Physical health is only one aspect of your overall well-being, and it's essential to stay social for your mental health. It isn't necessary to keep track of your calories and macros religiously every single day. That said, it can be useful to track your meals for an initial two-week period, as this is roughly how long it takes to develop a habit. You should then be able to recall protein sources, portion sizes, and meal timing without needing to refer to a tracker. If you visit a restaurant with a set of scales in hand, prepare to eat alone in the future!

A diet will only work if you follow it. So, if you stick to a diet and obey its principles to a tee, you will likely achieve results. That often becomes complicated in the face of overly aggressive, unattainable diets, however. A bodybuilding diet is often referred to derogatively as the "chicken, broccoli, and brown rice approach" by critics. It's boring and bland, and not enjoying their food is a key reason why so many people fall off the diet wagon. Bottom line: A plain, bland diet is less likely to yield results.

On the surface, a clean bodybuilding diet may appear to have all the micronutrients your body needs, but while a plate of chicken, brown rice, and broccoli is fine as a single meal, if that's all you're eating, you're missing out on some hugely important nutrients. The solution is to alternate your protein sources. For example, turkey is the protein highest in leucine, and quinoa, as a carb source, is the only plant-based food that has a full profile of essential amino acids. Broccoli is a fantastic vegetable, but adding spinach gives you much-needed iron, folic acid, and niacin for enhanced energy production.