What do you all do? (Not that I’m coming down off half a dozen donuts, oh no, not me!! 
)
Is there any point at all in going to say, do some cardio? Can you sort of balance it out at all? Drink a lot of water? Or is it just elemental psychosis setting in that’s making me wonder??
Typically, I fall asleep or just relax. Just enjoy it, bro!
J
You shoulddo some energy systems work before and after a cheat if possible. Go back to your normal diet right after but don’t eat until hungry.
If anything, I would eat a cheat meal AFTER cardio. In fact, I do.
E.
Becuase we are a population whose strictness oftentimes leads to rebounds of overfeeds and binges, one becomes used to a “personal protocol” following an unplanned (or even a planned) session.
For me personally, I usually take the very next day off to regain some sense of equilibrium. This usually lets my body rid itself of water and regain some hardness…then, the second day is when I usually hit it hard with usual cardio and lifting…with diet dialed back in, i usually regain pre-binge physical stature in about 3-5days
Vain
Well, why don’t you come to my house and we’ll talk about it.
JB wrote an article on those.
IIRC, you should do cardio both before and after.
-Zulu
Y’know, I don’t do the cheat meals. Since I typically eat what I want.
However, I would think that you should either plan for a training session before a cheat meal. And maybe a day of recovery AFTER a cheat meal. Especially after eating enough and eating stuff that’ll make you feel sluggish.
I’ve been eating cheat meals these past two weeks like it’s my job. Typically these meals are 2,000 - 3,000 kcals in one sitting and a lot of times I’m still not full. Occasionally, I’ll pop a T2-Pro, ALA, and Glucosol before the meal. I also follow it up with a light protein + fat meal 3 hours later, regardless if I’m hungry again. Doing cardio after won’t “balance” it out, or make up for the cheat meal, but it certainly helps psychologically.
Maybe I’m being a bit casual about the whole thing, but in my opinion, who gives a damn about a cheat meal?
I hardly think one cheat meal a week is going to make a dent in your diet. If it’s what you need to stay sane then just eat the damn thing and carry on with your day and don’t give it a second thought.
Damn, all this typing is making me hungry. I’m off to KFC…
Vain68…just how big is the “binge” that you go on?..just a large meal or a extra large portion of your favorite “healthy” foods…like for me…baked sweet potatoes that have been regrigerated in tin foil are incredibly good!..or is it a true “falling of the wagon” experience like a half gallon of icecream?
Im thinking it must be a pretty good calorie load if it takes 3-5 days to recover the “pre” physique.
Don
lifer, that why you are a fat fuck. shit…
ANYWAY
i think it depends on how nasty the cheat meal is gonna be and how many training sessions you have done during the week.
if you are borderline overtraining just eat the damn food.
if you are crusing (4 weights 4 cardio) and are gonna have an epic feed (a dozen guiness and a couple of pizzas) then, sure some cardio will eleveate the damage.
Berardi article on this topic:
Damage Control
Okay, allow me to be a little more technical w/ my response. If you are talking about a single cheat meal (I don’t recommend single cheat meals, but if for some reason you use them) then going w/ the recommendations of John Berardi in Damage Control sounds like a good option. However; if going with a prolonged overfeed (8+ hours), you can either conduct it on a completely “off” day or train beforehand. If going w/ the off day, just go to sleep, relax, or do whatever the heck you want after. If you want to train beforehand, you’ll have to eat significantly more during the first 8 hours of the overfeed to compensate for the energy expenditure and recovery needs of the session; I recommend 20% more than you would normally eat in the first 8 hours, and the additional 20% taken in during the the first 2 hours post training. The latter is actually a good way to spark some anabolism while dieting.
When speaking of overfeeding, the real key to maximizing the effects are what you do that day after. I recommend starting the day off w/ a HIIT cardio session in the morning and then conduct another moderate session later in the afternoon/evening. Of course, your regularly scheduled diet should be returned to immediatly after the overfeeding period.
Take care,
Joel
6 doughnuts doesn’t really consitute a cheat meal anyway, does it? You have to break the Baker’s Dozen mark.
currently now I’m doing 1 cheat a week.
I just make sure i get a good workout in the next morning.
And phisique wise i look pretty good the next day.
I just hit it hard in the gym the next day. However, I do like to precede the cheat with about 45-60 min moderate cardio.
If you’ve been following your diet plan and eating clean, one cheat day per week (for me it’s on my rest day, sunday) won’t hurt, and it’ll keep you sane. Since it’s on a rest day, I don’t do cardio or weights, and I don’t care. I just enjoy the junk food, becasue come tomorrow my ass is back on my eating clean diet and balls-to-the-wall training, whether is be to gain or lose weight.
I find that if i eat my sugar-coated choco-cereal in the morning, and maybe a pizza for lunch, etc. it helps me follow my diet plan the rest of the week by getting all my cravings out of the way. I cut off eating around 7:30pm, it helps me feel better the next morning, and all that food is usually out of my stomach by then.
If you can’t wait a whole week for that cheat day, maybe you can eat clean the whole week and have two cheat meals sometime each week.