"Unhealthy food" detrimental to muscle gain?
darreneatschicken
Posts: 669 Member
Is consuming "unhealthy foods" such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and pizza detrimental to muscle gain? Although it would be nice to always be home and have the time to make healthy food, that is not always the case. Therefore, I have to sometimes rely on fast foods and "outside" foods to reach my macro goals. Is this bad? I am a skinny guy: 5'9 and 138.3 lbs.
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Is consuming "unhealthy foods" such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and pizza detrimental to muscle gain? Although it would be nice to always be home and have the time to make healthy food, that is not always the case. Therefore, I have to sometimes rely on fast foods and "outside" foods to reach my macro goals. Is this bad? I am a skinny guy: 5'9 and 138.3 lbs.
This food has protein in it, but it's high calorie so it's not that efficient at filling you up. You can get the counts from the websites.
Why don't you buy a load of protein bars and whey protein to supplement.
If you're bulking you have to take care not to go too far over your maintenance, men can only gain half a pound of muscle a week, that's if they're heavy lifting 3x a week or similar. Most people gain equal amounts of fat so you are looking at eating no more than 3500 cals extra per week. Those fast food calories can get out of hand real quick. Before you know it your bulk has turned into a dirty bulk aka 'got fat'0 -
Besides calories you need to focus on your macros. You can hit your macros eating fast food or "unhealthy foods".
You can also do what spring said and tote stuff around with you.
Basically by tracking what you eat and the reaction of your body you'll learn what you can and cant do.0 -
My macro goals are listed on this post:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1178625-how-to-eat-more
Myfitnesspal says I only need 2430 calories a day, and 81 fat. Obviously, I've been trying to eat more than 2430 calories, but I have been noticing that I've been going over on the fat every day as well.0 -
You can also do what spring said and tote stuff around with you.
What do you mean by "tote?"0 -
You're working to gain weight and yet you're worried if you can eat hamburgers and pizza?
Dude. Eat the food. All the food.0 -
tote= carry, basically0
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You're working to gain weight and yet you're worried if you can eat hamburgers and pizza?
Dude. Eat the food. All the food.
^ This. Eat something like 250-500 calories over maintenance, hit your protein target, stay in a reasonable margin of error for the fat, and eat. Whatever you want as long as you hit your goals.0 -
Unhealthy food? What's that? I eat what I want! Just watch out that you hit your macros!
In my world bulk only means more ice cream for Nunu
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You can bulk the healthy way or the unhealthy way (aka transfats , cholesterol , sodium) which pizzas/burgers have lots of
It will reflect upn your heart/liver health in the long run=) 0 -
You're working to gain weight and yet you're worried if you can eat hamburgers and pizza?
Dude. Eat the food. All the food.
this...I mean come on.
2 McDonalds bacon cheese burger wrap that around a grilled chicken burger, get rid of one bun and a salad...what's wrong with that?
Where is Jonny when you need him????0 -
I'd say not eating enough food is detrimental to muscle gain. Whether the food is "healthy" or "unhealthy" is irrelevant and subjective.0
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junk food really helps in a bulk if eaten in the right amounts just dont depend on it0
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Don't see the problem as long as you're hitting your macros.0
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You can bulk the healthy way or the unhealthy way (aka transfats , cholesterol , sodium) which pizzas/burgers have lots of It will reflect upn your heart/liver health in the long run=)
* except for the trans fats.0 -
Don't see the problem as long as you're hitting your macros.
This0 -
as long as you are hitting your macros you will be good to go …
I just sometimes find it harder to hit my macros when I eat certain foods like mcdonalds or something...0 -
as long as you are hitting your macros you will be good to go …
I just sometimes find it harder to hit my macros when I eat certain foods like mcdonalds or something...
Haha, yes definitely, if I have a quarterpounder I usually can't fit in my Nutella fix
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For some, ie me, eating all the foods would fast lead me to the road of over fat.
I was still hungry on my bulk which was 2/300 cals over 1750 net. I swear I have the appetite of a 6'4" man.
Saying that though, this guy is pretty slim which means that he is probably struggling to eat over maintenance.
Is that correctomondo OP?0 -
For some, ie me, eating all the foods would fast lead me to the road of over fat.
I was still hungry on my bulk which was 2/300 cals over 1750 net. I swear I have the appetite of a 6'4" man.
Saying that though, this guy is pretty slim which means that he is probably struggling to eat over maintenance.
Is that correctomondo OP?
I like you already….0 -
as long as you are hitting your macros you will be good to go …
I just sometimes find it harder to hit my macros when I eat certain foods like mcdonalds or something...
Haha, yes definitely, if I have a quarterpounder I usually can't fit in my Nutella fix
LOL exactly ….if I am going to have mcdonalds, pizza, etc I have to kind of pre plan my day0 -
You can bulk the healthy way or the unhealthy way (aka transfats , cholesterol , sodium) which pizzas/burgers have lots of It will reflect upn your heart/liver health in the long run=)
* except for the trans fats.
Come on then! Now's your chance to educate us on junk food that doesn't contain harmful fats! I'm interested....really. Set me free from my healthy ways.0 -
You can bulk the healthy way or the unhealthy way (aka transfats , cholesterol , sodium) which pizzas/burgers have lots of It will reflect upn your heart/liver health in the long run=)
* except for the trans fats.
Come on then! Now your chance to educate us on junk food that doesn't contain harmful fats! I'm interested....
Oh FFS. Seriously? Go read a nutrition information page.0 -
Whoa, that escalated quickly 0
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You can bulk the healthy way or the unhealthy way (aka transfats , cholesterol , sodium) which pizzas/burgers have lots of It will reflect upn your heart/liver health in the long run=)
* except for the trans fats.
Come on then! Now's your chance to educate us on junk food that doesn't contain harmful fats! I'm interested....really. Set me free from my healthy ways.
The current theory is that similar to fat, dietary cholesterol isn't as bad as once reported. Similarly sodium isn't bad, except for those with medical conditions.
The trans-fat are really ubiquitous in fast/junk food though.0 -
I love Wendy's 1/2lb burger no cheese macros. I can eat those on maintenance no prob. IIFYM :drinker:
Cutting is trickier for me, but get the least fattening of those McD's "Premium" chx wraps and am okay.0 -
You can bulk the healthy way or the unhealthy way (aka transfats , cholesterol , sodium) which pizzas/burgers have lots of It will reflect upn your heart/liver health in the long run=)
* except for the trans fats.
Come on then! Now's your chance to educate us on junk food that doesn't contain harmful fats! I'm interested....really. Set me free from my healthy ways.
The current theory is that similar to fat, dietary cholesterol isn't as bad as once reported. Similarly sodium isn't bad, except for those with medical conditions.
The trans-fat are really ubiquitous in fast/junk food though.
Trans fats also naturally occur in meat, though the authorities are careful to point out that those are not the ones that researchers are concerned with. And no, the artificial trans fats are not nearly as ubiquitous as you claim. Hence, why I poited out the obvious, and requested that the other poster read nutritional labels. One can pick and choose which "junk food" to eat.
Nice ad hominem though. Nothing like showing your stripes.0 -
I lurk on these forums from time to time, and I see these flame wars almost as often as I see the "rub pizza on or boff the user above" threads. The eat clean crap annoys me, but I also get confused by the bulk concept when it comes to macros.
If you're exercising heavy, and eating over your TDEE, you're going to gain both muscle and fat no matter what you eat. Does it really matter how much of that is protein?0 -
Don't limit your food choices because they are deemed "unhealthy". Eating fastfood every once in awhile isn't going to hurt you in anyway. 1-2 per week eat a fast food meal and then the rest of the day keep a closer eye on your cals. to ensure you don't too much over your cal. goal.
In fact today it's either Carl Jr or Crack in the Box for lunch.0 -
If you're exercising heavy, and eating over your TDEE, you're going to gain both muscle and fat no matter what you eat. Does it really matter how much of that is protein?
no.0 -
If you plan ahead, you can hit your macro goals at a fast food restaurant. Obviously it isn't ideal, and I don't know of anyone who advocates doing it daily.
Do you need to limit fats as much as you are? Absolutely not. Fat is a good thing. You need fats. Just like you need protein and carbohydrates.
There's only one harmful fat, and that is trans fat. It isn't nearly as prevalent as fear-mongerers would have you believe, but you will find it most often in packaged sweets and other foods in the grocery aisles. Eating foods high in cholesterol does not equate to higher blood cholesterol.
When I have bulked in the past, I have needed more than 2500 calories a day to gain .5 pound/week. Bulking for me has become a real chore. If you have this problem, then EAT YOUR FATS and don't be afraid of supplementing with the scary "junk" foods.0
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