Why you might need junk food in your fitness journey

When we are starting some sort of fitness or health journey we are told to stay away from all processed food , even food that might be homemade and is still seen as in the "junk food" category like burgers or pizza , for example in reality those sorts of food aren't that bad I'm not talking about ready meals or Takaways (although in moderation on occasion those things are still fine) im talking about making a curry or going out for a meal and having burger and chips , or going to an Italian restaurant and having pizza and garlic bread. We have to understand that eating these things are fine , I mean a burger (a good quality one not one from McDonald's) is just meat salad cheese and bread if you deconstruct that on a plate some how it goes from being seen as "junk food" to a balanced meal in their you have your protein , carbs , fats and vegetables. What im trying to say is what is seen as junk food or bad food , things we are told we need to stay away from are fine and don't have to be avoided.

In some cases for some people junk food is a must in their diet at some point  , I recently started a bulk to build more muscle after a leg injury I sustained , I had to take a break from the gym and lost allot of strength and found it difficult to get it back so I decided to start a bulk and up my calories to give myself a boost and get back on track , but I soon began to realise it was very difficult for me to up my calories with just eating clean and healthy constantly. I tried upping my portion sizes of the foods I was already eating (and yes I was eating home made curry , burger , pizza etc I wasn't  cutting carbs or living solely off of salad) but this did not help I wasn't gaining weight I was just getting crippling stomach ache so I decided to try something diffrent and started incorporating junk food. I was swapping out my home made pizza for frozen shop bought , eating Ben and jerrys ice cream and getting takeaway curry and chips instead of home made.

I started to see some change I was putting on weight (and for the first time in my life I was happy about it) I didn't just get back on track at the gym I was able to up my weight on leg day I managed more reps on arm day and I could do more complex excersises for longer on ab day. The extra calories even if they were "unhealthy" calories gave my body the push it needed to regain the strength I lost and more ontop of that. Saying that ever one is diffrent this worked for me but it might not work for you its all trial and error. And even if your not going into a bulk and you want to lose weight instead of gain it don't be afraid of "junk food" theirs nothing wrong with a burger now and then or a chocolate cheesecake on the weekend you won't be hindering your progress by treating yourself now and then remember it's better to indulge occasionally then deprive your body. 

Depriving your body from what it wants constantly could lead you to binge eating and that's never a good thing don't worry about having a cheat day now and then. Ultimately what I'm trying to say is don't be afraid of food.