Boost your libido in just THREE days with simple tweaks to food and exercise – from cutting caffeine to taking up yoga
IF the thought of getting hot in the bedroom leaves you cold, you’re not alone.
More than a third of women in the UK are NOT interested in having sex, research shows.
Women struggle to get aroused, have trouble having orgasms and find it difficult to enjoy sex, researchers from the University of Glasgow found.
Eighty per cent of those with “low interest” in bedroom action were either married or living with a partner.
While most people see their sex drive dip occasionally, these worrying statistics suggest a lot of us have lost our libido and do not know how to find it again.
But you can boost your sex life with simple daily tweaks. Sexpert Kate Taylor has devised a three-day mojo revival plan to help you get back on track in the sack.
Pre-plan
DURING the 3-Day Mojo Plan, limit tea and coffee to one or two cups a day. While caffeine has been shown to increase sexual motivation, too much can leave you anxious and stressed.
Drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol until Day Three.
Before you start, check the side-effects of any medications you are taking, as some can interfere with your libido.
Don’t stop taking them but do make an appointment with your doctor to see if you can switch.
Know where you are in your menstrual cycle. Your lust level rises at around ovulation time (day 12-14 of your cycle) or just before your period, as your oestrogen level increases.
If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or menopausal, your natural hormone rhythms are very different, which might cause your libido to flatline. Again, discuss this with your doctor.
Day one
BREAKFAST: Fruity salad — Chop up strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, and add a banana or two.
Top with a drizzle of honey and 60g of walnuts. This fruity salad contains zinc and potassium, which helps to increase your testosterone level and is essential to your sexual motivation.
Lunch: Have a lunch of your choice, but drink pomegranate juice. The fruit increases testosterone — for lust — and reduces stress levels. It’s also a natural mood-booster.
Dinner: Chilli con carne — make this dish (using Quorn mince if you are avoiding meat), with plenty of kidneys beans.
They are rich in L-arginine, an amino acid that has been shown to boost female desire and satisfaction.
Add as much chilli as you can handle. Chilli is an age-old aphrodisiac, believed to improve blood flow downstairs.
Exercise: Yoga — this can help women’s sex drive, with improvements in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction, especially in women over 45, one study found.
As well as lowering your cortisol (stress) levels, yoga is a great way of getting back in touch with your body, and knowing what feels good. Find a free YouTube video to follow or a local class.
Two recommended yoga poses for reviving your mojo are the Bridge pose and Child pose.
For the Bridge, lie on your back, bend your knees and keep feet on the floor. Raise your pelvis until your back is in a straight line, keeping arms, head and shoulders on floor. Hold for 5 seconds. Release.
For the Child pose, kneel on all fours with knees hip-distance apart. Keeping your hands where they are, slowly relax forward until your forehead touches the floor. Stretch in that position for 20-30 seconds.
Today’s task: Gratitude list — Go to bed early — plenty of sleep helps libido — and list everything you love about your partner.
As we’re trying to get you feeling lusty, feel free to focus on fickle, physical traits here, not just noble character virtues. Then list everything sexy and desirable about yourself.
Keep the list on your phone and look at it at least five times a day for the next three days. This has been shown to improve mental health and happiness.
Day two
BREAKFAST: Soy smoothie — soy milk, soy yoghurt and tofu contain isoflavone compounds which behave like oestrogen in your body.
They can increase your natural lubrication, and boost your sexual enjoyment. Blend 150ml soy milk or yogurt with a handful of berries, black grapes, one chopped apple and 60g of almonds. Sip slowly.
Lunch: Add celery — eat your favourite lunch today but try to eat two or three sticks of celery. This contains an amino acid that helps to expand blood vessels — sort of like a vegan Viagra.
Dinner: Pesto pasta — the smell of basil is meant to ignite sexual desire. It helps to improve circulation all round your body, which can boost your libido and improve lubrication.
Use it to make your own pesto, by grinding 80g fresh basil, 50g pine nuts, 150ml olive oil, 50g Parmesan (or vegan alternative) and two cloves of garlic in a blender until smooth. Serve over wholewheat pasta.
Pine nuts are a reputed aphrodisiac, while garlic contains allicin, an active compound which can increase your sensitivity to touch.
Exercise: Strength training — any regular exercise should cause your libido to increase. Aim for 30 minutes, five times a week, of swimming, walking, running or your favourite cardio class.
For maximum results, try strength training. Lifting weights boosts testosterone, leading to a rise in your bedroom enthusiasm.
If you can’t get to a gym, try exercises that just use your body weight, including squats in the kitchen.
Today’s task: Massage — this can dramatically lower your body’s cortisol, the chemical that leaves us feeling frazzled, which in turn raises testosterone.
Ask your partner to massage you for 30 minutes, concentrating on your lower legs, back, bum, tummy and shoulders. Use a natural massage essential oil.
Tell your partner what you enjoy the most. For a great sex life, it’s important you feel that your needs are being heard and respected, and it’s vital that you build up confidence in telling your partner what you like.
After your massage, don’t have sex — just go to sleep. You will need your strength for tomorrow.
Day three
BREAKFAST: Smashed avocado on seeded toast — Avocado is a great food to set you up for the day, and the night.
It contains folic acid, for energy, and vitamin B6, which can regulate the hormone prolactin, for a natural libido boost. Serve the avocado on bread containing pumpkin seeds for a blast of zinc.
Lunch: Add chocolate — like you needed encouragement. To maximise your serotonin levels and libido, opt for chocolate with at least 70 per cent cocoa and let it melt on your tongue.
People who do this were found to have high pulse rates and activity in the brain similiar to that caused by snogging, a BBC study found.
Dinner: Picnic — have this with your partner instead of a big meal tonight.
Good choices are asparagus, which contains histamine for strong orgasms, houmous (chickpeas are loaded with hormone- balancing Vitamin B6), smoked salmon, with its high Omega-3 that increases feel-great hormone dopa-mine, and figs, which can boost pheromone levels to make you more attractive.
Serve this with your favourite wine. Alcohol is a relaxant and helps to decrease inhibitions.
Exercise: Dance with your partner — it tricks your brain into finding them sexier than normal because as you look at them, your brain assumes they, not the exercise, has caused your increased heart rate.
Also, dance close together. Skin contact can boost oxytocin levels which can increase your feelings of affection and trust.
The big finish: Bath, bed and beyond — run a luxurious bubble bath and have a beauty session, exfoliating and moisturising and grooming.
It gives you a chance to shake off the day, and to focus your thoughts on what’s coming up.
While getting ready, think of the hottest sex you and your partner ever had, remembering the sights, sounds and touches.
and finally!
AFTER the bath, take your partner to bed.
Focus on your own pleasure and don’t panic if you take longer than normal.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
If your mind starts to wander, use this simple cognitive behavioural therapy technique to focus your attention on external factors, rather than your internal thoughts.
Focus on five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste.
And don’t forget to have fun!
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