Is one free meal or “cheat meal” a week on Sunday every week result in worse results while in a growing phase or just bodybuilding in general ?
No, your growing. Why would an off plan meal hinder that?
Biggest issue is when people eat garbage on an off plan day/meal and then it becomes more than one meal/day a week and before you know it your dirty bulking and getting fat.
For me consistancy in diet is important.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with smashing a pizza once in a while.
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So basically as long as I just keep it to that one meal a week and don’t start binging and making it like 5 times a week it would be okay ?
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Yeah not even an issue.
Relevant article. It’s also great if Sunday is your cheat day to fuel up and then Monday is your heavy squats/whatever day.
I’m curious as to why you need a cheat meal during a growing phase in all honesty.
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Not really a cheat meal but a free meal or a meal of plan of my diet plan every Sunday like going to dinner every Sunday
That just sounds like gaining to me.
Sometimes people have families. I know that Friday/Saturday or Sunday night dinners are more lax than the rest of the week. Like anything else, the whole purpose is to enjoy life. If getting a pizza on Friday night or making sliders on Saturday makes the time you are sharing better, small price. You can make choices to limit the damage, such as go with a Margarita Pizza or lean Bison.
You can train without making everyone else around you either miserable, eat what you do or worse make them feel guilty for not being “disciplined” (That will make for a fun late night…).
Let’s face it, there are a limited number of people here making their living off being ripped. If you are training for a contest, ok. But that is temporary. Just some advice from 62, make the time with the people worth spending it with, enjoyable. The kid isn’t always going to be 12 wanting to go get a pizza.
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Tell me if im wrong… but are you into the whole maingainning thing?
To be honest im currently taking off weight after a 3 year hiatus of treating my body like a whore house.
Im tracking my cals obsessively… so i can hurry up and get out of this phase SAP.
On Saturday ill at least have 1 meal that die hards would considered un healthy . But i adjust my calories through the week to compensate. So far that strategy is netting me 1.5 to 2 lbs a week average. And allows me to take my partner out to dinner .
So no it wont hurt you …
@rmf5630 makes excellent points above i would take it to heart.
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Let’s start with a required premise: You are no more than 15% body fat. If you are more than 15% body fat you need to improve your body composition before starting a growing phase.
Now, if you are less than 15% body fat, you can have a few (3 or 4) “family meals” per week. But during these “family meals” this is not a pig out opportunity. It is a time of moderation for any processed foods.
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