Becoming skinny and (slightly) muscular

Looks do matter. If you want an easy way to improve your success with women, improve your image. Hit the gym, get clothes that fit you better and find a gay hairdresser to get a cutting edge cut. Those steps will be much more effective than memorizing yet another "routine" (don't even get me started on this issue).

I am a very lean guy. While I don't fit the classical image of male beauty, enough girls seem to like my body. However, the advice in men's magazines and bodybuilding forums is usually geared toward bulking up, but what if you wanted to become really lean?

For your information, my level of body fat is around five percent. One of the more interesting compliments I have received was that I was skinny and brawny and therefore "the best of both worlds."

One of my readers recently wrote:

At your seminar [in London], I noticed you had the same body type as me but that you were slightly muscular and seemed to be more lean.

I am a skinny guy also, but I find when I eat, it all goes to my stomach and nowhere else. In advertising and mens mags there are only the steryotype of muscle man, which is why I havent bothered with them in years. Whereas you are a real life guy who eats some stuff and drinks some stuff also.

Do you have any tips on how to get your type figure?

I am aware that people react differently to different kinds of food. Nonetheless, this is what keeps me in shape:

• avoid sugar as far as possible (yes, this includes chocolate and ice cream)
• skip sauces
• eat lots of fruits and vegetables
• dairies
• have plenty of carbohydrates: wholewheat bread, pasta, beans, potatoes, bran, rice, and cereals
• exercise

This diet is rather minimalistic (and also very cheap, for those that worry about their budget). Yet, it's very healthy and will probably improve your general well-being as well.

One of my goals is to exercise more. I used to be much more active, but these days I still do some yoga exercises, squats or push ups every day. Swimming is also excellent, and it certainly makes you want to eat those big bowls of pasta salad.

I switched to this diet in my late teens after having grown a bit too tired of my mother's cakes and cookies. During that time I also got into Zen meditation and read books like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, which had a profound effect on me. I life a fairly spartan life since then --- and nobody who sees me nowadays wants to believe me that I was an overweight teenager.