Back in May, Men’s Health cover star, actor and TV host Terry Crews, talked us through his favourite cheat day meals. This week, BarBend’s co-founder David Tao and nutrition editor Nick English calculated exactly how many calories went into Crews’ epic cheat day, and decided to try it for themselves.
The challenge begins with the pair fasting for 16 hours until 2pm, just like Crews, followed by an eight-hour window in which they recreate his cheat day menu. Check out the original video here, then take a look at how English and Tao fare:
First up: the apple fritter. The version of the fried, sugary treat that Tao and English consume comes in at 380 calories and 3.8 grams of protein. And again, just like Crews, English rides out his sugar high by playing video games.
Next, at 4pm, is a 16″ pizza (upsized from the 12″ pie Crews eats in the original video), loaded with as many toppings as possible, just the way the man himself likes it. This counts for around 2,790 calories and 125 grams of protein each. Yowzer. “It’s anabolic, at least,” says English. He manages to finish his pizza (sweats notwithstanding), while Tao throws in the towel with just one slice remaining.
Their third meal of the day at 8pm is lobster mac and cheese — a rich, heavy dish by itself, but Crews also stipulates that it should be eaten with lots of bread. English sources a large, two pound serving for each of them, with a calorie content of approximately 1,550 calories. “I wonder how much fat mass my body can put on in a day,” Tao muses as they chow down.
RELATED: A Look At Terry Crews’ Ridiculously Huge Cheat Day Meals
And there’s still dessert to come. At 9:30pm, just before the eight-hour window closes, they take on Crews’ peach cobbler, which includes an extra thick, all-butter crust, topped off with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream: around 680 calories. “I’m so full,” moans Tao, noting that they’ve eaten nearly 5,000 calories each that day before even reaching the cobbler. “I’m not Terry Crews’ size! I just want to get this over with! I never thought I’d say that about eating a delicious peach cobbler with ice cream. I just want to get this done.“
At the end of the eight hours, their grand total for the day is a staggering 5,400 calories, with both of them feeling sluggish and on the verge of a food coma. “I wonder how long this diet would take to kill you?” Says Tao. “I’m actually getting reverse hangry.” So there we are. We already knew it takes a hell of a lot of drive to work out like Terry Crews… turns out you need an inordinate amount of motivation to eat like him, too.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health