offseason blues

[jahras12]

I am trying to stay lean in the offseason and doing a good job but I get mad cravings for food like every week- even though im taking in 350g protein, 450 carbs, and 65 g fat, and my diet is tasting good but I always want to eat donuts or bread or junk- but then I think my body looks good and I am gaining nicely and how shitty i will feel the next day if i cheat which stops me, not to mention the nosebleeds and excessive sweating that occur after pigging out b/c I go all out- this offseason I will be taking some years off before I compete again to gain quality size and getting fat will lead me nowhere but unhappy- also the cheat day is an idea but I really go all out and blow my whole week to hell- what do you guys suggest for me to stick on my diet and lose the cravings to keep staying lean and gaining nicely???

 

[gainingmass]

Just a little bit of information

A need or want to eat junk food such as donuts, etc... is one that is aquired. Your tongue doesnt come with a receptor for fatty foods. The best thing to do if its real difficult for you is to try to stick to your offseason as best you can but if you really feel the need to eat something in piticular, have a "cheat" meal. But then go back to your diet. Some people do a cheat meal every 3rd day but i prefer to wait till sunday and pick one thing that ive been craving all week and eat that. But i always go right back to eating what i would have eaten next.

 

[AWN2004]

Its a double edged sword my friend. I would guess that if you are blowing your diet with one cheat day or meal to the point that it really throws you a curve ball, you are dieting too hard if this is indeed your offseason. I try to eat clean but at the same time you need to allow yourself some room for the good things you enjoy. For instance, how about a turkey sandwich. There you get your bread craving out of the way and you can load up on the proteins and fats you need. You are going to just have to let yourself put on a little bit of fat Im affraid. Try and stay around 11% or so and youll be fine come time to diet and get ready for you show. I have a slower than normal metablism Id say and I eat the occasional piece of cheesecake or cheeseburger in the offseason. But, I make sure I plan that around the three days a week I do cardio in the AM and I can manage it just fine. If you are having really bad cravings Id say you are being too strict on yourself.

 

[jahras12]

when I do have a cheat meal it turns into a cheat day- and i gorge, but i then eat normal again the next day and days thereafter and cut my carbs a little to let my body " chill" from the day prior,then i eat clean and normal for about 5-10 days and hit up another cheat day- and so on.... but my diet right now is tight and good - i am not eating bland or plain- i eat perfect and my body is the best its been and everything is perfect so its tough to cheat but my head tells me to let go sometimes and I do because i read these posts on the boards on people sayinig how they get fat to gain only and so on- it gets tempting for me ---its tough to decide to either look good yr round or get fat and eat and enjoy- again i am 20 could it be the age and the hormones or is everyone like this- - I am too obsessed about this as you can see- also the money factor helps stop me from buying junk because I am a college student living off of college money and trying to conserve with the all the supps and food I buy - i am by all means not shredded but nice offseason look under 10% bf and gaining nicely- love to look good but love to eat junk too--- any insights???

 

[Crowler]

when I do have a cheat meal it turns into a cheat day- and i gorge, but i then eat normal again the next day and days thereafter and cut my carbs a little to let my body " chill" from the day prior,then i eat clean and normal for about 5-10 days and hit up another cheat day- and so on.... but my diet right now is tight and good - i am not eating bland or plain- i eat perfect and my body is the best its been and everything is perfect so its tough to cheat but my head tells me to let go sometimes and I do because i read these posts on the boards on people sayinig how they get fat to gain only and so on- it gets tempting for me ---its tough to decide to either look good yr round or get fat and eat and enjoy- again i am 20 could it be the age and the hormones or is everyone like this- - I am too obsessed about this as you can see- also the money factor helps stop me from buying junk because I am a college student living off of college money and trying to conserve with the all the supps and food I buy - i am by all means not shredded but nice offseason look under 10% bf and gaining nicely- love to look good but love to eat junk too--- any insights???

You say when you cheat you REALLY cheat then you get it back in line. You also say you look the best you have in years.

So just keep doing the same thing. Right?


CROWLER

 

[jahras12]

crowler- yes, this is by far the leanest and best i stayed in the past 3 years ive been training- been training since 17 hard, but always bulked up and then leaned out and bulked up and then leaned out(for competition the last 2 times) highest bulk was around 265 at 18 y/o but that was too much- last year i leaned out and stayed lean and then was told by my trainer to eat a lot more "junk food" and get big and i did and got fat again- up to 240 lbs and he said along with others in the bbing field that this was the way i needed to look while others critisized me for being fat- now i am 210-215 and lean and gaining some good muscle- but the thing is I get so pissed off at myself when i cheat and i think i am gonna get fat and get off the bandwagon again and start eating shitty- and then I think that these pros and top ams are or were all eating shitty in the offseason which tempts me even more- because it took it that top level- I truly want to gain the most amount of muscle genetically possible for myself- i just dont know if it is possible eating clean sometimes- i seem to think the magazines want us to think that- staying lean and gaining slowly is the best way to become a freak and have beatiful physique

 

[cryptasm]

4 words

DOUBLE WOPPER WITH CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry couldn't help myself

 

[jawbreakerkid]

you have to learn some self control. Eating to the point of nose bleeds, that's not normal man, I have witnessed and taken part in plenty of jaw dropping eating binges, but goddamn, no one ever bled unless a fork and Gooey and his sausage fingers were involved.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

THE NOSEBLEEDS WORRY ME, JAHARAS!

I am trying to stay lean in the offseason and doing a good job but I get mad cravings for food like every week- even though im taking in 350g protein, 450 carbs, and 65 g fat, and my diet is tasting good but I always want to eat donuts or bread or junk- but then I think my body looks good and I am gaining nicely and how shitty i will feel the next day if i cheat which stops me, not to mention the nosebleeds and excessive sweating that occur after pigging out b/c I go all out- this offseason I will be taking some years off before I compete again to gain quality size and getting fat will lead me nowhere but unhappy- also the cheat day is an idea but I really go all out and blow my whole week to hell- what do you guys suggest for me to stick on my diet and lose the cravings to keep staying lean and gaining nicely???

I HAD NOSE BLEEDS ALL THE TIME FOR A WHILE...THE CAUSE? HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. NOT GOOD....THE REASON YOU GET NOSE BLEEDS IS BECAUSE YOUR BODY IS TRYING TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE..SO THOSE SMALL CAPILLARIES BREAK. I'D GET THAT CHECKED FOR SURE! I DID AND MY RESTING BP WAS 160/110 DURING THAT TIME. OVER TIME...THAT WILL SCREW UP YOUR KIDNEYS ETC....I JUST CAN'T FIGURE ANYOTHER REASON FOR YOUR NOSE TO BLEED. I HAD TO DROP SOME BODYWEIGHT....OH, AND I WASN'T FAT EITHER...JUST TAKING SOME 'SUPPLEMENTS'..IF YOU GET WHAT I AM SAYING.

 

[MassMachine]

Ease Up!

Why not spread the junk calories evenly over the week. You may even find yourself eating less junk this way then going on binges. You are human and love food. This is why people fail because of drastic changes.
Take it easy on yourself. You are around 10% in the offseason and that is great. I would not worry unless you were creeping above 12%.
The big boys eat big to get big and that means junk with the good.
If you could get huge staying lean and eating clean dont you think Coleman,Priest,Cutler would instead of eating massivly and letting their fat % climb.

MM

 

[jahras12]

great replies guys- thanks a lot- but my main problem is how I was brought up when I started bodybuilding- I always thought bulking time you get fat and competition time you lean out- i have always been training to be a top bodybuilder and nothing less, so I thought to gain one must eat enormously...I realized this wasnt the case last year when I leaned out and attempted to start eating clean in the beggining of the year and looked good and started to gain nicely and then was told to "eat" and got fat again eating clean and junk and looked like shit, but I was big, which in my mind was a good thing.There are truly 2 different schools of bodybuilding, but I am going to push myself to not cheat if this diet is working which it really is, and I feel awesome on it as well....Cheat meals have to become a thing of the past and I will only try to incorporate them on some holidays and if I really need one- but I wont binge out hard like I do- the nosebleeds come because my bp rises so high from the excessive sodium on my cheat days and i sweat like a monster and cant sleep- i checked my bp a couple weeks ago- it was normal- but I do use test, but I keep it simple- no other high androgens or anabolics besides test for the offseason...i guess its hard to change the way you think when you get brought up in a certain way , but bodybuilding is for the truly dedicated and I will not let anyone tell me that i am not truly dedicated to this sport!