I know no meals are truly free, and when I "splurge" I do not over stuff myself, I eat reasonable portion sizes. My question is ... being about 10 monhts out from competition, what is the opinion about free meals?

I have heard some people say, eat clean, if you can, yada yada and others say, heck, you NEED to eat junk every once in awhile. I put the question into my advisor (Jeremiah) but haven't heard back and am curious to know the general consensus. I will not be competing until July 2004.

Thanks!

Jeremy

Hey Jeremy--

Like anything you need to find a balance...for instance in may i was 9% and this past early august i was 9.8% but had gained about 4 lbs of muscle and little over 1lb of fat.

Jeremiah suggested i switch my cheat meals to every other weekend instead of every weekend. Ive found this difficult as i go out drinking once a weekend with friends and after a long soccer game on sunday i normally go for pizza with everyone. However, i added back in cardio during the week and Jeremiah's diet suggestions he gave at my last assessment and I have dropped 2lbs and all was fat...i tested at 9% this week. So basically Ive found i can still cheat every weekend (either beer or a meal) and maintain 9%.

My point in all this is that it will depend on your goals, whether you are 100% strict during the week and your metabolism as to whether you can have one once a week or every other weekend. I would not recommend random cheat meals, nor the "whole day cheat plan" (that only works when you are in negative cals all week, ala BFL).

I recommend setting a day and meal..usually for me sunday night pizza and not straying from this schedule...gives me something to look forward to...and keeps me from switching it to a weeknight because I know when Sunday comes Ill want to go to get pizza and if I swapped it i wont be able to or Ill end up cheating twice in one week. Good luck,

JT--

Jeremy: I let myself get too far off track, and one cheat meal quickly became two a week, then an added snack here and there, a bite of this, a taste of that. Yes, I added weight and size.. but I got the fat to go along with it. In my quest to diet down for Fall shows, I am determined to come 'off season' and only allow one real cheat 'meal' a week. As Jason stated, unless you are in 'negative cals' all week.. those cheats daily, several times a day - do add up! Then, you pay in the end to get the fat off.. while keeping the muscle! I'd stay more true to 'diet' and limit the cheats!

Thanks for the advice. I am very well aware of the caloric consequences, that is why my cheats are never overboard. An example cheat meal for me would be a gyro on pita bread. If I was full after that, no dessert. Or it would be a regular, 100% meal from my program, then a 1/2 cup or cup of soy ice cream (I can't do dairy). Nothing major.

Jeremiah just got back and said one every other week. Sounds like a plan to me! Honestly I'll probably just end up getting a cajun chicken breast, broccoli, and a bakedpotato with some butter on it at Longhorn, lol.

Thanks again, all! (I do not do random cheat meals or cheat days, either. I usually pick one meal on Saturday to have with the family. Every other week works just as well --- especially since my entire family eats rather healthy!)

Jeremy

Jeremy, Just reading the discussion and I can relate to you. I emailed Jeremiah many times during by 12 week precontest diet and felt like quite a pest. I didn't actually compete but wanted to shred down and I was fairly happy with the results. I was a little phobic about anything that wasn't on the plan he gave me and to me a cheat was dairy, fruit, or some kind of cereal other than oatmeal.

This summer I've been a little lax, allowing myself ff icecream, sandwiches (I normally don't eat bread) and the like and feel like I'm really off the deep end, even though most of my friends think I'm still eating super healthy. My occaisional lite beer & pizza are so infrequent that I haven't even noticed a difference in my abs. I'm sure I'll be 100% strict during my 12 weeks pre-contest because I'll be paranoid about getting on stage and being flabby, but for now, it is nice to be able to indulge reasonably and feel like I'm able to get away with it.