Clean eating VS Eating Calorie goal

chrisdavey

I still dont know one person that hit his macros just by eating junk food.

Well, let's say we call McDonalds "junk food". And everyday, I order 3 hamburgers, throw away the bun and eat the hamburger patti's. There's some solid protein and it's junk. A plain hamburger has 12g of protein based on their own website. So, that would be 36g of protein a day. Not much, but it's a start. I'm sure I could find other sources. The problem is in defining junk food. Beef jerky has protein, is that junk?

You'd have to very clearly define "junk" before we can really discuss this.

Agreed

I suppose it is possible to hit macros eating say only takeaway foods. It's just very unlikely without making conscious decisions about everything.

"Most" burger places for example use quite high fat meats so you typically either blowout on total cals before reaching protein targets.

I will be including Mexican takeaway every week during bodybuilding contest prep so I don't know if that is classified as "junk" or not but I do not expect it to hinder progress that is for sure.

Francl27

Very few people eat nothing but "clean foods," and very few people eat nothing but "junk food."

So your search for two bodies that do each of these respectively with similar workout routines will be fruitless. Just try to find the balance that works for you while also keeping you sane.

This!!!

Mad4282

To me there is a huge difference, the first time I lost weight I was eating what I now consider "junk" (lean cuisines, low cal drinks, diet everything). I stayed at 120 pounds but the minute I ate something "normal" I ballooned. I was tired all the time and had crap skin. Now I am hitting the 1200-1500 range every day without fail (I am only 5'1) and working out and am steadily dropping weight. I am eating nuts, fruit, veggies, lean proteins and find my desire to "cheat" (terrible word btw) has greatly diminished. I still have wine on occasion but have dropped 22 pounds thus far. The biggest difference for me is skin and belly fat. At 120 eating junk my skin was crap and I still had a rather noticeable belly pooch, despite working out and eating low cal. Now that I am not at 120 (yet, and maybe never again) my skin is clear and my stomach is actually showing definition. I definitely see the difference for sure, If I can find some pics to compare I will PM them to you. I definitely do not think it is a silly question at all and wish people wouldn't be so quick to attack. We are all here trying to learn and grow and we should be supporting each other as we go on our individual journeys. Good luck!

tedrickp

I will be including Mexican takeaway every week during bodybuilding contest prep so I don't know if that is classified as "junk" or not but I do not expect it to hinder progress that is for sure.

Are you on that Matt Ogus Chipotle cut? :laugh: (not a diss either, I love using Ogus as an example to my clean eating friends who think one bite of junk food will lose their gains)

paytenpar

I think that if you have a lot of weight to lose, then it doesn't make a huge difference in how you look. if you are closer to your weight loss goal or are trying to tone up more, then eating clean matters a lot!
on the other hand, even though I have a long way to go before im finally my goal weight, I try to eat very clean most of the time. I don't know about you, but I never want to exercise if I eat whatever I want and stay within my calories. also, its REALLY hard to eat 1200-1500 calories per day in junk food. when I eat lots of junk, I want more junk. plus, everything is so many calories, but not nearly as filling as a healthy meal.
ETA: I didn't go through and read all of the other posts, so Im not sure if this has already been said.

tedrickp

I think that if you have a lot of weight to lose, then it doesn't make a huge difference in how you look. if you are closer to your weight loss goal or are trying to tone up more, then eating clean matters a lot!

I am not so sure this is true, and wonder why people keep saying it.

Check out these instagrams:

shreddedbycereal
bodybypizza

(they both might be private now but two guys who are ripped from "flexible dieting".)

Another guy to check out is Eric Helms, a nutritional/fitness genius who has also embraced flexible dieting and is in great shape.

Check out Matt Ogus, or Chris Lavado - competing bodybuilders that also espouse a flexible diet.

Other flexible dieters to check out:

Holger Maiväli
Joey Colozzo
Scott Tousignant
Menno Henselmans (his site BayesianBodybuilding.com is incredible also)
Louie Guarino
Dr. Spencer Nadolsky (who runs THE best website on supplementation on the internet - examine.com)
Omar Isuf

The above people are all incredibly lean - in some cases lean enough to compete in figure and bodybuilding contests. Flexible dieting isn't just for the morbidly obese.