I’m not here to get all mushy on you with some lovey-dovey poetic rhetoric, trust me, I’m the same person who’s going to push the bar down on your chest with a smile and force you to work harder. But at the same time, you need to be able to look in the mirror and love yourself in order to fully love and appreciate that special swolemate in your life this Valentine’s Day.
If you’re not happy with the way you look and are self-conscious when you’re around your swolemate, they’re going to feel the negative vibe you’re giving off (and that’s not a good thing). You need to fix that — and fast!
In this article, we’re going to look at a few things that could be causing this negative vibe so that you can fix the issues, love yourself, and be the best version of yourself this Valentine’s Day and every day moving forward.
Focus on Your Nutrition to Shed Body Fat
Listen, I’m not going to sugar-coat things or hold your hand like a little child. If you’re someone who is an emotional eater and every time something doesn’t go your way you devour everything in sight, you need to stop — immediately. You need to pull up your pants and "woooooosahhhhh" your way back to reality and fix the problems going on in your life, or you’ll eat your way to diabetes.
When you can compartmentalize your feelings and fix the issues in front of you by working on them one at a time, you’ll have a much easier time from a nutritional standpoint. And the fact is, nutrition is what’s going to help you see the most progress from your efforts. Don’t think you can out-train a poor diet — it’s not going to happen. If you want to feel better about yourself and love yourself, getting fit and in shape is where it’s at.
After you shed unwanted body fat to unveil all the hard work you put in at the gym throwing those weights around, you’ll want to flaunt your look everywhere. You’ll become more confident, and it will show with your partner (and that’s an attractive trait when you’re confident). To be a better partner this Valentine’s Day, you need to work on yourself and love yourself first. Be the best version of yourself so that you can be the best version to help others as well.
For starters, look no further than your protein intake. You’ll want to take in around 1g of protein per pound of body weight. You can accomplish this through quality protein sources like steak, eggs, chicken, fish, turkey, and more. The key is to ensure you’re hitting your daily requirements, which can help you not only add and maintain muscle but also keep your metabolism revving so that you can burn body fat. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, strive to consume 200g of protein daily.
Make Your Sleep a Priority
Whether you sleep alone or next to somebody, you need to focus on getting a minimum of seven hours of uninterrupted, quality sleep each night. Nothing can bring your mood and spirits down more than getting out of bed after a rough night’s sleep and having huge bags under your eyes, making you look like you had an all-night bender. It’s not a good look in the office or at school (so, just think about what you’re swolemate will say or think).
To help better love yourself, you need to protect your sleep and make it a priority. When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you act differently. Waking up fully energized and ready to kick the day in the teeth will put you on the right path to accomplishing big things both in the gym and the office (or school).
And being that we’re talking about being able to love yourself so that you can help love your swolemate this Valentine’s Day, I’d be remised to skip over the fact that hitting some extracurricular activities between the sheets can lead to better sleep (yes, this is proven).
So, this Valentine’s Day, get the best sleep of your life with a solid late-night cardio session in the bedroom. You may wake up the next morning refreshed after sleeping like a baby.
But wait… there’s more! "Getting pumped" in the bedroom can lead to even more benefits. A study found that while a guy’s testosterone level can increase by 36% from simply "watching" videos to get aroused, those who actually did the dirty with their partner showed an increase in testosterone level of 76%. Don’t be a spectator, my friends, be a participant this Valentine’s Day!
Packing on More Muscle is NEVER a Bad Thing
Nothing says you love yourself more than actively working on improving all aspects of your life. Since we’ve been focusing on making changes to your body to boost confidence, let’s talk muscle.
Let's be honest: no one needs to bulk up; just be content with the way you look, said no one ever.
If you want to boost your confidence, love yourself, and exude manliness around your swolemate, go ahead and add some to your frame. A wider back, bigger arms, thicker legs, a massive chest, broader shoulders (don’t forget about those calves)… can you ever say you’re "satisfied" with the way you look? Heck no. We’re no beta males — we want to be the biggest version of ourselves that we can possibly be.
So, let’s talk about building muscle. If you want to look your best this Valentine’s Day, it’s time to change up your workouts.
Don’t get stuck in the same boring routine where you walk into the gym, and you’re on autopilot. I want the sweat running down the side of your face to be screaming in terror the entire time before it drips down onto the floor. That means you need to push yourself beyond your limit. If you typically stop at 10 reps, push for 12. If you struggle at 8 reps, you better dig deep and get to 10. Do you truly want to love yourself? Then don’t give up when things get tough.
Work on progressively overloading the muscle. You can do this by increasing the weight, reps, or sets in each workout.Remember, little increments lead to big changes over time. Continue to push yourself every time you step into the gym.
Even better, if you want to boost your motivation, why not work out with your soulmate?Working out with your spouse or significant other is a great way to increase your passion and desire for each other this Valentine’s Day while also holding one another accountable to crushing your workouts and showing up.
If you look in the mirror and say you don’t love yourself because you’re weak and small, we have just what you need. Get an added boost in the gym to help maximize muscle growth by picking up a bottle of Unbound BYLD. There are muscle-builders out there, and then there’s BYLD — the ultimate 3-in-1 hypertropic muscle builder to conquer them all.
With Unbound BYLD, you’re not getting under-dosed ingredients and a profile that looks like the kitchen sink is thrown in there somewhere, you’re getting three explosively potent patented ingredients, unlike anything you’ve had in previous muscle builders you’ve tried — patented Mediator®, Proepicate®, and Apigenin®. All three ingredients are tied together with the addition of patented Astragin® to help make those powerful ingredients even more bioavailable to further help maximize your results.
Do you want to talk about being able to love yourself? Well, you’re going to love the way you look and feel after adding BYLD to your supplement regimen. And even more importantly, she’s going to love the way you look too! Happy Valentine’s Day, my fellow unrelentless alphas.
By: Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
