I'm a cheater. Not only that, I advocate cheating. As in cheat meals. Even if you're trying to eat clean, you should probably forget about being a perfectionist. Personally, I allow for about 20% of my weekly meals to be so-called cheat meals from my favorite high fat, high-processed foods. Fitness is a lifelong endeavor, and trying to eat "clean" all the time is unrealistic and also totally unnecessary. As long as the majority of your diet is based on healthy, unprocessed foods, you will be able to easily meet your nutritional needs in terms of vitamins, minerals, and quality proteins.
Here's my cheat meal for today. I had 3 tacos and a third of a glass of Pepsi.
As you can see, I'm a Taco Bell aficionado. I not only love their tacos, I love their Doritos tacos. That's about as unhealthy as it gets. I call it "flexible" dieting, but it's actually cheating and, as I said, that's perfectly okay.
The following pics will show you why I cheated today. Today's workout was the culmination of 5 days of intensive training at the gym. Workout intensity is the single most important factor in your entire workout plan and should be treated seriously if you want to optimize your gains.
I always end my workouts with simple stretching exercises.
So there you have it. I cheated today because a little body pampering never hurts. Now it's back to the straight and narrow as I chase down my health and fitness goals for 2023.
If you're a beginning bodybuilder, just understand that it's not a question of "If I put in the work I MIGHT succeed" but rather "If I put in the work I WILL succeed." (Greek students, take note!)
Happy weekend, y'all!
Dave