Condiments

[Lance]

About a year ago now, i was following the basic weight gaining diet out of Arnold's encyclopedia just for kicks. Well it wasn't enough, i got quite cut after using it for a while actually. It was loose though. Bread with butter, potatoes with butter or sour cream. Still, i got cut. I added cheese to my eggs and beef patties too.

I allways think back to this diet and remember how much i actually enjoyed the food i was eating. I love eggs with a slice or two of cheese on them. A beef patty taste SO much better with a slice of cheese melted over it.

For kicks one time i put it all into fitday and saw i was taking in around 2400 calories. I was hitting my 1g/lb of protein, if not a little higher if i remember right, and i was getting plenty of fat, albeight not the best fats. Looking back, i don't think i was taking in any EFA's at all.

I know saturated fats aren't the best, but as long as your calories are the same, does it really matter that much what you eat? I'd like to spice things up with my diet again, some eggs with cheese (and a bit of butter to cook it with). Rice with maybe a little bit of butter in it so it's alot easier to put down.

So basically, if calories are all that matter for weight loss/gain, how much is having a small amount of not 'the best' foods going to change anything?

 

[imported_dstan]

Lance,
I'm a neebie to this form, but here is what I do:
As for butter, I use SMART BALANCE-it contains essential oils
As for cheese, I use VEGGIE SHRED-it's made from soy and substantially less fat.
As for cooking, I use only EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL-I actually dump what is left in the pan after cooking eggs onto the eggs.
If you see Partially hydrogenated anything in the ingredient stay away.

Calories are calories so why not consume the smarter and more useable ones.

 

[Jester]

I use cheese, peanut butter, butter/margarine and olive oil but take the calories into account. Small amounts of saturated fat aren't going to hurt your look/body significantly.

 

[LittleBigHorn]

I believe trans fats should be avoided at all costs (think cookies, pastries, cakes, all every other source of processed vegetable fat), but animal fats are a different story. If you eliminate them completely, chances are your testosterone will drop, so it may actually be a good idea to get some in your daily diet. I concur with you in that a small amount of not so healthy foods won't ruin the greater goal if you eat a clean and well balanced diet otherwise. For example, this past Christmas I ate quite a lot of chocolate, but I didn't gain an ounce of fat since I deducted the calories I got from the chocolate from the net total of carbs and fats I get during the day, and just ate the amount of protein I usually eat. I SERIOUSLY doubt you'll see any difference in the mirror just as long as the calories stay where they should be.
Another example would be from back when I didn't know squat about proper exercise, nutriton or anything to give me a clue as to how I should approach the goal of building muscle and toning up. That was a few years ago, and back then I actually ate lost of candy, ice cream and other unhealthy junk and not nearly enough protein, BUT I'm guessing my total calorie intake was rather low, since I didn't eat that much good food- just 3 small meals a day. I didn't do any cardio, either, and lifted very sporadically, yet I still managed to get down from 15% BF to 12% (I didn't know it back then, but looking back I had clearly defined abs) over time because I simply wasn't getting as many calories as I would've needed. I'm more of a mesomorph and I can put on some fat as well, so you can't really chalk this up to my body type or metabolism. It was simply a matter of calories in versus calories out. I would have naturally become even more ripped had I followed a sensible diet and exercise plan, but that isn't the point here. The point is, it is useless to micromanage every minute detail of your diet as long as the basic structure is good, and you're getting all the nutrients in the right ratios.
Throw a little butter in there; doesn't count for nuthin'.