I've read so many books that I honestly cannot say that any particular one is the most important. However, here's a list of really good ones:

• Starting Strength. Mark Rippetoe. I've read all three editions. The books have greatly influenced the way I lift, especially in the obvious sense of proper form for barbell lifts.
  
  
• Practical Programming For Strength Training. Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. Simple explanations of a lot of things related to training even nutrition.
  
  
• Beyond Bodybuilding. Pavel Tsatsouline. Amazing book filled with numerous lifts with the goal of using strength training to develop mass.
  
• Relax Into Stretch and Super Joints by Pavel as well. If you have issues with mobility or flexibility, these books are awesome.
  
• 5 3 1. Jim Wendler. I'm fairly certain the majority of people know what this is, but if you haven't read it, I encourage reading both editions and the one for powerlifting, especially if you're running 5/3/1 right now. All three books are a huge resource for determining how to program assistance and conditioning.
  
• Easy Strength. Pavel and Dan John This was a great read. It was filled with tons of things from articles written by Dan John as well as just a massive look at how to appropriately program strength training for people at numerous levels.
  
• 4 Hour Body. Tim Ferriss. This was an amazing read. It, like Pavel's Power to the People, was a great read on complete minimalism of training towards a goal.
  
  I've read so many more books than that. Since these are the only ones that I can think of off the top of my head, I'd say that they are the ones that have made the biggest impression from reading them.

Why do you want to be more social? What do you want in life? Specifically. Write down the reasons, and write down everything you want for yourself - all the things you'd like to own, all the skills you'd like to have, all the people you'd like to meet, all the characteristics you wish you embodied.

Done? No, because you're an asshole. Go back and write them down. Seriously. I spent a fucking long time writing this post for you - I explain my point in several different ways, from different angles, because it's fucking important to me that you get the help you seek - you can take four minutes to write down some reasons. Open up your text editor and get to work, reddit will still be here when you get back. Don't get distracted. Do not trust your memory - write them down.

Okay. Look at those reasons. It's a list of things you want to be, do, and have. Ask yourself: Do you have the freedom to become, achieve and obtain those things, through your actions?

You were afraid to write some things. Maybe you thought "fuck a thousand people" was unrealistic. "Become emperor of my own country". "Go to space," "Own a castle," "Fly with the Blue Angels," "Be a real life James Bond," "Write a novel," "Be able to talk to anyone," "Start a religion," "Meet Daniel Craig." You're wrong, go back and write your "unrealistic" things down too. People have done them, you are physically capable of doing them. But are you free to do them?

Right now, you've decided to believe the answer is "no". If it were "yes", you wouldn't have posted, you would have just gone out and done them. Let's change that "no" to a "yes".

• Take this test. Write down your score somewhere you won't lose it.
  
  If this problem is the one you truly want to solve, you must focus your attention on it and let nothing distract you. All things which might get in the way of you solving your anxiety and inferiority problems must be ignored, including some of your own beliefs, and including some things like Netflix and Reddit you would rather be doing because they're comfortable and easy. This will be hard work. You will feel incredible after it is done, and it will be done soon if you work hard. Do not waste time. Only through discipline can you achieve freedom - if you are spending time looking at cat videos, understand that you are removing the freedom to spend that time elsewhere. You will not get that time back. It is forever chained to cat videos.
  
  
• Read this book. Pay particularly close attention to section IV.
  
• Take the test again. Compare scores.
  
  You must not fear. There is nothing on the other side of fear except failure. Failure of inaction is much, much worse than failure through action: you learn nothing when you do nothing. Make every attempt to socialize in every situation, even if it hurts, and even though you will fail many times. Experiment until you figure out, trust that you will figure it out.
  
  Optimism will not help you, neither will pessimism - if you believe things will work out okay no matter what, or that things will go to shit no matter what, you have resigned yourself to the whims of a random God and decided not to act. Only activism will help you - the belief that your actions will affect positive change on the outcome. This is true for all things you want in life, including "how do I make friends", "how do I start a business", "how do I become President", "how do I get a job," "how do I get an A in this class," and so on. Strengthen your belief that your success relies entirely on your actions. Strengthen your belief that you have the ability to make good decisions in the future. Strengthen your belief that the worst that could happen is something you can handle. Do not fear boredom, isolation or embarrassment if they are in service of your growth as a human being.
  
  
• Read this book. If it makes you feel shitty about yourself, that means I'm right and you need to read it all the way to the end, you will feel better later. Trust me and make the small sacrifice.
  
• Take the test again. Compare scores.
  
  Seneca recommended taking brief periods of time to deliberately live in rags and eat very little, to steel oneself against the fear of poverty. In our modern era we have developed many new fears, all of which can be eradicated in similar fashion. Fear of boredom. Fear of isolation. Fear of missing out. Fear of hunger, fear of gaining weight, fear of being unattractive, fear of looking dumb, inexperienced, uncool, fear of not being happy enough, not having enough interesting Facebook posts, and on and on. If you have these fears, face them. Physically write them down, then write down ways to mitigate or prevent them, and ways you could recover from them if they come to pass. Realize that these fears are controlling you and limiting your freedom.
  
  Then it comes time to face these fears. Go out and talk to people. Find people that know things you want to know, ask them questions. Find people that do things you want to do, admit your inexperience, and ask for their help. Offer them something in return, and get creative - "I'll <help you with your math homework / trade you a bag of chips / get you that girl's phone number / level up your WoW character> if you show me how you <do this problem / throw a perfect spiral / make those cookies>". Do this with as many people as you can find, do not worry about making friends with each one, do not worry if they make fun of you, do not worry if they hate you - the goal is quantity. Learn from your mistakes, learn from your successes. Every time you fail to take the action - going to a meetup, going to a party, talking to a stranger, joining a group activity - you are restricting your own freedom.
  
  Understand: you are on your own. You can build yourself to do and be anything you want, it is up to the rest of the world to try and stop you, and they will fail because they are uncoordinated and lack self-awareness. The more you realize this, the freer you become.
  
  Further reading:
  
  
• Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It's a classic for a reason. Do not mentally add "effective in business" to the title, it applies to all situations.
  
• The Art of Seduction. It's not just about seducing women. Making friends, marketing products, attracting investors - these all share common skills which can and must be learned.
  
• The Obstacle Is The Way. Because this is /r/stoicism, after all.
  
• The 4-Hour Body. Learn about self-experimentation and planning ahead for failure. Develop self-awareness. Lose weight if necessary, build muscle if desired.

I'm glad some of it worked for you but Tim Ferris is bullshit. He is friends with Ryan Holiday who is the author of "Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator" (which is also a bullshit book but there Ryan reveals he is a media manipulator).

If you don't believe me, read the 1-star reviews of the book. They release a book and buy paid reviews of it from third world countries and I'm sure most of the 5-star reviews are just that.

I will summarize the four-hour body for people who haven't read it: "I am a really awesome guy and know a bunch of scientists that I am going to name drop here every now and then... none of what I write is backed by anything scientific though because it is all ongoing research yet to be published... you just need to buy a bunch of shit I get commissions from, eat a bunch of chemicals along with complex carbs and do some shitty variations of common exercises really fucking slow... and here is a bonus chapter about how to get bitches"

If you really feel like you need to read this book, get a pirated copy... read it and if it helps you in ANY FUCKING WAY, purchase the book... or just read the one star reviews instead and save yourself time.

Amazon.com links provided:

1 The Slight Edge

2 Mastery

3 The 4-Hour Workweek

4 The Art of Power

5 Thinking, Fast, and Slow

6 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

7 The Power of Now

8 The Power of Habit

9 Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?

10 The 48 Laws of Power

11 Your True Home

12 Ego Is the Enemy

13 The 4 Hour Body

14 The UltraMind Solution

15 The Dip

Through all of this weight loss I have been following Tim Ferriss' book, the 4-Hour Body. It has helped me tremendously and I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice diet that won't leave you starving day after day. The best diet for me I have found by far.

This is Dave Palumbo, if you're curious.

To be clear, I'm not recommending this kind of extreme approach to anyone reading this, I just enjoyed the story!

I highly recommend The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, which contains highly informative sections on gaining mass and strength, as well as just about any fitness-related question you could imagine and plenty of anecdotes like this one. It's a great read and has become my fitness bible ever since I picked it up.

No, he's not a chef. He's the author of 4 Hour Body and 4 Hour Workweek.

But still, I wouldn't eat those eggs, either.

I'm currently in Monk Mode myself. I'm probably only going for at most a 3mo. term at this (Started Dec. 1st). It sounds like you have a good plan. I'm focusing on the following things:

• Meditating: the best way to re-program your brain IMO ("Wherever you go there you are")
  
• Teaching myself Jazz piano
  
• Diet (Here's my diet)
  
• Fitness (Here's my fitness bible)
  
• Career Development (This)
  
• Productivity & Time Management (too many books to mention, OP PM me if you want this list)
  
• Not watching Porn & Masturbating less frequently (Highly recommended /r/NoFap)
  
• No Alcohol
  
  For learning to cook I highly recommend this book.
  
  For addressing approach anxiety I recommend The Rules of the Game.
  
  This is an excellent book on habit change. (OP this is how you start to break down those "masturbatory" habits)
  
  Also, Monk Mode is basically an exercise in stoicism. This book is awesome.
  
  
  Since you'll have plenty of time to read here are some other Books I recommend:
  "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
  "Models: Attracting Women Through Honesty"
  "The Talent Code"
  "Man's Search for Meaning"
  "Flow"
  
  Final thoughts OP. 6 months is definitely a worthy goal however studies show that 90 days is usually what it takes to create new habits and routines. You have to be consistent though. Just food for thought.
  
  
  (Edit: I suck at formatting)
  
  
  
  
  

Tim Ferris a book wrote on this. I can honestly recommend that: https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496420347&sr=8-1&keywords=tim+ferrris

Did you even read the book? All of your questions are answered there and it's not like they are hidden bits of info in some random chapter these are major themes of the diet.

1: Working out is great, do it, the book has lots of tips
2: You don't like beans because you don't know any better, i'll bet you love beans you just don't know it yet. Try different ways to cook them, also try lentals. But You need a GOOD high calorie item it's hard to do just meat because you will get hungry fast.
3: Once again in the book, your measurements matter, in fact I went an entire month with out losing weight but i did lose inches. Also we should all measure our BMI that's the "real" number.

Also it's $16 go buy it

http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331676821&sr=8-1

Lot of people use it to alleviate muscle soreness. It's controversial whether it actually works or not, but it does make me feel better, at least for a short time.

I actually use it to burn body fat, which I learned in Ferriss' 4 Hour Body.

So the primary purpose of this post was to provide results-based TL;DR recommendations for multiple different broad topics without bogging down the post with exhaustive amplifying information, and to provide links to additional resources should you be curious to learn more.

I've provided you with a book, a video, real-life stats from this methodology put in action, as well as my personal vignette from doing it.

What more hard proof would you like?

That being said, I've been debating on which topic to write my next in-depth article and I think I'll write my next one on nutrition based off the interest / confusion this specific topic has generated.

In the meantime, here is another excellent "keep it simple stupid" article on this topic. While I don't prescribe specifically to the Paleo diet, this covers all the right stuff.

Nerd Fitness: The Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet

General advice:
You are what you make of yourself. Study hard (but within reason - have time for socializing/relaxing), exercise, eat right. Acknowledge criticism from those you respect. Almost everything is matter of priority and the effort you are willing to put in: grades, popularity, sex, etc

On being popular:
It's overrated and very hard to predict (other than being physically attractive has a high positive correlation; exercise and diet rear their heads again). Aim for not being picked while having a core group of genuine friends and being, if not friendly, at least on speaking terms with people in your classes. Humor is good but only as long as it is mainstream.
Edited for formatting and size

On Grades:
Spend a few months figuring out what you learn easily and what takes time. Find out what study habits work best for you. Experiment with this until you have a sustainable study habit which maximized learning while minimizing time spent. If a topic refuses to stick, talk to the teacher or someone other Adult Authority Figure^(TM) and explain in non-whining manner that despite your best efforts you need help with it. Double the amount of time you think it will take you to write a paper.

On Health and Sports:
Your teenage years are the best to get into an exercise habit. Take care of your body for a few reasons. It's the only one you have, it'll extend your life, you'll never have more free time to devote to setting a baseline of percent body fat, and it'll help attract someone for the next section. Decide on the type of body you want now instead of pining for it later. The body type portrayed in the media as hot or attractive is a mix of a swimmer and a soccer/lacrosse player. If you are not tall (</=5'5") consider a wrestling build. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean sports but they go hand in hand. I recommend team sports as they include socializing, teamwork, and may get you invited to parties (the two main sources of parties, in my experience, are sports teams and the drama club/theater people).

On dating and sex:
It'll happen or it won't, the former mostly depending on you and the latter depending on you and (at least) another person. Everything in this section should be taken with a large serving of YMMV and "it's complicated, these are broad generalizations." Oh, I'm assuming male heteronormity; if you're female or gay then let me offer my support and well wishes because you're going to have it very rough though for different reasons that would take an entire other post to address. First, never assume a girl is into you because she's being friendly. Teenage body language is very unreliable both in projecting and reading because of hormones so don't rely on that. Words, however awkward, are more reliable. Always be respectful and courteous and hope for the best.
Second, the main problem is having the stones to ask someone out in the first place especially because isolating a girl in high school is nigh impossible so you'll be asking in front of other girls. Having the courage to ask is 80% and being apathetic enough to not be an emotional mess if she turns you down in public is the other 20%. If you get hit hard by it, bury it until you get home, and then let the emotions out and put it behind you. When you do ask, ask if they'd like to do some activity you two have in common; preferably in a semipublic place she'd feel comfortable (a local coffeehouse, rock climbing gym, skate park, etc).

The a couple of times you two do something like this, assume it is as friends. After that you need to directly state something along the lines of, "Hey, I really enjoy hanging out with you. Would it be okay if I came over sometime or you came to my place and made you dinner, you know like a date?" The best result would be your place as then you could attempt to sell the evening as a night of the house to your parent(s). In a conversation before the night in question mention to the girl that your parent(s) won't be there and give her the opportunity to back out. Practice making whatever you plan on making (something simple that you know she likes would be best).

Plan the evening being dinner and watching a movie on the couch. Either sit down first and let her choose where she sits or sit about a handspan away from her with room for her to move away or get closer. Stay relaxed and let the night progress as it will. At some point, if she cuddles in, take a minute or two to just stare at her face. Wait until she notices and looks at you. Say the most romantic thing possible in the situation, "You're beautiful; may I kiss you?" Asking permission to kiss both bold in its directness, gives an immediate answer of if she's into you, and is (so I've been told) extremely potent to a teenage girl. Take the first kiss slow and easy, stay relaxed, keep your eyes open, and for her sake, be gentle and don't slobber.
Sex (in all its permutations) is tricky. The most basic piece of advice I can give is: you have no right to it but it is a blessing if you get it. Read the wikipedia entry on rape culture and think about the shear Punisher levels of violence you would visit upon the shit-stained syphilitic cyst effluvient if they raped the most beloved female figure in your life.

Feeling a little off or violent? Good. Now think about coming home after a really bad day to a warm cookie and a glass of cold milk. Internalize that warm fuzziness of a good deed towards you; not the cookie or milk, but that someone cared for you enough to make the cookies and pour the milk. Magnify that by a ridiculously large number. Larger. Larger. That is the feeling you get when a girl asks you to be her partner in having sex.
The key is that she wants to have sex in the first place. The best you can do to reach that scenario is be the person she can invest in emotionally and trust enough to feel comfortable with at her most vulnerable.
That being said, you can stack the deck in your favor, and here is where things get kind of... skeazy. Learn how to arouse a women during the course of making out. The human body is a finely tuned machine and knowing the user's manual helps. Read up on erogenous zones (especially the ones not located at the chest and crotch so you have places to put your hands while kissing), massage techniques, and other clothes-on no-penetration methods of causing arousal. Learn the signs of female arousal: increased heart rate, flushing of the face and upper chest, and sometimes slight tremors of the arms and legs. If you can achieve that from kissing and petting then you ask the second most physically romantic question a guy ask:

"Would it be alright if I helped you orgasm?" Again, bold in its directness, gives her a clear opportunity to stop where things are, and places the power in her hands while stating that you aren't giving her an orgasm like a gift but helping her achieve something as a partner. At this point, instead of graphic advice on digital and oral sex I'll point you in the direction of The Four Hour Body. Find a copy at your local chain bookstore (or library if you're lucky) and read the chapters 'The 15-Minute Female Orgasm-Part Un' and 'The 15-Minute Female Orgasm-Part Deux' (and don't just go, "Hur hur, naughty bits," be clinical in your education and passionate in your application).
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT take any hints on sexual performance from porn as odds are you aren't watching the right type. Never ask her to perform a sexual service to you unless she has already done so at least twice by her own design.

If you're lucky, after showing you are trustworthy, kind, compassionate, and capable of facilitating her please, at some point she may inform you that she wants/think she is ready for sex. Don't immedietely run for the condoms. Hug her, kiss her, and say your honored and ask if she is sure. Assuming she says yes, set up when. If she informs you by locking her door,

It also tastes kinda similar to butter so there's that. Believe it or not you can thank Tim Ferris for that recommendation.

Use MyFitnessPal as others have suggested. Keep a paper journal (Moleskine or one of those .99 composition notebooks, whatever) if that helps; whichever you can commit to better.

Eat CONSCIOUSLY. Most people eat so many grams of sugar and carbs without thinking about it that just knowing roughly how much you're eating can help to curb that nasty habit.

Eat things that are more fulfilling and nutrient dense - vegetables are your best friend, even if you have to slather them in cheese/butter to get yourself to enjoy them at first.

Cutting down on sugar will be immensely beneficial. It's an addiction. Treat it like an addiction. Consuming sugars and carbs trigger reactions in our brains very similar to consuming drugs. It's scary. Once you break your addiction to sugar/carbs you'll start finding that you no longer have a taste for things that are loaded with either of those things.

Read books like The 4 Hour Chef and The 4 Hour Body.

Do yourself a favor and keep reading this subredditt as well as places like /r/progresspics ; know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It's not going to be an easy journey, but you can absolutely do it. It took you many years to get to this point, and it's not too late to live a healthy life where walking long distances isn't a daunting task. You'll be able to run and play with your son.

Speaking of your son, try your best to instill good habits in him. Fast food is bad. If you don't have the time to cook dinner, choose healthier "fast food" options like Chipotle WITHOUT THE SHELL, Boston Market WITHOUT the stuffing, sweet potatoes, cornbread, desserts. Encourage him to go outside and play, join a sports team, and not allow him to get on a path to obesity and bad health.

Desserts should be for special occasions only - however, you don't have to constantly tell yourself no. If you're absolutely craving something and find yourself thinking about nothing else, go ahead and have a bite of something sweet. Portion control and self restraint are key here.

Do not buy unhealthy foods. If it's in your house, you're going to eat it at some point.

Don't buy into the "low fat = good for you" marketing. Fat is fine. It's those carbs and sugars that are your enemy when consumed in excess.

You're so overweight right now that you could find the pounds melting off at a very quick rate if you change your habits.

If you can't commit to eating cleanly 100%, that's okay. Start out with easy stuff like no soft drinks - if you want, drink diet soda instead to make it easier. The chemicals in there aren't ideal but they're a hell of a lot better than the loads of sugar in regular soda.

I could go on and on. It's a wonderful thing that you're reaching out for help. Remember that you're never alone. If you need some help with motivation or advice, there are people here that will always be around.

Also, last but certainly not least - see a doctor. I'm not a doctor so the advice I've given you is not to be taken as such. I know it may be difficult, but it's important that you know where you stand as far as your heart etc. are concerned. You don't want to over strain yourself or injure yourself from exercising beyond your body's current limits.

Keep with it.

You can do this.

This is a good comment. I would also add that Tim Ferris has a chapter devoted to weightlifting advice for women that's really good.

It's in this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X

Also OP might like this article.

http://bonytobombshell.com/bombshell-aesthetics-building-attractive-female-body-imaginable/

It's important for women to be realistic with the body type they want to achieve.

If you're willing to pay good money...

Go drop $17 (incl shipping)

Or follow the abbreviated version of the mealplan:

• Cut out grain-based carbs (wheat, rice, corn, etc) and sugar. Legumes are encouraged.
  
  
• Cut out dairy (cottage cheese is OK though - don't remember the reason)
  
  
• Eat a high-protein breakfast (I go with eggs & spinach or similar)
  
  
• Eat a meal every 4 hours. (e.g. 8AM, noon, 4PM, 8PM)
  
  
• Avoid alcohol except red wine (look for ones with low residual sugar)
  
  
• Ignore these rules and go nuts one day a week (I do saturdays, and eat waffles w/ maple syrup, donuts, candy, drink beer & liquor)
  
  
  
  Following this plan, with no/minimal modification to exercise, I have dropped 25 lb in about two months. (5'11" - 258 -> 232 so far)
  
  Edit: I can't get bulleted lists to work. Makes me sad.

Buy this and read it. There is no need to read the whole book just the chapters on muscle gain or fat loss which ever you want. I started working out one semester and the next semester I got this book. I got more results in a month then I did the whole previous semester.

Kev, we all try different paths to get us to where we want to go. If this works for you that's great, but for me it wouldn't be sustainable long-term. HcG just seems a little scammy to me, however if you're committed to it, I would throw in some vitamin D too. Breaking 500 is a great first step (it is nice to see the numbers drop!). I do worry that you're not getting enough real food with this diet.

I started well above where you are now so I know where you're coming from in wanting to get it done with (I still don't like to tell others how bad I got). I've tried most of the diets and fads out there, but what finally turned me around was reading Tim Ferris' 4hr body, Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories, Rob Wolff's Paleo Solution, Loren Cordain's Paleo Diet and Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint. I've culled what works for me from these and have been eating pretty much Paleo/Keto since November. I've dropped over 50lbs since then at about 2000-2200 cals day. I know it's not biggest loser territory, but slow and steady wins the race. Most of all, it's something I can live with long term. So far my only exercise has been walking and some stationary bike.

What made the change easier for me was I found a lifestyle rather than a diet to follow. That's not to say I haven't had the occasional setbacks (god I miss pizza and beer), but I'm getting there and you will too. Best of luck on your quest...

tl/dr - Plan's not for me, don't be afraid to try something else. Knock em dead kid!

Buy one of these or the book mentioned below. You essentially need to retrain your muscles to do what you want them to do instead of thinking on their own, so to speak. Talk it over with your BF, and ask him to participate. Sounds kind of weird, but in some ways it is a heck of a lot more intimate than sex.

Also, the next time you are in a book store, pick up the book 4 Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss, and read the chapter on the 15 minute orgasm. It doesn't involve penetration, but if you can make that work, you will be well on your way to your goals.

Cardio X and Plyo X are easy mode compared to Insanity. If you thought you were good at Plyo or thought it was high impact Insanity will give you a harsh reality check.

It is a real good work program but you can easily injure yourself if you don't stretch properly, work past your limit, or have bad joints. I had started doing it to add some variety to the P90X routine (third cycle around it gets a bit dull) and I was not a fan of Plyo X or Kenpo X, and wanted to trade out Stretch X. The exercises are only 20 ~ 30 minutes long but good lord you will be on the floor in a pool of your own sweat 15 minutes in.

As for diet, I never really paid much attention to the nutrition suggestions in the books, in either program, and just upped the amount of protein I took in with eggs, chicken, beans, and peanut butter. I also had a good amount of pre and post workout supplements, found at any store, to go along with my whey protein and creatine.

Now I do P90X, 10 minute trainer Abs (in place of Ab ripper X), and 50 ~ 75 35lbs kettlebell swings as a daily routine.

You should also checkout The 4-Hour Body by Tim Farriss. It has some good ideas to aid in improving your diet and general fitness. It seems kind of goofy or gimmicky but I was actually quite surprised.

This book doesn't have information about nootropics per se, but the nutritional and supplemental aspects discussed within (and on the authors blog) turned me onto researching nootropics with a lens aiming toward the complex systems involved with each individually studied substance - instead of "this substance does this and only this" type of thinking. The philosophy behind his work is solid.
Book: http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313624991&sr=8-1
Blog: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

Timothy Ferris wrote a whole chapter on unheard of sleep patterns that deal a lot with naps in the 4-hour body book.
http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X
The chapter I read was about these sleep patterns where you are actually awake for like 22 hours and nap every 2 hours or something for 30 minutes and (not doing the math here, just estimating) and be fully awake and alert. It take about 2 weeks to get into that pattern and he said its only for the real risky "sleep hackers". I wish I could find it online to share.

4 hour body is pretty worth checking out. A lot of really useful information in a pretty condensed form: http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X

You got the farts because you didn't soak the beans long enough before cooking them.

Ninja Edit: And beans are a carb, but not a fast burning carb like white bread or sugar. Do some searching around for "Slow Carb Diet". It's outlined extensively in The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss.

LGTFY :) $16.65 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/030746363X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1421717171&sr=8-1&dpPl=1&dpID=51V18RN35jL&ref=plSrch&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

A great first step is to follow the mantra "don't drink your calories" (whether soda, alcohol, juice, or milk). They really do add a lot of calories. The only thing that's slowed down my weight loss in the last few couple weeks has been drinking alcohol more than once a week (in those weeks, I've gained 5 pounds instead of losing ~1 pound). I've quickly snapped back, but it made it really clear to me.

Since making a more concerted effort 5 years ago, I'm about 40 pounds lighter. But I've also gained muscle mass, so I've lost more fat than that and feel great even though I could certainly get in even better shape (and I plan to). It's not setting any records, and I'm sure I could have gotten there faster with greater effort and better techniques.

I'd tried losing weight over the years before that and have been involved in sports for much of my life (though taking breaks off-season, just going to the gym on my own in college, then slacking for a few years, etc.). But one of the major inflection points was ~5 years ago.

The first big change was (re-)joining 24-Hour Fitness and taking 3 hour-long cardio classes per week with my girlfriend as sort of a challenge and to impress her. I knew I could force myself to adjust to it over a few weeks or months since I had some discipline left over from high school sports. You might want to start with 1 class, then 2, then 3 over a couple months. (She's now my wife, so it's not the only good thing that came out of those classes :)

I gradually worked in some running, to the point of 4 work-outs per week (usually 3 classes and 1 10k run).

After a few years of that, I found a Groupon for LA Boxing for kickboxing classes, which looked like fun, so I took that up. I first did it once a week, then gradually replaced my 24-Hour Fitness classes, since it was fun and burns about 1,000 calories per class. Group (kick)boxing classes which focus on endurance and intensity are great. You'll definitely lose a lot of weight and get in better shape if you stick with it, though it can be tough at first (even coming from the 4 weekly workouts above). Note that I'm referring to classes which focus on a fair amount of technique, high-intensity cardio, real boxing gloves and bags, as a contrast to "cardio kickboxing" at 24-Hour Fitness which is not bad in the grand scheme of things, but burns fewer calories and is essentially choreography.

I've hit a new inflection point in February by following a slow-carb diet. I'm also an ova-lacto vegetarian, but that's never done much directly to help me lose weight in the 15 years I've been doing it. I'm part-way into the book The 4-Hour Body which covers the diet (though I'd read about it from his other books and online before this and started on the basics of minimizing carbs and increasing protein back in February) and other minimum-effort ways to lose weight. You might be able to skip some of my steps above by going straight to this.

I've also recently switched all my exercise to a fight-technique-focused kickboxing gym 3 times a week with a 20-minute bike ride to and from. This new gym definitely raises my heart rate but it's less focused on sustained cardio than on correct form. It's only been 4 weeks, so it may be hard to say, but the slight reduction in cardio (and mostly reducing to 3 weekly workouts from 4) hasn't slowed my progress much as I had slightly feared (the diet is probably helping counter any minor losses I may have otherwise had).

Career Management: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. I used to be extremely judgmental, angry and confused about how a career was "supposed to" work. This book has been a goto of mine since early 2010, and I refer to it often when evaluating my career path.

Self-Improvement: The 4-Hour Body. As someone who has struggled and given up on weight-loss for more than a decade, I mastered my body composition for the first time in my 40+ years by losing 60#. This is my proudest self-improvement goal, by far.

Operating System: The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph. This was my introduction to stoicism, which I've adopted as my "operating system" for life. I found this to be more accessible than Seneca's On The Shortness of Life or Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, both of which are difficult for me to digest.

There's a whole chapter on female orgaasm in this book.

the 4 hour body

Haven't had an opportunity to test the techniques out yet, but it looks pretty legit.

(edit for typos)

First off, I would highly recommend the Tim Ferris book "Four Hour Body"

http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1346184779&sr=8-1

It's huge and worth every penny. His take on the Paleo lifestyle is a "slow-carb diet" kind of modification. It is not strict Paleo, but he gives you guidelines in the book. His recommendation is for a splurge day once a week. I did this last year and shed about 30 lbs. A friend of mine did it and lost about 100 lbs! Secondly, fasting is a good thing done intermittently. Fasting for up to 48 hours has been shown to increase the natural release of HGH.

http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/50/1/96.full

Also as a healthcare professional (Paramedic) and a medical student, I would advise against the use of Albuterol for your purposes. (That is unless you have asthma. Even then only using it PRN (as needed))

In short, you are on the right path. You just need to make a few tweaks here and there and I think you're set.

My diet, however, is for the exact opposite purpose. I have always had a bear-like frame and have had no trouble with lean gains. It's those pesky "non-lean" gains that have always plagued me so I'm constantly cutting.

The 4 Hour Body has a section on testosterone with natural supplements and food recommendations.

In this interview he credits Brazil Nuts with raising his testosterone. I personally wouldn't eat more than 2 if you get a lot of zinc from another multivitamin.

To have fun while learning, try The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. I also like Prescription for Nutritional Healing for a reference.

I prefer to see studies backing claims. Maybe not everything below is relevant, but here are some places I like to read online, too: Examine.com, Stronger By Science (mostly strength training studies), Strength Sensei (Charles Poliquin is an Olympic strength coach and knowledgable in nutrition), Suppversity, ss.fitness

Yes, I put on 30 Kilos after becoming software programmer in 20 years period. The biggest change came in after 2008 after which I gained 20 Kilos. Problem is that our weight creeps on us slowly and stealthily.


I started eating a lot of carbs and sugar because those were the kind of food served freely by software companies I worked at. Pizzas Parties were regular and Coke was always flowing.


In 2010 the company I joined added Candies to my diet. Finally, I reached 95 Kilos and was horrified. It was my tipping point and I decided to do something about it.


In 2014 I got sane. I stopped eating everything that my company gave me free. I would pack lunch & snacks from home. Avoided all Pizzas, Coke, and Candies to the extent of zero tolerance to those foods.


Walked 10000 steps every day for exercise.


In two months between July-2014 & Aug-2014 lost 10 Kilos. Since then has remained sane and stopped binging on food.


Two books helped me immensely during this phase The 4 Hour Body and The Sugar Smart Diet.

The first book helped me in understanding weight loss and exercise. The second book helped in getting ready recipes for success.

1 - Check out the The 4 Hour Body. There's a few chapters in there about hacking your body. I remember him talking about a guy who added cold-therapy (think ice bath till you start to shiver) to his regimen and dropped like 30 lbs in a month. Because your body is an open thermal system that needs to maintain a constant 98.6, lowering the outside temperature will cause your body to burn more calories. A 20-min ice bath (warning! it IS painful, you WILL shiver horribly, it WILL suck) a few times a week tricks your body into thinking it's freezing and tells it to burn more fuel(fat) to stay warm.

2 - No carbs, eat nothing that is white or could be white.

3 - Take a supplement stack to increase your heart rate. Yes, you will probably feel shitty but it works.

4 - After every meal, be active for 30-45 minutes.

5 - Diuretics the day before & day of weigh-in. There's another story in that book about a fighter who took diuretics to drop down to to a lower(175?) weight class (or 2?) and then come fight day he was back to 190-something.

I take a 500mg of green tea extract (decaffeinated), 350mg high-allicin garlic, and 200mg of alpha lipoic acid with breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then the same supplements + 20mg policosanol before bed.

Been on the 4 hour body slow-carb diet for over two months now and have also been taking it's recommended "4 horsemen of fat-loss" supplements outlined above for most of that time.

I'm eating pretty much the exact same meals every day, and the supplements doubled my weekly fat loss from the average in the weeks without them.

In the two months on slow-carb, I've reduced my body-fat from 25% to 10%, and have never felt this good. Almost no exercise too.

My advice? Forget homeopathy: change your diet, get down to 10% or less body fat, gain a few pounds of lean muscle tissue, and then see if your issues don't go away then. I've already had long time issues like some foot and back pain, lack of focus and energy disappear entirely since I've been on slow-carb.

4 hour Body and Kettlebells.

I don't really see any sub links in here, so I'll provide a few that I think may help you.

• /r/fitness if you're wanting to supplement your diet with exercise to lose some weight.
  
  
• /r/paleo my preferred diet/food lifestyle choice. It is essentially based around the idea that our bodies haven't fully adapted to high grain and dairy consumption since the agricultural revolution.
  
• Nerd Fitness An amazing website with good motivational blog posts as well as quite strong community forums. I have found them very useful. This was how I got started down the fitness/diet path.
  
• The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. This is a pretty interesting read, even if you don't do anything with it. I picked up a copy a while back. He delves into the science of how your body works (if you're into that, otherwise you can skip it.) His "slow carb" diet is fairly similar to the Paleo diet structure, but includes a cheat day when you can just eat whatever the fuck you want.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Edit: There is also
  
  
• /r/keto but I don't really know much about it
  
• /r/getmotivated if you need that extra push to go work out or something.

If you want to lose fat fast, read this book. It's extreme, but it works. I went from ~12% Body fat to ~8% in about 3 weeks.

http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X

It also gives invaluable other tips, as well. Definitely worth the price.

Thanks for sharing your feelings. Not many men are honest about their body issues. If you want to get back into shape, consider buying and reading the 4 hour body. Easy, fast.

For many years, I thought that this was a pretty foolish way to treat anything. After reading the 4 Hour Body, I thought to myself, this guy has done all of this experimentation on himself, why not give it a try.

Basically I cut out carbs and casein. I also limited my refined sugar intake. The effect was pretty astounding. I showed a huge improvement in concentration.

The flip side is that it is harder than hell to keep up. I am sure that I would have been unhappy as hell if that diet was forces on me as a child. I still love pizza. That kind of tends to reduce the efficacy of the diet.

I'm not an expert on fitness, but most of what I read speaks to less is more. My personal experience has born this out as well. In my younger days I was chronically over-trained and sometimes injured. Beyond a certain point training more will hurt your gains not help them.

If you're strictly trying to bulk, check out The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, in particular the chapter "From Geek to Freak." I was able to put on 10 pounds of muscle maintaining around 10-12% bf on the protocol in 6 weeks, only going to the gym once a week. No joke. The author achieved 3x that in 4 weeks lifting 2x/wk. The protocol is scientifically based and hyper effective.

Talk to your doctor about Modafinil/Provigil and look into uberman. The book The Four Hour Body has a chapter about it as well.

You are welcome.

http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404919641&sr=8-1&keywords=4+hour+body

Hey Fitness96,

I remember being 17 years old and wanting to lose a substantial amount of weight, I just wanted to be like everyone else my age. Sadly, genetics play a significant factor in how our bodies process different macronutrients (fats, protein, and carbs), and it sounds like you got the short end of the genetic stick (just as I did). The bad news is that you can’t just eat whatever you want and look fit (past the age of 30 almost no one can, the American obesity rate is proof of that), the good news is that you’re not destined to be overweight.

I’ve made so many mistakes over the years, I literally yo-yo dieted for 12 years before finally losing and keeping off 40 lbs of fat after I found the RIGHT diet and the RIGHT exercise.

I remember running for miles and miles, then trying to restrict my calories to lose weight, only to become starving and binge eat followed by feeling exhausted and sleeping for days.

No matter who you ask, you’re going to get a different opinion, but based on my experience (and mistakes) these are some general rules of thumb to follow (disclaimer: I am not a doctor, the suggestions below are based solely off of my personal experience).

At the bottom of the post I provide resources for you to read, best of luck to you and shoot me a message if you have any questions / need some help!

1. Calorie Counting Misses the Boat – It is true that if you eat fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight, but what I didn’t understand at 17 years old was WHY do some people naturally eat the same amount as they burn and why do others eat MORE than they burn (and thus become fat). From day to day your body burns roughly the same amount of calories, there are really only two sources for those calories: food you eat that day and stores of energy contained within your body (that is, body fat, muscle, and glycogen). The reason why some people overeat (and thus are overweight) is that they cannot easily access their stores of energy. Why? There are a number of reasons, but the primary contributor of this energy imbalance (and that’s really what obesity is), is elevated levels of the hormone insulin. When you digest food it spikes your blood sugar. When your blood sugar goes up, your body has to secrete insulin in order for your fat/muscle to absorb that blood sugar. The more insulin that your body secretes, the more nutrients that will be shoved into fat (and at the same time, the harder it will be for your fat stores to release energy). You’d think that people who have tons of fat to lose wouldn’t feel hungry because of all their fat, but because they have elevated insulin levels their bodies can’t actually ACCESS those fat stores, so their body tells send a signal to eat more food because that’s the only energy it can access. The question is, what do you do about it? All foods spike your blood sugar (and thus your insulin levels), but carbohydrates spike them the most, protein a distant second, and fats a very distant third. So in order to keep your blood sugar lower (and thus lose excess fat), you need to drastically reduce the amount of carbs you eat (that is, eliminate bread, rice, pasta). You should be eating primarily meat and vegetables. Back on calorie counting, it’s not that it DOESN’T work, it’s that it’s UNSUSTAINABLE. If you’ve ever met someone who’s lost weight counting calories, ask them how long they kept the weight off for. Inevitably people who count calories become too hungry or too tired. It should be common sense to people that 2,000 calories of pure sugar is not identical to 2,000 calories of grass-fed organic beef, but it’s not. Sadly, the calorie is a calorie myth lives on. Don’t fall for it.
   
   
2. Aerobic Exercise – I used to think hours of long, slow cardio was great for weight loss. It’s not. Short-intervals (e.g. 30 second all out sprint followed by 2 min walk, repeat 4 to 8 times per session, 2x per week) is MUCH better for fat loss. If you’re 75 lbs overweight, I wouldn’t recommend anything but walking 20 minutes per session 2 - 3x a week until you’ve lost most of the excess fat through proper diet. If you start running with a lot of excess fat you risk tearing up your knees and hurting your back. If you have access to a swimming pool, that’s an acceptable low-impact way to exercise as well.
   
   
3. Weight Training – I used to think that tons of sets, tons of reps, and light to moderately heavy weights were the way to go. Big mistake. If you’re spending hours and hours a week in the gym, you’re wasting time. You only need to master three lifts: the bench press, the squat, and the deadlift. Focus on perfecting your form and for every week that you meet your goals, increase the amount you lift the next week.
   
   
4. Organic Meat and Vegetables – I’m not going to go into detail here, but it should be obvious that it’s unnatural to inject animals with hormones/antibiotics and cover vegetables in pesticides. Anything that’s injected into an animal or sprayed onto a vegetable ultimately goes inside you when you eat it. Opt for pasture raised animals and organic vegetables. Whole Foods is expensive, but the quality of their food is worth it.
   
   
5. Lifestyle – Lots of people have the “I’ll just lose the weight, and then go back to eating what I want.” This mindset is, in a word, INSANE. If you’re overweight, it’s because you’re eating the wrong foods. You can’t lose weight and then go back to eating the wrong foods again. Well, you can, but you’ll become overweight again. It may be hard to stomach this idea right now, but you need to view this as a CHANGE FOR LIFE. That can sound intimidating, so I want to elaborate on it briefly. People typically react, “Does that mean I can NEVER eat pizza again?!” Obviously not. I personally eat “healthy” foods 6 days a week, and on day 7 I eat whatever I want (cheat day). Lots of people sustain their weight loss by following a 6 day on, 1 day off system. Something else that may be hard to believe right now is that even though you can’t imagine living without bread/rice/pasta/pizza/sugar right now, you won’t always want those foods as much as you do now. As you lose weight, not only will your progress will serve as ongoing motivation to eat healthy foods, but also your desire for unhealthy foods will go away (I experienced this first hand, but it took 2-3 months for it to happen). Unhealthy food is not the only source of enjoyment in life.
   
   
6. Other People – No matter what your goal is or what system you use for weight loss, SOMEONE IS GOING TO CRITICIZE YOU. You need to be prepared for this. Friends, family members, other students, the list is endless. What’s amazing is even overweight people will tell you you’re doing it wrong! When someone criticizes your system, you can say, “You might be right, it might not work, but I’m going to try it for a month and see how it works, couldn’t hurt to try right?” When someone criticizes your goal, perhaps they’ll be concerned that it’s unrealistic, you can say, “You might be right, maybe my goal is too ambitious, but other people like me have lost weight before, so I figure I can do it too. What do you think?” Even though people are criticizing your diet / goals, what they REALLY want is to just be listened to, people want to know their opinion matters. So let them know you value their opinion, listen to what they have to say, but you don’t have follow what they say just because they say it!
   
   
7. Goals & Systems – Regardless of what system you try for weight loss, you need to stick to it for AT LEAST 6 WEEKS before you can say whether or not it’s working. Don’t keep switching from one plan to another and claiming, “Nothing works, and I’ve tried everything!!” You may have tried everything, but you have to try it for LONG ENOUGH to know that it works or doesn’t.
   
   RESOURCES
   
   
8. DIET
   Book – The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss – http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X
   
   Book – The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf – http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Solution-Original-Human-Diet/dp/0982565844/ref=la_B003Z4MQVY_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406053434&sr=1-1
   
   Blog – Ben Greenfield – http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/
   
   Blog – Mark Sisson – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
   
   
9. WEIGHT TRAINING – Check out the Strong Lifts 5x5 system. It’s more important to follow the program consistently, week after week, than to stress about taking one day off. Focus on steady progress, nothing happens overnight.
   
   http://stronglifts.com/5x5/
   
   Bench Press (proper form) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaOwz6DNdjw
   Deadlift (proper form) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1H1VG9Uh50
   Squats (proper form) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDPy_i_Wbuo
   
   
10. Psychology of Success – One of my favorite bloggers is Ramit Sethi. He doesn’t write about weight loss specifically, but he writes endlessly about the mindset of successful people. You can apply his material immediately to whatever goal you’re trying to reach in life, but you actually have to APPLY the material, you can’t just read it and expect things to fall in place by themselves.
    
    http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/
    
    Best of luck to you, and feel free to shoot me a message with any questions!
    

If your are serious and in a hurry I'd get a program like P90X, insanity, something hardcore and add in an hour of some sort of cardio on the non-cardio days of the program. Or, if you have the $, hire a trainer.

If not in a hurry grab 4 hrs body by Tim Ferris, he's got all sorts of tips & tricks for quick gains but you still got to put in the work.

Remember, the numbers, like what u/Laugh_Tracks posted are minimums. You want to add 10 reps, subtract 2 minutes, etc. so on actual test day you can have a bad day and still know you got it.

Edit to add book link:http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369368943&sr=8-1&keywords=4+hour+body+timothy+ferriss

Hi there!

This comment's going to get fucking buried, and you'll probably never see it, but I've gotta fucking try anyway.

You've just had a "Harajuku" moment: You're fat, and you'll stay that way unless you do things differently.

So, you need two things.

First, you need real data about yourself.

Second, you need some system in place that can give you immediate results that are compelling enough to keep you committed, which is easy to implement, and which doesn't rely on willpower. Because fuck willpower.

So, the first thing you need to do is take measurements. get a tape measure and measure various parts of your body: I started with biceps, chest, belly, hips (at the widest place) and thighs. Take these measurements every day, because they'll make the bad days better and the good days excellent, no matter how scary it seems at first.

Tracking weight is better than nothing, but be aware that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you go the exercise route, you'll see weight gain when you're actually losing fat and gaining muscle. So I use a tape measure for preference.

Second, you need to keep track of your eating in as lazy of a way as possible: I recommend using your phone to take a picture of every meal before you eat it. Put your hand on the table next to your plate so you have some idea of the scale.

I recommend getting this book, because it covers every aspect of whatever your goals might be- sex, steroids, bodybuilding, fat loss, biochem diet hacking, and a lot more. Like I said- fast results that are compelling and will help you stay on track. I've got over 100 lbs to lose and this has got me well on the way.

Steal this book if you have to. Pirate it- it's available online- if you have no option. Pay the author back later if you have the opportunity. But get it, because my data shows better results from this than anything else I've seen or tried, with less effort, and no willpower.

I recommend 4 hour body. Read the part about diet. Do it. Stick to it, be disciplined. I lost 25 pounds in just a little over a month by following this diet exactly, even with my Saturday "cheat" day. No exercise. Though, if you add exercise you can probably lose even more. Once I dropped that much I went back to a normal diet (still low carb and mostly vegetable based), but added exercise, and I've kept the weight off.

I know Tim Ferriss isn't the most popular guy on this board, but I learned a ton from The 4 Hour Body

Buy the 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss and follow it. PM me in a year to tell me how much weight you lost. :)