby]

i eat 80g carbs within the hour before bed everyday

and id say i am carb sensitive

[gbrice75]

I know we see this differently.
I have an idea.
At the end of the summer im willing to do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you consider optimal meal timing. Ill then take 4-6 weeks ( or whatever needed+ couple weeks adaptation time) off and return to pre diet stats and then i'll do 3 months of a diet you put together with what you would consider the worst possible meal timing.
Conditions - calories and marcos must be identical.
Then we can compare.
We can log it here.
Thoughts?

I think you guys misunderstood me and/or my comment is being taken out of context. Let me clarify. In general, I don't think meal timing matters or has much bearing on the end result. Hell, i'm constantly advising people not to worry about slamming their pwo meal, arguably the most important timed meal if you ask the broscience community.

I'm referring to outside of the everyday norm, e.g. a cheat meal. These types of meals can be optimally timed to make better use of excess calories. It only makes sense... more energy in, more energy out.

Still a fun experiment though Jimmy, but like you, I doubt the end result would show any appreciable difference.

What do you think about all that gly***ic index stuff? I mean, it seems to me that given white rice alone, or an equal quantity of brown rice (or say unprocessed oats) with a protein, the protein and more complex carb would be better?

GI is useless IMO. It's values are for the food by itself. I don't know about you, but I never pick up a bowl of rice by itself and eat it, it's always accompanied by a protein and a little fat. The other foods skew the GI value of the rice. Do some research on gly***ic load; it's more useful if you care to pay attention to these kinds of details.

This would be really cool. And post progress pics. IMO we don't have enough vet members here post pics. Would be interesting seeing the physique you guys bring. I know what Gbrice is sporting, and we just saw Hazards impressive transformation in another thread. I find it all interesting.

Haz did a transformation? When? I haven't seen his ass in the diet section for ages!

your a normal guy trying to lose some weight. id have my cheat meal on my off day and relax and enjoy myself. its 1 meal on sunday with your girlfriend and some tv or whatever it is you like to do stop punishing yourself

Shut it fatty!!!! Wait... you're not fat anymore!!!

So this is to say that "no carbs before bed" and all that stuff is bogus? Is it now completely debunked, or is the jury still out?
I like the idea that the body isn't on a 24-hour clock, it doesn't just add everything up at the end of the day. It's a consistent, long term plan that wins.

Depends on the goal IMO. On a strict cut, I don't eat carbs before bed. Then again, I don't eat carbs in most of my meals. Currently I'm on an add mass type diet and eating 75g carbs before I hit the pillow.

[Standby]

haha GB. but ill tell you what. ive always ate my cheat meals on my off day and relaxed lol

[slfmade]

Haz did a transformation? When? I haven't seen his ass in the diet section for ages!

It wasn't in the form of a log...He just posted up pics from like 4 years ago and recently. It was quite a big change.

Here's the link.http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...fore-and-after.....

[gbrice75]

Oh yea, gotcha. Haz is quite the big mofo. Seeing as we're both in Jersey, we're planning to meet up soon... so I can stand next to him and look even smaller than I am. :\

[sgt2jay]

Cheat meal i have read depend on where you are in dieting. Cheat meals are what they are and should be only during maintenance. call it a sanitty reward.

now when training i have read many look to a refeed meal which is much different than a cheat. this meal is every seven days here is a good blog on it

http://missdonnalee.blogspot.com/200...ree-meals.html

i think it is ok to post this if im mistaken sorry i will remove

[gbrice75]

Every 7 days is too general, some go longer but I do agree with you about a refeed vs. a cheat. Too many people have cheat meals or days under the guise that they're having a refeed. NOT the same thing guys!!!