I do think that that’s a point some people might miss. They see “oh, I’m bulking, so I follow my plan and have a cheat meal every third evening which is a large pizza”. So, ecto newbies think that bulking without the large pizza is somehow better without realizing that the supposed ‘cheat’ is actually worked into the plan and is there for a reason.
Then they wonder why they’re not getting the gains the other guys are getting when they’re being ‘stricter’ with their plan. For some it takes a bit of wrapping your head around, but if it’s a weekly ‘cheat’ that you schedule in and it has a purpose, it’s not really a cheat at all - it’s just eating less clean than the rest of your planned meals.