The Thinking Lifter Blog by Philip Stefanov

Have you ever found yourself dieting longer than you should have? Have you ever spent days, weeks, or even months debating yourself on what you should do next - diet or not? Have you ever 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.

You see, successful dieting comes down to a few basics - a caloric deficit, enough protein, and strength training. Over the weeks and months, with enough consistency, that leads to fat loss. It’s as straightforward as it can get.

But dieting can turn into an obsession for some, derailing them from their initial goals, and making it difficult to go back to having a healthy relationship with food.

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.

In work-life balance, there is a popular concept called the four burners theory. I first learned about it back in 2016 from an article James Clear wrote on the topic.

The idea goes that one burner represents your family, one is for your friends, the third burner represents your work, and the fourth goes for your health.

The basic argument here is that, if you want to be successful, you need to cut off one burner. If you want to be really successful, you need to cut off two.

The idea here is pretty good and makes a lot of sense - we only have so much time and energy we could dedicate to these four burners, and we can’t possibly crank all four to the max. At least, not for long.

But, I’ve been thinking lately:

The four burners theory doesn’t just apply to work-life balance, it also applies to lifting.