Good Exercise Doesn't Justify a Bad Diet

I was skinny as a teenager and wanted to get bigger as I entered adulthood.

Doing so required eating excess calories (to sustain transformative exercise).

I started forcing myself to eat tonnes of wholegrains and proteins and quickly gained over a stone in muscle - I was over the moon.

Unfortunately though, my appetite grew beyond belief.

I found myself justifying constant overeating (and the quality of the calories had declined, now including chocolate, energy drinks, McDonalds etc.) as helping my calorie excessive diet/bodybuilding journey.

It was also a period of my life when I was drinking heavily, 2-3 days per week, and doing all sorts of other stuff!

All very well until I hit 26.

My intensive, consistent, exercise routine wasn't quite burning off the sheer amount of calories I was consuming anymore.

I've had to wrestle myself back down to a leaner diet and feel much better for having done so.

I still eat excessive calories, but I set strict boundaries and ensure they're almost entirely clean/healthy.

That said - everyone deserves a cheat day!

You'll never stick to a clean diet 100% of the time - it has to be something you can maintain for the rest of your life, not just for the first two weeks of January...