Hey guys,Sean Nalewanyj here of SeanNal.com and BodyTransformationTruth.com and in this
video lesson I want to quickly discuss cheat meals and whether or not they are harmful
to your muscle building or fat burning results.
So is having some high sugar, high fat food here and there going to have any negative
effect on your progress?
Well, always remember this, your body does NOT view your diet in terms of individual
food items.
It doesn't distinguish between a piece of fish and a potato and a cup of broccoli and
a chocolate bar.
All it really sees is your entire diet as a whole – the total calories, the protein,
the carbs, the fats, the fiber, the micronutrients all combined into one giant ball of chewed
up goo, essentially.
So if you’re “eating clean” the majority of the time and then you have a slice of pizza,
it’s not as if a giant red light begins flashing within your body and fat storage
goes into overdrive and your health and your energy levels instantly plummet.
Proper nutrition is all about the big picture.
The key is simply moderation and tracking.
Now you’ll see different figures thrown around here but the one that I rely on and
recommend is the 80/20 or 90/10 rule which simply says that if 80 to 90 percent of your
diet is coming from traditional clean foods like lean proteins and high fiber carbs and
healthy fats then the remaining 10 to 20 percent can come from whatever foods you'd like as
long as it fits into your total daily protein, carb and fat totals.
The 80-90% of “clean foods” will ensure that all of your needs are being fully met
when it comes to quality protein, fiber, micronutrients and essential fats, leaving you with 10 to
20 percent of your total daily macronutrient intake to basically play around with however
you’d like.
For example, if your total carbohydrate intake was set at 275 grams per day, then around
30 to 50 of those grams could be allotted to whatever foods you’d like.
As long as your total diet remains within your protein, carb and fat ranges then including
these “cheat” foods is not going to magically cause you to get fat.
In fact it’s physiologically impossible.
And this applies whether your goal is to build muscle or to burn fat and this is why I hate
the term “cheat meal” or “cheat foods” to begin with, because it implies that you’re
doing something that's wrong or outside of the rules, which obviously, you're not.
I mean, having a slice of pizza or a bowl of ice cream here and there is not going to
negatively affect your results, nor does it make you inferior in some way to the people
who eat nothing but boiled chicken breast and spinach all day.
Now if you really have no desire at all to indulge in these types of foods in moderation,
then that’s totally fine.
But if you would be interested in getting into really good shape while still being able
to eat in a flexible, more open way then just know that it’s perfectly fine to do so.
Just remember that this is not a free ticket to start stuffing your face with donuts and
Twinkies.
The “flexible foods” that you include still need to reasonably fit into your overall
diet as a whole in terms of the total calories and the protein and carbs and fats.
And that’s the whole point here: as long as it fits the totals then you have nothing
to worry about.
However, if you take this advice too far and it does push your total calorie intake into
an excess of say, 200 calories a day, then yes, you WILL gain fat, or you'll slow down
your progress if you’re in a fat loss phase.
Again, tracking and moderation are the name of the game here.
If you have a reasonably good idea of what your daily macronutrient needs are and how
your “flexible foods” are fitting into the totals then just follow the 80/20 or 90/10
rule and you’ll be good to go.
So thanks alot for watching this video.
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Talk to you again soon.