just wait and see

There was a blog I read once (I can’t remember where) related to travelling on a shoe string budget, in this article the author contrasted a proper meal vs dessert and suggested that dessert is better value when you consider cost per calorie. Naturally this annoyed me because dessert is all saturated fat, but then I started thinking about this. This idea on eating more dessert is actually just a form of Dirty Bulking applied to travelling, that is you don’t care what you eat as long as you eat enough calories (McDonald’s all the time). ‘Bad’ calories are easier to consume and cheaper than ‘good’ calories.

Firstly note that I am a hardgainer, in weightlifting terms it means that I can eat crazy amounts of food but never gain any weight, and the huge negative of this means building muscle is incredibly difficult. Your body works through the different energy sources (Sugar then other Carbs then Fats then Protein) to meet its energy requirements, protein is important for muscle development but for some people (Mostly young males) eating enough food to leave surplus protein is difficult.

The useful thing about fat is that it that it is easy to get into your system, Dirty Bulking utilises this. Specifically there is this concept (GOMAD) of drinking a gallon of milk a day; Milk is used in nature to bring a baby animal the large energy requirements needed for infant growth and it represents a cheap and easy way to get enough calories (2500-3000 cal plus 160g protein in a gallon). However it does a lot of damage in regards to its ‘healthyness’.

Dirty bulking has its role in dieting but is never preferential to ‘Clean” eating because of the damage it can do to your body. But sometimes cost and convenience leave no other option.

Note: One of my friends realised that both milk and water hydrate you but from a corner shop 600ml of water can cost $3-$4 while a litre of milk is closer to $2.