The Secret Fast Food Bodybuilder Diet and Lifestyle

The majority of this post is based on what I learned in 2005-2006, the 'Bodybuilding Junk Food Era'.
disclaimer: Many bodybuilders exaggerate just how much fast food they eat by posting pictures on Instagram of their huge cheat meals. Not very many serious bodybuilders eat fast food more than 1 or 2 times a day however.

I often rip on the Bodybuilding Lifestyle (for non-competitive bodybuilders who are solely trying to look good for chicks). Most guys who spend over 10 hours/week in the gym (and an additional 25+ hours in the kitchen) just don't Get Laid much. Some don't even have any human contact other than the handful of people that they nod to at the gym.

I've been there.

But the fact of the matter is - 

Most bodybuilders/gym rats actually have VERY GOOD potential with women - they are already in better shape than the average guy, they already look masculine, they have a strong work ethic and an automatic "in" with cute fitness girls.

As I've said -

If a bodybuilder/gym obsessed guy could just talk to just 1 girl for every 1 hour he spent in the gym - he would be getting more action than he could handle.

Sadly, however, the majority of bodybuilders have nothing that even resembles a healthy social or sex life.

Overcoming my fitness obsession (body dysmorphia?) was a massive step forward in my life. 

Had I not, Good Looking Loser wouldn't exist or it would simply be a bitter, out of touch fitness community with posts such as -

Why do girls like scrawny guys?!

Why do some guys dress like douchebags?! 

5 types of people that I hate at my gym!

You know, frequently asked questions that socially illiterate bodybuilders ask each other online. 

I have to admit though -

One thing I do miss from the bodybuilding lifestyle is the JUNK food.

The tens of thousands of calories of JUNK food.

I miss having a superhuman metabolism that can turn multiple Filet-o-Fish combo meals into solid lean mass.

The post-workout euphoria of doing 7 sets of heavy squats, eating cheeseburgers and visualizing it clumping on to my athletic thighs and formerly big ass was truly a unique natural high.
(fun fact: in my prime I could squat 405 to the ground for 25 reps, it was by far my strongest lift)

I most miss the 2 orders of chocolate chip pancakes at IHOP.
(IHOP = International House of Pancakes = shithole all-day breakfast place in the USA) 

Related -

• Get Juiced by Good Looking Loser (Anabolic Steroids)
• Get Ripped by Good Looking Loser (Health & Fitness)

I also have a bunch of older pictures of myself in here, I've definitely lost size over the years - on purpose.

2008 - Ready & bloated for a Christmas party in Hollywood

Background - The McDonald's Bodybuilder Diet

Through Facebook, in the Summer of 2005, I became friends with a kid that went on to become "Mr. Tampa". He was my very first friend at the University of Florida and we are still tight today.

He said he was 21 years old, 6-0 235 lbs at 8% bodyfat. 

When I finally met him in the Fall, he turned out to be 6-0 250 lbs at 7% bodyfat. Arms were 20.5".

A real fucking freakshow.

Jesus Christ.

He told me, much to my surprise, that his diet consisted of multiple trips to McDonalds (or Burger King, Chick-Fil-a, Taco Bell, etc.) for literally ALL his meals.

He wasn't joking either.

Multiple times a day, he would gulp down 128 oz sodas full of high-fructose corn syrup to wash down 2500-3000 calories of burgers, fries and apple pies.

When I saw this, I couldn't believe what the fuck I was seeing.

I had to figure out how he was doing it.

Most people would be morbidly obese if they followed that diet for 9 days.

The experts on bodybuilding forums told me the real hardcore guys ate chicken and brown rice for every meal, what the hell was going on?

How was he eating so much fast food and staying so lean?

Over the next few years, I would learn a lot of his secrets, secrets that you absolutely cannot find on public bodybuilding forums, secrets that most people simply would not believe. 

This was the craziest one.

After I figured out the secret, I felt like I was part of a secret superhuman society.
(AASB - the alliance of anti-social bodybuilders!)

I started cheating the system too.

How Do Bodybuilders Eat So Much Junk Food and Stay Ripped?

I'm going to tell you how he (and I, to a lesser extent) did it.

There's a few things we need to discuss before we really get into this -

First, this is not a "one-size-fits-all" deal that any random kid can just 'gear up' and do. There are certain metabolic processes at work that I will try to simplify. While he could eat 7000-9000 calories in fast food a day, I was not able to eat that much without increasing my body fat. I'll explain why.

Second, even though he stayed impressively lean (~8% body fat) and was BY FAR the most muscular kid at the entire University of Florida, this is NOT a healthy way to live. This was back in 2005 when restaurants were still cooking in trans fat, the absolute worst thing for cardiovascular health. You should avoid trans fat at all costs even if your metabolism can burn off the excess calories. I'm not recommending the extreme version of this diet, I'm just telling you how it works and it's up to you to find a happy, healthy median. 

Third, this lifestyle is not cheap. Most guys following the extreme version of this lifestyle (6000+ calories from junk food) are completely broke. My friend was spending $50+ on fast food a day (let alone the 'tools' needed to make it possible) and making his parents furious. Unlike me, however, he was a competitive bodybuilder and wasn't just pigging out for fun.

Fourth, this "junk food lifestyle" is exclusively for 'bulking' phases. Serious bodybuilders have unbelievable discipline and caloric restriction when they are ripping up.

This information is purely for entertainment, consult a licensed physician before modifying your diet or leaving your house.

#1 Junk Food Bodybuilders Already Have Massive Amounts of Muscle That Burns Massive Amounts of Calories

This is absolutely key and will disqualify 99% of people from eating over 3000 calories of junk food.

If you follow Rich Piana (one of the truly coolest and honest guys) or Mike Chang (or Mike Chang spams you on YouTube), you'll see that they eat a lot of fast food.
(note: I'm not suggesting that they eat junk food for every meal like my friend did or do anything mentioned in this article)

It's true.

When you have massive amounts of lean mass, you need the calories (and protein) to support it.

Most of you guys have nowhere near 200-220 lbs. of lean mass, so your caloric ceiling for junk food is way lower.

I was 235 at 15% body fat (799.75 lbs. lean mass) and I couldn't eat more than about 3000 calories of junk food a day without increasing my waistline. 

Unless you are a serious bodybuilder or competitive athlete who has over 200 lbs. of lean mass, you will probably have to stay under 3000 calories of junk food if you want to avoid putting on fat. Otherwise, you WILL get fat.

There's very few guys following the 'junk food lifestyle' that don't already have a significant amount of muscle to maintain. Remember, even with no physical activity, a pound of muscle burns 7-10 calories, while a pound of fat burns 2-4 calories.

2006(?) - Junk Food Era
(in my apartment alone taking pictures of myself)

#2 Junk Food Bodybuilders Do Absolutely Insane 90+ Minute Workouts With Every Set to Complete Failure

I can't stress this enough either.

Even though my friend would eat 3000 calories of burgers, milkshakes, fries and ice cream sundaes for his post-workout meal - he probably burned just as many calories during his workout.

According to internationally-known celebrity personal trainer and Good Looking Loser VIP, Amir Siddiqui, it is certainly possible to out-train a dirty diet.

I don't like 'bragging' about myself unless it's to drive a point home.

Listen -

Back in the day, I was a pretty tough, highly-intense kid.

Back in 2012, when I launched Good Looking Loser, you guys knew me as the "huge" pick up guru. 

I've played inline hockey at the national level, squatted 585 lbs., incline benched 225 lbs. x 31 and could run 40 yards in a fairly respectable 4.81 seconds.

Most of my friends, even my hockey teammates, had no interest in going to the gym with me because they couldn't keep up.

Over a 3 year period, 'Mr. Tampa' and I trained together 200+ times.

I have to admit - 

There was not even a single workout where he did not expend greater effort than I did. I honestly cannot remember a single time where I outworked him.

On virtually every set, including warmups, he literally pushed himself until his muscles completely failed or he ran out of oxygen and got too woozy to continue. 

It was the most insane thing I had ever seen and he made me look like a pussy at times.

Most of the workouts that we (mainly he) did would nearly kill the average 20 year old. 

Key training points -

• 20+ sets for each body part
• Every set to complete utter failure
• 3 to 4 assisted reps (I was the spotter)
• Only rest for ~120 seconds between sets
• Rep range: 12 to 100 (to complete failure + assisted reps)
• Muscles were twitching and spasming when workout was over

Also notable - my friend has been smart (and fortunate) to avoid major injuries. He never worked with weights that he couldn't do at least 10 reps with.

Unlike pictures fitness magazines suggest, most real bodybuilders do not lift heavy - ever.
(they don't lift weight that is heavy for THEM)

Like #1 (Significant Amounts of Muscle Mass), I can't emphasize enough how important the super intense workouts are for keeping the dirty calories from turning to fat. Intensity and relentless effort burn body fat, steroids do not. 

He trained harder than any bodybuilder or athlete I have ever seen.

#3 Junk Food Bodybuilders Live in a Hyperthyroidic State
(or very close)

Hormonally speaking, this is the most important factor.

In simple terms, your thyroid is your metabolism.

Bodybuilders can massively boost their metabolic rate by taking 'T3' (Cytomel).

Regardless of how much muscle mass you have (or how insane your workouts are), your metabolism needs to be on rocket fuel if you are going to eat massive amounts of dirty calories and not have them stick to you.

I'll never know just how much T3 my friend was taking or what type of 'cruise and blast' protocol he used, but I'd estimate he was taking at least 100 mcg. He literally had to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes.
(excessive thyroid hormone causes frequent, loose bowel movements)

Living with hyperthyroid isn't easy (or healthy).

When your thyroid levels are significantly out of range, you can be highly irritable, your blood pressure is high, you are constantly sweating, your sleep suffers (need to take naps every 4 or 5 hours) and you can have significant amounts of anxiety.

When I was following this lifestyle, I would take 50 mcg of T3 everyday.

I estimate that it allowed me to consume (or burn) an extra 2500-3000 calories with no change in activity levels.

These days, I take 50 mcg of T4 (similar to taking 12.5 mcg of T3) and my thyroid is still in the high-normal range.

One thing I've learned (experienced) is that not all T3/T4 is created equal. Today, I get mine from a US pharmacy and it's WAY STRONGER than the Grossman T3 that we used to take.

If you want to regulate your metabolism with T3, you'll have to get bloodwork to check your TSH and often just go by how you feel. Some people have a higher tolerance for thyroid-induced anxiety. At the end of the day, however, you'll have to accept many of the yucky side effects that come with T3.

T3 is an incredible compound, you can burn 1000s and 1000s of calories without even moving. Just about every serious competitive bodybuilder I know uses T3 to raise or lower their metabolic rate.

The trick is to find a happy median or 'sweet-spot' as we say at Good Looking Loser - a dose high enough so you can stuff your face and not get fat, but low enough so you aren't a lunatic who wants to fight everyone.

Funny story
My friend told a certain 'less educated' bodybuilder to eat 8000 calories of McDonalds everyday but didn't tell him that he needed to use T3. We watched this kid get so fucking fat in the Spring of 2006. Bodybuilders are always feeding each other disinformation to mess each other up. 

2007 - Just after Junk Food Era
Notice my new .mp3 player!

#4 Junk Food Bodybuilders Take Large Amounts of Steroids and HGH
(Weekly - At Least 2.5 Grams of Androgens and 50 ius of Growth Hormone)

Obviously.

Although steroids do not directly burn fat, in combination with resistance training, anabolics vastly increase 'protein synthesis' (your body's ability to turn calories/amino acids into lean mass).

Super-physiological doses of high-quality growth hormone, however, will burn fat. 

I never exceeded a daily dosage of 4 ius for any extended period of time.

According to most bodybuilders (the ones who are actually willing to be honest) the fat loss 'magic' begins at about 10 ius.

Couple high levels of steroids and pharma-grade human growth hormone with massive amounts existing of lean mass, insane workouts and T3 - your body becomes a ridiculous fat burning, anabolic machine.

Some steroids are better than others for partitioning junk food into muscle, Trenbolone, in my experience - is the best of the best. I used to eat 4000 calories of semi-junk food (Quiznos, Subway), in addition to 2000-3000 calories of 'regular' food and my waist got smaller.

Avoid 'Tren' if you value your hair though. 

My friend was never completely straightforward with the amount of gear he was on.

Bodybuilders (especially the legitimate ones) rarely are.

From what I know, what I suspect and what other guys following a similar 'junk food lifestyle' have told me, bodybuilders use at least 2.5 grams of total anabolics coupled with 10 ius of HGH daily. Many will cruise on 1 gram of testosterone for their off periods. I have no doubt that many bodybuilders exceed 4 grams/week during these phases. 

Again, these doses are for serious bodybuilders that are far beyond their genetic potential - not the "juicehead bro" who gets drunk on weekends.

#5 Junk Food Bodybuilders Take a Significant Amounts of Stimulants
(includes pre-workout and fat burners - multiple times a day)

Serious bodybuilders, bulking or cutting, take large amount of stimulants.

It's part of the lifestyle.

Living in a hyperthyroidic state totally messes up your sleep (especially if you are using Tren) - you have to live on 3-4 hour naps.

Most guys are either stim'ed up or stim'ed out. There's rarely an in-between.

But most are used to this never-ending yo-yo and it's not actually a big deal.

While T3 will greatly increase your appetite, stimulants will lower it.  

An ironic advantage is - you will only get hungry 2 or 3 times a day (and although you require enormous amounts of food), you don't have the urge to snack or binge on junk food in-between meals.

Some bodybuilders will take DNP to almost totally burn off the junk food, even up to 10,000 calories. This is not recommended, not healthy and a total waste of money if you ask me.

related:

• "All About Ephedrine" (Get Ripped)
• "What Is Adrenal Fatigue? (Everything You Want to Know About Your Energy Levels)" (Get Ripped)

2011 - Right about when I started Good Looking Loser
(definitely looks like I'm taking something)

#6 Junk Food Bodybuilders Know Their Body Extremely Well

The bodybuilders living the 'junk food lifestyle' have been training seriously for years on end.

Although most don't count calories (in bulking phases) they know EXACTLY how much food they can eat (based on what else they are taking) to maintain/build muscle and not accumulate unwanted fat. 

They can literally eyeball how much food is too much and how much is not enough.

Although I was never a competitive bodybuilder, I still can do this pretty easily. It just comes from years of eating for muscle.

This may seem far-fetched to the novice trainee, but it doesn't actually take a long time to get a near full-grasp on your diet or training.

Even if you just go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week, you pretty much know how many times you can lift a certain amount of weight without even lifting it.

It's the same thing with eating. 

#7 Some Junk Food Bodybuilders Take Medications To Counteract Hyperthyroidism Anxiety

To my knowledge, my buddy never did this.

Neither did I.

Many bodybuilders do though.

Serious bodybuilders tend to have anxious personas to begin with.

Combining that with large amounts of T3, anabolics (EQ and Tren can set off anxiety) and stimulants is a recipe for extreme irritability. 

When I was a personal trainer in Hollywood, the majority of my weight loss trainees (mainly women) took a prescription medication to treat the anxiety that Cytomel gave them. 
(the shit I could tell you about my personal training/therapist era...)

Although I was more "hardcore" back in 2008, I now believe that taking benzodiazapines or beta-blockers to lower self-inflicted hyperthyroid anxiety is absolutely not a reasonable way to live.

I am very much against it because it almost always results in a nasty dependency that is tough to break.

I don't even think that taking benzodiazapines [on a daily basis] should even be an option for guys with severe social anxiety.

Social anxiety (and gym anxiety) DOES NOT require medication to beat.

Perpetual general or social anxiety is simply evidence that something else is wrong.
(in this case - hyperthyroidism)

Quit EVERYTHING (except work or school), get a Men's Health Panel (or go to your doctor and complain of 'fatigue' and most insurance will usually cover a full test) immediately and do not medicate with anti-depressants, hardcore or prescription drugs.

You don't need them.

I promise you. 

Pour Conclure

I don't condone the extreme version of this lifestyle (6000+ calories/day of fast food) by any means. You should follow something like this instead to add more heart and muscle-friendly calories to your diet.

Even if you burn off the calories, eating junk food for every meal is terribly unhealthful, pointlessly expensive, a waste of time and you won't look your best on a regular basis.

Besides, unless you already have 200+ lbs. of lean body mass, training like a maniac and using all the performance enhancers I mentioned) you'll just end up getting fat.

The 'Junk Food Diet' is only something to consider in moderation (7500-3000 calories/day) in the "off-season" if you already have your drugs, size and training protocol in place.

Truth is, to really pack on some massive size (not suggested for 'dating' purposes), you will need some dirty calories. 

Most serious bodybuilders aren't eating fast food 3+ times a day though, but they definitely aren't just eating chicken and broccoli.

I can't say it isn't fun though.

Goddamn, I miss the chocolate chip pancakes!

I have disabled comments for this post, please don't ask where you can buy steroids (I don't use them anymore and have a Rx for HRT), direct your comments and questions to the 'Get Juiced' section of our forum. There are several knowledgable guys that will be able to help you out. Thanks!