what are the absolute worst things you can eat?

[clayton2127]

During a bulking diet, what are the absolute worst things you can eat? Obviously, fast food, sugary crap etc.. but what are some things that seem ok to eat, but are really awful. as far as the wrong types of carbs, fat, etc. Ive seen alot of diets, including my own that people thought were great and they ended up realizing they were total crap. Ya know, just eating the wrong things. Im pretty new to this diet thing and im trying to cover everything. I eat a lot of eggs, steak, chicken, rice, veggies,and low fat milk. From what ive read, those are pretty good ( not sure bout the milk though). what else you all got?

[Damienm05]

Really just anything that has both a high simple sugar content, coupled with a high fat content.

This means two things:

1- That there will be an insulin spike. Insulin release tells the body to stop burning fat and start storing it, to put it simply. Take in dietary fat in this state and those excess calories become exponentially more dangerous, right?

2- The food is unusually high in calories. High fat foods, even acceptable health foods such as nuts, are comprised mainly of a macro nutrient that is 9 calories per gram. Not 4 like carbohydrates and protein. Take into account the added calories from the simple sugar, not used sparingly as they're not filling or fibrous, and the calories are out of control.

Now with the above being taken into account, the worst foods should be pretty obvious. Doughnuts (oil saturated sweetened, glazed dough), Cheesecake (dense saturated fat loaded sweetened cream cheese with a cookie crust), Loaded Baked potato (starchy simple carbs loaded with saturated fat via cheese, bacon, sour cream), basically anything you can think of that involves a heavy load of fat calories with simple carbs, right? OK, that's all good and well but these are empty calorie foods that we all know to avoid even in the worst of situations and you said you weren't looking for such obvious examples, so let me point out a few that aren't so blatant and may sneak in on us:

Processed Trail Mix, available everywhere. Trail mix is intended to be a high calorie food. It's sustenance for the trail and should pack a punch in that regard but for some reason, even people not on a long hike seem to think it will serve them well as a clean, healthy snack as opposed to something like a gas station sandwich. But look at the ingredients: Raisins are a high GI carb as well as the candy pieces, "yogurt" covered things, pretzel bits, and whatever else is concealed amongst the peanuts (fat). So really, when on a bodybuilding diet where the general requirements are high protein, enough carbs for energy, and just enough fat to fill in the rest of your caloric intake - this is one of the worst foods you can eat as you're getting no complex carbs, no real complete protein source, and each handful is hundreds of calories. Also, many "energy" bars are the same as the trail mix. Minimal protein, sweetened nuts, sweetened granola, chocolate chips, candied fruit pieces, stuff like that. Another one of those foods that are OK for Lance Armstrong but not you. In this vein, we should also look at "honey" roasted nuts, chocolate covered nuts, and such. All candied fat.

Restaurant food that somehow passes as being NOT fast food. Chipotle Burritos, many Subway sandwiches, pizza, Honey BBQ wings, gyros. Also, many restaurant foods that aren't as readily available but just as bad like a steak with mashed potatoes, creamy chicken pastas, chicken parmigiana, etc. All of the above contain high fat, often multiplied by many sources, and simple carbs. Let's break down the burrito because I think this is one of those foods that a lot of guys might have on a bulk as it seems like something really substantial, loaded with protein and needed carbs. Cheese, Guacamole, Sour cream - all of which are dolloped on in portions that the back of their container will indicate equal multiple servings. These are the fats. Well, assuming you get chicken that is - the other meats aren't lean. The flour tortilla is a rather empty source of calories, the white rice, the beans (loaded with pork fat surely) - these are the carb sources. Well, provided you don't get tortilla chips too. So, what are you really getting in this 2000 calorie behemoth that one serving of guacamole, one cup of brown rice, and 8 oz. of lean protein wouldn't give you? Nothing, just a ton of calories.

[azizi123]

Oh my, u know ur shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, I have learnt alot from the above

[-KJ-]

Another excellent post by damien

[Tigershark]

Great post Damien.

[gbrice75]

Good stuff D!

[jngymrat]

Strong, simple, to the point! Nice work.

[SlimmerMe]

doughnuts
cheescake
baked potato loaded
trail mix
honey roasted nuts
chocolate covered nuts
candied fruit
chipolte burritos
subway sandwiched
pizza
honey bbq wings
gyros
steak with mashed pototoes
creamy chicken pasta
chicken parmigiana

[MBMETC]

doughnuts
cheescake
baked potato loaded
trail mix
honey roasted nuts
chocolate covered nuts
candied fruit
chipolte burritos
subway sandwiched
pizza
honey bbq wings
gyros
steak with mashed pototoes
creamy chicken pasta
chicken parmigiana

hmmmm slimmer all that stuff listed looks familiar, I kmow i just read that somewhere

[tjax03]

Guys, I mean no disrespect towards amy of you, but we really don't need three posts just saying great post to another person. One is ok, as it may confirm or reinforce the information in the referenced post. Three compliments just borders on post whoring.

[gbrice75]

doughnuts
cheescake
baked potato loaded
trail mix
honey roasted nuts
chocolate covered nuts
candied fruit
chipolte burritos
subway sandwiched
pizza
honey bbq wings
gyros
steak with mashed pototoes
creamy chicken pasta
chicken parmigiana

Wow, you tryin to weaken a guy Slimmer? =P

Guys, I mean no disrespect towards amy of you, but we really don't need three posts just saying great post to another person. One is ok, as it may confirm or reinforce the information in the referenced post. Three compliments just borders on post whoring.

I can't speak for the others, but I never claimed NOT to be a post whore.

PS - we like to give props when due. People appreciate positive reinforcement when they take the time to write up something good and helpful. Also, I don't see this as post whoring at all; if the same person said it 3 times, that obviously is. Multiple people saying thanks or GJ is not. If you posted pics in your thread and person after person wrote "Looking great TJ!!" - would that be post whoring? No.

PPS - ^^^ not trying to sound like a d!ck.

[clayton2127]

heres a question. the subway sammys.. i know alot of em are crap.. but sometimes theres nothing else when im working.. thats the only thing i will eat out.. only reason being because i get roasted chicken on wheat with onions and lettuce.. thats it.. figured that wasnt bad.. only has 9 grams of fat, 620 cals.. dunno bout carbs but atleast its wheat bread..

[Damienm05]

That sandwich you mentioned above isn't terrible. But you have to understand, that whole wheat bread they use isn't the best - it's pretty heavily processed, enriched wheat flour mixed with equal parts white flour and I'm pretty sure a foot-long is at least 80g carbs. I was referring to when people get a steak sub on foot-long wheat (sounds decent, sure). But the steak isn't flank, the bread isn't ezekiel, they're bulking so they say what the hell and get some cheese, some mayo, some honey-mustard or chipotle sauce (sugar-mayo, haha) and all of a sudden, like the burrito, it's a monster calorie production. Like I said, even the non-obvious empty calorie foods aside, there's plenty of meals that'll make you fat.

[clayton2127]

hmm i see.. also, thanks for the initial info u gave, i appreciate it

[baseline_9]

Guys, I mean no disrespect towards amy of you, but we really don't need three posts just saying great post to another person. One is ok, as it may confirm or reinforce the information in the referenced post. Three compliments just borders on post whoring.

Great post

Does anyone else agree


This thread is making me hungry, can we stop talking about all this great food

[tjax03]

Wow, you tryin to weaken a guy Slimmer? =P



I can't speak for the others, but I never claimed NOT to be a post whore.

PS - we like to give props when due. People appreciate positive reinforcement when they take the time to write up something good and helpful. Also, I don't see this as post whoring at all; if the same person said it 3 times, that obviously is. Multiple people saying thanks or GJ is not. If you posted pics in your thread and person after person wrote "Looking great TJ!!" - would that be post whoring? No.

PPS - ^^^ not trying to sound like a d!ck.

No worries, you are a good guy and an asset to this board. I understand where you are coming from, but in the case that you pointed out, when someone posts pics, they are doing so expressly to receive criticism/approval from others on the board. In that case you are right, multiple comments are appropriate. However Damien made that post simply to answer someone's question. It was a well thought out post which would have been duly appreciated with one comment. It just doesn't seem to warrant multiple responses, especially since I think we all know Damien is confident in himself and his advice by this point

Anyways, that's all I'll say on this matter, otherwise I think I may become guilty of whoring myself.

[SlimmerMe]

hmmmm slimmer all that stuff listed looks familiar, I kmow i just read that somewhere

yes....it was a synopsis.....and I did not think it was posted since it took forever and I closed down the computer but it did post.....so....simply making the cheat sheet list....and man.....I like some stuff on that list!

and Gbrice.....trying to make you stronger than you already are....

[yungone501]

Great info for newbs Damien.

Bump to the top again.

[JohnnyVegas]

Guys, I mean no disrespect towards amy of you, but we really don't need three posts just saying great post to another person. One is ok, as it may confirm or reinforce the information in the referenced post. Three compliments just borders on post whoring.

I agree with the folks above. I will thank someone for taking the time to write something informative, regardless of how many others have already. I always viewed it as respectful and polite since he hasn't given me a PayPal account to tip him for a job well done.

However, I am bummed by the constant reminders that my beloved granola is a no-no. Damn you delicious granola!

[BrysZ]

I read somewhere that the two worst foods were french fries and boxed breakfast cerals because of there combination of simple carbs, high fat and high sugar....idk if its right or not

[Damienm05]

French fries, yes. Basically, just oil saturated simple carbs with salt. Add ketchup, mayo, honey mustard, and other sauces and they're even worse. The worst meal possible is probably loaded cheese fries, which is a common appetizer in the US. It's fries with melted cheese, bacon, and ranch. Also, I'm originally from Quebec and our national dish is something called Poutine: look it up, haha.

Most boxed cereal isn't bad at all. It's very easy to over-eat but in most cases, it's just sugar/grains with no fat. Even something like Lucky Charms, though high in sugar is made with whole grains and has basically zero fat. Now, certain granola cereals are very high in calories even without all the honey, nuts, dried fruit, etc. - refer to my comments on trail mix.

[yungone501]

^^^ True about the cereal being grains/sugar. Not by itself is it considered to be all that bad but when milk comes into the equation, thats when it becomes nasty. 99.9% of people eat cereal and milk...this is one of the 'absolute worst' combos. I occasionally bring ziplock bags of honey shredded wheats to work and eat them as snack, good for an energy boost and some good grain additions in my daily diet.