I know this may sound dumb. But can someone please simplify the cheater’s diet for me? I don’t know where to start from or how to find my caloric intake. What foods are high in fructose? And is it the same a “Steroid Dieting?” I really would apprecite some help on this, so I’ll thank you guys in advance. Thank you
Fructose is a monosaccharide also known as fruit sugar. Fruits and honey are the main sources of fructose. Fructose is the sweetest of the sugars its also the most hydroscopic of all sugars. Its generally not added to other food products becasue it has adverse effects on certain products. Also High Fructose Corn Syrup is the main sweetner used in soft drinks. I’m not aware of the diets you mention so I can’t comment on those.
For starters, the Cheaters Diet is a highly hypocaloric diet which relies heavily on an androgen such as Mag-10 to preserve lean body mass. You create a further caloric deficit by doing a lot of cardio. I have to check the article again, but I believe that, all told, you will probably be in a daily negative energy balance of -1500 or so. Possibly more, again, I’d have to check the article.
As far as the diet, you eat about 1g protein per pound of LBM, lots of healthy fats and some carbs. Every 3 to 4 days, you have a "cheat session" from about dinner until you go to bed, eating mainly simple carbohydrates. This will bump your leptin levels up, allowing you to continue to lose fat, for reasons beyond the scope of this post.
There is a lot more to it, and I have not done much justice to Joel's article, but that should be enough to give you a basic understanding. Having read this, if you go back, the article should me a bit more sense to you. Give it a shot, I'm willing to bet you'll have fantastic results.
Hope this helps.
did you read the article in issue 230? Everything is outlined there.
Fructose is also one half of sucrose (table-sugar). If you look at the dietary information, and it includes the words “sugar”, “table-sugar”, “glucose-fructose” then the food contains sucrose. That means that one-half of those calories are good for nothing but refilling liver stores. Actually, during a diet, I don’t think it’s nearly as harmful as when you’re bulking (since, during a diet, the liver will empty its glycogen stores into the blood).
Can I follo my own training rpogram though? I play football and don’t wanna get off the program mycoaches gave to me. In Mag#230 I couldn’t find a way to calculate my maintnence calories. Help on that please I’m 240 at around 15% bf. Could you gentlemen give me some examples of food that I should avoid on cheat days? You guys are helping!!! Thanks
Glad we can be of service =) Yes, you can stay on the program you’re on now, but you may want to modify it slightly. Strength training will be very beneficial for holding onto muscle.
Foods to avoid while cheating would include anything that include both carbs and fat in high amounts. Examples of things you can eat are low fat pretzels, low fat pop-tarts, etc. Things like that.
As far as calculating your maintenance calories, there are several formulas here at T-mag, but because it's so individual, it's a crapshoot anyway. Read the Diet Manifesto for more insight.
Hope this helps.
Thanks. So things such as fat free ice cream, pasta, and fat free twinkies, etc. would be suffice for cheat meals? Also the title of Mag#230 said eat pizza and get lean. Isn’t that both highi fat and carbs??? Just wondering.
Yes, all of the foods you listed would work well. Also, you can have some fat, including that in pizza.
I believe that Joel, since writing the article, has done a little more research and now suggests that you eat less fat and more carbs, though. I'll have to check with him, though. I'll have him post with his reasoning.
Hope this helps.
BigKen, read John Berardi’s article “massive eating1” which will give you exactly how to measure your maintance calories. THough, Mr. Berardi’s Ideas are a bit extreme, they work. Also, if you are already running with your workout good, if you guys are just lifting for football right now then wake up early and run first thing in the morning as Joel has prescribed.
I’m gettin pumped!! I finally figured out my caloric needs. Another question I have is what source og Low-GI carbs do you reccomend? Strictly green veggies? What are EPA/DHA’s? What type and brand of EFA’s would you suggest Mr. Roman? Thank you.
Look over the “Cheater’s Diet” article for most some answers. However a question that I have is in regard to what a carb refeed is? Is this when I would consume qaulity, low-GI carbs instead of the cheat meal? Hey
By the way is the recommended calories for your cheat meal the same as the carb refeed numbers? Or is your cheat meal a “get the hell out of my way! Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie!!!” kind of thing?
What should your post-workout out meal ratios be? Such as amount of sugars and protein to take in relation to your bodyweight. Thanks
Are you reading my mind???
I will try to answer your questions as best as I can, but if I miss anything Joel will come through and clean up after me.
BigKen - firstly, as far as low GI carbs, basically anything that is high in both fiber and protein will do will. I suggest oats, beans, lentils, and the like. Green veggie also work well. These should make up your non-cheating carbohydrates.
Regarding your questions about EPA/DHA, these are essnetial fatty acids which you can get from a variety of sources, the best of which is Fish Oil. Depending on the brand, you may be taking upwards of 15 or so fish oil caps per day. Vitaglo.com has good prices and is a good source to buy from.
As far as post workout, your carb to protein intake should be a 2:1 ratio. If you're about 240, I would think about 60 grams of high GI carbs and 30g protein after your workout would work well. You could possibly get away with a bit less, actually.
G A R Y - a carb refeed is a "milder" version of a cheat session. That is, while a "cheat session" lasts generally from about dinner to bedtime, a carb refeed is almost like a cheat meal, rather than a full cheat session. That is, it is much shorter.
And, to answer your other question, I believe a full fledged cheat session should total out, calorically speaking, to be roughly 40-50% or you maintenance calories. You if you maintain at 2500, ,even though you're taking in only about 1700 calories (total) on non-cheat days, you should aim to comsume 1250 calories during a full cheat session, 75% of which will come from carbs, 20% from protein, and the other 5% from whatever fat you cannot avoid in your food. At least, that is my understanding based on all of Joel's writing and the addition reading on leptin that I have done.
Also, my impression, and certainly my opinion, is that you do not have to be to strict with those interpretations. So long as you're eating low fat foods and lots of carbs, you will be all right. No need to get exact with the calorie counting; after all, half the fun of cheating is the psychological break from being so regimented. Just enjoy yourself.
Hope this helps.
Ken, low-fat twinkies exist? I’m going to soil myself.
I got a few things to add; I’ll post later…class 
Okay, just some clarification here.
After doing some more research, short (as in one meal) refeeds probably wont do the trick; i never did this, I just cheated all night long and then went to bed. Cheat sessions and carb refeeds should last the same amount of time, about 8 hours. The difference between the two is that a cheat session is an all out binge and a carb refeed is more controlled with less fat intake.
How much all out cheating you can do is very individual; I and some others can get away with eating basically whatever we want for 8 hours, while others have to controll things a little more. Those people should go with carbohydrate refeeds. I listed those protocols on the "how often should carb up" thread; so just do a search for that thread and everything about refeeds that you need to know is there- it is different than the protocol i suggested in the article, because, like i said, i did some more research and believe that a longer refeed is neccesary.
As far as the caloric value of an all out cheat, there really isn't any limit...just eat what you want. I probably down 4500+ calories when I cheat and dont worry about the macro breakdown at all.
If you are going with the refeeds, then the caloric value should be 1-1.5 times your maintenance intake. So if maintenance is 3000 calories then the refeed's caloric value should be between 3000-4500 calories and should be comprised of 70% carbs, 20% protein, and minimal fat.
Having said all that, most that I have talked to who have given the diet a try have experienced the best psychological and physiological results by going with an approach that is inbetween the two extremes. For example, they allow themselves to have some foods that they have been craving with high fat content like a few slices of pizza or a couple of krispy kreme donuts, but the rest of the refeed is primarily carbs with some protein and minimal fat.
Experiment and find the approach that works best for you.
You may even want to drop carbs even lower to further deplete glycogen on the strict days in preparation for the overfeeds. Still keep the post workout carbs, however.
I was reading in a previous post that some use peanut butter, flax seed, almond butter, etc. for their fat intake. Is this a good idea to use while on the cheaters diet or should I stick with fish oil from sam’s club? Also should I spread the fat throughout the day or not? Thank you