It is essential to establish a healthy relationship with food from a start to be able to have a consistent, functional diet. Have you found yourself in the situation where you decide to go on a diet and exclude all "unhealthy" food such a ice cream, candy and cake. This new lifestyle lasts at top for a couple of days before returning to the old lifestyle. When people discover the time consumption and dedication needed to sustain a functional diet it becomes easy to slip back into old habits. If you are bulking or cutting there is no need for a diet that harms your mentality, social health or even physical well being.
The importance of establishing a diet is to make it effective and long lasting. During a cut, I believe that it is essential to be consuming the maximum amount of calories that it is possible while still loosing weight. It is unnecessary to punish yourself extensively if it is possible to obtain the same results with a higher caloric intake. You have to remember that there is no secret to weight loss; it is all about calories out versus calories in.
You need to find out what your maintenance level lies, that means the amount of calories burned throughout the day, without any physical activity incorporated. That will say the energy required to just keep the body respiring and functioning, living. From those numbers it can be figured out what amount of food needs to be consumed in order to loose weight or gain weight in a healthy, steady fashion.
