For the last two weeks I’ve been decreasing the amount I sleep from an appalling ten (or more) hours to a fine seven. Although this doesn’t have a magnificent ‘wow!’ effect, it is less than the average eight, and it’s still falling. I didn’t read any how to sleep less manuals, hints or tips, but just followed what I would call common sense. If you want to learn how to sleep less then this article is for you. On the other hand if you’re quite content lounging around like a lioness in bed until well past noon, despite life being incredibly short then do so. Either way, sleep is incredibly important for health, learning and overall well-being. It’s not the quantity of sleep that matters, it’s the quality.

• Question – if sleep were a choice, would you or wouldn’t you?

Decide now how much sleep you want

Unless you want to be walking around like a zombie for the first week, cut down your sleep in small steps. I went from ten hours to seven hours in two weeks, which is a decrease of 12.8 minutes a day. Although I wasn’t that precise. The more you want to cut down, the longer it will take. Adaptation always takes time, and if you want it to be an easy transition then give yourself a month or more. The longer the transition phase the smaller the gradient. So let’s say you wanted to cut down by two hours over three months. That’s simply a decrease of just over a minute per day.

If you’re a little bit impatient and want to sleep less right now (like me) then be prepared for some pain. Not physical pain, but just severe fatigue. It started off as an accident – I was jet lagged so after five hours of sleep I woke up at sunrise feeling fresh and ready to conquer the world. It was so amazing that I decided there and then that I always want to wake up early (looking back, it was the god awful hour of 5AM) and be able to walk on the streets with no one else around. I knew that the only way to survive on so few hours of sleep was if they were high quality.

Get some quality sleep

This is the most important factor in how to sleep less. I want to stress it so much that if I could have your CD drive open and transform into a sign ‘QUALITY NOT QUANTITY’ then I would. In my opinion there are two types of sleep: deep and light. Deep sleep is when you’re practically unconscious. Someone could tape you to the ceiling and you wouldn’t notice. It’s when you wake up and have no clue how much time has passed. It’s the sleep that heals wounds, figures out complex problems, reduces metabolism, makes you grow and generally recharges all cells in the body with that mystical energy that only sleep gives. It’s deep sleep you want as much of and as quickly as possible. Light sleep is when your mind is drifting, you see dreams yet are aware of your own presence. It’s when if you really wanted to you could wake up, if a noise is heard, or one of those really random itches are felt then you’d climb back into consciousness.

It’s all about going deep

To sleep less, the key is in reducing light sleep, and strengthening deep sleep. This is where common sense comes in. Playing video games just before bed does not help. Those of you who are computer game fanatics will know exactly what I mean when you go to bed, and you actually dream yourself in the game (‘boom headshot!’). Similarly don’t pump out those last remaining press-ups, sit ups or pistol leg squats just before you crash. These only release adrenaline and happy hormones that do anything but let you go to sleep. Some say don’t eat, but I personally found eating a huge meal before sleep helped…Oxygen goes from the brain to the stomach – but that’s my experience.

• Question – Does sex make you feel more or less tired?

Bed time stories

There are countless “don’ts” but fewer “dos”. Sleep isn’t like a light switch. It’s a slow transition (unless you’re particularly knackered) that requires a routine habit. I generally found that by preparing for sleep one or two hours before actually going to bed helped hugely reduce the amount of light sleep. For some reason, parents learn and implement this for their kids but not for themselves. For instance, normally they’d say, “right! It’s time to get ready for bed: Bath, teeth and then a story.” The same routine, everyday that gets the kid to sleep…And it works for us older folk too. By having a shower, opening a book and reading in shallow (not bright) light until you are tired enough to sleep works wonders. This was my routine and it worked. I’m looking to improve it however by adding more things to the routine. Essentially all you’re trying to do is tell the body that it’s time to sleep. The more senses you stimulate signaling this the quicker it’ll get. So perhaps a scented candle, soft clothes, easy-to-read book, and calming music is the ultimate combo.

Alarm clock

Out of everything though, an alarm clock is the must have gadget. It is the deadliest weapon in all how to wake up early arsenal kits and it’ll (almost) never fail you. There are alarms on everything these days: mobile phones, microwaves, dishwashers, watches, computers and hell I wouldn’t be surprised if my hoover had one. Set it to the time you want to wake up, then another for five minutes later. Try and keep this time constant but if a social life means that every other night ends at the time you want to wake up then change it. I’ll come back to this in a bit. For the first week I used my mobile phone because it allows me to have two alarms. Yet as I discovered, this can actually work in your disfavor. If at the first alarm you don’t get up and out of bed immediately, you drift into what I call the ‘oh-no-you-don’t’ sleep phase where your body just feels like cardboard and will not get out. If you’re lucky enough to still be living at home with your parents, get your Mum to wake you up. She’ll be more than pleased to oblige.

You must, and I mean this, try your utmost hardest to literally jump out of bed at the first hearing of the alarm clock. Here’s the beauty of my how to sleep less article – Adrenaline will remove any fatigue normally associated with getting out of bed. Please try it because you will not be disappointed. After you have jumped out of bed (if you spend more than ten seconds in bed after waking you’ve failed) get in the shower. Just like going to sleep, waking up is a (far quicker) transition and requires a routine. Showering wakes up the senses, feels good, and refreshes the body ready for a hard day of work…

Not before a hearty breakfast though! After seven hours of deep sleep or less, I often found myself starving in the morning. Metabolism cranks down whilst you sleep, so unless you’re wanting to put on the pounds don’t miss this meal of the day. Food (and thus energy) is crucial to being able to stay awake for longer than normal periods of time. At first I forgot this minor detail, trying to survive an extra three hours a day with the same levels of energy. By the early evening I was feeling groggy and wondering whether this whole ambition was ridiculous. The normal statistics reveal 1940 calories per day for women and 2550 for men. This is based on a sixteen hour day ( eight hours sleep) – 121.25 and 159.7 calories per hour awake. So if you’re staying awake for longer realize now that you need at least another 200 calories per hour awake ( I increased it because these scientists are always a bit stingy).

High energy foods are of great benefit too. Bananas and cereal…Not Haribo Tangfastics (sour sweets). Don’t be shy of caffeine either, I’m a great fan of starting off the day with a hot mug of real American coffee and getting that afternoon boost from one too. Now, regarding some other stimulants/depressants…

For when you groove

Learning how to sleep less is difficult if your social or work life interrupts regular sleeping patterns. I got in a bit of a fiddle when I realized three or more times a week I would still be partying way past midnight. All I can say is don’t starve yourself of sleep. If your body needs it, then give it. You will be tired throughout the day afterward if you do not have a good nights’ sleep. So once you’ve caught up, then get back into sleeping less. Alternatively, as the Spanish discovered many centuries ago, an afternoon ciesta (or nap) works wonders. Thirty minutes of shut-eye may result in a few hours extra of partying…or working. I was often surprised to see Spanish families out until midnight or the early hours of the morning, including young children despite having to wake up early the next day. Their secret is a two or three hour ciesta around four in the afternoon.

• Related Forum Post – Are Naps Misunderstood?

Create the environment

I live on a main road with a healthy stream of traffic. Large lorries drive past in the middle of the night that shake my bedroom. I’m used to it now, but when friends come over they complain of the worst night sleep ever and being woken by multiple ‘earthquakes’. However when I stay somewhere else that is quieter, I can’t sleep at all. This is why creating a suitable environment will help you achieve the perfect night sleep. If you have road lamps outside your window, or if the sun rises burning your retina get an eye mask. Ear plugs I’ve heard can be of great use too, but so far nothing is on the market for creating artificial noise/vibration (not of that kind you cheeky monkey).

Side effects

Don’t be fooled about how easy this is. The first few days for me were coffee fueled and resulted in huge black eyes. Even if I were a Zombie and raw human meat was hung before me I wouldn’t have been able to pluck up the energy to lift my arms in that Egytian style Mummy manner. OK so it wasn’t that bad, but as suggested I did cut it down slowly. One and a half hours each week. Bags under your eyes are reduced by drinking shed-loads of water, vitamins and minerals.

As written earlier I’m now experimenting with furthering my routine before bed, and cutting it down to six hours. I’m also going to be investigating how to wake up with natural sunrise i.e. leave the curtains drawn open. So in order to stay tuned, join our Facebook group below. Looking forward to some of your replies to the questions throughout, especially whether sex makes you feel more or less tired.

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Hope you’re all well,

Tom

The human smile is the most recognisable expression of fun and love across all cultures.

It’s the number one lesson taught in all dating advice programs, business interview training schemes and cross-cultural preparations. Even more, it’s the easiest thing to do! Which is why it’s very important to perfect your smile and have great teeth.

Culture

There are many confusing aspects of different cultures. You can witness this when it comes to greetings: A firm handshake in Australia or a three-kiss peck in only particular parts of Belgium? You wouldn’t give a hug to a female in Afghanistan, although you would quite keenly in England. Yet a smile is welcomed everywhere, and as Charles Darwin explained in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (buy here) it’s the smile that can be recognised from the greatest of distances.

“9 out of 10 people believe an attractive smile serves as a critical asset”

Disarming Smile

As I travelled across the globe, I very quickly learnt how important a smile is in disarming strangers as you approach. Often people are scared of going up to new people because they could be a threat, when in reality it’s you that’s perceived as a threat. Imagine sitting down with your friends, and a muscular male confidently strides up, if he smiles genuinely (with the eyes) then you know he isn’t a threat. On the other hand if he’s looking glum, angry or mischevious then there’s that strange inclination that he’s up to something. A smile with teeth helps everyone.

Whether it’s your first date or a sales pitch for your business, a smile gets everyone connected and at ease. This is because smiles are contagious:

Smile For Statistics

Surveys in Australia revealed that 9 out of 10 people believe an attractive smile serves as a critical asset and about 90 percent of both women and men assert that they remember someone with an attractive, healthy smile. The survey also determined that 8 out of 10 people believe that an unattractive smile makes an individual less appealing to someone of the opposite sex.

In a survey conducted by London Guildhall University of 11,000 people revealed that attractive people earn more in their careers, while less attractive people earned about 13 percent less. Cultures perceive beauty differently. For instance, while Western cultures associate attractive people with assertive personalities, Asian cultures assign sensitive and compassionate natures to attractive people. However, most cultures rely on physical beauty to determine the worth or good nature of a person.

When you smile, people form opinions regarding your friendliness, openness, intelligence and social status.

Get The Perfect Smile

Now that we’ve gone through the benefits of showing off your pearly whites, you’ll be happy to read the following tips to gaining gleaming white teeth:

1. Brush Regulary

O.K. so this is obvious. Brush twice a day for two minutes minimum. Use a long handled brush or an electric one and don’t be mean with the toothpaste. Move in a circular motion rather than back and forth vigorously, to avoid wearing down the enamle. Make sure you brush the gums too, a little bit of bleeding is fine (some dentists argue it’s a good thing) as it strengthens the tissue.

2. Use Correct Toothpaste

With thousands of brands, types and flavours to choose from, it’s good to know that any toothpaste is better than none. If you have sensitive teeth, then use specialist brands such as Sensodyne. Whitening toothpaste simply has larger particles which cause more abrasion in the mouth. It removes plaque to a greater degree thus giving a whiter appearance. It’s good to use for a while, especially if you’ve been drinking a fair bit of red wine recently. Yet don’t use it constantly because it can wear down the actual enamle of the tooth to a dangerous level.

3. Visit Your Dentist

Every six months is the recommended frequency to the dentist, but as I’m sure you’ve experienced once your in the chair you don’t normally know what he’s talking about to his assistant, “alpha B, pro-plastic level 7…” Private dentists are expensive so it’s important to work together to find your perfect smile. Your Guide to the Perfect Smile is a visual feast that celebrates the beauty of the human smile and shows you how you can work with your dentist to find your perfect smile. The book is equal parts dentistry and fashion, explaining the design principles behind beauty in general and smiles in particular. Covering the ten principles of smile design, the book advises you on how to work with your dentist to get that beautiful smile you so richly deserve. Buy From Amazon Here

4. Use Floss

The title says it all, experiment with a cheap packet of floss and try before and after brushing.

Conclusion

With a brilliant white set of teeth shining away in the sunlight, you’ll be an unstoppable force in the day-to-day activities of life. Everytime you make eye contact with a stranger, smile away with pride and you’ll very quickly receive them in reciprocation. In business, dating, married life or with your friends, smiling is the simple expression that is both contagious and emotionally satisfying. A smile a day will help you work, rest and play.

By Ante Goreta

The food industry is a multi-billion dollar one, and for many reasons, especially fierce competition. Corporations do whatever is necessary to ensure a positive profit margin. The greed for profit is largely responsible for our current obesity problem. Grocery stores are stuffed with highly processed foods, which offer little if any nutritional benefits.

The Problem

Most people in this world eat too much food. Yet, despite excess consumption, these individuals are still undernourished.  Members of the food industry are not concerned with your health. They are only concerned with stuffing their pockets full of cash. These corporations thrive on the ignorant consumer. They don’t want you to question the ingredients and chemicals that really go into their products. Instead, they deceive you with catchy slogans such as “Low fat and tastes great!”

You must take your health into your own hands. It’s your body, the thing that supports you. The food industry does not care about our welfare. To increase profits, they must sell more food, make it aster, and prevent it from spoiling. Think about it, the food industry loses money if they create a product, package the product, ship it for sale, and then learn the product has spoiled and must be discarded. Food spoilage hurts business. Consequently, foods are treated with preservatives and chemicals to extend their shelf life. Long shelf lives give products more time to sell.

Thousands of chemicals and additives are added to the food supply. These additives are not natural for human consumption. Many of these additives have even been proved to cause cancer. Two common preservatives in the United States of America are BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated hydroxytoulene). BHA is often found in items such as cereal, butter, meats, and snack foods. It is also commonly seen in cosmetics, as well as many foods containing fats and oil. BHA and BHT have been associated with kidney and liver damage, weakened immune systems, birth defects, behavioral problems, and cancer.

BHT is banned for use in food in the United Kingdom , Japan, Romania, Sweden, and Australia. Even the United States does not allow BHT in infant foods.

If the substance has been banned by several large countries and is barred from use in infant foods, why is it allowed in the rest of food supply?

The answer to this question has nothing to do with the consumer. Large corporations use these substances to preserve and extend the shelf life of their products. Other chemicals are used to enhance the appereance and taste of these processed foods. As stated by author Mikhail Tomback, Ph.D.,

“Artificial and natural foods have as little in common as silk roses with real ones – they only look similar” (2005).

As unfortunate as it sounds, the fact that these substances can cause cancer and other diseases is simply the cost of doing business. Once again, these establishments thrive on the uneducated consumer. In their eyes, what you do not know will not hurt you. And that, is a sad reality.

Billions of dollars are invested on researching diseases such as cancer.  Unfortunately, more and more people are becoming ill. While society continues to search for the magic cure, no one wants to study the real cause of illness. The real cause is on the words of Crosto Doll.

“Birth defects, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, arthritis, ulcers, mental illness, osteoporosis, allergies, and chronic fatigue are only a small list in the litany of degenerative diseases and disorders linked to improper diet that are sapping the life-blood of our nation” – Crosto Doll, Ph.D. (2005).

A Wake Up Call

Fortunately, you do not need to understand rocket science to begin following a healthy, nutritional lifestyle.

First, it is important to understand some basic nutritional concepts. One of the most important aspects to proper nutrition is the consumption of natural foods that have not been altered by chemicals or other additives. Unfortunately, the consumption of natural foods can be somewhat misleading.

For example, suppose you were to consume a piece of fruits. Commonsense says that fruit is natural in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, unless it has been organically grown, there is a good chance the fruit as been treated with chemicals. Conventional farmers often treat crops with chemical fertilizers, synthetic insecticides, and chemical herbicides. The fruits and vegetables may also be treated with coloring agents to create a more attractive appearance. We, the consumer, often view bright fruits and vegetables as a sign of freshness. You might change your way of thinking if you knew that these bright colors were actually the result of chemical additives.

Unfortunately, fruits and vegetables are just two of many supposedly natural foods that can be far from natural. Consider the cow as another classic example. Cows service a large part of the food industry, supplying both milk and beef.

Deceiving images of cows grazing the open land are often seen in dairy and beef advertisements. Sadly, these living conditions could nto be further from the truth. Rather than grazing the land and eating the traditional diet of grass, many cattle are forced to eat processed grain. The grain is less expensive and can be quickly harvested. Unfortunately, the feed crops supplied to the cattle are also pumped full of herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizers.

In a report issued by the Farm Sanctuary, it was revealed that three of four dairy cows are never given the opportunity to graze in pasture. Many of these cows are not even granted access to the outdoors. Those cows that do make it outside are often confined to filthy dirt lots. For obvious reasons, the dairy industry does not mention this harsh environment in their advertising campaign.

These crammed, filthy living conditions, coupled with the unnatural diet of starchy feed, trigger disorders that must be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant bacteria eventually develop which can be passed on to humans by consuming the contaminated meat. To make matters worse, the animals are also injected with synthetic hormones to accelerate growth. A fatter, faster developed cow leads to more beef in less time. Contaminated milk and beef are then passed on to the naive consumer.

Clearly, the consumption of natural products such as beef and milk can be very misleading.

Cows are not alone when it comes to poor living conditions and contamination. Many chickens are also pumped full of chemicals and drugs. These animals live in filthy coops, which are ideal for breeding grounds for infectious disease. Due to the horrendous habitat, the chickens are fed antibiotics to prevent disease.

Chicken feed is one of the most chemically treated items in the food industry. Among the chemicals added to chicken feed, you may be surprised to learn that the poison arsenic is often used. It is actually common practice to feed arsenic to chickens through a drug known as Roxarsone. The drug is given to chickens to fend off infection, to aid in growth and pigmentation, and to increase egg production.

These toxic chemicals are often present in the chicken that we consume. The National Institues of Health and the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service recently identified disturbingly high levels of arsenic in the flesh of broiler chickens. In addition to several forms of cancer, arsenic exposure can cause neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and immune system defects (Gregor, 2005). Perhaps these adverse effects are the reason arsenic is banned from chicken feed in Europe. Unfortunately, it is still prevalent in the United States.

If chicken and cattle are contaminated, should I instead choose fish?

Unfortunately, fish are also prone to contamination by toxic pollutants from the environments. Common contaminants include dioxins, methyl mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These contaminants enter the environment through several means, such as coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, and other heavy industries. Fish absorb these toxins from the water as it passes over their gills (Kleffman, 2003).

What Do We Do?

After reading this, you may be considering life as a vegetarian. Fortunately, this is not necessary. My intent is not to scare you into vegetarianism. It should simply serve as a wake up call regarding the potential risks associated with many common foods. You can minimize your exposure to many toxins by arming yourself with the knowledge necessary for educated purchases.

For example, when buying fish, the U.S Enviromental Protection Agency recommends avoiding shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tile fish because they contain high levels of mercury. The George Mateljan Foundation for The World’s Healthiest Foods also recommend avoiding species such as Chilean sea bass, fresh tuna, halibut, bluefish, amberjack, cobia and redfish. It is also recommended that you trim the fat from fish before cooking. PCB’S and dioxins concentrate in fat. By trimming the fat, you can reduce exposure to many of these toxins. Lastly, stick with fresh (wild) fish, steering clear of farm-raised, frozen, canned, and packaged products.  By sticking with fresh fish, you will minimize man’s opportunity to handle and process your food.

As for safe fish selections, the list is small. We unfortunately live in a polluted world. Our waters are highly contaminated. If you enjoy fish, most experts agree on a short list of (somewhat) safe selections limited to summer flounder, wild Pacific salmon, croaker, sardines, haddock, and tilapia (Czapp, 2003).

It is important to note however that contamination varies by location. If you do not wish to consume fish, you can receive many of the benefits by taking a fish oil or cod liver oil supplement. These supplements are purified of contaminants, hence do not pose the same risk as wild fish.

What Do We REALLY Do Then?

Stick with organic, grass-fed food. If the food is grass-fed, it has probably not been treated with hormones and antibiotics. Many of the farmers have simply not sought after the full organic certification. Ideally, the best beef that you can buy is both grass-fed and organic. If this is not available, choose grass-fed beef that is also labeled free of hormones and antibiotics.

U.S. Wellness Meats is one of the best providers of beef. For moreinformation, you can browse their site at www.grasslandbeef.com. Please not that I have no affiliation with this company.

Read the labels in stores and support your local farmers.

By Daniel Becerra

I’m stoked for the guys that have recently been writing their goals and sharing them with us, absolutely stoked! As a result I have the urge to share some stuff regarding goal setting and achievement. It’s a dirty little trick, a faster way of achieving your goals, not a slick or lazy way, but rather an intelligent, unique approach to it. Goal setting has been covered to death in other places in a peculiar way, that includes deadlines, where to tape them, how many times to read them and so on. This is a different approach.

This website is for intelligent people. My definition of intelligence is the ability of solving problems, therefore an intelligent person is one who solves problems well, or works on himself to solve those problems constantly. An intelligent person is also looking for way to getting an edge and more important, an intelligent person always aims high. He/she aims not to just solve a problem, but to also get the best result out of it. Intelligent people aim high, even though they know they might miss because they know that if they aim low, they can easily hit it – but they can’t call that success. For example, a student who can easily get an A in a regular class, decides to put himself to the test and go to the honor class. That student is aiming high, that’s a sign of real intelligence. Having that in mind, the first step is to aim high, to think big, to dream big and to never deny yourself the things that you want – no matter how unreachable they may seem at the moment.

Now hold that thought (of aiming high) there. Hold it, make a mental note of it. It’s important as we continue.

Awareness and Intelligence

Intelligence – in my opinion – is developed as you make decisions. Notice I say intelligence, not knowledge. The more decisions, the more intelligent you become. The harder you try and fall, the more intelligent and experienced you become. It is great to fill your brain with information. We all do that. But information only raises our level of awareness. Making a decision raises our level of intelligence. For example, if you read enough about Pick-up, to the point in which you have a clear understanding of it, then you’ll be able to detect the signals of a woman being attracted to you or you can detect that she is intentionally dressed up to attract other males. These are things you hadn’t noticed before, you now do – that’s awareness. But awareness isn’t enough.

It is when you act on this awareness that you become intelligent. When you make the decision you become intelligent. Chances are, your decision will not be right, but once done, you can make it right, because it’s your decision. You understand the root of it, you know what you want the outcome to be. You have a first step and a goal, point A and point B. It will take only a couple of steps and adjustments to get to point B. Let’s use the example above. If you notice a signal of attraction and decide to act upon it, chances are that your calibration (performance) will be a bit off or you can even make it good enough, but you know it can be better. You know that if you adjusted some things, then you can develop bigger trust, stronger bond, stronger sexual tension and so on. The decisions you make to get better results are in direct proportion to your intelligence. This is exactly why a large part of intelligent people are so successful. Because they began by making a decision, and chances are that they were not right, but they made them right along the way. Again, intelligence is not the amount of knowledge you posses, but rather your ability to get what you want with the knowledge you posses.

Now, bring that thought of aiming high back again and see how that concept and developing your intelligence are related. The higher you aim, the more driven and motivated you will become. So decision making (intelligence) will get you to your goals, not at once by the way – never at once, but the funny thing is that they are directly proportional to your goal achievement. Meaning the more decisions you make, the more intelligent you become and that intelligence becomes even more productive as you continue to make decisions. Make a decision today and carry it. You’ll be wrong – most likely – (as we all are) but it only seems wrong at that moment, because if you live by that decision, you will eventually get to achieve your goal. Bit by bit, you will achieve more goals.

The Dirty Little Trick

Let’s get to the good stuff. The long essay above is an introduction to this. It was needed. So take the time to read it thoroughly. In my post How to get started and not stop, I wrote about that moment in which you know that you have it. That moment in which you know you’re ready and that finally you know you will not stop. That moment is a defining one and it’s a key thing in what I’m about to explain – so hold it in mind.

Side effects is the dirty little trick. Side effects are often ignored. For instance, working solemnly on your game to get a better dating life, instead of working on yourself is such a dumb thing to do. Because while one allows you to develop in more areas than the other, you still get the same (or better) results, so why wouldn’t you take the one that develops more areas? Think about it for a second. A modern man will attract women in multiple places because he has his life in order, he aspires and works to achieve more, he is in good health, he has a social life, he is intelligent and so on. These are the conditions that one must show while working on their “game”, while the person who works on his “game” may achieve showing signs of that condition, they will not only be temporary, but also they will be just an illusion, because he focused on creating the illusion of these conditions to get specific responses from women, rather than getting the real conditions themselves.

Take this example a little further and you will understand. If your goal was to have a real better dating life, then the side effects of that goal once achieved would be: Not chasing women, because if you have a great dating life, then why would you chase. Not being afraid of rejection because you know (from your real life situation) that another one will come. And so on.

Another much better example is the following. I’ll use my good friend Jamie “Chikito” Craven. If you haven’t noticed yet, the guy has gone from chubby to incredibly fit. . Take him as an example. When he made the decision to lose weight and become fit, what determined his improvement was not the ability to lift a weight or do some sit ups because these are skills that can be easily developed. What determined his improvement was his identity shift. His brain. His mind. You get it. If you were to put Jamie’s identity into a fat person’s body, his mind will automatically look at that new over-weighted body and say “Oh my God! This is not me! I gotta exercise, I gotta start my diet and I’m starting right now!” Where as to another identity would say “Oh, it’s not that bad”. Do you see the difference? Jamie’s identity would not accept that body as his, therefore he would work extremely hard to get to his desired shape. He would avoid fast food, change the entire food in his household, get a gym membership and so on. Do you see how this gap is closing?

It is imperative that before setting to achieve a goal, we have absolute clarity what our goal is. Clarity is powerful and it will drive you to your goal and you will feel when you’re on the right track.

A Final Note

You will know that you’re going to achieve it once you feel the urge to do it. That feeling is key. You will know what I’m talking about. That feeling is the identity shift. This is why I said that it’s okay to fail, but you must try again. Eventually when you try again, you will be hooked.

Start looking for the side effects of your desired goal. Once you recognize them, work on them and soon you’ll find yourself achieving your goals faster. See those traits in the people that are successful in doing what you wish you did well. If you want to improve your fitness, look for the side effects of a person who achieved his goal in fitness. If you want to improve your social skills, looking for the side effects of a person who has achieved his desired goal. Do that and you’ll have a sweet shortcut, and an edge that will give you such an advantage over the competition. The more side effects you detect, the more gap you will close. And once you detect them, don’t forget to write them down.

Model: Our very own Kris Hansen

Fellow Members, I pose a question for you all.

What is a man?

Now obviously, there are simple answers to this question. Biologically, it doesn’t too mean too much to be a man; you need just to be born with the correct chromosomal match up. But this isn’t what I’m talking about; I am referring to a much deeper question. So before you continue reading this article I ask that you stop for a minute or two, and write down (or type on a notepad document) the qualities and virtues of a man. And while you write down these qualities, briefly think about why those qualities are important in being a man. Again, take your time with this, and please, think deeply when searching for these answers.

What makes a man a real man?

What I can tell you first and foremost is that the measure of a man is nothing in the material world. You are not a man because you are strong, because you are rich, or because you are powerful. While these are qualities of a man and in most cases, desirable ones, they are not essential to being a real man. The list of the extra qualities is extensive, and while they are things some of us may strive for, I repeat, they are not what it means to be a man.A man is a being of virtues, values (not value – value is something that is perceived andobjective, thereby always changing), and other fundamental properties, which I will discuss.

1. Virtue (ver-choo) noun – 1. Goodness; morality; Chasity. 2. A good moral quality, as in justice, 3. Excellence; merit; efficacy. 4. Being of a standard of rightness.

Virtue comes from the Latin root virtu- or virtus, meaning manliness, strength, and rightness. So what does it mean to be a righteous man? What are the virtues one should desire to embody? Well, there are many, to name a few:

Strength - While this can mean physical strength, more importantly it means inner strength. The type of strength that will get you through tough times, through problems, the type of strength we know as courage. The kind of strength that can show vulnerability and gentleness because they aren’t afraid of their inner side.

Discipline – Before you accomplish any goals or get anywhere with personal development, or becoming a man, you need to have the solid foundation of discipline that will keep you on track when the path gets bumpy with roadblocks, laziness, discouragement, or anything else that might knock you back into average-ness.

Balance - One of the most important qualities of a man is his degree of balance with all of his activities, qualities, skills, and everything else in his life. I’ve come across countless men who were very good with women in bed, and as a result had awesome sex lives, those same men however, had no idea how to create, nourish, nor sustain a meaningful relationship with a woman. As a result, they were very lonely, unhappy, and unbalanced. I’ve met many men who were in extremely good shape physically, but had horrible mental/emotional issues that were ignored; therefore though they looked good, were very unhealthy on the inside. The examples run on and on. Embrace your yin and your yang, your positive and negative attributes, and so on.

Control of Emotions – The idea that men are strictly rational beings, and aren’t capable of emotions is extremely misconstrued. We have been socially conditioned to hide our emotions, the most important of them being love, for the fear we may be seen as weak or feeble. Let your emotions show, learn to love those emotions, the good and the bad, learn to embrace them and finally to control them. The next time you feel angry or sad, let the feeling of the emotion brew within you, breath, and then let it pass. How did that feel? Do not be afraid of them, and certainly do not act irrationally on them. Do no let your emotions control you. You control them.

Acceptance and Tolerance - So many people in the world today are, unfortunately, so intolerant and close-minded that they don’t want to hear what people with other views have to say or how other people feel. People are intolerant of other cultures and societies without knowing anything about them. Prejudgment runs rampant and it causes nothing but confusion and more problems, not to mention, it makes you look like a jerk when you can’t sit down and have a conversation with someone you disagree with. Close-mindedness will make you likely to make an ignorant comment without your knowing, possibly offending someone you may wish to befriend.

Vision – The ability to see where you’re going. Where you’re going right now matters little to nothing compared to where you’re going. I was broke, literally broke and in debt, but I had this vision and it let it be well known, always – it was that vision that allows me to enjoy a great life today. The man who is going no where in life gets nothing. The man with plans achieves them, forever growing in a positive way. You don’t have to sabotage yourself into constantly growing, but you do need to remain aware of what your vision is.

Passion - Every successful person will tell you this. It’s a law. My passions are personal development, life, and people. Everything I do revolves around my passions. Because my passions are positive, my life remains that way.

Gratitude - If you can’t appreciate what you have, how can you truly have anything at all? Life is full of wonderful gifts. The man who knows this posesses riches beyong imagining.

Wisdom - Socrates called ‘Wisdom’ the greatest virtue of them all. Wisdom is understanding of all things, it is education mixed with intellectual and reflection. Wise individuals rarely find themselves in a situation that they can not handle. I think the book ‘Way of Peacefull Warrior’ by Dan Millan states a quote that represents wisdom perfectly. “Knowledge is knowing, wisdom is doing”, that is wisdom.

By focusing on developing these virtues (and others), rather than material objects, you are truly developing who you are as a man. Can you think of any other? If so, write them down as comments.

By David Ozor

Get Your Head At The Right Place

Forget about all the things floating around in your head distracting you when starting your session, your crappy job, annoying girlfriend, or whatever. Not even working out when being angry works; you may feel like you’re having a good work out because you’re just going at it with great strength, but if your mind is somewhere else and not in the work out, then little to no progress is made. Leave these things at the door of the gym. Focus on getting the best out of the session. When you concentrate on the work out (or any other task for that matter) you make the most out of it, so leave the cluster behind and focus. If music or connotations help you, then use them too. If they distract you, don’t follow the trend and do what works for you.

Turn Off That Phone

If there is one thing that grinds my gears at the gym, it’s people talking on their Mobile phones. There is absolutely no need to have a mobile phone with you at the gym! At the very least, turn it off or silence it. Unless you’re a stock broker or a doctor-on-call please refrain from doing this. It’s annoys everyone else that is training hard and trying to stay focused, furthermore it distracts YOU the most. We don’t think about it too much but any distractions – especially phones – break our pattern of work out and as a consequence, we lose focus and effectiveness.

Dress To Sweat

This is key. It might seem silly to spend a little bit of money on training gear, but this is one of those few little things you can do that will really give you a big return of investment. Don’t go to the gym in your cotton T-shirts and baggy tracksuit bottoms. You came here to run/cycle/lift and sweat. I don’t see too many 400 meter runners or Olympic weightlifters in cotton T-shirts and baggy tracksuit bottoms. Dress like a pro in matching top and bottoms and you’ll start to train like a pro. Appropriate footwear is also extremely important; if you’re lifting you must have flat shoes without Gels, shocks or whatever else. For running these things are an absolute most have. Having the right gear for your work out will enhance your performance, not because it will help you stronger, but because it will enable you to feel the urgency to work out and back up the image you project.

Warm-Up Fast

Get a quick warm-up under your belt and perform some static/dynamic stretches. Don’t be that guy that pulls a muscle on the treadmill or while picking up a pen. This is imperative. Inappropriate warm-up and stretching could seriously damage your work out in both, short run and long run. For example, if you don’t warm-up and stretch properly, you can get tired easily or pulling out of muscle because you started too strong too early. The warm-up is as important as the work-out. Give it importance.

Stay Focused

Keep focused on your goals through the session, whether they be to gain muscle, lose fat or increase fitness level (Remember that you must know exactly what you want). If you don’t see results right away even when you pour your heart into it, don’t panic. This is a marathon not a sprint, you’ll get there eventually. Don’t give up or get frustrated due to small set backs. Just pick yourself up and smash through it next time! Don’t worry about what the other meat heads in the gym are lifting; it is not your concern. You aren’t training to impress other men. Don’t even waste your time looking. Focus on your own needs and goals.

Quit Your Gibber-Gabber

Don’t go to the gym and start irrelevant conversation. If a conversation with other gym folk is unavoidable make it short and to the point. The last thing you want is some gym friend who will just distract you from your session (as harsh as that may sound). You can always talk after your work out is over, not during it. If someone gives you advise, critique or praise for your efforts, that’s another thing. Pay attention, but don’t take everything that other gym rats say too seriously. While some people may actually know what they are talking about, it’s not the same for everybody. Therefore, be very selective and very careful with the things you listen.

Keep Up The Intensity

One thing I’ve never understood is people that go to the gym and never break sweat, and never show any signs of physical exertion. Don’t act like those overweight people that walk on the treadmill while reading the newspaper, or lift ridiculously light weights for 20-30 reps. Your training must be intense whatever your level of strength or fitness. It’s the only way of building muscle! Lift heavy and fast, most people have no need to do more that 12 reps of an exercise (Crunches, Pull-ups, etc are excluded). When I step off a treadmill I feel like someone has poured a bucket of water over me. How can you expect results if your intensity is below the required standard? There are no excuses for poor training intensity. Go hard, go fast or go home. If you aren’t naturally physically strong or fit, you will need to push yourself outside your comfort zone. It may cause you pain and discomfort, but that pain is not there to make you quit, it’s there to make you stronger.

Write everything down

Make sure you note what you’ve done for that session: distance ran, time, Avg Heart rate, weight lifted, reps/sets etc. In order to see where you going, you have to know where you’ve been. Plus, this will save you time, you won’t be scratching you head wondering what weight to use. I can look back for up to 6 months and see what I did for a particular session and how much I weighed. That’s how professional athletes train, and you should be doing the same. Bodybuilding.com is an excellent resource for writing down your progress. If not, a simple document or a journal will do it.

Warm-down & stretch

Take a nice and easy warm-down and stretch after your session, it’ll help with your recovery and may prevent any DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Warming-down and stretching after the work out is as important as warming-up and stretching before the work out. Give it equal importance!

By David Ozor

I’ve always been crazy about sports, whether it was Rugby, Basketball or Football (Soccer, for my American readers!) I wanted to play, and I played to win! The vast majority of the training I performed for Rugby was Anerobic because that was in line with the nature of the game, lots of short sprints, the occasionally 40/50m+ sprint with some recovery time. But during all this time playing Rugby I never really developed a good aerobic base, I was always fairly good at intervals and short sprints but any continuous running was a real problem for me. A rough definition of your Aerobic Base is the fastest pace your body can run/swim/cycle while breathing Aerobically (i.e. Using Oxygen and being able to breathe easily)

Aerobic Base Building is progressively training your body to perform at faster and faster speeds while still breathing aerobically and maintaining heart rate – this is one of the main training methods that endurance athletes use in the off-season or when injured to maintain or increase their fitness levels. I can hear people shouting already “Who wants to be a triathlete or compete in the Tour de France?” But whatever your level of fitness, a better Aerobic base is most definitely an advantage for a number of reasons:

* It will help with your Anaerobic training, if you can run faster while breathing normally you won’t burn up so quickly with your Anaerobic training.
* Your body uses mostly fat for fuel while training like this.
* It’s less stressful and demanding on the body, so it’s brilliant for people starting fitness programs or recovering from injuries.

Getting started:

The first thing I suggest you get is a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM). I own a polar F4, and it’s at the center of all my training sessions. A basic HRM will work just as well for measuring heart rate but it might not have as many features. I wouldn’t advice breaking the bank just to purchase a top the range HRM, but it’s nice if it provides an estimate of calorie expenditure and a review of the training session.

If you do purchase a HRM you need an estimate of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR), there are lots of formulas and tools on the net that can give you a value of this by taking into account your age,sex, and weight. For me the best thing to do is just strap-on a HRM and find out what it actually is. If you can get access to a treadmill you should run as fast as you can for 3mins solid, rest with 2mins gentle jogging, and then start running again for another 3mins at a pace you think you can sustain. When the 2^nd run is over, note the maximum heart rate recorded, this value might actually be observed after you stop running, so wait a 30-60s after running before stopping the measurement. (You may wish to repeat this test a few times just to get a more accurate measurement, or you could also do it over the course of a few days)

Training:

In order to exercise Aerobically we need to make our hearts beat at between 65-80% of our MHR. (Above 80-85% we reach the Anaerobic limit and the exercise is now Anaerobic). I normally try to work at 80% of my MHR i.e. after performing a Max Heart Rate test, my Heart rate goes as high as 179BPM. Which gives a Aerobic zone of roughly 144-115BPM. So when I’m at the gym using the treadmill I’m trying to keep my HR at exactly 144BPM.

It‘s tricky at the start to keep your HR at the Aerobic limit, it will rise during exercise. Just start slowly maybe even at hard walking pace or try to jog as slowly as possible. Concentrate heavily on breathing in a slow and controlled manner. Your HRM will give good feedback on this. Take short sharp breaths and your HR will increase.

It may not initially feel like you are doing much exercise but eventually you’ll be able to break into a decent paced jog/run. You may need to vary your speed/incline of the treadmill during exercise to keep running at a good Aerobic rate. After a few runs you will need to increase the pace of your run in order to maintain the same heart rate, increasing your pace roughly once every 2 runs.

To increase your Aerobic base you need to run for a reasonable length of time, I think 30-40mins should be more than enough. While starting out build your mileage slowly and sensibly, maybe target 10 mins jogging for a first session and increase that by 5mins or less after every run, slowly working your way up to 30+mins over a periodic of a couple weeks.

Summary:

* This is a great fat burning exercise that is a good start to any fitness regime.
* Aerobic exercise is less stressful on the body when compared to HIIT, or Anaerobic exercise.
* It’s a good way to stay fit when injured.
* By building a solid Aerobic base you’ll be able to run distances faster and for longer.
* The beauty of this type of training is that you can use the same HR ranges for a variety of different exercises: The treadmill, cross trainer or bike.
* Try it!

As men, and as humans in general we should constantly be striving to drastically improve and expand ourselves in every area of lives. One should be the master of not only his physical, but his mental, intellectual, and spiritual realms. No human is complete without these. There are specific things in life that can and will enrich your lives in one or more of these areas. Please realize, that not all of these need to be done to be a complete person, there are many different paths to take. Please also realize I am just serving a few examples that work in my life, there are many more positive activities and things of the sort you can bring into you life to be the best man you can.

1) Health and well being - I strongly feel that my physical body is the most important aspect of my life, because as far as I know, nothing else in my life can exist without it. My thoughts, emotions, mental health, are all dependent on me being alive and well in the physical realm of existence.

- Physical Fitness is one essential part of my life, I maintain an active lifestyle in general, but make it a point to workout at least once a day, however it is usually twice. Initially, some people have trouble enjoying working out, but I have learned to love it. And you should too. Your body is your gift from whatever God/Power you feel created you. Take care of it, learn about anatomy and physiology, appreciate the fact that you are, by far, the most complex life-machine on the planet. Your body is THE pinnacle of evolution on this planet. You can run, jump, swim, fight, play, act, dance, do back-flips, play guitar, and so much more. Enjoy this. Strive to get in the best shape of your life, in any way you can. Explore your options. Weight lifting, martial arts, yoga, pilates, sports, iso/plyometrics, calisthenics, cardiovascular, you name it, you can do it. All of these wonderful activities will bring discipline, energy, and an over increase in well-being and life expectancy.

- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle doesn’t just include physical fitness, you should stray away from unhealthy activities, foods, and habits as well. I quit smoking cigarettes, by far one of the best things I’ve ever done. They are completely and utterly pointless. They have no positive effects on your body, they are a complete waste of money, they smell horrible, they pollute the environment, and they fund big corporate interests that don’t care about you as an individual. Stop eating crappy food. Learn to appreciate all the wonderful healthy foods that this world has to offer. Fruits and veggies are an untapped resource among most men. Why? They are delicious, they are great for you, they are cheap, and easy. Stop eating genetically modified foods or foods that are over processed, both of these will deteriorate your body and overall physical over long periods of time. Don’t watch T.V or play video games that often, neither of the two are very productive activities, and lead to a lazy and rather unhealthy lifestyle.

2) Mental and Intellectual- Just as important as your physical health, is your mental health. And just as equally important as that is your intellectual capabilities. You can be a strong and good looking as you want, but if you are a nut-job or a emptied-brain person, you’re not going anywhere with yourself. But think of the possibilities that open up to you as a beautiful, healthy, wise, and clear-minded person. The sky is truly the limit in these cases.

- Mental Health is absolutely key. Ninety five percent of people have some sort of mental blockage that warps and distorts their world view in some way. We all have things thrown in our path from time to time, but we need to move past petty arguments, past experiences, embarrassments, wrongdoings, and things of the sort. Most people tend to suppress things like these which throw them into your subconscious where they will continue to haunt you until you acknowledge, accept, and release them. Fears, regrets, feelings of hatred and other negative emotions will only limit you as a person. They cause all sorts of mental instabilities which are then reflected from your inner world, to your outer world. Causing psychical discomfort of all sorts from violent anger to dramatic fits. I used to be a very angry, pessimistic person at one point, because I had not accepted the my past and I wasn’t ready to face my future. But once we acknowledge these negative forces within ourselves, we can move past them and continue with our lives in a positive and productive direction. All of this is very general, but I think a lot of you may know exactly what I’m getting at.

- A smart man, will dominate in any situation, guaranteed. And I’m not talking book-smart. I’m talking about savvy, wise, men who have their wits sharp and their eyes open. Real life smarts. A jack of all trades, someone who knows whats going on at all times, whether it is in his small social circle of friends at a party, or the latest political-world news. You can’t react if you don’t know what is going on. Learn everything you can. Whether you are really interested in it or not, chances are, you’ll use it down the road. I used to be forced to help my step-father do all sorts of home-improvement as a kid, but guess what? When I ever had a woman (or even another clueless man) who needed their lawnmower, sink, toilet, light fixture, dishwasher, water heater, etc fixed, I could handle the job with ease. That is an example of things that women especially look for when finding a real man. That serves as just one example, we can also look into the fact that any woman I have a conversation with, that has some brains about her, is getting herself into a deep, meaningful, and exciting conversation. Why? Because I’m intelligent. I read a lot. I do a lot. I speak a lot. I take knowledge from anything and anyone I can. You can take lessons from other people’s mistakes, misfortunes, good behavior, good examples, successes, failures, anything. Just pay attention, analyze, and store.I’m telling you, this stuff is simple.

3) Spiritual and Religion - A complete man must have some sort of structured world view. I encourage anyone who has studied or followed a certain religion their whole lives to seriously consider looking into others. Please do not limit your spirituality to the doctrines of a certain school of thought. Just as you don’t want to limit yourself in any other area of life. If you’re a Christian, pick up a few Eastern religion books, even if it is just to have a browse. Chances are you are going to find something in there that will help you in one way or another.

- Spirituality is an awesome part of human existence. We are the only species on this planet to ponder such deep thoughts like the meaning and/or purpose of life, our creation, demise, etc. A well-rounded man has his feet planted firmly on the ground, but his head should remain in the clouds, metaphorically speaking. Whether you are a materialist, dualist, taoist, pagan, christian, jew, muslim, or whatever else you can come up with, enjoy the fact that you are a deep thinking mammal who can indulge in such spectacular activities. The path to enlightenment is different for each individual, blaze your own path, and you shall find the answers you seek. I cannot say much more about the joys of spirituality, because it is something that is better understood when it is explored and felt, rather than dictated.

4) Friends and Networks: Another enabling factor, a very important one are your friends and networking capabilities. For instance, if I want to go on a second date and need a good place, I have the restaurant I work at. It’s extremely nice, I am extremely close with the bosses, and its an overall great place to be; sports players and big shots in there all the time. Or one of my buddies has a massive house. We all have connections like this, and if not, they are easy to obtain. If you don’t have good friends, and all they do is sit around all day, tell them to follow, or get out of the way. Your friends will make you or break you. There is no need to be a prick but you must be learning to drop some people who are a negative influence on your life. Find people who are on the go, always doing something fun. Do little things like have a conversation with the cops that you see in your local convenience store or the male or female sitting next to you on the bus. The more people you know, the more you are capable of. I can just think back to what a good networking move it was to speak with my now very close friend, Daniel Becerra. I think you all get the point.

5) Activities, Hobbies, and Talents: The more you keep yourself active, the more opportunities you will be presented with. Simple things like going to the gym, playing basketball, being active in your community, going with friends to local parks and city gatherings, and so much more. All of this will open you up to more and more experiences. One of the coolest chicks I met was on a white water rafting trip, I didn’t plan on meeting any women there, but it turned out we had many similar interests and bonded quite quickly during the trip. Even if you don’t meet any women during all this, it is something to talk about and use as a demonstration of value, and shows a fun on-the-go action packed life. Something that is very appealing to most people these days.

6. Possessions: Many (not all) people place a high value on what kind of possessions a man has in his life, whether it be money, a good job, a nice car, or whatever. For example, my friend drives a porsche, and when we go out, it doesn’t take much to get a conversation going with some girls. In fact in most cases all it takes is rolling down the window at stoplights, parking lots or leaving clubs. Now, obviously not everyone can have a Porsche, but there are things everyone can do that will enable you to have an easier time. Having a nice house, that is decorated with passion. A well-kept bedroom with true character. All of these things are qualities of a tremendous lifestyle. Whether you like to admit it or not, we live in a material world – so if you’re going to play the game, then play it right. Make sure you have nice things, and when you have nice things, keep them nice. This is one very important aspect of building ‘The Lifestyle’.

Overall, a fun, enlightened lifestyle is one that will not only enable you to attract fun, enlightened people, but also keep them in your life.

Words: Ian Smith.

Photography: Calvin Wallace. You can check more of his art in his page.

By Jamie “Chikito” Craven

This article’s aim is to guide you through the necessary steps of losing weight. No bullshit gimmicks, no over complicated methods. Just some hard work and self discipline. There is a lot of time wasted arguing over which method of fat loss is best or works better in the long run. I used to gladly join this debate until I got sick of it. You can spend a life time trying to do the perfect method of fat loss and arguing it on the net, but in the end the majority of methods are going to be disproved or you’re going to “find out” that it isn’t the ‘healthy’ way of losing weight over time. The method you use doesn’t really matter as long as you actually do it and it works for you. So rather than spending hours listening to ‘experts’ try to sell you their better method, I would just follow the basics. I present the way I went from slob to model bod. After researching for a couple of days, I finally just picked one and stuck to it and it really has paid off. I went from becoming a normal slightly overweight groggy, grumpy young man to a male model featured in Cosmopolitan magazine, full of energy, vigor and confidence.

A lot of people try to rationalize their weight insecurities by saying things like the fashion industry gives a false image of what real humans look like. I couldn’t agree more, but that is no excuse to not stay healthy. If you are reading this on the Internet that means you live in a society and country that provides you with every possible thing you need to live at an optimum – the Internet itself. Your body is the only physical thing in the world that is guaranteed to be with you your whole life, so treat it right, you only get one. You have all the resources you could possibly want to turn your body into the best it could be, so why feed it rubbish or let it sit idle? Thousands of years ago, you would not have had anywhere near the resources we do today. You might not have lived in a place where your diet would be completely well rounded. Maybe you would have lived somewhere where there was a shortage of protein or a shortage of carbohydrates, either way I bet the average person back then had a far superior body (I’m not just talking about aesthetics) to the average person today. It worked quicker, stronger, healthier. Eating correctly brings a lot of benefits you can not synthetically replicate in this age. Regular exercise keeps your body strong and capable of dealing with the trauma’s life throws at you, including sickness and injury not to mention increases your circulation, clarity, mental strength and keeps you relaxed and happy.

I admit I would not have ever made this transformation unless I had some external motivation to do so. I had a chance to become a model and had a month and a half to drop my waist line from 37 inches to 31. I did it. But I would have never changed my beliefs on what I could do without the motivation of potentially being a male underwear model. So I aim to be your inspiration, I know this is a little egotistical but I have come to believe that there is no shame in being proud of your achievements. If you want to judge me as a big headed, go ahead, but check to see if you’re not just telling yourself that to deal with your own insecurities. I have insecurities but I do my best not to hide them. We all judge ourselves critically, its what keeps us growing and improving. The problem comes when you continue to judge without acting on it and improving it. It leads to self-loathing. And that’s not very cricket. So here is a video I made of my transformation followed by an explanation of what I did to achieve it.

Jamie’s Journey To Modeling (please rate it!)

WARNING: This is what I did and if you choose to follow this you take the risks upon yourself. I cannot be blamed for anything that might happen from the programmed I followed as it is your decision to partake or not. I warn you now I am not an expert or professional, partake at your own risk.

Step One: Keep records.

First thing I did was measure myself and take a picture of my body front on. I did this so that I would have a record. At the time I didn’t know if it would be a good idea. Although I did have the idea that I was going to share this achievement when I finished. As it turned out looking over the picture week after week especially at the beginning of my transformation kept me very motivated. Since it was my body and I know it inside out I could see very subtle changes each week or even day sometimes. This reassured me that the work I was putting in was worth it, and eventually when I started seeing significant improvement, the process excited me to do even more!

So step one is to take note of where you are now. That includes your weight, various body measurements and pictures of your body front, side, legs and back. I used http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com which has instructional videos and is an excellent way to keep track as it graphs your progress the more you put into it. You can visit mine at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/Chikito/.

Step Two: Preparing Mentally.

I have to warn you this was not easy. It was very difficult initially to keep my food cravings under control and there are certain attitudes you need to be prepared to face. Firstly your mind is going to make up any excuse it can think up to not go to the gym or to eat that pack of crisps. You need to be super strict and control it all if you are going to eat those crisps designate a time of the week when you can indulge. For me I ate what ever I craved on Sunday dinner and no other time of the week. I decided to start really strict that way I could train my body to deal with it and keep under control. I highly recommend starting this way as it yields the best results and therefore gives you the most motivation to keep it. The best way I found to stop myself from indulging or growing lazy was to remind myself why I am doing it. To make my life better in all aspects. I also told myself I would never turn into one of those ‘failed’ dieters who just gave up half way through. I always asked myself if I was choosing to do something because I really needed to do it (like watch tv) or was I just avoiding the hard work. And one more important thing:

The first step is the hardest. Be it finally getting out of your warm snug bed in the morning or finally committing to go to the gym. Keep reminding yourself that when your dreading that first step. It always gets easier once you get the ball rolling.

Next thing you have to prepare for is what other people are going to say to you. Some people called me crazy (even my own family) for doing what I was doing. Some people told me I was doing it wrong (I only considered this advice if they were doing better than me). Some people teased me and laughed at me. Others did the worst and tempted me. Sometimes with good intentions too. Be aware of these things and block them out. They think your crazy? I say they are crazy for letting their life go to waste and not capatalizing every minute they have on this brilliant Earth. If you don’t have that attitude where you hunger life, read this.

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the amount of energy you use everyday to stay alive. Its the amount you use to pump your heart, think, digest, simply to exist. Your body is always burning calories for energy even if you just lay in bed all day. Your BMR also includes growth (natural or bodybuilding) and lots of other basic human functions! To find out your BMR (and write it down for later) click here

2. Feeding Your Activity: You need energy to move, to run, to think, to go on your daily tasks. Part of the energy you consume is spent through movement (obvious) from lifting your arm to typing on the computer.

3. Dietary Thermogenesis: This is the ‘thermogenic effect’ – basically the heat you produce from eating, processing using and absorbing food. You want to make this high but without over eating. Hence why we keep the engine running all day by eating 6-7 small meals a day!

4. Fat. If your body can’t find a way to expend the calories it consumes it will turn it into fat! To be used later! This is why you can live off very basic diet when your dieting. You have tons of energy waiting to be released. You see? The more you exercise the more energy you release and as a nice side note the better you look.

Our aim here is to raise your metabolic rate to the point where you spend more than you consume. That way your body is then forced to metabolize your fat storage to provide for the energy you produced.

So lets use my case as an example. My BMR is roughly 1312 calories a day. That is how much I would need to just live. If it dropped below that many calories a day I would lose weight. If I ate more than 1312.22 calories I would gain weight. If I had NO fat in my body and I ate below that amount, my body will use whatever it can, mainly your muscles (so be careful). Thankfully only people like Bruce Lee have to give it a second thought. The after photo in my video was only about 11% body fat so you have nothing to worry about.

You could go with calorie counting where you count every calorie you eat and expend but that will drive you crazy. Trust me. I tried. Trying to find out how much one boiled egg provides makes me cry, what size is it? Big? small? No way. I don’t know about you, but that is not my way!

Step Three: Losing Fat

1. Raise our Metabolic rate (number 1-3 in the list above) This can be done by doing the following:
- Bodybuilding: getting your body to constantly grow and repair muscle mass.
- Eating 6-7 small meals a day to keep our thermogenic effect as high as possible.
- Fidget and move a lot more, do more thinking, do more walking and be awake for longer periods. Waking up at noon is no longer allowed. Write for your intelligence and thinking-process to grow. Read to keep your mind hungry. And speak/talk to develop ideas in the moment.

2. Consume less calories than our BMR in order to burn the stored fat instead but without cutting out the following:
- Enough protein to provide for muscle growth and general energy.
- Enough vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy. (Multivitamins and fruit take care of this)
- Enough essential fatty acids for a healthy working body (which are healthy fats and get used up quick, I love Avacado’s)
- Enough Carbohydrates (you still need Carbs for your general energy source. Too little and your body eats its on muscle mass, hence why some people lose weight after a diet but still look flabby)

So We Need To Eat Less Than Our BMR, But How Much Protein/Carb/Fatty Acids Do We Need?

It depends on what sort of diet you want to follow. I went on something similar to the velocity diet which basically cuts out all carbs except the bare minimum you need for a day (about one piece of toast in the morning or one serving of whole wheat cornflakes) paired with a whole load of protein to make up for the energy you lack from lack of carbs. With this diet I was advised not to do any Cardio (running, cycling, swimming etc) because you need carbs to fuel that activity, without it your body takes it from your muscles which results in a loss of muscle mass. Not cool.

If you do enjoy your running, feel free to add more carbs to this eating schedule I followed. If you didn’t realize it yet. The diet mentioned above is only recommended for about a month or so when you want to cut out a lot. This is no means the way I want to live the rest of my life.

Morning: Eat one piece of whole wheat bread, with a normal serving size of 100% Whey protein shake (easy to find, bottles will tell you how much is a serving) and one fruit and multi-vitamins.
Mid morning: Small salad with veggies, Avocado or olive oil (or any other source of fatty acids, Google them)
Late morning (Prior to workout): Protein shake and a handful of nuts (more fatty acids) and a serving of *Thermogenic” pills (I used GNC Burn 60)
Early afternoon (Post workout): Protein shake and some fruit.
Early evening (usually with family): Meat of any kind with veggies. (meat should be roughly equivalent to one chicken breast)
Late evening: Usually a can of tuna and some fruit or any kind of protein.

Take note this is what worked for me. My BMR used to be around 1500 when I designed this so take yours into account. You might need to eat less or more depending on your BMR. Make sure you listen to your body, notice how you feel when adjusting your nutrition plan and make appropriate adjustments

Oh and make sure you at least have one cheat meal a week. That is, a meal where you can eat whatever you want, your physical health is not worth your mental health. Keep yourself sane with a nice steak dinner once a week. It’s recommended that you spend that dinner on a date or on a nice evening out with friends or family.

*Thermogenic pills are used to boost your thermogenic effect (the heat you make when your digesting) a lot of stick is out there for Thermogenics but I proved paired with a decent nutrition and regular weight training. It works! If its effects were not noticeable I recommended looking up the effects and finding if there are any health risks for you. It is similar to caffeine’s effects on the body, hence why I took it pre-work out OR on non-workout days in the morning. Never at night.

Step 4: Hitting The Gym.

Now if you are a girl and you are worried about becoming beefcake. Don’t worry! Your body does not produce enough testosterone to build like men do. You will simply lose fat and slowly gain muscles making you firm and sexy . It’s only if you start pumping like crazy and work super hard that you will end up looking like a female body builder. Remember this sort of training is only for a short period of time.

I highly recommend going to the gym, however if that is not possible you can always use your own body weight to train. If you can’t get to a gym check out these:

Scooby’s Home work outs are just awesome:
Find more on his site http://scoobysworkshop.com or his Youtube channel.

If you get to a gym then go ahead and find yourself a personal trainer if it is your first time. The equipment is dangerous if you are not properly trained on how to use them, not to mention if you are not sure how to use something and you try you might end up working out the wrong muscles. I did the bench press wrong for several weeks and found out I was working out my triceps as well as my pecks, hence why my arms seemed so much bigger than my chest. I fixed it and my chest quickly caught up.

A lot of people are afraid of over training, but I threw caution aside and went to the gym about 2 to 3 hours a day when I was on this plan. I worked out different muscle groups each day, usually 3 a day. And I didn’t feel terribly bad for 2 months and I don’t feel any side effects. In fact I have never felt so good.

My routine started with a hour work on my abs, doing everything from weighted sit ups, crunches, leg raises, hanging leg raises. I didn’t leave any stone unturned when it came to abs – even worked out my obliques just as much as my abdominals. All sorts and as well as I could. I didn’t just want a six pack, I wanted the best possible (remember taking advantage of what is possible all the way at the beginning?) which included working out muscles that most people leave like the obliques (hence why I still look like I have love handles)

For a picture of the muscle groups look here.

After that I worked out two other major muscle groups. Make sure you pick two that you can live without using. For example, don’t work out your arms and legs on the same day because you will end up being a paraplegic for that day. If I did my legs then I usually worked out my back. If I worked out my chest then I did arms as well. Hopefully you will get into such a routine that you can start experimenting when to do what.

Remember to document your progress! And share them with us at pualifestyle.com That’s a must .

Step 5: What To Expect.

As I followed this schedule I came across a few things I would have never known could occur without hindsight. For one because I did this in a hot tropical country I sweated a lot when working out and as a result when sweating your skin’s immune system gets a little weaker and I got a fungal infection on my foot because I wasn’t wearing 100% cotton socks apparently. Either way do your best to keep your body dry but don’t be afraid to sweat. Its nothing some anti-fungal cream can’t fix.

Make sure you eat fiber in your diet. Eat veggies with husks and eat things that provide fiber like Weetabix. If you fail to do that, your next session with the toilet will have more water than usual.

The first week could be tough. Actually, it will be tough. Just stick to it and stop your cravings from taking over with proximity safety (Stay away from food, if you don’t see it then it doesn’t tempt you). You will rarely be hungry depending on how much you are eating now, after all your six meals. Until your stomach actually shrinks you wont feel full but you will notice very quickly your appetite will shrink, and your taste buds will change. I tasted a Big Mac 3-4 weeks into it and It tasted like crap. I just wanted to eat some nice steamed broccoli’s! Watch out for empty calories (calories that provide nothing for your body to run on, things with chemical tastes like junk food or sweeties). Eat them under control and don’t binge eat.

After your last meal of the day stay away from snacks and the food closet. Night time is when you tend to binge eat. If your going to eat late at night stay away from carbs because at night you have very little chance that those carbs will be used and they will just turn into fat which will negate your whole days work.

After about two weeks you will start feeling great. Especially if you are keeping up with your food plan (No more waking up at noon). You are going to feel happier, well rested, more flexible, faster, stronger, less stiff, clearer-headed, and so n.

Well that is all and I hope all the best for you!

I have given you all this for free and I only ask that you share with us your results and share this with your friend/the web/social bookmarking. Don’t forget to rate my video either!

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress!

You can contact Jamie Craven with any questions to:
jkcraven@hotmail.com

http://friendfeed.com/chikito

http://www.youtube.com/user/Chikitotube

1- Get in shape: Any man can sweep off any woman off her feet, true, but, it doesn’t help you if you’re overweight or scrawny. This doesn’t mean turn into a meathead muscle machine but get yourself into a routine, the internet is a huge resource to find out information about getting into the perfect shape. Don’t do it just for women (or men), do it for yourself. Your body deserves to be treated correctly. Run, jog, swim, lift weights, watch what you eat, stop smoking cigarettes, don’t drink as much, don’t do drugs as much. A woman loves a man who is physically attractive, once again, your body isn’t going to get you the girl, your brain and what you say is. But it will surely help. The resources are out there available – use them.

2- Get the correct amount of sleep: Doing so will not only improve the way you look, it will improve your memory and all other brain functions. In turn, making you wittier, funnier, cockier, whatever. Also, it will keep you from getting sick. I can’t tell you how many girls I’ve blown it with cause I was sick and gave it to them. Its such a turn off, both ways.

3- Change your hairstyle: Go for something new, if it doesn’t work, it’ll grow back. Don’t go for the run of the mill buzz-cut or slicked hair. Go to the barber shop and look in a magazine and find something. Trust me, it’ll work. Facial hair as well, grow out some sideburns, cut them off, grow a goatee, cut it off, go clean shaved, or try looking scruffy. You’ll find something that works for you.

4- Get some new clothes: As much as I don’t like buying into the fashion world, it helps. So get some new outfits, even if it isn’t your style, you’d be surprised what a couple new threads will do for your confidence and the ladies love it, even if you don’t. Dress as if you’re already the person who you want be.

5- Educate yourself: Instead of spending three hours a day sitting in the PUA forums and reading new crappy canned methods. Pick up a book, newspaper, or internet article and educate yourself. Women love smart men, that’s a fact. You don’t have to be Einstein. I’ve heard countless guys whining “My life is boring, I don’t have anything to talk about”. This is in your hands, you’ll have plenty to talk about if you just read three books on psychology, history, science, current events, or whatever else you find intriguing. Reading not only furthers your knowledge, it enhances your vocabulary – which again you don’t need to be a human dictionary, but eliminating “that sucks” and “cool…” and “nice…” and “kinda…” and other countless boring words from your speech and replacing them with advanced words makes you more attractive. You can count on that. In addition, reading will further your ability to speak properly and aid in your grammar. Nobody likes to be around the guy that says “like” and “uhhh…” and other filler words every 15 seconds when he is speaking. You want be attractive? Intelligence is one quality every single girl will list when asked about what they look for in a guy. It will also enhance your humor and will allow you to capitalize on more opportunities. Why? Because you’re now far more intelligent.

6- Mirror effective personalities: Now, don’t be a mirror of the people. But mirror their good qualities and add them to your arsenal. Whether its a T.V. character who has a good cocky/funny attitude or someone you meet who you just thought was an interesting person. Nobody on this Earth is a completely original person, everything we say and do is picked up by others, usually subconsciously. So be conscious of it, and you’ll find great success. For example, I mirrored many of the qualities that a character named Dr. Cox on the T.V. Show Scrubs displays.

7- Talents: Everyone has a few, find them.

8- Work on your manners: I have seen dozens upon dozens of random guys and even my friends blow it with a gorgeous girl because they didn’t cover their mouth when they sneezed or coughed. Say “Bless you”, “Thank you”, “You’re welcome”. Hold doors open for people, let someone walk in front of you instead of being the jerk who pushes through. There are dozens of common courtesies that many people just forget to do. At the end of the day, a girl wants a man she can be proud to be around, and one that will treat her with the respect she deserves. Don’t lose your cocky & funny attitude or whatever your game plan is, but be a genuinely respectful person and it will surely pay off. This can be one of the greatest form of value, given that very few people practice it.

9- Develop your knowledge and skills in interesting areas of human interest: While I don’t recommend all of them, they are certainly nice to have under the sleeve. They are not needed, but they are just general knowledge. So don’t rant: “I would never do that!”. You don’t have to.

10- Magic Tricks - I don’t know any, but I can shuffle a deck of cards 8 different ways, and when I play games at college, girls are amazed that there are more than 2 ways to shuffle a deck. Instant conversation starter and attention grabber.

11- Tarot Cards/Runes - Even though I have grown to hate them from doing so many reads, I keep a deck visible in my room at all times. They cost no more than 25 dollars and it comes with a book. It’ll take you a few weeks to get the hang of them, but do it anyway. Countless girls have been dazzled by my reads on them. I’ve even done reads on guys at a party and had a group of girls waiting in line to be next. Cut it off and tell them you’ll do it later, they will bug you for your attention and wait for you while you walk away and go interact with someone else. (In love and war, everything is fair)

12- Astrology: Pick up a couple books on astrology (I recommend Sextrology and Astrologically Incorrect For Lovers). Learn your sign and the general details on women signs, you won’t need to learn any other guy ones obviously. I’ve met many beautiful women with just asking them when their birthday is, don’t ask the sign, know what dates correspond and you’ll knock her socks off. A nice trick to have under the sleeve, but again, it is not necessary. And no, do not make this a priority.

13- Psychology: I go to college, and I honestly couldn’t even give you a ballpark figure on how many women are Psychology majors. You don’t have to be Seigmand Frued, but if you can hold an intellectual conversation with a women about psychology, she’ll love you forever. They don’t even have to be Psychology majors. All girls love psychology. It’s what they do. They are natural psychologists. Even if you don’t use it to converse about, use it to your advantage, you’ll be able to read social situations hundred times better with even a basic understanding of psychological theories.

14- Philosophy: It will open your mind in more ways than you can imagine in turn making you a more intelligent being. You will not only learn Philosophy, but you will live it.

15- Sports: Some girls love sports. Even if you hate them, know something about them. Thirty minutes of ESPN.com won’t kill you. If you don’t use it with a sports girl, use it to befriend the five guys that are surrounding her.

16- Politics: Again, you’d be surprised how many women are Political Science majors. Myself, I love politics, some people hate it. But if you can converse or even school a girl on the current political disaster we call our government, she will find you attractive. (Warning: Some people get very heated while engaged in political debates, never loose your cool because you’ll just look like a jackass)

17- Music: Develop your taste in music to include more than crappy mainstream rappers and pop music. Listen to all types of music, my old roommate knew the words to more songs than I can even begin to name. Everything from Johny Cash to N*Sync, seriously, his current girlfriend was so amazed by his musical variety that I think that was their first deep conversation. That has the word “Value” written all over it.

18- Interesting General Facts: Learn interesting facts of all types. If you meet a girl from Alaska, “Did you know that the Alaskan coastline makes up more than half of the entire US coastline?” I met a woman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the other night and told her how much I loved the statue of Christ the Redeemer that sits atop the Corcovado Mountain and how beautiful the view is looking down into the city. She was absolutely stunned that I even knew that it was there, I didn’t even have to tell her that I have never actually been there. She was too busy drowning in my words as I continued the conversation. Simple facts like this will separate you from the other one hundred guys she sees and meets that day.