The Swole Life Blog

Battling chronic fatigue and burnout: becoming energetic and successful

2013-04-30T18:42:26Z

Why do we keep doing things that make us fat, miserable and fatigued?

Of course you want to be productive, happy, focused, healthy, and successful. You want it with all your being, that’s the only thing you practically think about.

So why the disconnect? Why can’t you connect your desires with your actions?

Remember the last time you bought a brand new computer, with its brand new computer smell and the styrofoam mess you created when you unpacked it. You admired it with its power and speed, unrivaled among its peers.

You power it up and go, I bet this can handle photoshop really well! And it does. It can even handle multiple monitors so you plug in one on each side. Video games must look amazing on this thing! lets start one up and crank the settings! And on my third monitor, I can watch some youtube videos. This is going to be amazing!

Of course it’s not amazing. Commanding your computer to do too many things at once causes it to choke up and fatigue, and suddenly it’s not doing anything properly.

You, my friend, are that computer.

Everybody wants your attention at the same time, so you’re flooded with streams of data from facebook, twitter, television, youtube, forums, email, instant messages, apps, devices, movies, shows..

Your brain sits there with its RAM bursting at the seams, working furiously to make sense of all this data and process it. And it fails, the task is too great, there is just too much information coming in. So the symptoms you experience?

Mental fatigue and fogginess
Burnout
Physical fatigue
Lack of focus
Lack of motivation
Lack of energy
Procrastination
Plateau and stagnation

You think you are doing too little, but in reality you are doing too much. Flip that around and do more of the right things and your life will change.

Unitasking: One of many success habits

Doing one thing at a time with no distractions will infuse you with laser like focus, immense drive and energy, and unparalleled effectiveness. You will accomplish more than you ever hoped to accomplish while stuck in the multi-tasking addiction.

Lets see how we can power ourselves up and get rid of the extra mental junk that’s making us fail and fatigued.

Start scrubbing your mental ram.

The less stuff we have to think about and process, the more resources and control we have at our disposal. Here’s a list of things that might be gumming up your mental RAM and what to do about them:

Chronic Tab Syndrome - this happens when you have dozens or more tabs open in your browser for long periods of time. Solution? Nuke everything and start over. Or go through every tab and close or bookmark it for later use.
Multiple applications open at the same time - you’re, like, trying to do too many things at once. Focus on working on one application at a time unless you absolutely need to use more.
Media running in the background - this includes things like watching TV while eating dinner or playing a video in the background. Start paying attention to your food and suddenly notice how you don't need a whole large pizza to feel satisfied!
Constantly checking email/facebook/twitter/etc - every time you visit these sites you load up your mental RAM and lose mental energy. Start being more conscious of it, see how it effects you and start reining it in.
Trying to take mental notes or reminders - just write it down, out of your head and on paper. This is one of the main principles of the GTD (Getting Things Done) system that's linked below.

It may sound obvious, but when you do only one thing at a time, and temporarily let go of all of your thoughts about other stuff, you are by definition totally focused. When you concentrate your energy on one thing, you might just find you actually have enough of it.

What to do from here

Getting control back over your focus and energy is a long term process. You can improve quickly but your success will always be incremental. If you read this far then you’re doing pretty great! You didn’t allow yourself to get distracted from reading about how not to get distracted...

Now it’s your turn.

How can you apply these concepts to your life to reduce fatigue and increase energy? Share in the comments below something that clogs up your mental RAM and what you plan to do about it.

Don’t know? Ask! As a former elite procrastinator, I love to help others get out of their head and succeed.

Muesli Recipe: How to make oatmeal taste amazing

2013-03-14T18:23:09Z

Breakfast as most know it is a sorry affair. Most of the time, you spend your breakfast time snoozing in bed, hoping to make up for skipping last night's sleep routine.

On days you do eat breakfast, it's sugary cereal or the whole-wheat, whole-grain, high-fibre, cholesterol-reducing, slightly less sugary one. Dump that in a bowl of milk and use a giant spoon to pedal ever-closer to diabetes island.

It doesn't have to be this way, you know? You can have your carby breakfast in minutes while staying full, healthy and lean for the rest of the day. How now, you say?

Behold swole Muesli, and kiss your soggy, sad oats goodbye. Muesli was developed by a Swiss doctor, so you know it must be good for you. At it's heart it's just oatmeal, but it's genius is all the stuff you add to it that make it both a delicious and nutritious meal.

These recipes work like templates, endlessly variable and open to whatever fruits, nuts, flavours, etc. your whims require. It’s a great way to knock out a healthy breakfast and kill your cravings in the same go!

Traditional Style

20g oat bran
20g plain oats (either quick or old-fashioned, depending on your texture preferences)
50g green apple, grated (flexible to the texture you prefer)
~2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
15g Slivered almonds
5g Cream (optional)
Cinnamon
2% plain greek yogurt, to serve

Grate the apple and mix with remaining ingredients. Serve with yogurt and additional cinnamon, to taste. No need to microwave or anything, though prepping ahead and let it soak for an hour is nice.

Crunchy Style

This one is my favorite. It requires a bit more cooking but the end result is crunchy and delicious.

20g oat bran
20g plain oats (either quick or old-fashioned, depending on your texture preferences)
50g green apple, grated
15g Slivered almonds (or any nuts or seeds)
3-5g coconut oil
Cinnamon
1-2 tsp vanilla extract, water, or mix

Mix all ingredients except the coconut oil.
Heat coconut oil in skillet.
When hot, throw in the oat mix for ~half a minute to sauté.
As it's sautéing: sprinkle very lightly with water or vanilla extract just enough to get it to clump up a bit.
As it begins to crisp, remove from heat and serve topped with Greek yogurt.

Feel free to add fruit, cinnamon or other toppings to the yogurt that you'd like.

Some variations I recommend:

Coconut and almond
Sesame seeds & cherries (use fresh, dried or frozen and save some for topping)
Blackberries & pumpkin seeds
Apples & sunflower seeds

How did yours turn out?

How to lose fat and feel better: practical tips for a happier you

2013-03-01T17:59:13Z

Feeling tired and fat? When was the last time you felt energetic and in control of your day? How do you feel right this minute?

Chronic low energy and mood is devastating for all aspects of your life, affecting you socially, financially and personally.

You probably think you need to make huge changes to feel better, but there are simple things you can do that will improve your condition both in the short and long term.

1. Start eating meals

Try our quick healthy fries recipe

Your body hates states of excess: way too many calories is bad, so is way too few. Cycle these back to back and you’re pretty much guaranteed to feel - and look - like a wreck.

The best way to start eating well is with tasty, fresh, balanced meals that give you enough energy to get through the day. Don’t worry right away about micro-managing your calorie intake and dropping pounds. Just start out with good, quality food and you can always cut down the portions once you’re rocking that.

What makes a good meal

Quality homemade with natural ingredients
Substantial contains ~25-35% your daily calorie needs
Balanced features protein plus carbs and/or fat
Vegetables there's no replacement for fresh produce

It doesn't have to be complicated or weird. Making a homemade, fresher and higher quality version of what you're already eating is a great start.

Here are some meal ideas

Try making a grass-fed hamburger, with salad and sweet potato fries
"Deli" sandwich with fresh meat (turkey, roast beef, or lean ham), cheese and of course veggies (tomatoes, lettuce, onion, peppers)
5 minute fat-loss pizza
Muesli with plain greek yogurt and fruit

2. Drink more water

You can go for weeks without food but only a couple of days without water. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that water is a really really important substance for your body. And the same way you know optimizing your diet is critical, so is optimizing your hydration.

How to get better hydrated

Drink more water. This is obvious, but aim for ~50% of your bodyweight in oz. So if you're 200lbs that means 100oz, or just a bit under a gallon. I recommend keeping a water bottle with you at most times that you can sip from.
Improve your electrolyte balance Overeating in general and processed food in particular tend to load you up on sodium at the expense of potassium, magnesium and other goodies. You end up bloated, thirsty (which is often mistaken for hungry) and hungover (without the fun!).

To correct this, you first and foremost must eat less processed (packaged) foods. You can also supplement with balanced, non-sugary electrolyte supplements like Emergen-C.

Read our article on hydration and electrolytes.

3. Get moving

This is you right now.

When you sit for long periods of time your body goes into "Slow" mode. From this perspective, there is nothing going on and it's best to wind things down and conserve energy. Imagine a pack of lions lazying about the savannah.

Fortunately for the lions they have hunger and hunting that gets them into "Go" mode. That's when they become energetic, focused and able to drive all of their energy towards a single goal. Paradoxically, the only way to start having more energy is to start expending more energy, physically. If you want to maintain a state of high-energy, "Go" mode, you must maintain an active lifestyle.

If you’re starting out, aim to get at least 1 activity per day. This could be walking your dog or walking around the mall, pick-up basketball with your friends, a yoga class, couch25k. Just start moving because the fact that you're doing that is far more important than what you actually do.

If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, it may seem difficult at first. Start out by logging just 2 minutes every day and watch your sessions go longer and longer as you develop the activity habit. Keep it up, and you will soon see why exercise is considered the most reliable treatment for fatigue and depression.

Summing it up

Making big changes in how you feel doesn't have to be super complicated or difficult. Often, there are small, practical steps you can take that, over time, will build up to transform your life.

What helps you get through the day? Please share.

How to Reboot Yourself After Failing

2013-02-07T20:00:31Z

Do you throw away your laptop when it crashes? So why do you throw away your diet after a single failed meal? Why do you stop going to the gym after you miss one workout?

Maybe it'll be implemented in life 2.0

You will always encounter freezes and crashes in life, just like you do with your iPhone. Sometimes you might even hit a wall and feel like everything is falling apart.

What you might not know is that every one of your fit, powerful, lean, or successful role models goes through that, and they've been through it thousands of times. The difference between them and you is that they didn't chuck the phone out the window. They rebooted.

Rebooting is hard. It requires you to admit to yourself that you've failed, and then muster up the energy to pick yourself up. Most people are really bad at rebooting. They just throw their hands up in the air when things crash. And they stay fat, weak, depressed and unsuccessful.

How to Make Rebooting Easy

All new things are difficult. It's like when you play a new video game. Your brain has to work overtime just trying to figure out what the hell is everything is. But after getting killed for the 500th time things start to make sense. You stop thinking, muscle memory kicks in and you just play. The same is true for elite athletes, they actually exhibit lower brain activity than novices when competing in their sport.

So, rebooting is hard mainly because you haven't internalized it yet. What you need is a very specific routine that you execute when you see yourself failing.

Think of this as your alt + ctrl + del.

The Reboot Routine

This routine will be invaluable to get you out of trouble and get you back on track. You can use it for anything, like sticking to your diet, keeping up with exercise, going to sleep early, etc.

1. Your Reaction

Avoid negative statements like "Now I messed up the diet" or "why do I have such weak willpower". It might feel good to yell at yourself but these statements only make you feel more depressed and guilty while depleting your willpower to turn things around. In short, they are you digging yourself deeper.

Instead, admit you fell off track, accept it and move on. The damage is done, so the faster you move forward the faster you can put this behind you and get back on track.

Single mistakes rarely have a big impact on their own. It's when you choose to make a big deal out of one that it becomes truly destructive. If you eat 20 good meals and 1 fast food meal then you're still ahead. By a huge margin. But if that 1 fast food meal causes you to spiral out of control then it's really you who is actively choosing to fail.

2. Do Damage Control

Do you ever have a tiny cheat on your diet and go "oy vey! All is lost" and then you have a huge cheat right after. That's exactly how not to go into damage control.

Lets say you missed the gym for whatever reason and you can't go now. That's okay, instead do a 10 minute walk or some bodyweight exercises. Or if you find yourself in the middle of devouring a cheat meal, skip dessert and moderate. This is not like driving off a cliff; it's like taking a wrong turn. It's never too late to stop heading in the wrong direction and get back on the right track.

You always have options and some options are better than others. Choosing the better option even at the last minute can make a BIG difference. Even if you end up at McDonalds, your meal choice can make the difference between 300 and 3000 calories. Ordered the wrong meal? Stopping before you've finished your plate can also cut calories massively.

3. Look Ahead

Don't focus on the mistake, instead look ahead to your next steps. When you give in and have a fast food meal, look forward and think about what you can do to not end up in this situation again. At the very least, think about your next meal, otherwise you might fall in the same trap twice in a row.

You won't be able to correct the mistake you already made, but you probably can accomplish not making anymore of the same. This way you can still turn a failure into an invaluable lesson.

Lock and Loaded

So now you have a routine in place, think of it as your emergency plan. Copy these simple steps down and adapt the details to your situation.

The Routine

React positively. No negative self-talk. Accept that the mistake is in the past and you're going to move forward.
Damage control. Can you make the best out of it? i.e skipping dessert when having a cheat meal or going for a walk if you don't go to the gym.
Look ahead. What's the next step to get back on track? How to not repeat this mistake again?

Take 5-10 minutes and write down a personal routine for your future self based on this, and keep that document with you. When you feel yourself veering off course, get that paper out and follow the instructions.

And remember, failing to reboot is the true failure. Some of our most successful clients had many failures but they all learned to be experts at rebooting.

I'll leave you with this video from the latest episode of the Ultimate Fighter where Chael Sonnen talks about acknowledging failure and moving past it. I think the speech worked considering this fighter did this shortly after.

Question: How do you get yourself back on track? Do you have any tips or strategies to share?

Quick and Delicious Chicken Breast Skewers for your Diet

2013-01-21T20:30:40Z

Is your homemade chicken chewy and dry? Does it taste bland and seem more like medicine than a delicacy? You are marinating it, right?

Not your typical bland chicken breast.

At SwolePT Kitchen Laboratories we've developed a 3-step process to the perfect chicken breast. You will never crave KFC again after tasting this.

3 Steps to Success

Marinating: injects bold flavors and tenderizes the meat.
Slicing the meat thin: more delicious marinade enters in, and more contact with the crispening flame.
Cooking at high heat: such as grilling will keep the meat tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Marinating

While marinating sounds daunting you should be able to whip this up in less than 5 minutes. Your future self will thank you for making an awesome meal.

The 4 Components of a Good Marinade

An Acid, i.e. lemon, lime, vinegar
Salt, try sea salt
Fat/oil, such as olive oil, sesame oil, or coconut oil
Spices, by the handful! We don't have no stinkin' weak marinades.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
Juice of two lemons or limes
1/4 c olive oil
Seasonings:
1. 2 cloves garlic, crushed
2. Salt
3. Black & Red Pepper
4. 2 tsp cumin seed or 1 tsp ground cumin
5. Optional: If you're a fan of sweet & spicy add a bit of orange juice or pomegranate molasses

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil and all the spices together in a glass dish.

Tools of the Trade

As always, equipment is key for this process not being a total pain in the ass. Here's what you need:

Filet knife
Good cutting board.
Grill pan, or anything grill-like to elevate the chicken off the surface of the pan.

Make sure your marinade is mixed and ready to go before you start touching the chicken. Set up everything: knife and board, marinade, trash can and pre-torn paper towels if you’ll need any before you wash up.

How you cut the meat is important.

More surfaces = more marinade absorbed, i.e. more flavor. If you ever enjoyed a succulent shawarma or gyro then you already knew this. Because of this, I like to cut the meat thinly horizontally, then cut it into shortish strips.

Give it a rest

Put the cut chicken breast in your awesome marinade, cover with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Pimp your oven

I don't have a grill or even a grill pan. Instead, I've hacked a creme brûlée set up, but with a little creativity, you can use anything grill-like and metal to transform your oven into a barbecue. Otherwise you can just buy a grill pan.

Here is my set-up. If you have a similar grill device that stands up on its own, just rest it on a foil-covered baking sheet (to catch the drips) and you're ready to go. If you have a flat grill, you can rest it over a foil-covered casserole dish to achieve the same effect of elevating the meat off the foil.

Skewer it

If you want to prevent the skewers from burning, soak them in water for at least 40 minutes beforehand. Then, lay out everything you need: grill-pan set-up, skewers, some torn paper towels for surprise mess-ups. And last before you begin, preheat the gas grill or oven broiler to HI.

Threading the chicken

If threading chicken seems way advanced start with just cutting the chicken in any size chunks, or even buy pre-cut, and roast un-skewered on a foil-covered baking sheet.

Cooking the Beast

Cooking lean meat at high heat turns it crispy and locks the juices inside. This also shortens cooking time significantly, so keep a close eye to avoid turning your delicious dinner to charcoal. We recommend broiling, grilling or very high heat baking.

Broil on HI for a few minutes per side, checking frequently. As each side develops a crisp, you will turn the meat slightly. Basically, you are using your oven broiler as you would a barbecue. This shouldn't take more than 10 minutes total.

If you somehow do not have a broiler, bake at 450F/220C for ~10 min.

Finishing touches

Now this awesome, crispy chicken is good to eat from the skewers. But if you want to turn it up even more make this traditional Lebanese garlic sauce:

Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
2T greek yogurt (2% or 10% fat) or use 2T mayonaise, or mix
Salt, to taste
White pepper (if you don't have this on hand, you can use red or black)

Mix it all together and use as a light dip or sauce.

Delicious Sides

This chicken goes well with almost anything. Try it with rice, fresh salad, hummus dip or guacamole. Or you can make a tasty chicken wrap with a corn or regular tortilla.

Now it's your turn

Now that you've learned how to make chicken awesome, don't let me catch you eating bland chicken breast and unseasoned broccoli! There just is no excuse when you can make gourmet quality food quick, cheap and still lose fat.

Awesome chicken, rice, sweet potatoes, hummus, and fresh salad.

Please share if you liked this recipe!

Separating the wheat from the chaff

2013-01-10T04:41:28Z

This is the first article that we published on theSwole.com - the blog that made everything happen! I came across of it randomly and at first I felt embarrassed to even read it but after a couple of sentences thought 'eh this isn't so bad!'. So figured I'd share with you some Swole history.

‘that cometh after me, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ (Matthew 3:12)

Let me first say I’m not religious in the least but sometimes we relate to fiery verses from different books. A lot of people walk into different gyms, for many it’s simply an excess they indulge in periodically. They revel in the novelty, those first days they show unparalleled dedication, their eyes fixed on unachievable goals; usually this day happens to be January first.

You see them when your lonely squat rack is now filled with a group of eager bicep-aficionados who are using the safety bars to support 56.5lbs after they had finished catabolizing their biceps. The dumbbell rack now stands busier than a Costco checkout in a recession, not because everyone is rushing to utilize the equipment but rather as it is the spot where the light casts down the most vascularizing of shadows and the 125lb dumbbells offer a fearsome foreground.

Two weeks in, the winds start blowing, and the chaff starts to whisk away leaving behind an aggregate of individuals who cannot leave, ones who are anchored by the same weights that they move. They pound away day after day, always throwing the weight against gravity only for it fall back again. They cannot leave because this place of training has filled a hole; it defines them, without it they find themselves incomplete.

These aren’t your pilgrims who visit this temple yearly, or monthly nor are they your weekend warriors. These are the ones who need to train, who need to put on more and more weight, those are the ones who get hurt doing something and then jump back in over and over, and over.

Disciplines that we do not practice seem immensely complex on the outside; we look at those individuals who practice something we do not know as a step lower than magicians. They perform voodoo on a daily basis, diagnosing out of thin air, fixing what seemed to be impossible, making you lose weight when you tried so hard. Once you enter their sphere and begin to see, you realize that it’s not so mysterious after all, in fact, often times it’s quite simple: the majority of people never come to this step.

Even right now you have a fitness culture where ‘spot reduction’ is the norm, low fat diets are the solution, and weight training is an exotic macho ritual that turns ordinary people into Ronnie Colemans. What I want to introduce is a shift towards things that fundamentally work, the only thing I care about is the end result, and the road that leads there is the right one.

End-result indeed! That's what we ended up focusing on and it worked pretty well. We don't update theSwole.com since this is our main blog now but its an interesting place to visit for archeologists.

The Quick and Easy Guide to Making the Perfect Omelette

2012-12-25T17:42:19Z

People often cringe when they think about making an omelette for breakfast, probably followed by flashbacks of Gordon Ramsey shouting “Its raw, you donkey”. It takes too much time, effort and the end result is a goey mess.

A good omelette is supposed to be crisp with a beautiful crust and firm yet fluffy consistency. You probably think you need 4 years of culinary school to achieve something like that, but you’d be wrong.

A Good Pan

Is the first thing you need, and no, the Teflon ones you have from target won’t do. Why? Because they can’t get hot enough without smoking and most of them don’t distribute heat evenly, and most important for our purposes, they can’t go into the oven.

Remember that crispy crust I was talking about? We’re going to get that by broiling the omelette in the oven. This has a similar effect to baking a pizza in a wood-fired oven.

Any oven safe pan will do, but we recommend this 12” carbon steele. It’s not as cheap as a nonstick pan, but the payoff is in the taste of what you will make with this pan. Everything you make in this will taste so much better because you can cook at much higher heat. This is one of the great secrets to making tasty dishes.

Nutrition Facts

This is meant to be 2 or 3 servings, so the actual calorie per serving is closer to 300 calories. Its a bit heavier on the fat side but it balances out when you have it with a side of toast or fruit. It’s also extremely filling.

The Ingredients

An omelette is really versatile, so feel free to experiment and try all kinds of different ingredients and toppings. Start with this recipe and branch out later.

Base

Eggs. I use 4 eggs to make a big omelette and split up the left overs.
Milk or Heavy Cream. A dash of it to mix the eggs into.
Butter. To lightly paint the pan.

This is all you need to make an omelette, but it’d be pretty bland if you stopped here!

Toppings/Extra

Cheese. Pretty much any cheese on earth works, but my preference here is for Gouda or Sharp Cheddar.
Meat. I like to beef up the protein so I add lean deli-meat like roast beef or turkey breast.
Vegetables. The sky is the limit, my go-to ones are:
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Peppers

Seasonings and Spices

Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Red pepper

Preparing the vegetables

There are two ways of cooking the vegetables, either in the pan or in the oven. I prefer doing them in the oven since you can cut down on clean-up by simply broiling them on a foil-covered baking sheet.

Chop up the vegetables finely
Lay them flat on top of a foil-covered baking sheet
Add seasonings (salt, pepper, red pepper) and ~1 tbsp olive oil
Mix everything together
Place on top oven rack and set your oven to Broil - High

They’ll take anwhere from ~5-10 minutes to cook, so in the meantime we’ll start preparing the eggs.

For the eggs

Break them into a small bowl. Add a dash of milk or cream to the eggs and use a fork or whisk to mix them together. They don’t have to be perfectly mixed, just as long as there aren’t solid egg yolks left.

Get all the toppings together and set-up at stoveside (eggs cook quickly, you really don't have time once they're in the pan). Once that’s done, turn on the pan to medium, and use the stick of butter like a marker to lightly coat its surface. When you see the butter is just barely sizzling, pour in the eggs. Immediately afterward start adding your toppings.

Layering the omellette

Turkey goes first right on top of the eggs.
Add seasonings
Followed by the cooked vegetables.
Finally add the cheese. Using large, small slices, or shredded is up to you.

Keep a close eye on the omellette as you’re adding the toppings. Once you see the edges start to barely solidify, turn the heat off if you need more time to add toppings. Otherwise it’ll get overcooked in the oven.

Into the fire

Wait until the edges of the omellette are cooked before putting it in the broiler on high. If you put it in too early the bottom/center will end up undercooked. Set the pan on the top rack close to the flames. Watch it closely as it develops that golden crust, be sure to turn the pan and re-position it to get an even crust.

The whole process takes anywhere from 20 to 60 seconds and its a fine line between perfectly cooked and burnt. Just follow your instincts and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Bon appétit

If you did everything right, you’ll end up with an amazing omellette and people will start getting jealous of your awesome cooking abilities.

Did this recipe change your mind about omellettes?

How to have a straight back: your guide to good posture

2012-12-11T17:30:13Z

Good posture not only bulletproofs your body against injury and pain but also determines how much you will succeed in life. Don’t believe me? Imagine you’re looking for a date online, using your powers of deduction (which you learned from watching Sherlock) to find a match. You come across a decent profile, nothing wrong with this one, except a little hunch in the back.

Interested?

Shoulders rolled forward, back rounded, head jutting forward like a submarine periscope. Go through these terms and see if any come to mind:

Un-fit or un-athletic
Doesn’t take good care of him/herself
Flawed
Weak, frail, even insecure
Tired, low energy
Low status, downtrodden, poor
Unattractive
Bored or boring
Not in control of his/her life

Maybe you hit all terms or maybe none, but I’m sure you got a negative image in your head.

The verdict is in; you move on to the next profile. This time the person has great posture, sitting up straight, shoulders back, head high, looking straight at the camera. How would you judge that person based on just those attributes? Would they likely be more assertive? More fit than the first profile? More fun to hang out with?

It might seem unfair to judge people based on their posture, and in a way it is. But your posture is actively communicating with other people, and it can say “I’m a confident and active person” or “I’m somebody whose sedentary, beaten down and not in control of my life”. If you have the choice, why are you communicating the wrong message?

Luckily, you only need to make a few, simple adjustments to improve your posture and be happier and more succesful. Using these simple steps, you will see continous improvement over time and within as little as 3 weeks, you can totally transform how you look.

Why do I have bad posture?

Years of slouching and being sedentary have led to some of your muscles to become shortened and stiff. This is critical because opposing muscles in your body are always playing a tug-of-war. When both sides are in balance, your posture is good. When one side starts pulling more, your posture shifts in that direction.

Take your chest muscles as an example. They connect via a tendon (their piece of rope) to the front of your shoulders. You then have back muscles that connect to the back of the shoulder, forming the opposing team. When your chest muscles are tight, they out-pull the back; your shoulder rolls forward and you’re stuck hunching over.

The Daily Routine

It’s essential that you follow as much of this routine as you can. We’ve streamlined everything we know and only included what will get you the most results in the shortest amount of time. This routine can be done every day, or every other day. As long as you do it with some consistency, you will improve your posture.

3 steps to a straighter back

Roll
Stretch
Walk

Foam Roll

Muscles that are tight develop gnarly knots and scar tissue that keeps them stiff, short and painful. On top of that, sitting reduces the circulation of fluid in and out of muscles and joints, which leads to more pain and problems. Rolling will take care of both issues.

You want to use a high density foam roller for this. For the smaller muscles and harder to reach areas, a tennis or lacrosse ball works well. We've already reviewed the best foam rollers if you are looking for more options.

Start rolling very gently. A lot of people have really tight muscles that will be very sensitive. You want to avoid pain, especially sharp pain; a little soreness is to be expected if you are just starting out. Focus on the largest parts of the muscle first, apply only a small amount of pressure and roll slowly.

Muscles to Roll

Back
Glutes and Hams
Quads
Calves
Chest
Lats

Do 12 repetitions for every muscle or as much as needed. I like to roll until the soreness is gone or greatly diminished - although that might not be possible for someone starting out. You may find that you have sore areas beyond these; let your body be the guide.

Stretching

Now that we’ve gotten rid of a lot of the knots and loosened up the muscles, we want to start startching and lengthening them. As with the rolling, start slowly and build it up. You don’t want to rush here and hurt yourself. You should feel a stretch in the muscle or at the edge of it. You should NOT feel it in the joint. Stop if you feel sharp pain.

Stretches for a straighter back

Chest Stretch (img)
Lat Stretch (img)
Scap Wall Slides (video) -- do these facing the wall at first.
Shoulder Stretch (img)

Do each stretch for 30 seconds at a time for 3 sets, resting as needed in between. You can use shorter bursts of stretching to work into it, but for lasting improvement you'll need to work up to at least 30 seconds. Above all, just get started now and actively work to include stretching in your day.

Here's a bonus stretching video if you're more of a visual learner.

Walk

Walking is the most underrated and arguably the most important activity you can do. Walking will help your posture, increase your lifespan, reduce your bodyfat, improve your mood and more! We’re mostly interested in the posture part for this article but I love doing easy things that give me a lot back.

How much to walk?

A minute more than you usually do is the bare minimum. If you don’t walk regularly at all then start with just a minute or two, and build consistently from there. Do more if you can: 20 minutes daily will get you good results and anything beyond that is also recommended.

Will 1 minute really be enough? On its own, no. But you are tricking your body into building a habit. Don’t believe me? Try it. Walk at least a minute a day for a week and see what happens. That’s how I got into running.

Get the most out of your walk

Stand tall. Imagine you just won a medal of honor or pretend to be superman or something. Try to make yourself as tall as possible while keeping your heels flat on the ground.
Shoulders back and down. You’re playing a game called get your shoulders as far away from your ears as possible. a. To get the shoulders down: shrug your shoulders all the way up, then pull them back down but try to go even further. Repeat and practice. b. To get the shoulders back: visualize someone putting a pencil behind you and you’re trying to squeeze on it with your shoulder blades. Do this while maintaining your shoulders in the down position.
Chest Up. This goes hand in hand with the shoulders, but imagine you’re trying to imitate Captain America.
Long Strides. Most people tend to walk with a very short stride which doesn't get you the full benefit. Instead, focus on long strides. This will open up your hips more and get you stretched out from sitting all day.

If you want to hit two birds with one stone and have really awesome posture, check out our guide on Making your butt and gut smaller by fixing your hips.

What I learned in Beirut

2012-12-03T17:24:52Z

I feel exhausted. Yes, I’ve been up for over 35 hours but I’ve been feeling like this more or less for the past three weeks: basically the whole time I’ve been away. Being a supposed expert in energy, motivation and good habits, it was a bit shocking to see how far I could fall. I feel like I’ve been dunked in a vat of mollases and ordered to do hill sprints. How did I get so drained?

Back at home in San Francisco, I was energetic and lively. It wasn’t unusual to wake up at 5am, go for a run around the lake, prepare a hearty, delicious breakfast, write an article, meet with several clients, train at lunch time, meet more clients, and still have plenty of energy left when I finished work at 7:30pm. Right now, I couldn’t send an email to save my life.

At the beginning of this trip I was excited to see friends and family that I haven't seen in 3 years. I imagined having a lot of free time to work on articles and other projects. My fantasy was nipped in the bud the moment I entered my old apartment and flipped on the light. The electricity immediately short-circuited, only the first in a long chain of obstacles strewn the length of the trip: a flooded attic, electricity blackouts, nonexistent hot water, gas leaks, gmail needing 30 minutes to load, the list goes on.

Outside, too, my scenic view of grass, trees and lake was now replaced with busy streets and narrow sidewalks. Dust and smog filled the air from car fumes and construction sites. My sinuses quickly barricaded themselves in.

I used to not be phased by those things, afterall I grew up here. But maybe I should say I was phased by them but I didn’t realize it. It was normal, after all. It wasn’t until I left and changed my environment that I noticed, oh I feel so much better now. It’s shocking the mental reserves you suddenly have when you aren’t playing wack-a-mole all day long.

The truth is, you're probably in a similar situation to the one I described above. You might not recognise it at first since you probably don’t live in a third world country with constant infrastructure issues. But if you are spending a lot of your time doing busy work, feeling like you're always behind, getting stressed and de-motivated, then you might see another application for the term “failed state.”

The Aquarium

You see, we aren’t very different from a school of fish living in an small aquarium. You might be a healthy fish, but dump in a bunch of dirty water and you’ll slowly get sick. Unleash a pack of sharks and watch your cortisol levels spike. Whatever state your in, environment has a huge role on your psychological, physiological and material well-being.

To put it in most basic terms, there are things that give you more energy and things that drain your energy. Those outside things have a big impact on how much energy you have, regardless of how much energy you intend to have.

Take a good look at how your environment influences you, because taking charge of your environment is the easiest way to start taking charge of yourself and stop feeling helpless in your fight to improve. Don’t look at what you intend to do (since you probably aren’t doing it anyway), instead look at what your environment is guiding you to do. Because unlike fish in a tank, you get to some choice about what water you swim in.

Energy sinks

Examining the daily goings on in your life, you’ll find activities that contribute to your energy and mood, and those that take something away. It should be clear which ones you need to cut down and which ones to increase. Some draining tasks are unavoidable, but others you can eliminate entirely.

Here are some to consider:

Work. Being productive uses up energy, even fulfilling work will drain your energy. Not to say all work is equal, but recognize that the more you work the less energy you have for other things. The important thing is to be effective with your work: get results for your efforts. Avoid busy work and mindless tasks, instead focusing on things that get you the best return on your energy. Cut out things that feel like work but don’t actually get you anywhere (eg. checking your email millions of times).
Toxic people. You know who I’m talking about, individuals who are so insecure about themselves that trashing you somehow helps them feel better about themselves. They are literal energy vampires as they thrive on draining others. If someone doesn't believe in you, that's okay. That's their prerogative and choosing not to associate with them is yours. I made huge leaps in my life once I limited my contact with those who drained me.
Electronics. Not all the time, but for the most part all electronic devices will drain your energy. I’m talking about television, phones, computers, etc. How? First they tend to be sedentary activities which by nature make you less energetic. Second, your brain uses up processing power to interpret and interact with these devices. It may seem effortless, but try a simple test. After several hours of being on the computer guage how you feel: energetic?
Bad food. Sugary drinks, snack foods, anything that adds calories but is not a meal. These foods throw you off a caloric fiscal cliff and you probably already realize it. They give you a shot of energy or flavour or both, in the short term, then leave you feeling tired, spent and worse off than before. I also recommend avoiding food that doesn’t taste good or satisfy you. You can pack a plate with healthy foods but if they don’t taste good you’ll probably end up feeling like your stomach is full but you still need to eat something. Every bite is contributing something to your goal, whether positively or negatively. Make every bite count.

Energy Boosters

While reducing energy sinks is important, it’s equally if not more important to increase how much energy you have coming in. Afterall, you can’t save money if you have a great budget but no income.

Sleep. The most important activity by far in determining how much energy, willpower and motivation you have. You can accomplish this by following this bed time routine.
Activity. It may seem counter-intuitive, but expending some energy in exercise actually increases your overall energy level. If you start looking to be more active, you’ll be amazed how the path to more activity is already there. It’s just a matter of simple choices you make every day. For example, your office job can be a lot more active if you park further away, use the stairs, and take regular breaks to do short walks or stretches. Changing your environment doesn't mean you have to actually change anything about your surroundings, it can mean viewing the same places in a way that lets you make better choices.
Exercise. To get more exercise, train in the morning since you'll have more energy and drive. Prepare your workout clothes and lay them next to your bed before you go to sleep, so you have one less obstacle in your way when you wake up. By making exercise easy it becomes the path of least resistance and you can easily flow into it.
Good Food. When it comes to eating, stock up on good foods, get rid of anything you don’t want to eat, and have the tools necessary to cook great meals. It's a lot easier to eat a healthy meal if you have a clean, organized kitchen and all the ingredients are waiting for you in the pantry. Contrast that with a sink full of dishes and the ingredients sitting in the store 20 minutes away.
Positive people. Surround yourself with positive people and stay away from the toxic ones. Once you decide to cut out toxic people from your life, you open up a space to bring in positive people. When you make the choice to become energetic, motivated and engaged, other people take note. A positive mindset attracts positive people.
Routine. Start piecing together the better choices into personal rituals. Prioritize those rituals, and don't let people or activities transgress on them. Solidifying a ritual is about protecting and maintaining it, the easy part is starting one. When you set clear boundaries that protect and maintain your healthy habits, positive people respect your drive and determination and will be happy to respect your boundaries.

It might seem as if we've arrived at some pretty deep changes from a simple matter of environment. But every journey begins with a single step! Change the simplest, easiest things first and then build on your layers of habit. At first, you won't see much of a change but as you work at it, you will hit milestones where your efforts crystalize. Once you start seeing the fruits of your labor, and the energy, mood and motivation you reap from taking charge of your lifestyle, you'll find your energy investment only grows. The key to having more energy is to do more and better, not less and sloppier.

Changing yourself directly can be a daunting task, but working with your environment is an easy entry on deeper issues. But in just the week since I started writing this article, I've slowly seen myself re-energize and start to feel great again. It’s amazing how much influence things around you have and how a few simple changes really add up. So, figure out what you want and start influencing yourself to do it.

What are some things in your environment that you find energizing or draining? Respond in the comments below.

3 Healthy and Delicious Protein Desserts that get you Abs

2012-10-22T22:49:03Z

One of the hardest parts of dieting is giving up the rich and sugary foods you've always liked. You ever wonder why? What makes dessert especially bad?

Try this delicious chocolate mousse.

Turns out nothing! You just have to balance the protein, carbs, fat and stick to nutritious ingredients, and you can turn your favorite dessert into a meal.

1. Silky Chocolate Mousse
Preparation time: 2 minutes

Chocolate is often vilified as "fattening," but its base ingredient, cocoa, is a highly nutritious, low calorie superfood. It's really the sugar and portion size that ruin it.

Ingredients

175g Greek Yogurt (0% or 2%)
10g heavy whipping cream (can omit this if using 2%)
3-5g cocoa powder
1tsp Vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt

To prepare the mousse, all you need to do is mix and serve. This recipe can be made in 2 minutes. If you want to increase the protein or give it more flavor you can mix in some protein powder, although you probably will need to use a blender then.

You also might want to give our Chocolate Protein Cheesecake a try too.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 200
Protein 17g
Carbs 28g
Fat 5g

2. Protein Ice Cream
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

No, you don't need a fancy ice-cream maker. Just a blender like this one. This works best with rich fruit like mango or banana.

Ingredients

200g Frozen fruit (Mango, strawberries, etc)
50g 2% or 0% greek yogurt
1tsp Vanilla extract
Optional: 35g Protein powder if you like the flavor/want more protein.

You basically need to pulverize the frozen fruit into the greek yogurt. It takes couple of minutes, but the result is delicious. After you've blended everything, put the mixture into the freezer for a couple of minutes.

You don't want to freeze it solid, just to make up for any melting thus far.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 323
Protein 36g
Carbs 50g
Fat 2g

3. Protein Pancakes
Preparation time: 15-25 minutes

This is my favorite dessert and go-to meal when I get cravings. I make one at least every week since it's so quick, easy and versatile.

We've already posted 2 different protein pancake full recipes (Chocolate Protein Pancake and Vanilla Protein Pancake). But if you just want something quick, give this a shot:

Ingredients

3 Eggs
50g Oatmeal
2 scoops Protein powder
15g Butter
2tsp Vanilla extract or any other flavoring
Pinch of sea salt
80g Strawberries (for topping)

Just blend all that together and pour into a heated skillet. Slice strawberries and add them to the pancake while it's cooking. I recommend keeping the skillet on the stove top until you get a good seal on the bottom, then finish in the broiler. But if your pan isn't oven-safe (hint: get one!), you'll be fine finishing on the stove top, too.

Make sure to cook at low heat. Pancakes burn easily and when you are cooking on the stovetop the bottom will get burnt way before the top is even cooked if you go all Dante's inferno on it.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 732
Protein 70g
Carbs 49g
Fats 32g

A note on protein powder.

Protein powder is often the secret in a lot of these desserts since it balances out the macro-nutrient ratios, adds flavor, volume, and acts as a sweetener. It's important to use a high quality and tasty protein powder otherwise you end up with shakes and desserts that are clumpy and can give you an upset stomach.

A good blender is also indispensable for achieving the right texture and airiness.

We have an in-depth article on choosing the perfect protein powder, but the gist of it is that Whey Protein Isolate is the highest quality one. The best one, available in an awesome selection of flavors is the WPI Cold-Filteration from TrueNutrition.com (5% off coupon code: theSwole). I recommend the java mocha or french vanilla from the premium flavors.

The Swole Life Blog

Battling chronic fatigue and burnout: becoming energetic and successful

You, my friend, are that computer.

Unitasking: One of many success habits

Start scrubbing your mental ram.

Further reading

What to do from here

Now it’s your turn.

Muesli Recipe: How to make oatmeal taste amazing

Traditional Style

Crunchy Style

Some variations I recommend:

How did yours turn out?

How to lose fat and feel better: practical tips for a happier you

1. Start eating meals

What makes a good meal

Here are some meal ideas

2. Drink more water

How to get better hydrated

Read our article on hydration and electrolytes.

3. Get moving

Summing it up

What helps you get through the day? Please share.

How to Reboot Yourself After Failing

How to Make Rebooting Easy

The Reboot Routine

1. Your Reaction

2. Do Damage Control

3. Look Ahead

Lock and Loaded

The Routine

Question: How do you get yourself back on track? Do you have any tips or strategies to share?

Quick and Delicious Chicken Breast Skewers for your Diet

3 Steps to Success

Marinating

The 4 Components of a Good Marinade

Ingredients

Tools of the Trade

How you cut the meat is important.

Give it a rest

Pimp your oven

Skewer it

Cooking the Beast

Finishing touches

Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)

Delicious Sides

Now it's your turn

Separating the wheat from the chaff

The Quick and Easy Guide to Making the Perfect Omelette

A Good Pan

Nutrition Facts

The Ingredients

Base

Toppings/Extra

Seasonings and Spices

Preparing the vegetables

For the eggs

Layering the omellette

Into the fire

Bon appétit

Did this recipe change your mind about omellettes?

How to have a straight back: your guide to good posture

Interested?

Why do I have bad posture?

The Daily Routine

3 steps to a straighter back

Foam Roll

Muscles to Roll

Stretching

Stretches for a straighter back

Walk

How much to walk?

Get the most out of your walk

What I learned in Beirut

The Aquarium

Energy sinks

Here are some to consider:

Energy Boosters

What are some things in your environment that you find energizing or draining? Respond in the comments below.

3 Healthy and Delicious Protein Desserts that get you Abs

1. Silky Chocolate Mousse
Preparation time: 2 minutes

2. Protein Ice Cream
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

3. Protein Pancakes
Preparation time: 15-25 minutes