How often can I eat junk food if I exercise a lot!?

Question

Hey guys,
I work out for 2 hours and 40 minutes from Monday to Thursday, using the elliptical bike for 40 or so minutes and lifting weights for the remainder of the time. Basically what I'm trying to do is lose some of my belly fat and gain some muscle... my question is, How often can I eat food like McDonalds and other junk food in a week? Like once or twice, or more because I work out?

Additional Info: I'm a 17 year old male who weights around 150 lbs...

Thanks... appreciate your help!

Answer 1

Despite the fact that you work out religiously, junk food is still not good for you. You may be able to burn the calories before they cause you to put on weight, but as you know, eating junk food has other consequences such as clogging arteries, high sodium content etc etc. I think a healthy diet includes fast food no more than once a week. Good luck!

Answer 2

First, I would recommend cutting down your workout . Two hours and forty minutes is waaaay too long of a workout. You're going to overtrain your body which can cause your body to go into conservation mode (Kinda hard to burn off the fat and this also depends on how much you eat. Check calorie intake calculators online for appropriate amounts). Also, in terms of food consumption, that depends on your body. Keep in mind, the more muscle you have, the more food you're gonna need to maintain your muscle. It's always better to eat cleanly (like whole foods and not processed), but treating yourself maybe once a week would be ok. I would also reverse your workout. Do weights first so that you're not tired after your run and you can maximize your muscle fibers (I also recommend circuit training). It's kinda hard to figure out how much junk food you can eat since everyones body is tailored differently. I don't know how much this helps. I used to weigh 260lbs during my football days in highschool but I'm now down to a solid 180. I also use more of a bodybuilder's approach to my diet and training, so that could be a little too hardcore.

Answer 3

It's best not to eat junk food at all, but it's okay to treat yourself once in a while. If you're trying to lose weight and everything, not eating junkfood would speed up the process. But I guess about once or maybe even twice a week would be okay. No more than that though. Good Luck!

Answer 4

While exercising during the week don't eat any junk food just healthy food. And by the end of the week check out ur progress and if u done good than reward urself with a burger or something. But, not too much. U don't want to over do it.

Answer 5

You are at the peak of your metabolic rate- most 17 year olds can get away with eating a lot of crap with barely excersing at all, but indeed the work outs are helpful. Everyones body is slightly different, if you are currently maintaining a weight that is good for you, you shouldn't increase your intake of junk food. Just to give you a run down, the average Mcdonalds value meal of a double quarter pounder with cheese/fries/drink has 800 calories and 80 grams of fat! That is just one meal! If you gage your fat intake around 40g per day and keep calories under 2000, you should be able to maintain your goal. Obviously you want to keep your Mcdonalds to a minimum, or perhaps if you eat it, it should be your only meal for the day and/or in moderation.

Answer 6

Any foods that which come from Fast Food restaurants, or items purchased at the store whose ingredients you can't pronounce are the foods you're going to want to avoid. That's probably as simple as someone can put it. But I would like to tell you Never eat those foods, anything fried. Especially in cheap oils ( vegetable oils ) although you are not fat, can clog a lot of your organs, and from the inside out leaves you very unhealthy. But try once every two weeks, and look for the healthiest thing on the menu. You can still go to restaurants ( sit-in), they tend to have some healthier options for you.

Answer 7

Fast food has little or no nutritional value. One meal at a fast food restaurant( burger, fires, soda) can have half of the calories and all the fat you should have for that day and possibly more. The fact you work out makes no difference. This type of food should be avoided period. Your on the track with your health, but eating right is just as important as exercising. It will not benefit you to exercise regularly only to consume a ton a calories, fat, and sugar.

Answer 8

Junk food doesn't just give you fat to gain and more calories to burn, but it also takes a toll on your cholesterol. The more McDonalds you eat, the more at risk for heart disease you become. You really want to increase your intake of greasy foods that can eventually lead to clogging your arteries? Sure, it may not happen five years from now or even twenty, but thirty or fourty years from now, your heart will be so worn out from trying to pump so hard to ensure your arteries don't clog, that it'll just shut down on you. Not to mention the fact that the higher your cholesterol goes along with the high amounts of carbohydrates you take in, means you'll also be at risk for diabetes. Trust me when I say you don't want to be sticking yourself with needles 2-3 times a day. It's so not fun.

Just keep the junk food at a minimum and you'll be as healthy as a horse.

Answer 9

Well working out will kill the calorie intake, but fast food is notoriously bad for salt intake, fat intake. Working out may help those conditions or not.

You need to make sure your lipid profile is good--see a doctor and have cholesterol checked and drink plenty of fluid, preferably water (soda has lots of salt in it) to make sure you flush out the salts.

At your age you don't have problems, I'm sure, but if you eat a lot of junk food, you will develop them unless you take action now--limit intake, increase fluid and fiber consumption to help stave off the bad effects of junk food.

Weight lifting is anaerobic exercise, you would do better to run, swim or walk to add aerobic exercise to your routines.

Answer 10

that is the problem man. dont try to eat it everyday. the best thing to lose belly is to do ab work. and run .. if u run ull feel ur stomach tight and burn. drink water instead of soda. if i were you, i would stop eating at those kind of fast foods. and mcDonalds is the worst. i stop eating burgers for like 3-4 months. i eat more ham.eggs,meats,nuts,fruits, vegetables, anything to stay in a good shape and not gain fat and have a bad shaped body, im 20 and also lift weights.. i weigh 140lbs , and for you to eat at mcdonalds? at least 2 - 3 times a month., but if u want to see results faster, i wouldnt eat that junk. well gl.