Sunday 1 December 2013

QUICK UPDATE!!!

Sorry for the lack of new posts!! My professional eating "career" has really taken off of late, and I can't wait to share all of my recent eating feats with you! Until then, enjoy a picture of my latest conquest - the 5lb Bacon Bomb, found at the one and only Paddy Long's in Chicago:

Kind of like a football made out of meat... 

Sunday 10 November 2013

CHEAT DAY - WEEK 2

I am going to be honest, this past cheat day was rough. Now I'm sure you are wondering, "how can a day of eating nothing but junk food possible go wrong?". Read on and find out.. I began the day by heading to Christina's Pub with some friends, my goal: consume three linebackers. After downing two no problem last week, I was feeling pretty confident - my first mistake. See, I decided earlier that morning that it would be a good idea to practice for the Oreo speed eating feat I intended to perform later. Unfortunately, consuming two packs of Oreos in rapid succession does in fact have a negative impact on ones ability to devour gratuitous amounts of delicious diner breakfast foods. Remember when I said being confident was my first mistake? Yeah, I lied. I'm pretty sure it was actually the 80 or so odd Oreos..
Three Linebackers - The Breakfast of Champions

Despite this, I was still feeling pretty good; so much so that I planned on filming and putting my attempt my blog/Youtube channel. As you have probably noticed, there is no such video here. This is due in part to my SD card causing the file to be corrupted, and due in part to the fact that I failed. Mostly the SD card though. Anyway, my attempt began well; very well in fact. I downed the first linebacker in just under four minutes, and had put the second away in just over ten. Going into the third I was feeling a tad full, but not too bad on the whole. This changed rapidly. I made it about halfway through the plate when out of no where I hit the wall. I'm sure you know the feeling, that point at which every single bite becomes a struggle, where you are powerless to do anything but chew, and chew, and chew, unable to bring yourself to swallowing it. Yeah, that's where I was at. I managed to force myself to eat another quarter of the plate before throwing in the towel.
Next time...
Looking back on it I didn't do too horribly - I finished: 6/6 pancakes, 6/6 Bacon, 6/6 Eggs, 5/6 Toast, 5/6 Sausage, 5/6 French Toast, and all the Homefries. I still couldn't help but be disappointed, however. After doing some research I discovered a number of other mistakes during my attempt, namely - drinking too much water, letting the food cool, and the order I ate everything in. Basically, if there was a mistake I could have made I made it. So despite this disappointment I am not going to give up on my goal of breaking Furious Pete's Record, and fully intend on coming back once I have some more experience under my belt. You won today Linebackers, but I'll be back. I'll be back... Also, check out that guys face in the photo. It might be just me, but I find his expression hilarious. I'm really not sure what the protocol is for posting pics with people in the background (and drawing attention to them with a red arrow), but it's gonna stay until someone tells me to take it down.


After a nap, and a good cry, I had recovered from my disappointing linebacker showing. Now, to enjoy the rest of my cheat day! As I may have mentioned previously, I absolutely adore pumpkin pie. Now the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from DQ was delicious, but nothing beats the real thing! I was able to enjoy a piece of the incredible homemade pumpkin pie, pictured below, courtesy of my friend Maryam - who would like me to share with the world how funny she is (though "punny" is probably a more apt description). Apparently this was her and her roommates first ever attempt at baking pumpkin pie, which I find hard to believe - as it was, with no word of hyperbole, one of the best pies I have ever tasted.
Mmmmm... REAL Pumpkin Pie


As has become a sort of tradition on my cheat days I made the trek to my local DQ to partake in their delicious frozen treats. This week I tried two different Blizzards: The Georgia Mud Fudge, pictured to the left, and the Oreo Cheesequake, pictured right. Both were quite good, the pecan and brownie pieces really being the highlight of the Georgia Mud Fudge, while the Cheesecake bits added to what is already a winning combination with the Oreo Blizzard.
I deserve a sponsorship from DQ or something..




When I arrived back in residence it was time for the main event, the moment I had been training for - my record breaking Oreo run! To make things more interesting two of my residents challenged me to see if they, working together, could finish a box before I completed mine. Who won? Check out the video above to find out!


Well, that was my second cheat day! There were certainly some rough patches, but as whole I would still consider a success. I mean, any day in which you can consume a piece of Pumpkin Pie, two Blizzards, and a box of Oreos is a good day in my books. Until next week, thanks for reading!



-Jon

Monday 28 October 2013

CHEAT DAY - WEEK 1

In this post I am going to give a rundown of my first Cheat Day, enjoy!

I began the day with my morning workout (Push day, Chest/Shoulders/Tri - More on various workout splits later), after which I had worked up a pretty good appetite. Myself and a couple friends made our way to Christina's Pub, located near the UWO main gates, for some breakfast. I ordered two Linebackers, pictured below. A Linebacker basically consists of two of everything - eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, french toast, pancakes, as well as some delicious home fries. I polished off both in a grand total of thirteen minutes.
Two Linebackers - This photo may look familiar...
Now bear with me, there is a reason I decided to eat so much so fast, aside from the obvious benefit of the excellent post-workout nutrition. That reason is that I am training for what is to be my first real eating challenge. Some of you may be familiar with Furious Pete, but for those who aren't I'll give you a brief rundown: he is a Canadian bodybuilder and competitive eater, but not only that - he is a former anorexic as well. I encourage you all to check out this link to his transformation video, he can explain his story better than I ever could http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvILb8psZpM. What is extremely interesting about Furious Pete's beginning's as a competitive eater is that it all started in Christina's Pub, London Ontario, with the aforementioned Linebackers. Pretty crazy right? Anyway, my goal is to match the four Linebackers that Pete consumed - but to do so in record time.


While at the mall later that day I discovered, to my pleasant surprise, that the DQ there had finally managed to get October's Blizzard of the Month - The Pumpkin Pie Blizzard! I absolutely adore pumpkin pie, and having it once a year at Thanksgiving just isn't enough for me. Needless to say, this Blizzard hit the spot. If you're a fan of pumpkin pie and haven't yet tried one of these... well then you're not really a fan of pumpkin pie. Seriously, get to your local DQ and try one while you still have the chance!
Mmmmm... Pumpkin Pie



 Later that evening I took my floor (I am a Residence Assistant - or Don if you prefer), to The Mongolian Grill, a buffet-style place in which you pick your meat/veggies/sauces and they grill it in front of you.





As the night was drawing to a close I decided to attempt my first eating challenge - to break the record for the fastest time to consume three Rice Krispies. I managed to do so and you can view my record on recordsetter.com here http://recordsetter.com/world-record/eat-three-rice-krispies-treats/33623?autoplay=true#contentsection





Finally, to round out the night I bet a friend that I could finish an entire Cheese Strip Danish (over 1600 Calories and 125g of sugar) in under ten minutes. Turns out ten minutes was way too generous a time, as I managed to finish it in under three!


So that was my first cheat day! Hope you enjoyed it, I know I certainly did. Please comment, share your thoughts, post ideas for other challenges, and let me know what your craziest cheat day was like. Thanks for reading!


-Jon


Sunday 27 October 2013

WELCOME TO JUNKFOOD BODYBUILDING

Hi! My name is Jonathan Clarke, and this is my blog - Junkfood Bodybuilding.

The goal of this blog is to primarily do two things:

1.) Document the progress I am making with regard to my physique.

2.) More interestingly - show that it is possible to have fun, through crazy eating stunts/feats, while maintaining and improving said physique.

My philosophy when it comes to dieting:

I am of the belief that there are a myriad of effective diets out there; however, what is effective for one person may not necessarily work for another. Additionally, in order for a diet to be successful it must be first and foremost sustainable.

What is my current diet like?

I'm glad you asked. Currently I am following a variation of the Slow Carb Diet, as popularized by Tim Ferris in his book the 4 Hour Body http://fourhourbody.com/. The variation comes in the form of Intermittent Fasting (IF), of which I am following  Martin Berkhan's Leangains protocol http://www.leangains.com/  This probably sounds like a bunch of fitness/nutrition jargon at this point, and I promise that I will go into greater detail about both of these diets at a later date. For now, however, I would like to focus on the one aspect of my diet that makes it unique and pertains to the title of this blog. And that is....

THE CHEAT DAY

Ahh yes, the cheat day. That day of glorious respite, the reward for a week of strict devotion to one's nutritional code, freedom from any and all dietary restraints. Sound crazy? It is.  Does the cheat day work for everyone? Certainly not. Does it work for me? Hell yes. Words to describe (my) cheat days: gluttonous, excessive, crazy, extreme, but above all else FUN. I believe that with a little creativity any diet can be made fun, and taking my cheat days to the extreme is just one way I am doing so with mine. I have discovered recently that I have a talent for eating a lot of food. Fast. To put this talent to the test I plan on using my cheat days to attempt crazy eating feats and challenges.

These challenges will be documented here as well as my new Youtube channel, also called Junkfood Bodybuilding - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_REKUi_xLg468e4ysB_ZIQ

Hope you enjoy following my progress, if you have any thoughts or comments I would love to hear them!

-Jon