Hey I just joined up on T-Nation. Anyway I have a question to ask about my diet.
I recently hired a personal trainer who has been in the gym industry for 20+ years.
I told him what I’m eating and he said how good my diet was, however. He said that I need to have a ‘bad day’ (eating pizza, chips, candy bars etc.) once in a while because my metabolism is so high from the good food I eat.
The thing is, I don’t want to have a bad day. I don’t like eating pizza etc.
Do I need to do this to help kickstart my body in growing, or could I carry on with the clean diet im following?
Which one are you Pesci, Liotta, or Deniro? You don’t need a cheat day. Cheat days are for people struggling to give up junk food, a day they can look forward to after struggling to eat clean all week. Again, you don’t need one to help your “metabolism”. If you can keep on trucking eating clean go for it. It won’t hurt and will only help.
From a nutritional point of view, cheat days are obviously unnecessary. But, the idea behind it is more psychological. If you crave an ice-cream sundae, then it is psychologically easier to stick to your clean diet if you know you’ll get one this weekend, as opposed to having nothing to look forward to.
But, if you are ok without the cheat days, then by no means should you feel pressured into having one.
Also, the idea of a cheat “day” seems a bit extreme. Berardi and most other reliable nutritionists like to keep it to a few cheat meals throughout the week (aka the 90% rule).
Oh, and just because a trainer has been in the industry for x number of years doesn’t mean he/she isn’t a complete tool.
I have to go along with everything that’s been said here. It’s one thing to say that you COULD cheat on occasion, but quite another to say you SHOULD on the basis of some metabolic principle that nobody’s ever heard of. He/she undoubtedly got this from Phillips Body for Life where even he says it’s a psychological thing.
You have to like something that is at least semi-unhealthy… right?
But seriously… seeing that I just started cutting, I feel you. If I gave myself a little leniency, I’d probably run with it. Just save your cheat meal for the meal where you’re in a bind, ie: at a friends house.
Dude your trainer sucks. “You have to have a cheat day”???
I don’t know about you but when I eat crap food I feel like crap. Sure you have to be flexible with your diet sometimes, but if your going to have a cheat day it can still be good food.
It wouldnt be called "cheating" if you were supposed to do it. If your metabolism is high you may have to raise your calories, but this doesnt have to come from junk.
I can’t lie. I been eating solid for almost 2 months. However, once every 3 weeks I may grab a slice of pizza. Just 1 slice, feel little guilty, but doesn’t seem to hinder my efforts…