Perhaps the reason why your best days in the gym being after Christmas is in your case because you’re over-trained and your body is grateful of the rest? This may indeed be the case for some people, but not everybody.[/quote]
OR, it could be due to his glycogen stores being filled after a cheat day. My best days in the gym when trying to drop any weight are the days after cheating of some sort. That doesn’t point to overtraining. That points to giving my body less than it needs to run optimally BECAUSE OF A DIET.
As for it taking a week to “recover”? What are you recovering from?
Not recovery in a traditionl sense, my meaning was that if you’re keeping track of your calories and have a set goal per day and per week, 2000 calories is quite a bit to peg back.
eengrms76 wrote:
It is a proven fact that a large influx of food can rev up a stagnant metabolism. This isn’t something that’s just made up nor is it an “excuse”. Ever heard of a carb-up? It’s the same principle. I have my absolute best days in the gym the day after Christmas every year
If you’re still talking about the one day of high calories, yes it will rev up your metabolism, but it won’t do so for any significant amount of time. To make a more lasting change you’d need to eat more for an extended period.
Perhaps the reason why your best days in the gym being after Christmas is in your case because you’re over-trained and your body is grateful of the rest? This may indeed be the case for some people, but not everybody.[/quote]
overtraining—brilliant analysis
And it isn’t suppose to rev your metabolism for a month. That would be why cycling calories or carbs is done every few days. Like 3 days of low carbs and then a spike. Or a cheat day every WEEK.
I know you want to look like you know what you are talking about and you want to show everyone how serious you take your training, but all you’ve shown is your inability to grasp simple concepts and the reason you wouldn’t be mistaken for a weightlifter walking down the sidewalk.
I too used to sweat every calorie then I one day realized how many times I’m over eaten and 3 or 4 days later after a little stricter dieting I was actually a little bigger and a little more sane. In the long run it all evens out or improves.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Well said. If someone is low carb dieting, one day of eating more could actually HELP your progress, especially if it isn’t a regular occurrence.
[/quote]
Absolutely. But this still is coming off like an excuse. Let me ask you this:
In your “one day of eating more with the aim of replenishing lost glycogen due to low carb dieting”, are you strategically increasing the amount of good quality macronutrients or are you stuffing yourself with egg-nog, pudding and chocolate?
[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Like I told the OP, if he had results over the years, he would know you don’t need to worry about two days of eating. It’s the other 363 that count.[/quote]
Like I said before. It is not the 2 days, it is the whole month.
Sure I’m happy to lash out on Christmas and other big days, but the fact is I have several engagements per week where people are hoping that everyone will eat and drink heaps.
I suppose if the days weren’t reaching 40 degrees or 105+ in Yankee, I wouldn’t give a shit if I put a few unwanted kg on. But it is beach weather in Aus.
You guys would be bitching if you had a period like this in July, July or August.
[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Sad, but true. Of course the irony is that people who worry the least about this shit are the ones who look the best. Like I told the OP, if he had results over the years, he would know you don’t need to worry about two days of eating. It’s the other 363 that count.[/quote]
Are you really trying to tell me that the people who give less thought to these things look better than those who do? Have you been into the Frankencence?
Law, your inability to state your point of view without attacking me personally just makes you look weaker and weaker.
[quote]RagingBull wrote:
Not recovery in a traditionl sense, my meaning was that if you’re keeping track of your calories and have a set goal per day and per week, 2000 calories is quite a bit to peg back.[/quote]
why would you need to “peg” them back? You think eating a total of 2000 cals less over the next few days is really going to make a difference? You’ll just end up under-eating for a few days. That’s pretty stupid.
A lasting change? If you really are afraid of eating on Christmas any amount of over-eating will result in a lasting change for you. For a normal person- maybe not.
Haha. Funny. I actually only go to the gym 3 days week and rest 4 with only minor activity. Have been for almost a decade. I’m far from overtrained. Regardless- that’s a fairly retarded assumption to make.
I know you’re just trying to help, however misguided it may seem, but try not to dig your hole much deeper. It’s ok to just stop and move on to another thread. Nobody will think less of you.
[quote]sasquatch wrote:
Another clear case of the pursuit of perfection completely overriding any sense of common sense.
Why would anyone stress one bit about celebrating a holiday?
Why would anyone argue the fact that, if in fact you live to this degree of perfectionism, that a cheat day is actually the one thing you need?
[/quote]
Again, no one’s stressing, just talking methods of decreasing the damage.
If I lived to the highest level of perfectionism a cheat day of any sort would only be a bad thing - Everything would be cycled as part of a predetermined plan. I’m not saying that I do, of course. I highly doubt anyone does.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
OR, it could be due to his glycogen stores being filled after a cheat day. My best days in the gym when trying to drop any weight are the days after cheating of some sort. That doesn’t point to overtraining. That points to giving my body less than it needs to run optimally BECAUSE OF A DIET.[/quote]
Just how do you cheat on your “eat everything in sight” diet, X? Is it by eating a sensible sized, well balanced meal?
Yeah, go ahead and inhale that box of chocolates, X - your glycogen stores probably need refilling.
[quote]RagingBull wrote:
sasquatch wrote:
Another clear case of the pursuit of perfection completely overriding any sense of common sense.
Why would anyone stress one bit about celebrating a holiday?
Why would anyone argue the fact that, if in fact you live to this degree of perfectionism, that a cheat day is actually the one thing you need?
Again, no one’s stressing, just talking methods of decreasing the damage.
If I lived to the highest level of perfectionism a cheat day of any sort would only be a bad thing - Everything would be cycled as part of a predetermined plan. I’m not saying that I do, of course. I highly doubt anyone does.
[/quote]
Once again, you are showing how little you know. Your body doesn’t work according to plan. For a beginner, it is a very good idea to simply follo9w a simple plan to the letter. That is because they lack the knowledge to make changes as needed. You can’t predict gains and you also can’t tell exactly when your body is going to decrease or ramp up your metabolism.
You can simply do your best to give it what it needs and work hard for any results. How would a cheat day be a bad thing? If you were dieting for a contest, then yes, you may want to be that strict with your diet. Otherwise, you come across as being overly restrictive which is usually an act followed by those making LESS overall progress than someone who simply tries to overshoot calories within moderation.
[quote]RagingBull wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Well said. If someone is low carb dieting, one day of eating more could actually HELP your progress, especially if it isn’t a regular occurrence.
Absolutely. But this still is coming off like an excuse. Let me ask you this:
In your “one day of eating more with the aim of replenishing lost glycogen due to low carb dieting”, are you strategically increasing the amount of good quality macronutrients or are you stuffing yourself with egg-nog, pudding and chocolate?
[/quote]
I don’t even eat “egg nog, and pudding” no matter what because I don’t like those particular foods. That won’t stop me from eating some pumpkin pie if I want it on a freaking major holiday like Christmas. I am pretty sure that if we posted pictures of the people being so strict as to avoid all foods like that one day out of the year, they would be showing LESS overall progress. Your body just doesn’t work like that and someone so restrictive as to think even one day of eating more calories is going to set them back, unless a contest is around the corner, is probably holding back their progress more than they even realize.
So, to answer your question, no, I don’t worry about “strategically increasing calories” with steel milled oats and carb free protein powder on Christmas or Thanksgiving. Maybe that’s why I don’t fit in a “size large” shirt and people notice I lift weights even if I have a sweater on.
[quote]sasquatch wrote:
overtraining—brilliant analysis
And it isn’t suppose to rev your metabolism for a month. That would be why cycling calories or carbs is done every few days. Like 3 days of low carbs and then a spike. Or a cheat day every WEEK.
[/quote]
There’s a big difference between calorie/carb cycling and pigging out on Christmas day.
One is a planned, controlled increase in macronutrients, one is a random ingestion of food for temporary pleasure.
Cheat day every week? If you’ve got a specific body composition goal than this is ridiculous. Why do you think they’re called “Cheat” days? If they were a positive part of your nutritional plan then they would already be in there and you wouldn’t be cheating!
why would you need to “peg” them back? You think eating a total of 2000 cals less over the next few days is really going to make a difference? You’ll just end up under-eating for a few days. That’s pretty stupid.
[/quote]
If you haven’t experienced sticking to a detailed plan, that’s OK, but read my post again and realise that I’m talking about that case.
[quote]eengrms76 wrote:
Haha. Funny. I actually only go to the gym 3 days week and rest 4 with only minor activity. Have been for almost a decade. I’m far from overtrained. Regardless- that’s a fairly retarded assumption to make.
[/quote]
No assumption was made. If you need to cheat to get results then you’re not doing the right thing to begin with.
[quote]RagingBull wrote:
sasquatch wrote:
overtraining—brilliant analysis
And it isn’t suppose to rev your metabolism for a month. That would be why cycling calories or carbs is done every few days. Like 3 days of low carbs and then a spike. Or a cheat day every WEEK.
There’s a big difference between calorie/carb cycling and pigging out on Christmas day.
One is a planned, controlled increase in macronutrients, one is a random ingestion of food for temporary pleasure.
Cheat day every week? If you’ve got a specific body composition goal than this is ridiculous. Why do you think they’re called “Cheat” days? If they were a positive part of your nutritional plan then they would already be in there and you wouldn’t be cheating![/quote]
Many bodybuilders include at least “cheat meals” into their weekly program if for no other reason to maintain some level of sanity for 3-4months while they diet down. Some choose to avoid this and not do it. It seems to work for some either way. If you didn’t know this, now you do. Much of it is based on YOUR INDIVIDUAL METABOLISM. Obviously someone with a much faster metabolism can get away with more than someone who gains body fat easily.
This all makes more sense if you actually have enough muscle mass to justify all of this dieting to this degree. Otherwise, you just sound really weird.
To make a claim that it doesn’t help you at all is foolish. It has the potential to help keep your metabolism from decreasing drastically. Obviously blanket statements should be avoided, and for many, that “cheat meal” simply means increasing caloric and carb intake. For others, it means eating whatever the hell you want for that one meal. If the person doing so is making more progress than you, exactly how is it wrong?
Once you’ve put on some muscle, you’ll look back and laugh at yourself for worrying about this like this. Then again… You might not put any muscle on, in which case I expect you’ll start a thread like this next year!
You can simply do your best to give it what it needs and work hard for any results. How would a cheat day be a bad thing? If you were dieting for a contest, then yes, you may want to be that strict with your diet. Otherwise, you come across as being overly restrictive which is usually an act followed by those making LESS overall progress than someone who simply tries to overshoot calories within moderation.[/quote]
X, you don’t seem to understand that this thread was started with a mindset other than traditional bulking. Open your mind a little, see things from a different point of view.
How would a cheat day be a bad thing? Again, if a cheat day gets you closer to your goals then your plan is ill thought out to begin with.
Some of us would actually like to go one better than the “feed it everything and everything and hope for good results” plan.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I don’t even eat “egg nog, and pudding” no matter what because I don’t like those particular foods. That won’t stop me from eating some pumpkin pie if I want it on a freaking major holiday like Christmas. I am pretty sure that if we posted pictures of the people being so strict as to avoid all foods like that one day out of the year, they would be showing LESS overall progress. Your body just doesn’t work like that and someone so restrictive as to think even one day of eating more calories is going to set them back, unless a contest is around the corner, is probably holding back their progress more than they even realize.
[/quote]
Calm down, X, I promise no one wants to take away your pumpkin pie.
We weren’t talking about bringing two spinich and lean chicken salads to your parents’ house for Christmas, we were just talking about curbing eating to grotesque excess.
Once you’ve put on some muscle, you’ll look back and laugh at yourself for worrying about this like this. Then again… You might not put any muscle on, in which case I expect you’ll start a thread like this next year!
[/quote]
Man have you got a chip on your shoulder! You come off, to me, exactly like Go Heavy Fool.
[quote]RagingBull wrote:
How would a cheat day be a bad thing? Again, if a cheat day gets you closer to your goals then your plan is ill thought out to begin with.[/quote]
Please post some pics. I’m curious to see what goals what will reach by worrying about one meal out of the year.