Good evening, Edmond
Where you stand
The shape of the work
Go deeper
The frame
Train, eat, recover. The biggest lever on how you look — and the slowest, because it's the most real.
Training
Going from underweight to filled-out is the best thing you can do for your appearance, and lifting is the engine. No complicated split as a beginner: push/pull/legs three times a week hits everything, recovers well, and lets you practice the big lifts often — which is how you get strong fast.
The method
Train 3 non-consecutive days
e.g. Mon / Wed / Fri. Rotate Push → Pull → Legs. A rest day between sessions is the point — muscle grows on the off days.
Lead every day with a heavy compound
Bench, deadlift, squat, overhead press, row. These build the most mass and strength per minute. Accessories come after.
Leave 1–2 reps in the tank
Stop a set when you've got one or two clean reps left, not at total failure. Better recovery, better form, steadier progress.
Add a little every week
Hit the top of the rep range on all sets? Next session, add weight. That slow climb is the entire program.
Warm up first. 5 min easy cardio, then 2–3 light ramp-up sets of your first compound before the working weight. Don't skip it — it's where you avoid the injuries that derail months of progress.
The split — push / pull / legs
Run Push, Pull, Legs across your three days. Reps sit in the hypertrophy range for size; lead compounds stay heavier for strength. Pre-loaded as templates in your Notion Training Log.
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bench press | 4 × 6–8 | 2–3 min | The anchor. Flat barbell or dumbbell. |
| Overhead press | 3 × 8–10 | 2 min | Standing or seated. |
| Incline DB press | 3 × 8–12 | 90 sec | Upper chest. |
| Lateral raises | 3 × 12–15 | 60 sec | Shoulder width. |
| Triceps pushdowns | 3 × 12–15 | 60 sec | Finish the arms. |
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 3 × 4–6 | 3 min | The anchor. Form first, always. |
| Pull-up / lat pulldown | 3 × 6–10 | 2 min | Add weight once bodyweight is easy. |
| Barbell or DB row | 3 × 8–12 | 2 min | Back thickness. |
| Face pulls | 3 × 12–15 | 60 sec | Rear delts + posture. |
| Biceps curls | 3 × 10–12 | 60 sec | Barbell or dumbbell. |
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 4 × 5–8 | 2–3 min | The anchor. Full depth. |
| Romanian deadlift | 3 × 8–12 | 2 min | Hamstrings / glutes; controlled. |
| Leg press / front squat | 3 × 8–12 | 2 min | Quad-focused. |
| Leg curl | 3 × 10–12 | 90 sec | Direct hamstring work. |
| Calf raises + abs | 3 × 12–15 | 60 sec | Standing calf raise + core. |
If you're brand new to the barbell lifts, spend the first 2–3 weeks lighter than feels necessary, drilling form — ideally with a coach or a few sessions of video review. Mastering the movement at light weight is what lets you load it safely later. Ego is the most common injury cause in month one.
Progressive overload
The part people skip, then wonder why they're not growing. The program is just a vehicle for progressive overload — doing a little more over time.
When the scale stalls: for your goal, the scale is the real progress meter — aim for about 0.5–1 lb a week. If bodyweight hasn't moved in ~2 weeks, the fix is almost always food, not training: add 200–300 calories a day and reassess.
Track it
You can't progressively overload what you don't measure. Keep it dead simple — a note per session is enough.
Per session: lifts, weight, reps
"Bench 95×8,8,7,6." That's it. Next week you're beating those numbers. Use the Push/Pull/Legs templates in your Training Log so the exercises are pre-filled.
Weekly: bodyweight
Same day, same time (morning, fasted). One number. Trend over weeks is what matters, not daily noise.
Monthly: photos
Same lighting, same poses. The mirror lies day to day; month-over-month photos don't.
This pairs with your Notion dashboard. The Training Log, Weigh-ins, and Progress Photos databases live in bodyOS. Tap a Push/Pull/Legs template, fill your weights, and the charts update on their own.
Daily 100s + neck
A daily conditioning and neck circuit that runs on top of the PPL lifting — every day, and you can spread it through the day rather than doing it all in one shot.
One honest flag. Daily 100s add real fatigue and burn calories, which works slightly against your hard-gainer surplus. Keep them sub-maximal — stop a few reps short, break each 100 into chunks across the day, and ease off the bodyweight squats on heavy leg days so they don't eat into your lifting recovery. The neck work is pure upside: neck curls thicken the neck for a stronger jawline-to-neck line, and chin tucks pull your head back over your shoulders to fix forward-head posture. Build the neck volume up gradually — it's a small muscle group that gets sore fast.
Food — what to eat
Food does as much for your look as the gym, and shows up faster — skin, energy, face. You run best animal-based (the Paul Saladino school), so this is built inside that, not against it.
The plate
Build almost every meal from real, single-ingredient food. Protein anchors it, fruit and a little starch fuel it, and the processed stuff mostly falls away on its own.
Protein, heavily
Red meat (ribeye, ground beef), eggs, fish, poultry — and organ meat if you'll eat it. This is the backbone of both the muscle and the hormones. Aim for your 150–160 g a day.
Fruit & raw honey
Berries, banana, mango, orange, dates, honey. Your main carbs, and the easiest animal-based way to pile on surplus calories and training energy.
Rice & potatoes
Gentle on your gut, gluten-free, and the simplest way to actually hit a surplus when fruit alone won't get you there. Saladino-friendly and ideal around training.
Whole dairy & good fats
Kefir, Greek yogurt, cheese, butter, plus tallow and olive oil. Calorie-dense help for a hard gainer. Kefir over regular milk — it's fermented, so it's easier on a sensitive gut, similar protein and calories, plus it doubles as a probiotic alongside your gut-repair stack.
Cooked vegetables
Keep some in for variety and micronutrients — well-cooked, gentler ones like zucchini, squash, carrots, asparagus. Cooked beats raw for your gut.
Water, a lot of it
A gallon a day (~3.8 L), more on training days; pale-yellow urine is the target. Being well-hydrated is half of why your face looks less puffy.
What to push out
The real win of eating this way is what leaves the plate: added sugar, ultra-processed food, and seed oils. Dropping those is a big part of why people see their skin clear and their energy level out within a few weeks — it pulls down the blood-sugar spikes and the low-grade inflammation that feed breakouts and that dull, puffy look.
The hard-gainer trap. Protein and fruit are filling, so under-eating is easy — and it stalls the build. Lean on dense stuff: kefir, rice, potatoes, olive oil, honey, and a blended shake (kefir + fruit + honey + whey) when a meal feels like too much.
Eating enough is also your testosterone fix. Under-eating suppresses testosterone directly. For an underweight guy, a steady surplus probably does more for your hormones than any supplement — the bulk and the low-T worry are the same job.
Sleep
Probably the highest-return free thing here. Muscle is built while you sleep, most of your testosterone is made overnight, and your skin repairs then too. One week of short sleep drops a young man's testosterone 10–15%.
Anchor the wake time
Getting up at the same time every day sets your rhythm more than your bedtime does — weekends included, at least while you're dialing it in.
Get daylight early
A few minutes of real outdoor light soon after waking sets your body clock and makes that night's sleep come easier. It pairs perfectly with your morning walk.
Dark, cool, phone out of reach
A cool dark room is the single biggest environment lever. Keep the phone off the pillow — the late scroll is usually what eats the hours.
Time your caffeine and training
Cut caffeine 8–10 hours before bed, and watch late-night sessions — both quietly wreck deep sleep even when you fall asleep fine.
If you fix one free thing this month, make it this. Sleep pays out across all three layers at once — the frame recovers, hormones and inflammation move right, your face looks clearer. The evening magnesium in your stack helps.
The inside
Heal the gut, lower inflammation, fix the hormones and raw materials. This is what makes everything else work better.
Gut
You suspect sensitivities but haven't run an elimination, so step one is structure. Four phases — Remove, Repair, Reinoculate, Rebalance — over 8–12 weeks.
Test for celiac before you cut gluten. The standard blood test (tTG-IgA) only reads accurately while you're still eating gluten. If you go gluten-free first, you can get a false negative. Ask your doctor for it before the elimination — it's worth ruling out properly.
| Phase | What you do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Remove | 3–4 weeks off the common triggers (gluten, added sugar, alcohol, ultra-processed). Reintroduce one at a time, ~3 days each.Watch bloating, energy, skin | This is how you find your triggers instead of guessing. Reintroduction is the part most people skip. |
| Repair | L-glutamine (5 g, 2×/day) + zinc carnosine (75 mg, 2×/day). Colostrum helps here too. | Best-evidenced supports for the gut lining and tight junctions. |
| Reinoculate | S. boulardii + Seed probiotics, fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut), prebiotic fiber (inulin — go slow). | Rebuilds healthy flora and feeds it; fiber ferments into butyrate that strengthens the barrier. |
| Rebalance | Sleep, stress management, regular meals. | Psychological stress measurably increases permeability. Lifestyle holds the repair in place. |
Vietnamese cooking is genuinely an advantage here — it's full of fermented foods and rice-based, naturally gluten-free staples. Lean into that.
Inflammation
Inflammation ties together your gut, skin (it drives the dark marks acne leaves), recovery, and testosterone. Lower it and the wins compound across all of them — no single move, just a quieter system.
Anti-inflammatory by default
More omega-3 (fatty fish), more color and polyphenols, less added sugar, alcohol, and ultra-processed oil. Your gut protocol already does most of this.
Omega-3 + curcumin lead
Fish oil and curcumin have the best evidence; quercetin and dietary polyphenols are promising. Take curcumin with fat and black pepper.
Sleep & stress
7–9h sleep and managing stress are anti-inflammatory on their own — and they cost nothing.
hs-CRP
If you feel inflamed or run-down, hs-CRP is a cheap blood marker that actually quantifies it. Add it to your panel rather than guessing.
Testosterone
You're going off symptoms, not labs — so measure first, don't stack pills at a number you haven't seen. Get total and free testosterone on the panel, then work the levers that move it, in order.
The biggest natural lever for you specifically is probably eating enough — see the frame section. Beyond that: prioritize sleep, lift heavy, and correct vitamin D, zinc, and magnesium if you're low. Ashwagandha has decent trial support via lowering cortisol; Tongkat Ali is moderate and product-dependent (see supplements). That's the whole legitimate toolkit.
Bloodwork
A single blood panel tells you which of the low-T, inflammation, and gut suspicions are real, and what you actually need — the most useful $100–200 on this plan.
Supplements
Supplements fill gaps — food, sleep, and training do the real work. A moderate, evidence-led stack; full dosing and timing live in your Notion Supplement Stack.
The stack
| Supplement | Why | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Creatine monohydrate | Size & strength | 5 g/day |
| Whey / protein | Hit protein on a surplus | As needed |
| Vitamin D3 + K2 | T, mood, immunity | 3–5k IU (test first) |
| Magnesium glycinate | Sleep, recovery — best-absorbed, no laxative pull | Evening |
| Magnesium citrate | Backup / occasional constipation | Evening, as needed |
| Omega-3 (fish oil) | Lower inflammation | With food |
| Curcumin | Anti-inflammatory | With fat + pepper |
| Zinc | T support | 25–30 mg |
| Ashwagandha | Lower cortisol | Daily |
| Tongkat Ali | T support | 200–400 mg |
| L-glutamine | Gut lining | 5 g, 2×/day |
| Zinc carnosine | Gut lining | 75 mg, 2×/day |
| Probiotic + inulin | Reseed the gut | Seed / S. boulardii |
| Quercetin | Gut + inflammation | Daily |
| BPC + KPV | Gut + inflammation | Quicksilver |
| Copper GHK | Collagen, longevity | Quicksilver |
The surface
Skin, sun, hair, teeth. Some slow to pay off, some the fastest wins here.
Skin
Your skin (Fitzpatrick IV) is prone to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation — the brown marks left after a breakout. Good news: very treatable. Catch: it rewards patience, and aggressive treatment can make pigment worse.
Sunscreen is the whole game. For your skin tone it's the single most effective step for fading and preventing dark marks — UV re-darkens them and undoes every other active. SPF 30–50 every morning, reapplied outdoors. Non-negotiable, especially with your tanning goal.
Daily routine
| When | Step | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Gentle cleanser → vitamin C / niacinamide → moisturizer → SPF 30–50 | Antioxidant + barrier + the most important anti-pigment step there is. |
| Night | Cleanser → tretinoin (2–3×/wk, build up) → moisturizerOff-nights: azelaic acid, or the Copper GHK+ serum | Tretinoin improves tone, texture, and acne at once. Introduce slowly to avoid irritation (irritation → more pigment). |
| The actives | Azelaic acid 10–20%, niacinamide, vitamin C, gentle acids (mandelic/glycolic) | The safe, effective brighteners for darker skin — they fade marks without the backfire risk. |
Tretinoin is the retinoid to ask for. It's the prescription gold standard, stronger and better studied than OTC retinols for tone, texture, and acne. Start at 0.025%, 2–3 nights a week, on dry skin, and build up only as your skin tolerates it. Use the buffer method — moisturizer, then a pea-size of tretinoin, then moisturizer again — to cut irritation, which matters double for you: on Fitzpatrick IV skin, irritation is what turns into new dark marks. Expect a few weeks of light purging and flaking before it settles. PM only (it breaks down in sunlight), and the morning SPF becomes non-negotiable. Don't layer it with the acids or benzoyl peroxide on the same night. It's prescription-only, so fold it into the derm visit you're already booking.
On the nights you're not using tretinoin, the Copper GHK+ serum (hormone-free — bakuchiol, vitamin C, copper peptide, curcumin) slots in nicely. Keeping tretinoin and the serum on separate nights is deliberate: less combined irritation means fewer dark marks left behind.
For your skin tone, two things. Hydroquinone works but only short-term — long solo use can backfire into more discoloration. And for scar texture (the indents), the real fixes are procedures (microneedling, the right laser), but aggressive lasers risk pigment on type IV+ skin — so use a derm experienced with skin of color, not a med-spa walk-in.
Last thing: treat active acne early and gently. The less each breakout inflames, the fewer marks it leaves. Prevention beats fading.
Sun & tanning
Two goals pull against each other: you want to tan, and you want to clear discoloration and acne scars. Sun is the #1 thing that darkens those marks. Here's how to get the color without sabotaging the rest.
A tan is still UV damage
Your skin tans easily and rarely burns (natural SPF ~13 vs ~3 for pale skin), but tanning is still DNA damage. Skin-cancer risk is lower — not zero — and tends to be caught later in darker skin.
Skip tanning beds
They emit 10–15× the UV of midday sun and meaningfully raise melanoma risk. There's no version of this that fits the plan.
Sunless tan for color
Gradual self-tanner gets you the aesthetic with zero UV — and zero re-darkening of your acne marks. This is the smart route while you're actively fading pigment.
An hour daily, face protected
Aim for an hour of sunlight a day on your body — it drives mood, sleep, vitamin D, and testosterone. Get it on skin, not through glass. Keep SPF on your face the whole time, since that's where your scarring and PIH live.
You can absolutely be tan and still be fixing your skin. Just don't get the color by baking the one area you're trying to clear.
Hair, brows, teeth & grooming
These frame the face. Most are fast, cheap, reversible wins that land in days; hair (and a lash step-up) are the only prescription plays. Seeing a derm for your skin anyway? Fold hair into that visit.
Density & cut
Oral minoxidil (Rx) for fuller hair, plus a cut that actually suits your face shape — one of the highest-leverage looks changes. Find a barber who'll advise you, not just trim.
Fuller & defined
Babe Original serum (isopropyl cloprostenate, the OTC cousin of Latisse) thickens both — one stroke along the upper lash line at night. Shape the brows once with a technician, then maintain, and tint for more definition. Bimatoprost / Latisse is the Rx step-up if you ever want it.
Whitening
Strips or a dentist kit both work. If your teeth get sensitive, use a sensitivity formula and space the sessions out instead of pushing through.
Shower and hair basics
Your daily kit from BASED: shampoo and conditioner, the Santal Sandalwood body wash, and hair clay plus texture powder for a clean, no-shine finish on the hair. Full picks in the shopping list.
Consistent grooming
Nails, skincare done daily, a tidy routine. Small things that compound — and the part most people skip.
What matters most, in order
Three layers, ranked by how much they change your look: frame, inside, surface. The frame (eat and train) carries most of the result and starts today; grooming is the fast finish. Work top to bottom.
Eat for it — animal-based, in a surplus
As a hard gainer this is the real bottleneck: you grow only when you eat more than feels natural. Clean animal-based food — meat, eggs, dairy, fish, fruit, honey — hits your protein and calories while steadying your energy, skin, and hormones. It's the single biggest lever here, for looks and health both.
Train — push / pull / legs, progressively
The stimulus that turns all that food into muscle instead of just weight. Three sessions a week, lead with a heavy compound, add a little each time. Food plus this is the frame.
Sleep, water, daily walks
Free and foundational — they drive recovery, testosterone, facial puffiness, and skin. Nothing above or below works as well without them.
Heal the inside — gut, inflammation, the right supplements
A calmer gut and lower inflammation lift energy, skin, recovery, and testosterone, so everything else pays off more — start it alongside the food. Test first with bloodwork, then let the stack fill real gaps; it backs up the food and training, never replaces them.
Skin — sunscreen, actives, fade the discoloration
Visible in 4–8 weeks; the dark marks take longer. Sunscreen is the highest-ROI item and the one most people skip.
Hair, brows & lashes — through a doctor
High impact on the face, but the options that actually work are medical. Book the appointment before buying anything.
Teeth whitening, brow tint, grooming
The fastest visible wins here — days, not months. Save them for when you want a quick morale boost.
The plan
What to start when, what to buy, and what it all costs.
Rollout
Don't start everything Monday — you'll crash. Layer it. Each phase only adds once the previous one is a habit.
Foundation + quick wins
Start the PPL program, lock sleep/water/walk, begin the PM skincare core + daily sunscreen, whiten teeth, tint brows. Book a dermatology appointment. Order bloodwork — including the celiac test before you change your diet.
Dial in eating + start the gut Remove phase
Get the surplus and protein consistent (rice/potato base). Begin the elimination, add creatine, layer in tretinoin + azelaic acid. Review bloodwork and fix only real deficiencies.
Repair the gut + medical add-ons
Run the Repair/Reinoculate phase (glutamine, zinc carnosine, probiotics). Reintroduce foods one at a time. With the derm: minoxidil, a lash/brow serum, and a plan for the scarring if you want it.
Compound the frame
The long stretch where bodyweight and muscle accumulate. Keep progressing the lifts, keep eating, reassess physique every 4–6 weeks with photos. Skin marks visibly fading by now.
Filled out
The quality mass lands. Gut's calm, inflammation's down, the discoloration has faded, grooming has long since compounded. The whole look has changed — and the habits are permanent.
Shopping list
Every item links out — green tags go to the exact product, amber pick a brand tags open an Amazon search.
Supplements — core & gut
| Item | Notes | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| Colostrum | Bovine colostrum for the gut lining and immune support. It's ~$120 and the evidence is still building, so treat it as a layer on top of the core gut work, not a replacement for it. | ARMRA |
| Whey / protein powder | The fastest way to close your daily protein gap when you're eating for a surplus. Roughly 28 g a scoop. | Transparent Labs |
| Creatine monohydrate | The most-researched supplement there is for strength and size, and it pulls water into the muscle so you look fuller. 5 g a day, any time — no need to cycle. | Optimum Nutrition |
| Vitamin D3 + K2 | Backs testosterone, mood, and immunity — most people run low. The K2 steers calcium to your bones instead of your arteries, which is why the combo matters. Confirm your dose against bloodwork. Heads up: the link you first sent was the D3-only version, not the combo. | NatureWise |
| Omega-3 (fish oil) | Brings down inflammation and helps skin, joints, and recovery. Take it with a meal. | pick a brand |
| Curcumin | Anti-inflammatory. Take it with fat and black pepper or your body barely absorbs it. | pick a brand |
| Digestive enzymes | Helps you break down bigger meals and cuts the bloat — useful while you're eating a lot to grow. Take with your heaviest meals. | Enzymedica |
| Probiotic + inulin | Two-part job: reseed the gut with a probiotic and feed it with the inulin, which is the prebiotic fiber. Pair this with Seed DS-01 or S. boulardii. | NOW Foods |
| L-glutamine | Feeds and repairs the gut lining — the core of your gut work. 5 g twice a day. Get the powder, not capsules (you'd be swallowing ~20 caps to hit the dose); Nutricost's powder is the cheaper swap. | NOW Sports |
| Zinc carnosine | Not the same as regular zinc — this one specifically heals the stomach lining. 75 mg twice a day; PepZin GI is the standard form. | pick a brand |
| Electrolytes | Sodium, potassium, and magnesium for training days and all-day hydration. It runs high on sodium, so balance it with potassium from fruit. | LMNT |
| Zinc | Supports testosterone if you're running low. The cap is 50 mg, so take it a few times a week rather than daily, and keep a little copper around to stay balanced. | NOW Foods |
| Magnesium glycinate | Your main magnesium for sleep, recovery, and testosterone support — best-absorbed form and gentle on the gut, no laxative effect. Take it in the evening. | pick a brand |
| Magnesium citrate | Keep as a backup for the nights you want its regularity benefit — the citrate form does double duty on digestion. Glycinate above is the everyday one; use this as needed. | NOW Foods |
Peptides
| Item | Notes | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| Oral Liposomal BPC + KPV | Gut barrier and inflammation support; pairs with your glutamine and zinc carnosine. Experimental tier — run it as a defined trial, not a permanent line. ~$210. | Quicksilver |
| Oral Liposomal Copper GHK | A copper peptide for collagen and longevity. Copper's a genuinely useful mineral and may offset what your zinc depletes. ~$80. | Quicksilver |
| Copper GHK+ Facial Serum | The topical, hormone-free one — this is the active that earns its place in your PM skincare. ~$60. | Quicksilver |
Skin
| Item | Notes | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| Gentle cleanser | Soap-free foaming gel that lifts oil and sunscreen without stripping the barrier. It does carry lavender extract, but as a rinse-off the contact time is short, so the irritation risk is far lower than in a leave-on. | Dermalogica |
| Soothing spray | Hypochlorous acid — calms redness and is antibacterial, so it's a solid reset after the gym when you can't get to a sink. Mist on clean skin before your actives; it soothes, it doesn't hydrate. | Tower 28 |
| Snail mucin essence | A hydrate-and-repair layer that's great for fading post-breakout marks — 96% snail secretion, fragrance-free, oil-free, won't clog. Pat on after cleansing, before heavier steps. | COSRX |
| Delivery essence | A watery first step that preps the skin so everything after it absorbs better. Goes on straight after cleansing, before the serums. | The Ordinary |
| Hydrating serum (HA) | Plumps and hydrates — pure hydration, not brightening, so it works alongside the brightening serum rather than replacing it. | La Roche-Posay |
| Brightening serum | Alpha-arbutin and niacinamide in a rice-water base, aimed right at your dark marks and uneven tone. Watery, lightweight, fragrance-free. Use it PM (arbutin's light-sensitive) and give it 6+ weeks — gentle, so slow but steady. Covers your brightening step; only add a separate vitamin C if you want one. | Beauty of Joseon |
| Tretinoin 0.025% cream | The prescription gold-standard retinoid for texture, tone, and breakouts. Start 2–3 nights a week, buffered with moisturizer, and build up slowly. PM only, never skip the morning SPF, and don't layer it with acids or benzoyl peroxide on the same night. | Amazon Pharmacy |
| Azelaic acid 15% gel | Fades dark marks safely on your skin tone and calms redness — gentle enough to run alongside tretinoin (on alternate nights or AM). The 15% gel is the prescription strength (Finacea). | Amazon Pharmacy |
| Eye cream | Hydrates tired under-eyes and softens fine lines with copper peptides and ceramides — fragrance-free and light. One pump, tap around the orbital bone. (Same copper-peptide idea as your GHK serum, just for the eye area.) | BYOMA |
| Moisturizer | Pantothenic acid (B5) cream — soothes, calms redness, and helps keep sebum and blemishes in check. Fragrance-light and non-stripping; use it morning and night. Double-check the label for added fragrance before daily use, since irritation is what leaves marks on your skin. | Numbuzin |
| Sunscreen SPF 30–50 | The single highest-ROI item on this page. Mineral, sensitive-safe, sheer universal tint, no white cast — and the iron-oxide tint shields visible light, a real driver of your discoloration. It's a tint, not coverage; if you want it to actually even out your tone, Tower 28's SunnyDays is the tinted-foundation version. | Tower 28 |
On layering: the HA serum, snail mucin, and delivery essence overlap - hydration plus barrier. Don’t layer all three daily; pick one or two by feel (the delivery essence is lightest and goes on first, snail sits over it). Beauty of Joseon covers brightening, so a separate niacinamide serum is optional.
Hair, body & grooming
| Item | Notes | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | Fresh, energizing aroma from essential oils. | BASED |
| Conditioner | Fresh, energizing aroma from essential oils. | BASED |
| Body moisturiser | Thick, occlusive balm for body only - hands, elbows, knees, anywhere dry. Rich and heavily scented with essential oils, so keep it off your face where it would clog and irritate. | Weleda |
| Body wash — Santal Sandalwood | Sandalwood scent, for daily use. | BASED |
| Hair clay — Santal Sandalwood | Masculine, clean, and addictive. Matte hold for styling. | BASED |
| Texture powder | Matte volume and grip at the roots. | BASED |
| Whitening strips | The proven at-home whitener. Space the sessions out, and if your teeth get sensitive, switch to the Sensitive version. | Crest |
| Mouthwash | Alcohol-free, so it freshens without drying your mouth out — and a dry mouth is what causes most bad breath in the first place. | TheraBreath |
| Toothpaste | Fluoride-free with nano-hydroxyapatite, which remineralises enamel and tends to sting less if your teeth run sensitive. Pairs fine with the whitening strips. | Boka |
| Brow tint kit | Darkens and defines the brows to frame your face. Do it at home, or pay a technician once to nail the shape. | pick a brand |
| Lash serum | Grows longer, fuller lashes — the active is isopropyl cloprostenate, a prostaglandin analog (the OTC cousin of Latisse). Apply one stroke along the upper lash line at night. | Babe Original |
| Body / groin trimmer | An all-rounder for body and groin grooming. Solid at 4.2★ — a few durability gripes, nothing dealbreaking. | MANSCAPED |
Food — the animal-based cart
| Group | Staples to keep stocked |
|---|---|
| Protein | Ribeye, ground beef, eggs, salmon or white fish, chicken; organ meat if you'll eat it. |
| Fruit + honey | Berries, banana, mango, orange, dates, raw honey. |
| Starch | White rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes. |
| Dairy | Kefir (swapped in for regular milk — gentler on your gut, still has the protein and calories, plus probiotics), Greek yogurt, cheese, butter. |
| Fats | Olive oil, tallow, avocado. |
| Vegetables | Zucchini, squash, carrots, asparagus — for cooking. |
| Drinks | Water, lots of it; optional electrolytes, balancing sodium with potassium. |
| Shake staples | Oats and peanut butter, for bulking out the hard-gainer shake alongside kefir, banana, and honey. Whey protein is in the supplements table above. |
Gear
| Item | Notes | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| Body-weight scale | Your weekly weigh-in is the real progress meter — it's how you know the surplus is actually working. | pick a brand |
| Blender | For your surplus shakes — the easiest way to add a few hundred calories a day without feeling stuffed. | pick a brand |
| Food scale | Handy early on for learning what your protein and calorie targets actually look like on a plate. | pick a brand |
Picks are linked. Amber tags (omega-3, zinc carnosine, curcumin, azelaic, brow kit, gear) open an Amazon search — give me a specific pick and I'll wire it straight to the product. Quicksilver items link to the Vault.
Cost
What the whole thing costs to run. Every number is editable — drop in your real prices and it saves automatically, same as the weight bar. Groceries and peptides move the total more than everything else combined, so set those two first.
Monthly
Upfront — one-time
Rough placeholders, not quotes. The real levers are groceries and peptides — set those to what you'll actually spend. Year one assumes every line runs all 12 months; the gut stack tapers and peptides depend on cycling, so treat it as a ceiling.
Most of this is health. The looks are the byproduct.
Train, eat enough, sleep, heal the gut, lower the inflammation, protect and treat the skin, and groom with intent. Do that consistently and the appearance result is almost automatic — and unlike a quick fix, it holds. Be patient with the frame; it's slow precisely because it's real.