9 Emergency Meals for Bodybuilders (Fast Food and Gas Station Meals)

Don't you just love the magazines? You pick one up and flip to someone's article, and they lay out what they eat every day.

Here you have this guy that claims he eats exactly 10 ounces of chicken at 9am, 12 ounces of steak at 11:15, 2 scoops of Nitro-tech at 2:00 pm with 2 cups of rice, blah blah blah.

Now stop and think about this for a minute.

This is a guy who has guest appearances, travel, possibly some training clients, a side business, whatever. Do you think he hits exactly this every single day without fail? Fuck no!

That article probably wasn't even written by the damn guy to begin with, or he wrote what he thought sounded good or what he tries to do most days. But you never see an article that says “Days I'm in a jam, didn't have time to cook my food, and life is a motherfucker.” Until now…

Sometimes shit happens… kids were up at night sick, an important meeting sprang up, your water pipe busted and you're trying to keep your house from flooding, you're in the process of moving, starting a new job with different hours, extended workload and longer hours… it could be anything.

It just may so happen that you ran out of cooked food or do not have your food with you. What do you do eat?

Well, I've put together a list of emergency outlets for food, that would be your better options if you're stuck.

#1- Wendy's

Wendy's has baked potatoes. I may get a protein bar somewhere and then roll through Wendy's for potatoes. Bam! You got your carbs and protein right there.

#2- Raw hamburger meat

I haven't done this in awhile, but I've been known for buying a pack of lean ground beef and eating it raw as I'm in the car. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Salmonella, FUCK SALMONELLA! HOWEVER, if Salmonella is a concern to you, then all it takes is about 2 min in a microwave to get enough heat to kill any bacteria that may be in the meat. I lay it out on a plate like its taco meat so it cooks faster. 2 minutes in microwave, pull it out and eat it, maybe dip in ketchup or BBQ sauce if I have it around. It's one possible emergency meal that you can grab on your way into work. Have a  piece of fruit with it for carbs. Fruit is fast and doesn't need to be cooked right?

#3- Anywhere that has a decent sized salad with meat on it.

Wendy's is good for this as well. If you need more protein then get a grilled chicken sandwich and toss half the bread.

#4- Chinese restaurants

No, not sweet and sour chicken for the fat fucks, get cartons of steamed white rice! Cooked carbs that are ready for you fast when you're on the go.

#5- Subway

6″ omelette sub and tell them to double the omelette. Bag of baked chips for your carbs, not my first choice but it's better than going hungry. The omelette is probably the best protein source from subway. The chicken breasts are rubbery and I honestly don't know what the fuck it is really, so I go for the omelette. I don't need all the bread, so I double the 6″.

#6- McDonalds

This would be more of a morning “Fuck I'm in a jam” meal. 2 egg white omelettes, a fruit and maple oatmeal. This is actually a damn good post workout meal. The carbs from the bread and the oatmeal will be used for recovery and not stored as fat, and you have some protein from the egg whites.

#7- Hardee's Thickburger minus the bread.

If you're going to go a little overboard on the fat from the burger, it's OK once in awhile. But remember to lose the bread, bodybuilding is checks and balances. If you're going to increase the fat then you want to decrease the carbs (unless you're purposely eating excessively to pack on some mass and fat isn't an issue with you).

#8- The “fuck I'm in a jam” gas station meal.

Protein bar, possibly a banana or apple (most gas stations sell them now) or a Nature Valley granola bar.

#9- Liquid egg whites

They can be found at any grocery store, drink them straight from the carton, you won't get sick! They are filtered and pasteurized and honestly taste like nothing. Don't be a pussy. Just slam it! So just know that anywhere there is a grocery store, you have a protein drink.

Remember, your cooked and prepped diet always comes first! This is emergency food for when you're dealing with life's struggles and don't want to deviate from clean eating. When you want to be ripped you'll go through hell or high water to get it!

Whatever it takes, onward to victory baby!

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6 thoughts on “9 Emergency Meals for Bodybuilders (Fast Food and Gas Station Meals)”

  1. Hey joe,
    Big fan of yours. Your advice is great because its unconventional, and that’s how you know it’s right. I am curious as to how you train currently, and your lifts. Aka bench, squat, dead, press, etc.
    Thanks,
    John

    Reply
    • I’m currently back to doing 1 bodybpart a day, chest day, arm day, leg day, shoulder day,off, back day, off, repeat. It’s something like that, maybe a different day off in between bodyparts here and there, it’s really an instinctive thing. If I feel I need a day off after chest, then I take a day off after chest, if I feel good to go 5 days in a row at the gym then I do just that. I’m doing 3 sessions of cardio per week right now on the stairmaster, brief but hard 20 min sessions. My diet is not spot on right now, but I’d say 80% clean. I weigh between 225-230 lbs.

      As for my lifts, right now I have no idea as I dont train low reps much. I can currently do 275/10 on incline bench, and last time I did deadlifts I got 500/9 reps. I have not done squats in awhile, I’ve been doing leg presses and hack squats. As for how strong I am, it fluctuates a lot depending on how I’m eating. 1 day I can use 315 on bench, the following week 225 might feel heavy. I just go by the mirror, not the bar weight

      Reply
      • John, could you elaborate on that? Like how would you structure a leg workout? I know you train very instinctively, but what would you exactly do? Also, are higher reps more beneficial for muscle?
        And how do u workout your calves with no machines? Newbie here, just trying to learn my shit. Good site, though.

        Reply
        • Yes, I do train very instinctively. A leg workout for me would commonly be something that hits all the muscles, a few warm ups leading into a heavy set with lots of reps. Leg presses, lying leg curls, leg extensions, and some calve raises. For calves, with no machines you could hold a dumbbell and do raises one leg at a time, just find something to step onto such as a platform for spotting someone or one of those plastic step up blocks. If there is a smith machine you could also use that, and place a few 45’s on the floor and use it as your step.

          Reply
  2. John,

    I’ve been in the gym for 15 years now, first as a competitive football player, then as a rugby player, now as a guy who wants to look strong feel fast and maintain my sanity.

    This is quite possibly the single most useful article I have come across. It seems that it is the same old 80:20 I am in control of the circumstances 80 percent of the time and eating the right stuff is a piece of cake. It’s how I can adapt and respond to the other 20 percent that really determines how effective my whole training plan will be.

    Thanks a ton for listing some very realistic Contingency Plans! I’ve definitely eaten raw ground beef in the car before. If you could come up with a volume 2 of this article (especially now that you’re on a paleo phase) I would be very interested.

    Here are some of my go to emergency meals:

    Chipotle – Burrito Bowl with Chicken, Steak, Fajita Veggies, Any of the salsa’s no sour cream or cheese

    Grocery – Rotisserie Chicken (usually 5-7 bucks and ready to eat immediately)
    – bag of spinach w/ Tuna pouches
    – Fresh Squeezed OJ with 3 raw eggs shaken into it (post-workout) only if they have the juice squeezer in the store

    Gas Station – Jar of pickles and protein shake

    Reply
    • Thanks, actually Chipotle grill is a place that I used to hit up very frequently for a post workout meal, especially when the weather is nice and I can eat outside. A steak or chicken bowl with a lemonade is actually a perfect post workout meal!! Fast acting sugars from the lemonade for recovery, combined with the rice and protein from the meat, it puts your macros right in the perfect spot for post workout nutrition!!!

      Reply

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