Bulking and junk food

Zamboni

Just wondering on opinions on this after reading the old classic story from Dave Tate for the 24th time.

I have on occasion grabbed the odd half pounder from a fast food place if it was getting late and I was caught out at a late meeting and needed to hit my macros but didn't want to compromise losing an hour of sleep on cooking.
But then again I'm a late starter to bulking so maybe I'm doing it wrong...

So what frequency would you eat junk food on a bulk?
I tend to keep the junk down to the odd cheat meal but does anyone eat junk as a matter off fact for a bulk?

Hanley

So you’ve read the story of Tate’s dirty bulk… read anything from the last 5 years about him trying to sort his life out after it?!

I did the “see food” diet all the way thru college when I didn’t know any better. It worked - I got and kept my weight at 110kg for PL purposes. I didn’t look good but I was f*cking strong. Probably didn’t even gain that much muscle, but it was never my focus then anyway.

At 89kg or whatever I am now, if I was to do it again I’d eat clean 6 days a week as I’m doing, but I’d increase my kcals from good quality good sources. I’d gorge on day 7 and do it all again.

I certainly wouldn’t overeat. I’d keep a good track of skin folds/waist measurement/bodyweight. I’d pick some key areas (legs, chest size, arm size, shoulder circumference) and track those. If they were going up and I wasn’t seeing massive gains in caliper numbers, I’d be happy I was hitting the right number of kcals. Your body has a limited ability to synthesize protein for new muscle tissue, eating carbs and fat sufficient to fuel the system so the maximum amount of protein goes towards muscle building should be the goal. Just adding an extra 1,000kcals will do nothing but make you fat.

EDIT: Even while dieting now, I'll run into MaccyD's maybe once a week if the wheels fall off for a double cheeseburger - 450kcals and not too bad a macro composition. The quality however....

EDIT 2: I dunno if any of that even answered your question, but hopefully it's a base for some more discussion

EDIT 3: Good thread

There’s probably even an argument for limiting carb intake to preserve insulin sensitivity which should aid muscle growth but that’s a garden path I’m not exploring right now.

Zamboni

Hanley wrote: »

At 89kg or whatever I am now, if I was to do it again I’d eat clean 6 days a week as I’m doing, but I’d increase my kcals from good quality good sources. I’d gorge on day 7 and do it all again.

Ha, you'll have to define gorge for me.
What are we talking here? 2lbs of sausages for breakfast, 3 Big Mac Meals for lunch and two 16" pizzas for dinner?
Or is it more a case of eat the same as the other six days except with a takeaway/meal out etc?

Thud

how much averaging applys to daily calorie intake?

If you have a daily allowance of 3000 calories but eat 3500 one day should you decrease to 2500 the next day (or 2750 next two days or 2900 odd for rest of that week) or does your body dump the majority of the excess in 24hrs?

And vice versa, if you eat too little does that mean you can have a gorge day afterwards?

Hanley

Zamboni wrote: »

Ha, you'll have to define gorge for me.
What are we talking here? 2lbs of sausages for breakfast, 3 Big Mac Meals for lunch and two 16" pizzas for dinner?
Or is it more a case of eat the same as the other six days except with a takeaway/meal out etc?

I'd eat what I wanted. I wouldn't force feed myself, and I wouldn't have MaccyD's for breakfast, Pizza Hut for lunch and Chinese for dinner, but within reasonable limites I'd jsut have whatever I wanted.

As for the averaging of kcals thing - I'd worry about it more if I was dieting tbh. And I wouldn't worry too much about it daily either. I'd like at it as a weekly/bi-monthly thing. But once you're in or around the right amount day to day, when trying to gain, I think you'd be ok.

Michael 09

Interesting thread, I was thinking about this recently. I have never done a bulk and cut approach and was considering it.

On a similar vein, is it even necessary to have a bulk period. Is it unreasonable to think that you can just add lean muscle progressively without having the fat that comes with the bulk or is this just a slower way of doing it?

opr

It sounds much more fun than it actually is when you get stuck in. I have only started recently and am in the main trying to keep it clean. It can be quite difficult to hit the 3500+ cals everyday eating clean. The healthy stuff makes you feel so full which means it can be a real struggle getting that extra meal in. I have compromised somewhat in doing stuff like now and again eating a dark chocolate bar to just bang some cals on.

Opr

Dotcomdolly

I reckon I unwittingly did a dirty bulk when pregnant on my first ah them were the days - chicken fillet roll, snickers and a pint of milk for lunch. A McDonalds burger for the long 10 minute walk home from the bus stop.

fishtank5

I think the best bet is eat steaks and and chickens but stay away form the bread... just my thoughts... bread just sits in the gut..

token

I'm with Hanley on this one. I did the seefood diet one winter made some really good strength gains but also got a gut. The next winter I ate clean with a few litres of milk and made similar gains with only slight fat gain. Force feeding isn't worth it in my eyes anymore unless you are a skinny teenager that hasn't learned how to eat properly yet. Eat enough to support training and recovery is my opinion on it nowadays and you'll get stronger/build muscle.

wersal gummage

zamboni,

why you say lose an hour of sleep on cooking ?? i'm assuming you mean that it takes you an hour to cook a meal ??

if i'm in a hurry for a quick bite, i lob four eggs into a jug and 200 grms of smoked salmon (torn up by hand into little bits), some black pepper ground in, mash it all up and lob it into a heated pan with a spot of butter, scramble it up. i reckon the whole thing takes under five minutes. no idea what the calories are like or whether they add up to a half pounder - i've never counted calories - but it would be pretty healthy and fast.

i dont think its a good idea to bulk on ****e food. sure it would be a high percentage of fat you'd be putting on, never mind what it would be doing to your heart and general health.