pro bodybuilders and cheat days

[alex2678]

From the very beginning I've always believed the "magazines" and thought that all pro and/or amatuer bodybuilders ate clean foods year round. Lately I'm starting to think that's all bull. My friend went to the casino last year with Lee Preist and the guy nearly cleaned out the entire buffet. Ribs, chicken, pasta, cheesecake, ice cream.... Dave Palumbo (sp) says he used to eat burgers everyday when bulking, and Mike Mattarazzo mentioned on several occasions that when he was young he'd eat anything that didn't move. Of course, steroids and genetics aside, people shouldn't get so wrapped up into eating clean all the time. As long as you have abs you really don't need to be all that restrictive with your food intake.

 

[CrazyK]

Yeah, but most pro bodybuilders don't have abs showing deep in to their offseason. Also, keep in mind that most people on here are in to general fitness and looking great year around. Pro BBer's have different goals, basically, put on as much mass as possible 9 months out of the year, than starve your self down to 4-6% while taking as much drugs as your body can handle. That is not only unhealthy, but unpractical to most of the people on this board.

 

[SlavikHavik]

Yeah, but do you want to look like lee preist in the off season?

 

[javaguru]

Lee Priest off season picture = disgusting.

 

[alex2678]

Lee Priest off season picture = disgusting.

I agree totally that most people including myself will never look like pro bodybuilders. In my opinion anything beyond a "Batista" type body (from wwe) looks awful. It's just that I'm constantly hearing skinny people in the gym telling me that they eat nothing but chicken, egg whites etc.... and haven't touched a burger or a piece of pizza in years. That, in my opinion is insane. As long as you don't go over your calorie maintenence for the day, that burger or steak or whatever is not going to be stored as fat. If you start to smooth out just cut back on your calories for a few days.
I know one guy who's girlfriend broke up with him because he would n't take her out to dinner on the weekend and was carrying around shakes or tupperware containers full of chicken and rice wherever they went!

 

[mcr]

It's just that I'm constantly hearing skinny people in the gym telling me that they eat nothing but chicken, egg whites etc.... and haven't touched a burger or a piece of pizza in years. That, in my opinion is insane. As long as you don't go over your calorie maintenence for the day, that burger or steak or whatever is not going to be stored as fat.

I see what you're getting at, but it's not JUST the fat factor. Some people (myself included) find it EXTREMELY difficult to have just "one" of anything (e.g. pizza) and are better off not cheating, as once you cheat, it just escalates. It's also about your health as much as fat gain. Also, if you're staying under calorie maintenence and are wasting say 500 calories on a burger - that's 500 calories of clean food that you can't eat. Plus, don't assume that everyone enjoys burgers. My favourite meal right now is egg whites and oat pancakes (with nothing else added) and I would choose this over burgers any day!