CHEAT DAY!

Every once in a while, people gather in celebration of an occasion. Every once in a while, people just want to eat all they can.

The most potentially devastating venue for a cheat day will be a buffet. The participants will have the natural urge to get their money's worth (or to avoid making the host feel that the whole gig was a waste of money). If you can't eat smart and stay in control, then might as well get the most out of the cheat day.

Disclaimer: Cheat days are not recommended in any way by the author of this article.

PRE-BINGE

Before I head to the venue, I usually lift decent to heavy for multiple muscle groups. Try to get a good total body workout that will work as a pre-feeding hunger inducer. I try to get 3 decent exercises per muscle group. It can be draining, and it might not be the best thing out there, but it is what I do just to get the whole body into building/repair mode. The idea is to turn cheat day into something like a bulking day by maximizing your target gains while minimizing your cheat day damages. I would then usually go cardio the next day to release the sweat and to keep things light for me especially if I have trained everything already. Add core or abs at least during the cardio day too if you feel like it!

Little anecdotal note: Today, I cheated.   :(  

I did these before eating:

• Chest - 4 sets of benches, 4 sets of inclined benches, 4 sets of dips   
• Back - 4 sets of lat pull downs, 4 sets of dumbbell rows, 4 sets of cable rows, 4 sets of body weight chinups
• Shoulders - 8 sets of machine shoulder press (using 2 grips with 4 sets per grip), 4 sets of the infamous upright rows.

But then I was trying to catch lunch time and I was not able to do these (which I wanted to do too):

• Squats
• Deadlifts

Ok, time to eat now!

 

DAMAGE CONTROL

Assuming that the calories and volume of food will already be an uncontrollable sunk cost (equal to your max), the remaining factors that you would then have to watch for would be : Bad Fats, Sodium, Sugars.

Sodium probably will be high on everything. Bad oils will probably be high on a lot of things. Sugars can be present in some sauces.

 3 factors to watch for. 2 buffet sections to avoid!

STAY AWAY FROM THESE #1

FRIED FOOD - The usual Go-To-Spot! The best appetizers, the king of main courses! They will saturate you with sodium and bad fats. Items here do not have a good protein-to-bad-stuff ratio. If you want to cheat, try not to do it this way!

STAY AWAY FROM THESE #2

DESSERTS - The cold blooded dagger! These sweets will provide you enough sugar, calories, and fat, to put you in catching up mode for the rest of the week! They are so deadly because of their bad stuff density, and their easy-to-eat nature! If you really need one, grab one (just one!) slice of your favorite poison.

CHEAT IT RIGHT

I know that too much of anything will eventually make you gain weight in a bad way. But . . . It's cheat day today!

My 3 plates of equal sizes (seemingly different due to poor photography) are on the left. First one on top was mostly steak, beef, fish, tofu, shrooms, and broccoli.

2nd plate in the middle had a lot of seafood, veggies, sushi, and gyozas.

Final plate had more beef and veggies, fish, a couple of chicken strips and a pizza! My day is never complete without a slice of pizza!  I also had a small dessert plate behind the scenes! 

I didn't want to cheat too much today, so I didn't put in too much carbs. Most carbs came from the pizza, sauces, sushi, and gyozas.

Generally speaking, grilled food will be much better, creamy food could have fats and oils, while fried food are just plain killers. 

Also, buffets usually have a diverse menu. It can be a chance to consume a variety of proteins and veggies that are too inconvenient to cook on your own. Plus, buffets can be fun too, right?

I was surprised that my plates are not as full this time. I'm guessing that writing these articles have nudged me a bit towards the right direction. I am hoping that it does the same to you too. :)

Related Articles:

1) Nutritional Information
2) What it takes to burn 100 calories
3) Cost Drivers and Incremental Tracking



Clean N' Mean