Beef, it’s what’s for dinner

If you are a man who spends a lot of time sitting at a desk then you know how easy it is to get woefully out of shape. Whether you are working, or reading your favorite book, the time spent on your butt can translate into some serious extra poundage. Even worse is the fact that when you put on body fat your testosterone levels can take a dip, especially if you are over 30 or 40. This can mean a brain that doesn’t function as well as it could, and this is just not acceptable if you do any type of creative work,, or even just value your ability to think clearly!

But what are you to do? For most of us long sessions in the gym or a crazy diet just isn’t going to happen anytime soon (lets be realistic!) The solution is to try to find simple lifestyle hacks to help you slim down that mid-section without needing to overhaul your whole lifestyle. Here are a few good ones I’ve found:

(Please note that none of this is medical or health advice, these are simply my thoughts. Always consult a healthcare professional, like a doctor before making any changes to your nutrition plan, exercise routines, or before starting or stopping any medication or supplementation):

Lifestyle Hack #1) Get A Standing Desk And Do Air Squats Every 45 Minutes or So

Sitting at a desk all day is just plain unhealthy, and it definitely doesn’t nothing to help you to get those taut 6 pack abs you’ve always wanted. And lets face it, nothing beats six pack abs. Every man knows this – visible abs are the ultimate fitness goal that we all want, but most of us don’t believe is possible.

Now I’m not promising that standing while you work and doing air squats will automatically give you six-pack abs, but it definitely won’t hurt. And if you are already pretty lean, then there is an outside chance that this is the one thing that puts you over the edge and makes that fantasy (of abs) a reality for you at long last.

Obviously, the longer you stand and the more squats you do the better. Just take it slow and build up at your own pace over time. Here’s a video of how to do air squats if you don’t know…

Lifestyle Hack #2) Get On A Testosterone Boosting Diet

There’s an old saying that goes “abs are made in the kitchen” and this is, in my humble opinion, 100% true. It’s along the same lines as “you can’t out run a bad diet”. So the bottom line is – no matter how many air squats or other exercises you do, if you are eating like crap it’s not going to do you much good. But this is a “lifestyle hack, not diet advice, so what am I recommending here you may wonder – just how simple is this “T Boosting Diet” I speak of?

Well, I’ve done a fair bit of research on this topic, and as far as I can tell the keys to boosting test through diet come down to: eating plenty of animal protein and saturated fat, avoiding processed foods (like simple carbs and soy), eating lots of plants and keeping portion size in check.

I don’t know about you, but that is a pretty simple set of guidelines if you ask me! NanoMagazine recently had a post about a specific “nutrition system” you can follow that was designed specifically for guys over 40 who are looking to boost testosterone, so there are definitely more in depth approaches that you can follow. That said following those 4 easy rules I mentioned earlier is an easy way to start.

In a perfect world 2 little lifestyle hacks would be all you need to get a perfect set of abs like those featured on the boxes of Calvin Klein underwear. But unfortunately getting abs will probably require a bit more work. The key thing here is “baby-steps”. Start with these 2 hacks, try them out for 21 days and see how you feel, then reassess and keep it moving!

In today’s post I wanted to ramble a bit on the topic of “getting a girlfriend” – in terms of how it is portrayed in the movies and fiction books compared to how things work in the real world.

The classic “how to get a girlfriend” narrative is shattered in the new “Girlfriend Activation System” documentary

What is the story with this perverse “nice guy” narrative we see running rampant in Hollywood and the young adult fiction that is setting todays young men up for heartache?

We’ve all seen it a million times in just about every (probably 97%) “young love story” that has been published/produced in the last 100 years or so. It goes like this: “guy sees/meets/knows a beautiful young woman that he wants to date. However, this young beauty is currently dating the EVIL captain of the football team, ski instructor, frat boy/or wall street douche bag. Then the guy (the first guy, who we’ll refer to as the “nice guy”) goes on a mission to  prove how much nicer he is a what a better, more caring boyfriend he could be, without really “making a move” or doing anything assertive enough to actually work. Eventually the “bad boy” boyfriend ends up doing himself in by getting caught cheating, or something like that, and then just by being “nice” the nice-guy gets to ride off into the sunset with his lady love.

Is this how the world really works? Does the “good guy” really get the girl? Is this what we see happening in the real world?

I think a lot of self-identifying “nice guys” would beg to differ. The reason being – women are not attracted to “niceness” as a trait that makes them want get into relationship with a guy. Back me up here ladies!

Sure niceness is nice. It beats being a straight up asshole most of the time, but its not exactly the sexiest thing in the world either.

Further, a healthy dose of “niceness” is part of being a good person, but the idea of a guy who is trying to “be a nice guy” all the time to get girls to like him is kind barf-worthy. Its also highly manipulative, which if you think about it really isn’t all that nice.

Lets look at a few of the things that a lot of so called nice guys do, if fiction and in real life, which actually has the opposite of the desired effect:

Non-effective method #1 – Trying to play the “handsome card”. A lot of guys think that physical appearance is the key to sparking the attraction process for with a woman. Guys spend tons of time and money time trying to dress trendy and get in shape, but the fact is most women prefer a more manly man who is not so concerned with his appearance. In fact this kind of vanity is really much more of a traditionally feminine trait!

Non-effective method #2 – Hiding one’s sexual desire. One of the key aspects of a “nice guy” is that he is not sexual, and therefore he tries to avoid discussing sexual topics with women on dates. However, the fact is that women are sexual creatures to. This is something that more successful “bad boy” types know, which is why you will often sees these guys ending up discussing sexual issues with beautiful women even if they just met them a few minutes earlier. Although this can be effective, remember that just because woman may be a sexual animal, this should not be used as an excuse to get too graphic in your discussion of sexuality with a woman you just met. This becomes especially crucial in the dating scene when trust is still in the process of being established. Opening up any discussion that has very strong sexual connotations can easily destroy this trust and can even make a woman feel abused in some ways. So keep your sexual discussion light and playful at first, rather than just plain filthy.

Non-effective method #3 – Avoiding all physical contact. Again, part of the whole “nice guy” thing is going to great lengths not to offend a woman. This is problematic however since touch is such a big part of sexual arousal. Just remember that while light playful physical contact is not only acceptable, but generally a good idea, overdoing it and being to overtly sexual with touch is not a good idea, especially on a first date. This can give off a signal to the woman that her date is a pervert who is just looking to bang, when they hardly knew anything significant about one another.

Non-effective method #4 – Kissing her butt. On the part of the man, making his date feel special should be his priority. Giving her compliments on how she fixed her hair for their date is a good starting point. However, repeatedly making complimentary remarks makes you look like a goofy dork and appears quite artificial. Spontaneous and natural comments are more effective when it comes to attracting women.

And finally , I should mention that I WILL be upgrading this site soon to make it a bit more visually appealing for you guys. My initial thought was to keep things as simple and black and white as possible, but I’ve received comments to the effect that it is looking a bit tired and old, so if you have any opinions of suggestions regarding this please let me know in the comments!

Ever since Jack LaLanne burst onto the scene in the 1950s American have been getting more and more interested in physical fitness every year. And while people of all ages can benefit from going to the gym and eating a healthy diet, it is of the utmost importance that folks over 40 work to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy waist BMI. The reasons are many – from avoiding strained knees and other joints, to avoiding serious diseases, staying fit into middle age is clearly vitally important. This is not an endorsement or recommendation, but the Old School New Body system is something that some folks have been using to improve their fitness levels later in life. The idea is get exercise in a way that is not overly taxing on the body, but still helps you burn fat and strengthen your muscles.

One problematic factor is the fact that increasingly people are unable to save much for retirement in their 20s and 30s, and as a result they find themselves working extremely hard in their 40s and 50s so that they will be able to retire some day. All of these long weeks sitting at desk, hunched over eating snacks and drinking caffeine surely takes it’s toll on our bodies. The most important thing is to have a frank talk with your doctor and see what he or she recommends to you for a fitness and nutritional regime, usually a good GP will be able to give you the most accurate and straight forward advice. From there you can seek out a personal trainer or accountability coach to keep you motivated and on track towards your fitness goals.

A lot of people get dumped and broken up with every single day of the year. Some take it well, others not so much, and then there rae those people who have complete breakdowns after getting dumped by a partner who they felt deeply in love with. It is this last group that my heart really goes out to because I’ve been there and I know how hard it can be when it feels like you would give anything to get your ex back but your ex just isn’t having any of it.

The good news however is that there are now several new self-help products on the market that have been specifically designed to help folks who have just been dumped to keep their emotional balance steady and even in some cases use psychological principles to get their exes back into their lives.

One such program that has become quite popular is Ryan River’s Relationship Rewind system which promises to help readers climb on board a “time machine” of sorts that is said to help them return to the honeymoon stage of their relationships by exploiting certain psychological techniques. You can read a full Relationship Rewind review, but I wanted to share my opinion too, because I think that this is something that could really benefit a lot of people and something that the world should know about.

I think that the best thing about this new breed of self-help programs, and Relationship Rewind in particular is that they explain powerful, and sometimes somewhat complex terms into simple language that regular folks can understand. After all,when a person has just gone through a break-up the last thing that they want to do is to try to decipher all kinds of big words and vague concepts. And even if not everybody who follows a guide like is able to get their ex back at the very least everyone will be emotionally comforted and educated at the same time.

Reviews of similar self-help guides and dating guides for women are available at ConquerHisHeart.com.

Becoming a writer was not the first thing that came to mind when I was growing up, I wanted to be something else which I could not quite remember. But there was a crucial turning point in my life that made me say ‘I want to become a writer’. At that time, I was in a point in my life where I had a decent job, but I felt like I was supposed to be doing something else. That feeling lingered for quite some time, three years to be exact. I decided to take a leave of absence from my job and travel to Asia for three months. That trip made me realize what I really wanted to do in my life. After returning from that trip I had three clear reasons as to why I wanted to shift from my current job to becoming a full-time writer.

3 Reasons Why I Became a Writer

Self-Expression

Looking back, ever since I was a child I liked writing in a journal. I did not care what I wrote I just wrote things on my journal and kept it a secret from everyone else. No one else knew about my journal and where I put it. These writings contained my thoughts, random scribbles, and some stories I wrote. In my journal, I was able to be who I wanted to be. I saved damsels in distress, fought space wars, or became Luke Skywalker. There was no one there to judge me, I transformed into anyone I wanted and said all the things I wanted to say. Writing gave me the avenue to express myself and the deepest thoughts that I had in mind. From childhood to now, I still feel the same way. It all just came back to me and came together at the right time. I am glad I made the decision to become a writer. I do not know what I would be doing if I stuck with my job for another year or so.

Creative Control

I like having creative control in the things that I do that is what writing gave to me. I created my own worlds and filled it with the people I wanted. I formed and shaped the characters of the stories I wrote and I loved it. I knew my characters inside and out, knew their darkest thoughts and their motivations. I was thrilled to create whatever I wanted through writing. The creative control that writing gave me liberated me from the monotony of daily life. Through writing I made things more interesting than they actually are. I was able to put motivations in, create character flaws, make twists, and make the most minute of details important to the grand scheme of things.

Bored Out of My Mind

I decided to take a turn from my current job because I was bored out of my mind. I was tired of doing the same thing over and over again, dealing with the same people, same problems, and same outcomes. I wanted a fresh start and something that I have more creative control over. I was doing OK with my job, getting promoted, earning some money, but something was missing from the daily grind. It took a while for me to realize that I wanted to do something else than collect a paycheck every month.

I can honestly say that the transition was not smooth, but I found my new career in writing far more rewarding compared to my previous job. There are days when I get bored or run into a creative bump, but the thought of doing something else never crossed my mind again.