Philip Stefanov

For the first three years in the gym, I never bothered to learn the pull-up.

Yes, that’s right. I had been training consistently for about three years and had someone asked me, I couldn’t do a single pull-up to save my life.

Yet, I always felt incredible admiration for the dude who could jump up, grab the bar and bang out a set of ten solid pull-ups like it was nothing.

So I finally decided to get myself together and start progressing.

But… how does one improve upon something they can’t even do? It certainly felt like an impossible task at first.

Our nutrition plays a huge role in our fitness success. Good eating practices allow us to build muscle, lose fat, and feel good. Bad eating leads to an inability to lose fat, difficulty with muscle gain, and general tiredness.

The problem is, there are many ideas and anecdotes for what ‘good nutrition’ should be. With that in mind, I’ve put together this guide on flexible dieting.

Today, we’ll go over:

• What flexible dieting is
• How to calculate your calories and macronutrients
• How to get started in 9 simple steps

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

One of the most prevalent ideas in fitness today is that of quality vs. quantity:

The amount of training volume we do and its relation to quality parameters like training form.

Several great studies from recent years have pointed our attention toward the importance of volume for gym progress. In other words, doing more work tends to deliver better results. To a point, of course.

And while I wholeheartedly agree that volume matters a lot, I don't necessarily agree with the methods and habits some folks use to get the work in every week.

Have you ever:

• Found yourself dieting longer than you should have?
• Spent days, weeks, or even months debating yourself on what you should do next - diet or not?
• Finished one diet, only to find yourself in a calorie deficit a week later?

If that is the case, then you might be suffering from chronic dieting syndrome.

I’ve been there myself, and I understand the struggle. So, if you’ve ever found yourself in that spot, unable to shake the need to keep dieting - despite your better judgment - then you should read on.

You know that feeling in a dream when you’re running toward (or away from) something, but you can barely move, no matter how hard you try, like you’re knee-deep in mud?

That’s me right now. The bad news is, I’m very much awake.

For the most part, I’m pretty consistent with my schedule. I never skip workouts, I always stretch and meditate in the morning, I make (mostly) good food choices, I always make sure to read before bed, and I make it a point to write every day.

But occasionally, I lose some of my momentum, and things get a bit out of control. I guess it’s part of being human.