I occasionally see this on social media where bodybuilders will gorge on giant meals of desserts and junk food and somehow dont end up with diabetes, become ill in general, or just wreck their physique. I understand they probably eat healthy on other days that we dont see, but still it seems odd to not have any negative effects from these wild cheat day binges.
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Cheat days (one a week) have always helped me drop body fat. I think it prevents metabolic problems long term (your body actually lowers your caloric needs when you go low cal for too long – check out most of the people on The Biggest Loser 5, 10 tears down the road).
But the most important benefit is psychological. If I want a waffle on Tuesday, for example, knowing I can have three of them on my cheat day (Saturday) makes it super easy to wait. And most of the time I lose the impulse to eat more than one. So I eat cleaner during the week. Perpetually denying yourself is a terrible way to have to live.
It’s the gain and cut cycle, really.
To get big muscles, you need to eat big calories. And it often doesn’t even matter what those calories are, so long as there’s enough protein to go along with it. And yeah, they also gain a lot of fat with that muscle. Take a look at any of the “strongest man” or powerlifting types: maximum muscle comes with a little extra fat.
The difference between these two types is that people who build muscle for looks go through another stage where they diet and lose fat through a calorie and fat deficit.
Diabetes is a metabolic condition caused by genetics and long term habits. a day here or there is irrelevant.
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