The short answer is yes, you can eat junk food and still stay lean and muscular. The way to do this is to stay within your calorie macros and not over-consume calories. It’s the same old saying calories in calories out.
While it is not healthy to live off of junk food, you can still stay lean and muscular. Fast food is very bad for your health, the reason being is because it can contribute to obesity and can lead to chronic diseases. Fast food is also high in oils, such as vegetable oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, and cottonseed oil. These oils are very high in omega-6 acids which humans have never consumed basil large amounts before.
These types of oils can cause many health concerns, they can be highly sensitive to oxidation and increase oxidative stress in your body. They’ve also been linked to other diseases. With all that being said, staying in shape while eating junk food is done simply by eating below your calorie maintenance level.
That’s why you never want to binge eat, I’m guilty of this but you will never stay in shape if you do not stay below your calorie maintenance level. If you are trying to stay lean and muscular.
Another way to prevent yourself from binge eating is to try not to buy as much junk food at the grocery store and just buy it throughout the day. Can you go through life without eating cake or pizza and living a normal life and trying to stay in shape, highly unlikely for most people.
Who wants to live their life always on a strict diet and not treating yourself for all the hard work you put in the gym and all of your effort in tracking your calories. I also recommend tracking your calories, in the beginning, using an app called my fitness pal, you will not have to do this forever.
It’s good in the initial phase because it will teach you portion sizes and how many calories are hiding in certain foods. I was shocked when I realized how many calories I was eating.
While I do not condone living a lifestyle of just eating junk food, you should be able to live a normal life as well and enjoy yourself everyone once in a while. What I do is live by a rule of 80/20, 80% of the time eating organic vegetables and grass-fed meat and 20% of the time I will treat myself with junk food. If you’re in a pinch however and desperate, you can have junk food just figure into your Macros.
When we were younger we could eat anything and still stay in shape, this is not the case for guys who are over 30 if you are trying to stay lean. Let’s look at some more ways and how to be able to eat junk food and still stay in shape and incorporate some techniques into your life.
How to Eat Junkfood and stay Lean
If you are feeling a little lazy, the best time to eat junk food is after a workout. This is when your glycogen levels are depleted and Zapped! The first technique I mentioned previously about not binging but do not eat or go through phases impersonating the Tasmanian devil in your kitchen.
While figuring out your Macros is important, a big tip is to consume most of your calories from protein, as they are the most satiating and will keep you fuller, longer. Whether it is healthy or fast food you shouldn’t eat it before going to bed.
It’s best to eat at least two hours before going to bed because your body has to break that food down. Another tip with eating junk food and staying lean is by intermittent fasting, this is where part of the day you will not consume any calories except liquids.
While it’s okay to eat junk food 20ish percent of the time, the instant pot has been a game-changer and a way of helping me stay in shape. This will help you save time which is more valuable than anything because your nutrition is at least 60-70% of being in shape!
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is one of the best ways to control the calories you eat within the day. It has a lot of other health benefits but the main one is thought to be just the control of calories consumed. There are many ways of doing intermittent fasting, most popular one is the 16/8. This is where you will only have in an 8 Hour eating window, the rest of the day is spent on liquids without calories.
Example of intermittent fasting with the 16:8, you will only eat from noon till 8 p.m. And the rest of the time will be spent fasting. This is a great tool in managing your overall for caloric intake throughout the day. It can be difficult to start at the beginning for some.
The reason why intermittent fasting can be tough is because of the hunger hormone ghrelin, it can take two to three weeks to get used to skipping breakfast and only eating lunch and dinner.
If you want to stay lean and muscular, while eating fast food it’s the same as trying to stay lean on a healthy diet. Reason being, you’re trying to be in a calorie deficit and consistent with your workouts.
It’s very important to make sure that you are working out at least three times a week with a majority of your exercises being compound lifts. Compound exercises will build the most muscle especially if you are a natural weight lifter.
You can eat junk food and stay lean you shouldn’t do it all the time. Remember the 80/20 rule. You should be eating organic foods and grass-fed Meats 80% of the time and enjoy yourself 20% of the time by allowing yourself to if I buy junk food.
Can You Eat Junkfood and Build Muscle
Dirty bulking
This was thought to be a way to put on size and muscle, by eating too much fast food in high in calories as you can fit in while lifting heavy. You can convert some of the high-calorie fast food to my muscle but you will still increase fat on your body quickly.
Dirty bulking is just an unhealthy way to try to gain size and muscle, instead, you should try clean bulking. Dirty bulking is generally used by those who are hard gainers, who have a hard time gaining muscle in size. But this still does not mean you should be trying to fill all of your nutritional needs with high-calorie junk food.
Basically, even if you are someone who has trouble building muscle, dirty bulking you can still end up with a lot of fat on your body while building some muscle. This would cause the yoyo diet effect where you would then start trying to cut calories to lose as much weight as you can while you don’t add much muscle with the dirty bulk.
Clean Bulking
The whole purpose of putting on muscle is trying to add muscle without adding fat. While it can take more time to visually notice adding size and Aesthetics to your body it’s the best Route.
What are the ways to notice you are gaining muscle in size is to pay attention to your reps and weight you’re lifting while working out. It all comes back to Progressive overload while training if you don’t force your body to change your body will stay the same. You should really be challenging yourself with every workout and trying to increase the weight, even if it’s only a few pounds on each set.
If you want to add some muscle and get that buff bod, from your maintenance level you want to try to add 500 calories from your maintenance goal. A good way to figure out your calorie maintenance level is to you go to TDDE.com.
One of the big reasons why you should be trying to do a clean bulk versus a dirty is you will be adding more muscle mass in the long term and less fat. You can eat some junk food 20% of the time without trying to stuff your face with it and staying within your macros goal.
“According to dr. Forbes, one of the leading scientist when it comes to Body Company explains in his book human body composition: Growth,Aging, activity and nutrition, if a lean person (somebody between 10-15% body fat) runs a small calorie surplus then 60-70% of that will converted into muscle. However, those with a higher body fat will convert 60-70% of those calories into fat.”
Here is more evidence that even if you are leaner and on a small calorie surplus, you will still be adding fat. The “leaner” types are 10-15% body fat which most guys in the US are far from that, unfortunately. Obviously, if your body fat is higher then you should be trying to do a clean bulk and cut your calories by 500.
The recommended protein amount is .7-1 gram per pound and is needed to build muscle and burn fat.
Key Points
- While you shouldn’t eat fast food for the majority of your meals, you can get away with eating it 20% of the time
- Fit fast food into your daily caloric budget if you know you will be eating with friends or family later
- Intermittent fasting is a good tool to use to cut down on your caloric intake
- Your workout intensity should still be high while using progressive overload and adding weight to each set
- Dirty bulking is a bad strategy for most while trying to gain muscle by eating high-calorie fast food. You could gain more fat than muscle depending on your body fat
- Fast food, in general, is not optimal for your health because it is high in fats, carbs, and protein. This is what causes it to be so high in calories. It also has a lot of Omega 6 fatty acids which are bad for your health and thought to accelerate the aging process.