Dont we train so we can eat what we want?

From a thread on transitions...

"Q) Dont we train so we can eat what we want???

A) Calories yes, nutrition and inner health is a different story.

One of the problems with a lot of athletes is the quality of their diet. They burn lots of energy so they can afford to eat lots of calories. For many, this means refined sugars and fat.

Whilst you get away with the calories side (i.e. don't put on weight) you don't get away with the saturated fat. Dumping cholesterol into your bloodstream is dangerous if you also have a lot of free radicals in there... Basically as the cholesterol floats through your arteries, it is the free radicals that makes it "stick" to your arterial walls...

One of the by products of exercise is free radicals - therefore high fat diet in combination with exercise is better than high fat + smoking, but both have similar problems.

Eat as many calories as you like, just make sure you're getting the right level of nutrients and you are not dumping saturated fat into your system..."

Not quite sure about the free radical stuff, but this quote rang a chord with me. Calories (for the most part) are not my problem, nutrition and a healthy body is.