Thread: Healthy vs Unhealthy

I've constantly been told by others in the gym, to grow and get stronger at the fastest rate, a good diet is needed full of healthy foods, whereas in my mind I think as long as I reach my macros, I'm fine. Does the healthy factor of food really matter in terms of lifting? As an example, as long as I were to achieve my daily vitamins and minerals, couldn't I just eat some junk food to reach my calorie target?

"healthy" is a term that should be applied to an individual not to foods...

Your diet as a whole (macros AND micronutrients AND other things like fibre and phytonutrients and pre-biotics) all play into whether you stay healthy or not as an individual. This of course is important for muscle gain and quality of life in general.

But it's not that hard to reach required nutrients, especially when bulking so you absolutely can have some treat foods in moderation.

As I understand it, it doesn't matter whether the food you eat is healthy or unhealthy as long as you're getting enough calories and protein to gain weight and build muscle, plus enough fat in order to maintain a healthy level of fat. You do want to get the proper vitamins and minerals in order to keep your body healthy.

I'm a vegetarian and I eat a lot of nutrient dense foods. I found that I was ingesting enough micro and macronutrients but I wasn't getting enough calories. Then I just started adding some junk food into my diet, like chips and other sources of "empty" calories. If you are concerned about your health, which you should be, don't go overboard on junk food and unhealthy food. Lots of soda isn't good for your teeth, too much cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease, etc.

So, yeah, go ahead and eat *some* junk food, just don't go overboard and don't allow the junk food to fill you up and cause you to neglect eating the other healthier foods.