by Sean Croxton

Inspiration can come from the strangest places.

I don’t tell this story often. In fact, it’s somewhat embarrassing.

But hey, I’m an open book. So here goes…

Way back in 2005 — long before Underground Wellness ever crossed my mind — I was having some serious issues when it came to meeting women.

So one day, while hanging out in the personal training office at my old job, I stumbled across a CNN article about a book called The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss.

The article told a story of a rather socially inept, disheveled Rolling Stone writer (Strauss) who, with the help of the world’s greatest seduction artists, transforms himself into a man of boldness and confidence.

In pickup speak, he went from AFC to PUA.

Needless to say, I bolted to the local Borders bookstore (gosh, I miss that place) and picked up my copy. From the moment I cracked open its leather bound cover, my life changed forever.

But not in the way I expected. Or the way you’d expect.

Although to the naked eye The Game may appear to be a manual for womanizing and male chauvinism, it turned out to be my gateway to becoming the best version of myself.

You see, picking up on women isn’t all about canned routines, negs, tactics and strategies. Rather it’s about developing as a person and becoming confident in who you are — mastering your inner game.

As I studiously pored over Strauss’s fascinating odyssey through the pickup underworld, eventually leading him to the woman of his dreams, I was introduced to some of the author’s favorite success writers — Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins, Robert Greene, George Leonard, David Deida — all of whom have since made a significant impact on my life.

Eight years later, I am still treading the path of personal development set forth by this often misunderstood book about seduction.

I know very few successful men who do not mention The Game on their list of most influential books.

(By the way, Neil Strauss’s videos were my introduction to YouTube. Without him, I would have never uploaded my first video.)

Why, after eight years, did I decide to tell you this story?

Well, because over the weekend I found myself reminiscing over the clandestine inspiration of The Game.

However this time it was a book about fitness that galvanized my inner alpha, as it combined several of my favorite things — nutrition, hormones, and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey — in its narrative instruction on transforming your body and life from the inside out.

From ordinary to alpha.

Man 2.0: Engineering the Alpha by John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein is, in my opinion, The Game of this decade — not about picking up women but picking up yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. Then, by lifting yourself you inspire others to do the same.

Burn fat. Build muscle. Become the best version of you.

Helpful but Not Condescending.

Confident but Not Cocky.

Vain but Not Conceited.

Prideful but Not Arrogant.

Humble but Not Self-Loathing.

Tolerant but Not Weak.

Dedicated but Not Obsessed.

You become The Hero of your own life, rising from the ashes as you realize the potential and purpose that is who you are.

John (a.k.a. Roman) and I got together recently to chat about what it means to be alpha, how to optimize male hormones, and what Harry Potter has to do with transforming your body and life.

Click the video below to watch. And don’t miss tonight’s episode of UW Radio with Roman and Adam. It’s guy’s night!

Download the first chapter of Engineering the Alpha for FREE at the link below!

www.freealphachapter.com

BTW, if you’re easily offended by four-letter words, the free chapter may not be for you.

If you throughly enjoy the chapter, order the entire book RIGHT HERE.

See you tonight.

Sean
Author, The Dark Side of Fat Loss

by Sean Croxton

You asked for this.

Back in October, my main man and favorite real food chef Lance Roll was my guest on UW Radio. We spoke about all things bone broth — the benefits, the science, and the preparation.

Since that show, Chef Lance has been swamped with emails from listeners asking if he ships his broth to locations outside of San Diego. Unfortunately, due to logistical issues — such as the broth thawing while en route — shipping was not an option at the time.

But I’ve got good news for you. The chef got it all figured out and is now shipping directly to your doorstep!

Last month Lance stopped by my place, where we filmed the video below showing you exactly what to do with your broth when it arrives. He also shows you a few ways to add a little extra flavor and nutrition to what he calls “the magical elixir”.

To order your own batch of broth, head over to www.thebrothery.com.

Enjoy the video! If you missed our radio broadcast, click the mini-player below the video.

Enjoy, friends.

Sean
Author, The Dark Side of Fat Loss

By Kusha Karvandi, Founder & CEO of Exerscribe.com

We’ve all been there.

A long stressful day at work, and we failed to plan our meals accordingly.

Or worse, we exert the time and energy to prepare our food, but office calamity and eponymous ‘fire-fighting’ steal the wind from our sails. So, in turn, our blood sugar turns into a turbulent roller coaster leaving us lethargic, ravenous and ultimately capitulated by comfort food.

But why do we reach for comfort food?

There are three elements which drive us toward the bad stuff: low serotonin, poor gut flora, and imbalanced hormones. And here are three tips for improving them.

Boost Serotonin

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter which is responsible for maintaining our Circadian Rhythm (natural sleep cycles), memory, and boosting mood. Our brain, just like our muscles, consumes blood sugar to function and produce serotonin. So, when blood sugar drops, so do our serotonin levels.

For the sake of efficiency, our body seeks what it knows to be the quickest source of energy to spike serotonin levels: comfort food. The reason being, comfort food is generally composed of processed, refined carbohydrates and/or simple sugars which are guaranteed to give an instant jolt in blood sugar. The problem with this is that not only does this add inches to your waistline by signaling body fat storage, but the brain also recognizes this pattern and begins to crave these substances when your blood sugar crashes.

The solution: retrain your brain by eliminating tempting junk food and replacing it with unprocessed, whole foods. A diet higher in quality animal fats (i.e. raw unpasteurized cow’s whole milk, organic whole eggs, etc) will keep your blood sugar stable and optimize fat-burning hormones. Be sure to limit caffeine intake, as well. Caffeine desensitizes key serotonin receptors in the brain, reducing the efficacy of your healthy eating efforts. Also, try supplementing with amino acids such as L-Tryptophan or 5-HTP, which are precursors to serotonin. Take 500-1,000mg 1-3 times per day for optimal results.

Restore Gut Flora

As mentioned above, comfort foods are typically composed of processed sugars and starches – enemies of gut flora. When we ingest these foods, the development of Candida overgrowth occurs in the intestines. Since the intestines are where we absorb vitamins and nutrients, it is essential to keep them in good health by fostering the growth of good bacteria.

Fermented foods with live cultures, such as kefir, natural sauerkraut, kombucha tea, and yogurt can help harvest good bacteria. Also, refrigerated probiotic supplements such as Jarro-Dophilus are an effective way to immediately promote gut health by delivering 6 or more beneficial probiotic strains in easy-to-swallow capsules. Start with the lowest dosage and work your way up as needed. When your gut is in optimal health, your body has an easier time stabilizing blood sugar. This equates to an elevated mood, and better eating decisions in the long-run.

Balance Your Hormones

When our hormones are in balance and optimized, our body becomes a fat-burning, muscle-building machine. Not to mention, our overall sense of well-being relies on this. However, when that balance is compromised by poor eating habits, our hormones work against us.

A diet high in processed, nutrient-shallow carbohydrates will leave our glands depleted and incapable of proper function. Our body needs saturated fats, such as high-quality animal fats, to provide our glands with the essential vitamins, minerals, and environment for production of hormones.

The additional problem is, of course, that so much of what we love to eat is also too high in omega-6 fatty acids. Packaged goods and unnatural vegetable oils (such as canola oil), provide a high concentration of omega-6 fatty acids, but our bodies necessitate a balance between omega-3, -6, and -9 for proper brain and hormone function. Eating a serving of fish (such as wild Alaskan salmon, mackerel, wild herring, sardines, etc) 3-5 times per week can provide a good dose of omega-3 fatty acids to get your body back in balance. Also, try supplementing with Butter Oil and Cod Liver Oil. Butter Oil delivers a high concentrated dose of fat-soluble vitamins and minerals, and Cod Liver Oil provides highly bio-available Vitamin-D and omega-3 fatty acids.

The suggestions provided will hopefully help you make better eating decisions, regularly. I’m not advocating you eliminate comfort foods completely, but the goal should be to eat whole foods and high quality fats to keep your brain happy, your stomach satisfied, and your day manageable.

For more insights about this type of eating, read my book, Nutriscribe: Your Nutrition Prescription (available for Kindle and as paperback on Amazon.com). Nutriscribe offers an effective solution to better health through simple, easy to follow dietary changes. The book provides a long-term solution to eliminate the antiquated need for fad diets, food logging, and calorie counting. With over 30 organic, gluten-free recipes included, this book will help you develop a more natural way of eating for health without compromising on flexibility. 

If you ever have any questions about our program, reach out to us via LiveChat or text message on Exerscribe.com. At Exerscribe, our mission is to provide cutting-edge nutritional insights and custom workout plans for the gym.

Kusha Karvandi

Kusha Karvandi began working as a personal trainer in 2006, out of pure passion for nutrition and exercise. Seven years later, after holding various health club management positions across the country, he recognized the absence of self-serving, legitimate workout programs for health club members. Although a major advocate for personal training, he realized not everyone can afford to work with a trainer 4 days a week, and even those that trained less frequently typically were not provided a congruent workout plan to ensure long-term success. He created Exerscribe to explore what’s possible when people are provided a roadmap to working out.

by Sean Croxton

Maybe they’ll believe me now.

Last weekend, while watching my beloved Oregon Ducks take a loss, I somehow found my buddies and I in a debate regarding the role of meat in heart disease and cancer.

In their opinion, meat is something that should seldom be consumed. The saturated fat will kill you. Studies show that it causes cancer. It’s hard on “the system” to digest.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

But hey, I used to believe a lot of the same stuff. I can completely understand where they were coming from. I’ve been there.

I told them about the difference between grass-fed and grain-fed meats.

I explained how the CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) in grass-fed meat actually fights cancer.

I pretty much performed a YouTube bit on the lack of evidence demonstrating that saturated fat causes heart disease.

In one ear. Out the other.

You know how it goes. Friends and family rarely change their minds about anything if YOU are the one relaying the information. But if a complete stranger tells them the same thing, they’ll believe every word of it.

Weird how that works, huh?

In hindsight, I should have probably just kept my mouth shut and sent them John Wood’s presentation from this year’s Real Food Summit (RFS).

As the founder of UW Wellness Meats, John is well-versed on how a properly-fed
animal is superior in nutritional value and has been scientifically proven to fight modern diseases like heart disease and cancer.

If your friends give you a hard time about eating real meats, this presentation is perfect for you to share with them. John and I cover…

* Exactly how grass-fed meat prevents cancer
* What the pH of a cow’s stomachs have to do with nutritional value
* How consumption of grass-fed meat slows the aging process
* The difference between grass-fed and grass-finished
* The connection between climate change and a lack of grasslands

This was certainly one of my favorite RFS presentations. It’s short, to the point, and packed with knowledge.

Although the Real Food Summit is available for sale, I have embedded John’s video presentation below. I’ll leave it posted for FREE viewing for a week or so.

HINT: If you’re interested in order the summit today, DON’T DO IT! Our annual Cyber Monday sale is a week away.

You can also listen to the audio version below. Since there’s no UW Radio show tonight, I uploaded this presentation to Blogtalk Radio.

The next time you find yourself in a Great Meat Debate, don’t waste your breath. Just send your friends or family the link to this blog. The likelihood of them changing their minds will shoot up like the cancer-fighting CLA content in a grass-fed cow!

I’m out. Flying home tomorrow.

Happy Turkey Day, friends.

Sean
Author, The Dark Side of Fat Loss

by Sean Croxton

What an amazing week it was!

We finally got back to our roots, making some killer online video on YouTube.

We broadcasted TWO episodes of UW Radio with guests Drew Canole and JJ Virgin.

We gave away almost 2000 free copies of JJ’s new book The Virgin Diet.

Over 1800 Just Eat Real Foodies joined the new JERFing community of Facebook.

And I celebrated my 35th birthday with an easy Chocolate Coconut Cookie recipe. It doesn’t get much better than that.

So to close out this week of UW awesomeness, I’ll leave you with a video I shot with juicing expert Drew Canole.

In my 4 years of hosting UW Radio, I had never received so many email/Facebook questions for a single guest — there were actually too many to ask Drew on the air! So I asked him to stop by the studio for a Q&A session to answer some of the questions we didn’t get to on the show.

Drew’s appearance on UW Radio was the second most listened to show ever — second only to the episode with Paul Chek and Joel Salatin.

We covered topics like blending versus juicing, potential problems with plant toxins, how juicing improves digestion, and the best juicers YOU can use at home.

Drew even went Oprah on us, giving away a juicer to one of our callers!

Click the player below to listen to the ENTIRE SHOW.

I’ll be sure to have Drew back on the show really soon. I plan on filming a set of vegetable juicing videos in the next couple weeks. You’re gonna dig ‘em.

If you’re looking for some juicing recipes to make yourself, check out Drew’s Juice Up Your Life system.

Enjoy!

Sean
Author, The Dark Side of Fat Loss

by Sean Croxton

How’d it go this morning?

Did you hit the snooze button repeatedly until you had to get up, or did you jump out of bed eager to attack your day?

Did you turn to artificial energy — caffeine and sugar — to put some pep in your step, or were your batteries completely recharged from a good night’s sleep?

Did you feel like a rock — static and inert — or did you feel like a rock star?

I tell ya, if you’re not feeling like a rock star all day, every day, then you’re probably not living your best life– and that’s no fun.

Maybe you’re getting to bed too late.

Maybe the automatic negative thoughts in your head (ANTs) are wearing you down.

Or maybe you’re just not feeling passionate about your occupation, and dread showing up to work for another eight to nine hours of trading misery for a paycheck.

The circumstances standing between you and rock stardom abound. But with a few tweaks here and there, I can almost guarantee that your energy and vitality can shoot to the top of the charts.

And I’m not talking about any one hit wonders here. No, I’m talking crazy longevity. Think Jay-Z, Ice-T, or LL Cool J — those guys have been rocking it for decades in one form or another.

In about a month or so, I’ll be officially launching my new website, where I’ll be sharing tips on how to live a rock star life by getting your mind right and following your passion.

Stay tuned.

Today, we’ll stick with food. Because when you eat well, you sleep deeper, think clearer, and even have enough energy to get through your workday with enough gas in tank to do what YOU want to do after clocking out.

Last night, my friend Kathy Smart stopped by UW Radio to share a handful of tried-and-true tips for feeling like a rock star. Check these out…

Go Gluten-Free.

Do yourself a favor and remove gluten — a protein found in wheat, barley, oats, rye — from your diet for thirty days. I know, it sounds like a really long time to go without these staples. Just try it.

The first week will be challenging to get through, but I promise that ninety-percent of those who eliminate these foods will feel so amazing that they’ll never want to consume gluten ever again.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy at first. If you’re serious about your impending rock stardom, you’ll give it a shot and stick with it.

Add These Superfoods.

When you get rid of the gluten, you’ll have to replace those foods with some healthy alternatives — and I don’t mean gluten-free goodies like cookies, breads, and muffins. Not even. Those are usually worse than their gluten-containing counterparts.

Whenever I go to the market, every couple of weeks I make it a point to purchase something I’ve never tried before. Who knows, I may have been missing out on something for the past 35 years! I’ve discovered some pretty rad foods like dulse, chia, and asian pears this way.

So next time you’re strolling down the grocery store aisles, pick up one of these foods…

Avocado. Super yummy and contains more potassium than a banana, thus fighting high blood pressure.

Seaweed. Loaded with trace minerals and iodine (for your thyroid, of course). Also high in calcium and iron. If you’re ever at a Japanese restaurant, order the seaweed salad. Totally rocks!

Chia seeds. Sprinkle on a salad, or add to a healthy smoothie. Your digestive system will thank you!

Cruciferous vegetables. These include broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and more. They stimulate the detoxification system, neutralize carcinogenic in your body, and lower circulating estrogen levels. I spent three years testing hormone levels, and found that many of my male clients had sky-high estrogen scores. Guys, eat more broccoli!!! It’ll make a man out of you.

Click HERE to listen to last night’s show in its entirety. Kathy — a chef and bestselling cookbook author — shares her favorite ways to prepare these superfoods.

You can also pick up a FREE copy (PDF format) of her cookbook Live the Smart Way HERE.

Exercise, But Don’t Over-Exercise.

Although it sounds counterintuitive, more exercise is not always better. Too much cardio can actually burn out your adrenal glands and pack more fat on you. Yes, exercise can make you fatter!

Stick with a good 15-20 minutes of interval training, then head over to the weight room (or the park, backyard, beach, or living room) for some weight training — bodyweight movements, squats, lunges, kettlebells, push-ups, pull-ups, etc.

Be Patient

No one ever became a rock star overnight, it takes time. The above recommendations are a great place to start your journey. Once you get a taste of how it feels to absolutely crush your day with energy, passion, and a smile, you will be addicted for life. Why live any other way?

Rock on, my friends.

Out.

Author, The Dark Side of Fat Loss

by Sean Croxton

Stop what you’re doing!

I know you want to watch today’s video, but last night’s radio show was an Instant Classic that you must listen to NOW. And when you’re done, please send it to as many friends as you can.

Dr. Dan Kalish rocked the UW Radio house, as we discussed neurotransmitter deficiencies and how they related to weight gain, cravings, depression, anxiety, and more. It was certainly one of my favorite shows ever.

As I was getting prepared for our show, I decided to go to Whole Foods and pick up a few of the supplements he recommends. I feel amazing! I guess I had a dopamine deficiency going on. A little 5-HTP, tyrosine, and B6 has me happy as a lark today (and super productive, too!).

Click HERE to listen to the show!

Once you’re done, come on back and check out the video below, which is the last episode of our Gut and Psychology Syndrome series.

You can check out Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s full-length lecture HERE.

To learn how to make your own sauerkraut, click HERE for a video I made a few months ago with Jennifer McGruther of Nourished Kitchen.

I’ll be back next Tuesday (Monday’s are always hectic) to start a series of videos on fat loss, leptin, and a bunch of other fun stuff!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sean Croxton
Author, The Dark Side of Fat Loss