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Dating, Relationships

A Christian Man’s Guide to Dating

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A Christian Man’s Guide to Dating

The word dating is powerful among men – a great equalizer, whether you’re a Christian or not. It can bring to mind moments of utmost joy and moments of searing rejection. Asking a woman out and getting a rejection hurts. On the other hand, getting an acceptance can make you feel like you’re on top of a mountain.

From the mountaintop to the valley, dating without the proper guidance is like trying to climb Mt. Everest wearing only a pair of swimming trunks – foolhardy and most likely to leave you frozen in your tracks.

There are other similarities among all groups of men when it comes to dating. Men in Christian and non Christian circles are attracted to beautiful women. There’s nothing wrong with that. Whether a man of faith or not, men want to date women who are attractive, intelligent, interesting and interested in them.

There are also differences among men when it comes to dating. It’s faith that ends the similarities between the groups of men. Christian men are instructed to date women of faith.

That instruction is from the Bible and is found in II Corinthians. Why is that instruction so important for men of faith? Because as a Christian, faith is to be the foundation upon which you build your future relationships with the opposite sex. When the foundations don’t match up, you can’t build the kind of relationship God intends for you to have with one another.

There are some Christians who believe that Christians shouldn’t date at all, but those beliefs are usually based on seeing how the world views dating. They believe that dating is simply an invitation to intimacy. Dating as a Christian man doesn’t mean you have to or will date the way society deems acceptable.

As a Christian man, there is a right way and a wrong way to date. This guide will help you understand the ins and outs of dating and act as a map for navigating around the potholes you may encounter along the way.

Start With Prayer

You want to honor God with the choices you make in your life, especially the romantic choices. There can be long lasting consequences relating to dating outside of God’s desire for your life.

When you think of a woman you’d like to ask out, first go before the Lord and talk to Him about it. Not only will prayer ensure a better outcome in the long run, but praying before you ask can keep you from trouble.

Prayer acts as a compass to help with self-control, strengthens your resolve for purity and keeps you on the path you desire to be on. Your heart can lead you down a path you don’t want to end up on. Just because you’re attracted to a woman and want to get to know her better doesn’t mean it’s what’s best for you.

Before you ask out any woman, spend some time praying over whether you should ask her or not. She might be the one you should ask out and then again, she might be the road to heartache.

Not only should you seek prayer about asking out the right woman, but as a Christian single, pray that God will protect you from the challenges of temptation as well. God gave you the desire for the opposite sex, but His timing should be followed in the area of romance.

Even after praying, if you decide that you should ask her out, you might fear rejection but if you believe you should ask her out, then go ahead and take that risk. She might say no, but then again, she might say yes. If you believe you should ask her out but then you don’t, you may always wonder about the chance you let slip by because of your fear of rejection.

The Art of Asking

Men of all ages and from all backgrounds have said that the hardest part about dating is getting over the first hurdle: asking. They get tongue tied and become shy. No one likes to put himself out there and risk rejection-it’s not fun, but there are ways you can lower your risk of rejection by how you ask for a date.

There aren’t any tried and true ways to ask a woman out-no one way will guarantee you a date. However, there are better ways to ask than “Hey, want to get some coffee with me Saturday?”

Your odds of getting a no have risen. Why? Because you asked a question where you can get a yes or no answer. Instead, you want to ask in a way that gives you a definite yes or a thoughtful maybe. Be careful that you don’t ask in a way that comes across as insulting.

Wrong: “I’m not doing anything Saturday and I wondered if you’d like to go out.” This assumes she’s not doing anything either and this could come across as offensive. You asked because you’re not doing anything? Meaning if you had something better to do you wouldn’t ask her? That may not be what you mean, but that’s how it comes across.

Better: “I know you like Italian food and there’s a new Italian restaurant in town. I’d like to share the experience with you.” How do you know she liked Italian food? You took the time before you asked her out on a date to talk to her friends or family about the kinds of foods she likes.

Women appreciate a man that will go the extra mile to discover her likes and dislikes. It shows that he’s the kind of man who will put effort into getting to know her. Finding out what she enjoys first will also increase your odds of getting a yes response because if you ask her to go out to seafood restaurant and she hates seafood, she might just say no and not explain that she doesn’t like seafood.

The Perfect Woman

What’s your idea of a perfect woman? Is she tall, short? Slender, curvy? Blonde, brunette? Financially stable? Own a home? Come from a Christian background? If you have any preconceived notions of what a perfect woman should be, forget them.

If you have a mental list of qualities a woman should have, forget those too. Why? You could be closing the door on the right woman to date if you go into dating with your ideals of what the woman should or shouldn’t be rather than God’s ideal.

There were two Christian men. One man had a list of what he wanted in any woman he dated. She had to be tall. Had to be a brunette. Had to come from a Christian family. He kept searching until he was in his thirties and he found the perfect woman.

They dated and married a few years later. He’d finally found the perfection he’d searched for. Ten years later, they divorced. His wife discovered he wasn’t perfect.

The second man sought God’s wisdom before he dated. The woman he was led to was short, a bit overweight. She didn’t come from a Christian family but she loved the Lord with all her heart.

They dated for years, then married. Twenty-one years later, they’re still together, still serving God. So forget looking for perfection and instead seek God’s will about the woman you should ask out.

About serial dating: Don’t date more than one woman at a time. Hard to believe this advice pertains to Christian men, but it does. You cannot date more than one woman at the same time and get to know both of their characters equally. It’s not fair to either party involved in the date. You can’ commit yourself to two women at once. Plus, serial dating makes you come across as a player.

Pay attention to how the woman conducts herself before you ask her out. Don’t assume that because she’s busy and active in the church or church related activities it means she has a steady relationship with God. You don’t want to date a woman that’s so busy doing she has no time for simply being. It’s easy to fill a life with everything but time for God. There has to be a healthy balance.

Planning the Date

If you take your date through the drive thru at a fast food restaurant and splurge on a box of chicken nuggets, don’t expect a second date. There’s a huge difference in not having a large budget for dating and being cheap.

What cheap says to a woman is not, “He’s good with money.” What it says is, “He doesn’t think I’m worth spending money on.” You can plan dates that show you’ve put thought into it without having to break your budget to do so.

If you know what your date enjoys, the work is half over already. You can plan a date around what she likes. There are low, medium and higher cost dates you can plan. Keep in mind, there’s nothing wrong with not being able to afford to spend a lot on a date, that’s where your creativity can come into play.

Free or low cost dates: going on a picnic, taking food and grilling out at a lake or by a pond-not only low cost but toward the evening as the sun is setting, this can be a beautiful and romantic backdrop.

Check out historical places where you live. Take a walking tour. Do you live near a beach? Walk along the beach. Spread a blanket on the sand and share a treat-iced tea in the summer, coffee or hot chocolate in a thermos in the winter. It’s a relaxing way to spend time together and talk.

Is she the outdoor type? Play tennis or badminton, go for a horseback ride-if you have a friend who owns riding horses, this can be a great low cost date as long as she’s not afraid of horses. Go skating. Check your local newspaper for any community events. One city offers Music Beneath the Stars and hosts free jazz concerts.

Medium cost dates: dinner and a movie, a short boating trip, a horse and buggy ride, bowling or golfing.

Higher cost dates: go to a concert, eat at a five star restaurant, visit a museum, if she likes sports, go watch a baseball or basketball team play, go white water rafting or skiing. The ideas for dates are endless and while a dinner date is always pleasant, women do like for a man to step outside the routine and plan a date that’s different from the norm.

For your best odds of a successful first date, make it a memorable one. Have an activity planned so that the entire time isn’t spent in conversation. The way to choose a good first date activity is to have at least some idea of what your date will like.

If she doesn’t have someone you can ask what she might like to do, then just ask her. Be up front about it and say, “I’d like to make sure you have a good time. Do you enjoy ___” fill in the blank with the activity you had in mind.

If you plan on taking her to a restaurant where you’ve never been, make sure you know beforehand if the restaurant has anything in it that you or date might find offensive. You would hate to take your date to a nice restaurant only to discover a singer serenaded customers by singing in a suggestive manner.

Conversation and Dating

Conversation is a great tool to get to know someone but what about those awkward moments of silence when you just can’t think of anything to say? That can kill a good date fast. If you experience moments of silence that seem to linger, use humor to deflect it. Be honest about the uncomfortable silence. Many people experience this first date issue.

Ask her about herself-her childhood-where she grew up, her family, what hobbies she engaged in. Don’t make it like an interrogation with the spotlight on her (Who are you? What have you done all your life?). Be relaxed. Offer parts about your own childhood as well. Recount a humorous event.

You can ask her about her favorite childhood memory. If she didn’t come from a good home, ask her what she loves about her life today. First date conversation is a good way to find out what your date likes so that you can gain insight if you decide you’d like to ask her out again. If you discover she loves gardening on the first date, maybe on the second date, you can bring her an outdoor plant or shrub for her garden.

You can ask her what her favorite Bible verse is. Most Christian women have a life’s verse that holds special meaning. When you ask her about her favorite Bible verse, you can follow that up with asking her why it’s her favorite.

Talk about one another’s relationship with the Lord. How long you’ve been a Christian, how you first came to Christ. What is she passionate about when it comes to serving the Lord? What is she passionate about in her life? What are her dreams? Her goals?

Finding out about her relationship with God can clue you in right off the bat if it would be a good idea to keep dating her. If you ask her about God and she says, “Who?” then you know she’s not the woman you should date.

I know that’s kind of tongue in cheek, but you’d be surprised at the number of good women who are active in the church and yet because of their many activities have no relationship whatsoever with God.

Make sure you listen when she speaks. Don’t cut her off if she says something you don’t agree with. By paying careful attention, you can often pick up cues that can keep the conversation going.

What not to talk about or mistakes to avoid during conversation: Don’t talk about your past girlfriends, your past dating experiences or how wonderful your mother is. Even if she’s the greater woman in the world, you want to keep the focus of the date on the person you’re with.

Keeping up Appearances

You’ve heard the phrase ‘be on your best behavior’ and ‘put your best foot forward’ especially on a first date. You should make an extra effort on a first date but always be yourself. Never act like someone or something you’re not.

There’s an older British show titled ‘Keeping Up Appearances.’ In this show, the main star is Hyacinth Bucket. She pronounces her last name as ‘Bouquet’ and loudly corrects anyone who pronounces it as Bucket. She’s embarrassed by her family and is forever pretending to be something she’s not. The results are sometimes quite embarrassing and painful for her.

The worst thing you can do is present yourself as a man who enjoys one way of living when you don’t. Presenting yourself as a pillar of perfection gets hard to maintain day in and day out. If you keep dating the same person, you’ll eventually get tired of the façade and when who you really are comes out, the woman you’re dating will end up feeling disillusioned.

You want to start out dating like you plan to end up. If you’d like to have a dating relationship focused on a mutual relationship with the Lord, then start it out the right way.

Read and study the Bible together. Begin and end your dates with prayer. Dating someone is more than simply looking for a woman you may have things in common with. It’s more than seeking a companion. You want a woman that has a steady walk with God herself.

You can be interested in what she has to say and interested in what she does without pretending you’re a fan of the activity. You wouldn’t expect her to pretend she’s interested in football if she’s not.

Too many men believe that it’s the common hobbies that cement relationships, but it’s not. You can have common interests but not all of them have to be the same. Or even should be.

Think about it. God created each one of us unique. The differences can actually add to a dating relationship so apart from an interest in things of God, don’t write a woman off if you don’t have other interests in common.

The Physical Side of Dating

As a Christian man, you are called to a higher standard of living than your non Christian peers. You want to be sure that your dating relationship is honorable. Is it wrong to hold hands?

To kiss your date goodnight? That depends. Are you in a position where you can’t take intimacy any further than that? Without roadblocks, even the most moral of men can fail to keep his convictions.

If you don’t avoid ways to cross certain boundaries, then you take a risk. Without safety perimeters even the most experienced of rock climbers can fall. It doesn’t matter what your spiritual maturity level is, temptation is pretty powerful and can hit you when your guard is down.

If you’re not in a place where you can cross a line, then even if temptation does hit, you won’t be anywhere you can do anything about it. It would be awfully hard to cross boundaries in front of hundreds of other say ice skaters or sports fans than it would be if you were sitting alone in your place or hers.

Does the Bible forbid kissing and hand holding? No, it doesn’t. But what happens in many Christian dating relationships is that the physical starts out as a simple kiss or a holding of hands. It then progresses from there. It’s the progress from one step to the next that you have to be careful about. You can end up in a situation you never intended to get into.

Telling yourself she’s the one and you know you’re in a committed relationship doesn’t matter when it comes to intimacy. You can’t see the future. You don’t know with one hundred percent clarity that you’ll end up with this woman. If you do, great.

But what if you don’t? You might see her again down the road as someone else’s girlfriend or wife. How would you feel then knowing you’d been intimate with her? Any kind of intimacy creates a link between two people. The further you go, the stronger the link.

If you do engage in intimacy while dating and end up marrying the woman, you’ve still set a pattern that bases the relationship on the physical attraction rather than basing it on the spiritual side. You want to start out right so that it ends right.

How to Follow Up a Good Date

You made it through the first date and discovered you enjoyed her company and you’d like to see her again. At the end of the date, when you see her home, tell her you had a nice time and would be interested in seeing her again. This leaves the ball in her court. If she agrees, then you know she’s still interested as well. If you tell her that you’ll call her the next day, then call her.

The next day, if you’ve received confirmation you’ll be seeing her again, send her a note through the mail – a simple card reiterating what you enjoyed about the date, about your conversation with her. Dating for Christian men doesn’t have to be an emotional minefield if you go into it keeping the advice of this guide in mind.

 

Relationships

Relationship New Year Resolutions

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New Year Resolutions For Your Relationship

New Year’s resolutions seem to be a national pass time with everyone jumping on the bandwagon to lay out a list of things they want to accomplish in the upcoming year. The list’s can be long and varied as everyone has their own special things they want to do, with a lot of common ones as well. And even though odds are you will fall back on your resolutions within the first few months, you are at least acknowledging you want to change those aspects and trying towards them which is always the first step.

But there are some new years resolutions that people seem to forget about. Simple resolutions that they could actually fulfill and that would make their love lives much happier. New Year Resolutions for Your Relationship are just as important as any other resolution you could make, so why not include some of the following to help you strengthen your relationship in the following year?

1. Communicate with your eyes. Eye contact is important in any relationship, but take a step back and ask yourself just how often you will look your partner in the eyes, especially when having a romantic moment. The eyes are one of the most expressive parts of our faces and they alone can tell whole stories. Looking your partner in the eyes when you are being intimate can be a powerful thing for any relationship as it can convey your love for one another more then words ever could.

2. Be intimate more often. Another New Year Resolutions for Your Relationship is to try to be intimate more. As the years wear on people tend to drift apart and end up being intimate far less frequently. It is important to keep your intimacy constant so you do not leave each other wanting. It should not be some business like affair, but try to set the mood when you can.

3. Change things up. A major problem that plagues relationships is that they just get dull. You fall into a routine for everything and it gets boring. Be creative and try new things to keep your relationship exciting and fresh. It does not have to be anything massive and extravagant, just try something new every now and then.

4. Go on dates. Continuing the theme, relationships can get dull and lose that spark you once felt. A good way to recapture this feeling is to go on dates. There is no rule saying that once you are married or have been together for a long time that you can not go on dates anymore. So why not go out for a night on the town like you once did?

5. Laugh more often. The best New Year Resolutions for Your Relationship is to simply laugh. Laughter is a great thing as it can uplift your spirits and just generally make you feel good. So try to find ways to brighten up your relationship so that you and your partner can laugh more often. You do not have to run around acting like clowns, but just finding fun things to do can help immensely.

Dating, Getting Your Ex Back, Relationships

Approaching Women With Confidence

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Confidence

The idea that woman only like jerks is a myth, but it does have a grain of truth to it. Jerks may be forceful and arrogant, but one thing they aren’t, is timid. A woman may be more likely to be attracted to a jerk than an insecure guy, but the man she’ll choose over them both is a confident man.

It doesn’t help that the time when you feel the least confident is usually when you’re trying to approach a woman. The good news is that you can still act confident, and the better news is that acting confident helps you gain confidence.

If you find yourself touching your face or covering your mouth when you speak, you are definitely showing nervousness. Slouching and bad posture also show a lack of confidence.

Other signs for nervousness include avoiding eye contact and fidgeting. If you smoke, it’s a good idea to stop. Smoking behavior leaves some of the most obvious clues to nervousness – and also, non-smoking women will have a very hard time getting attracted to you.

Confident men, on the other hand, stand up straight with their shoulders squared, are comfortable with keeping steady eye contact, and tend to lean back and put their feet up when they sit down.

They keep their hands away from their mouths, and when they speak they gesture from themselves to the other person. But even confident men make mistakes. You need to avoid coming across as arrogant or unconsciously treating a woman as if she’s a man.

Steepling your fingers is a common gesture of confidence – but it means that you’ve either proved a point or you’re about to. It isn’t very appropriate when you’re asking a woman out.

Leaning back and putting your feet up may project confidence, but if you go the extra step and rest your ankle on your knee and put your hands behind your head, you start to look aggressive.

Standing with your hands behind your back and your chin thrust out is a classic arrogant posture. It’s a position to take when you’re the boss of whomever you’re speaking to, and it’s also not appropriate on a date.

Here’s an example of how to approach a woman with confidence:

Walk toward her with your back straight and shoulders back.

Meet her eyes, smile, and offer to shake her hand as you introduce yourself.

If she is seated, sit down as well so that you are at her level. Sit quietly, maintain eye contact, and when you speak, gesture from yourself to her.

With practice, not only will you be able to act more confident as you approach women, but you will actually be more confident.

Dating, Getting Your Ex Back

Flirting

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Flirting

There are plenty of ways to get women’s attention, but not all of them are good. Sometimes guys can come across as crazy or creepy when all they wanted was to get noticed.

Some men tend to show off, others are too intimate too early, and others are way too obviously desperate. Flirting is the art of catching a woman’s attention in a positive way. There’s no reason to do anything crazy to get a woman’s attention if you know how to flirt properly.

And flirting is surprisingly easy once you’ve practiced a little! Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

Never, ever sneak up behind a woman to introduce yourself. If you ever do, hope that she doesn’t know martial arts and that she has a more than phenomenal sense of humor. Her first impression of you won’t be flattering, either. She’ll most likely remember you as someone who can’t be trusted.

Don’t stare, especially at any body part that isn’t her eyes. You want to meet her eyes in a relaxed, casual and friendly way.

Flirt with one woman at a time. If you choose a woman to flirt with, you’re telling her that you think she’s special. It ruins the message if you think every woman in the room is special enough to flirt with, and it makes you look desperate.

Be sincere. If you end up saying something that sounds stupid, it’s better if you meant it honestly. You can be forgiven for sounding silly, but never for being dishonest.

Start at a distance and slowly work your way closer. Check her out from across the room, and if she notices you, smile at her. There isn’t any reason to pretend you weren’t checking her out – you were, and you’re going to be upfront about it, but you aren’t going to stare or drool.

Don’t come any closer than arm’s length. If she wants to get closer to you, she can, but that’s her decision. Getting right next to her when she doesn’t know you will make her move away from you. On the other hand, keeping a little bit of distance and speaking softly will encourage her to move closer to you on her own.

Keep your body language consistent. If you’re open to meeting this woman, then your posture should be open, your arms won’t be crossed, and your eyes should meet hers.

Watch her body language. If your flirting is working, she’ll be flirting back. Glancing at you, smiling, and keeping her posture open are signs that things are going well.
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Getting Your Ex Back, Sex

How Testosterone Affects a Man’s Sexual Health

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How Testosterone Affects a Man’s Sexual Health

Testosterone is well known as the male sex hormone. This hormone is responsible for the sex characteristics of men and also plays a role in libido as you get older. Unfortunately, many men have low testosterone levels that are affecting them negatively.

Testosterone is actually present in both men and women, just as both men and women have estrogen in their bodies. But in men the levels of testosterone tend to be much higher than those of women.

You need to learn how testosterone might be affecting you without even knowing it. And you also need to learn a few things you can do to improve your testosterone levels.

Libido

The thing that most men are concerned about when it comes to testosterone is libido. If you’re struggling with sexual desire, chances are your testosterone levels may be low.

Men with low testosterone report becoming disinterested in sex, even if they had been very interested in it during another period of life. Low testosterone can also make it difficult or even impossible to maintain an erection or orgasm.

When men have erectile dysfunction, they often turn to drugs like Viagra that improve circulation. But if your testosterone levels are low, that’s what needs to be addressed for treatment.

Fertility

Men with low testosterone levels also tend to suffer from fertility problems. You may have a low sperm count if you don’t have enough of this hormone to help keep your sperm production high.

If you’re trying to conceive and are having trouble, low testosterone levels could be the culprit. Make sure to talk with your doctor about testing these levels to find out if they are low.

General Health Problems

While not directly related to sexual health, low testosterone can cause many health problems that can eventually lead to problems in the bedroom. For example, men who have low testosterone often have fatigue.

When you feel fatigue, it can lower sex on your priority list. And when you do have sex, fatigue can keep you from having the stamina you need for pleasing your partner.

Low testosterone levels can also lead to hair loss. This is a condition that causes many men to feel embarrassment and can lead to problems with relationships and dating. Not only might you lose hair on your head, you might also notice a decrease in body hair.

Your muscles can also suffer when you have a lack of testosterone. This hormone helps to maintain strength and muscle mass. When you start to feel your body weakening, this can affect your confidence and sexual stamina.

Men with low testosterone levels are also more likely to have high cholesterol. This can directly affect your circulation. In fact, men who have erectile dysfunction are often experiencing the first symptoms of heart disease.

If you’re having difficulties with any of these aspects, it’s a good idea to speak with your doctor about your testosterone levels and determine if they’re in the normal range for your age group.

Getting Testosterone Tested

It’s easy to get your testosterone levels evaluated. Your doctor will need to order this test, which can be done through the blood or, in some cases, saliva. Your doctor may ask you to have this tested in the morning when your levels are at their highest.

Testosterone levels can be either too high or too low. If your levels are too high it could be signal of testicular cancer or adrenal cancer. If your levels are too low it could be a problem with the testicles, a sign of illness, or a symptom of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Once your results come back you can speak with your doctor about your levels and what they mean. In some cases, your doctor may decide that you need further testing. In other cases, you may be able to design a program to help boost levels.

Causes of Low Testosterone

When you have low testosterone, it’s important to understand the cause of it. In many cases there are lifestyle choices you can make that will improve your levels. In other cases, you may have underlying health conditions that need to be addressed.

When it comes to lifestyle choices, your testosterone levels can be affected by stress, excess alcohol consumption, and obesity. Changing your lifestyle to manage stress, eliminate or reduce alcohol, and lose weight can help restore your testosterone levels.

If you’re undergoing chemotherapy or radiation for cancer, it can also cause your testosterone levels to plummet. Genetic conditions like Klinefelter’s Syndrome can also lead to low testosterone levels. This is a condition when one has an additional X chromosome.

If your iron levels are too high, you might also have low testosterone. And just about any chronic illness can lead to a loss of testosterone levels and sexual health. It’s important that you identify any underlying causes before just adding testosterone to the body.

Medical Treatment for Low Testosterone

If you have low testosterone, you may want to seek medical treatment. This usually involves some form of medication containing the hormone. It can be delivered as an injection, a patch that’s worn on the body, or tablets.

There are also testosterone gels that are added to the skin where they’re absorbed into the bloodstream and there’s even a type of medication that’s rubbed onto the gums. But you can also try natural remedies before going with medical hormone replacement.

Hormone replacement doesn’t address the conditions that are causing your low testosterone levels in the first place. Natural remedies can help your body start producing adequate amounts of testosterone on its own.

It also carries some side effects such as acne, decreased testicular size, and an increase in mood swings and aggression. You might also have higher cholesterol or changes in your sperm count with this treatment.

It’s important to consider all of the possible side effects before choosing to participate in medical testosterone replacement therapy. However, it can be a good solution for some men with this problem.

Natural Testosterone Boosters

There are many ways you can help your body to naturally raise its testosterone levels without medication. Trying a few of these solutions could make a big difference in your libido and improve your sexual satisfaction and that of your partner.

Try to lose weight. The first thing to consider is weight loss and exercise. When you have extra fat on your body, those fat cells produce estrogen. Having an imbalance of estrogen can make testosterone levels plummet.

When you take off the excess pounds, you actually can improve your testosterone levels. The best way to do this is through eating a healthy diet and moderate exercises including cardiovascular training and strength training.

It’s important, though, that you don’t lose weight too fast. This can actually cause your testosterone levels to shut down. Stick to losing one or two pounds a week for the best benefits.

Enjoy morning sex. Testosterone levels are improved when you have an erection. When you have sex in the morning, the time when your body produces the most testosterone, you’re more likely to have higher levels all day.

This is usually the time when men have the highest sex drive due to natural hormone fluctuations. This is probably the most enjoyable way to increase your sex drive naturally.

Limit or eliminate alcohol use. Alcohol use can cause testosterone levels to go into decline. This is especially true if you’re abusing alcohol or are an alcoholic. If you’re concerned about testosterone levels, it’s best to limit alcohol to one or two drinks a day.

That’s easier said than done if you’re dealing with alcohol dependency. If you fear this may be the cause of your low testosterone, it’s important to talk to a professional who can help you with issues of addiction.

Add zinc to your diet. Zinc is an important nutrient that helps your body make needed testosterone. It’s found in many common foods such as red meat, liver, oysters, and peanuts.

Adding a few of these foods to your diet on a regular basis can help you to have higher testosterone production naturally. You can also take a vitamin supplement that includes zinc.

Don’t skip the fat. In this day and age many people are strictly limiting their fat intake. But you need to have fat in order to make hormones. Your diet needs to have at least 30 percent of its calories from fat.

It’s best if that fat comes from plant sources such as olive oil, vegetable oil, avocado, and coconut oil. But some saturated fat is acceptable and you’ll get it from the red meat that you eat to raise those zinc levels.

Get some sleep. Sleeping is important for rest and rejuvenation. When you don’t get at least eight hours of sleep each night, you could be causing your body’s natural hormonal cycles to be interrupted.

Make sure that you’re getting plenty of sleep. Try going to bed at the same time each night and waking up at the same time each morning. Having one or two off nights isn’t going to cause problems. But being consistently sleep deprived can knock your testosterone levels down quite a bit.

Perform high intensity exercise. Short, intense bursts of exercise have been shown to improve testosterone levels. A typical testosterone boosting workout might include a short five minute warm up, followed by a burst of intense exercise as hard as you can for 30 seconds, and a 90 second recovery.

You’ll want to repeat this cycle at least six or seven more times in order to boost testosterone levels. You can complete this entire interval-training workout in less than 20 minutes to get the best results.

Take vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D Supplements are also important for helping to develop testosterone, boost your sex drive, and improve your fertility. This is a vitamin your body makes naturally when exposed to sunlight.

However, most people spend too much time indoors and aren’t getting enough of this important nutrient. The best way to get this is from the sun, so if you can get outdoors more that will help the most. You can also take an oral supplement.

Reduce stress. Stress can cause many problems in the body mainly due to the overproduction of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that tells your body you’re in an emergency situation.

Unfortunately when this hormone is around in levels that are too high for a long period of time it can cause you to have a decrease in testosterone. It can also cause problems with inflammation and weight gain in the body.

Learning to manage stress can help you to raise testosterone levels. It will also help you to get better sleep and reduce excess belly fat – this also will help you to increase testosterone levels.

Take male enhancement supplements. There are several male enhancement supplements on the market. These are generally formulated with herbs designed to raise testosterone levels.

These are often marketed as penis enlargement supplements or treatment for erectile dysfunction. They can help to increase your sex drive and improve your sexual satisfaction. Some may also help with fertility.

Say goodbye to sugar. Refined sugar actually causes a decrease in testosterone after it’s consumed. This is because sugar causes your insulin to spike. Try to avoid foods that contain added sugar such as soda, candy, breads, and pastas.

If you’re craving something sweet, look for natural sources of sweetness such as fruit to help quench your cravings. Make a plan to reduce how much sugar you eat a little at a time if you feel that you’re a sugar addict.

Don’t forget to look at added corn syrup and fructose in processed foods. These are simply forms of refined sugar that cause the same problems even though they sound like they come from more natural sources.

The best sweeteners to try include honey, agave, stevia, and maple syrup. These are sweeteners that aren’t refined in the same way as sugar. They can help you feel the satisfaction of sweets without the harmful effects. These still need to be consumed in moderation.