Your
Protocol,
Parteek.
Honest Diagnosis
01You have a decent base to work with but right now a lot of what's going on is fixable grooming and lifestyle decisions making things harder than they need to be. The turban and beard stay - that's understood and we're working around that, not against it. What we can change is significant.
The most visible issue from the photos is the facial asymmetry - one ramus is longer than the other which creates an uneven face from the front. The goatee as it sits right now is making this worse because it extends into the sides and the bottom doesn't align cleanly with your lips, which draws attention directly to the asymmetry. The fix is shaping the goatee so both sides sit flush with the lip line and the bottom is clean - this visually balances the face rather than highlighting the difference.
Your orbitals are quite recessed which is creating that protruding eye look from the side profile. The eyes are sitting forward rather than deep and sharp. Combined with a negative canthal tilt on one side and virtually zero lashes framing the eyes, the eye area is reading weak right now when it doesn't need to. Lash serum, eye training, and brow work will change this significantly.
The eyebrows are sparse and grayish rather than dark and defined. Looking at the photos there's no strong contrast between the brows and the skin which makes the eye area disappear. Minoxidil will build density and dyeing them darker will immediately create the contrast that frames the eyes properly.
You're carrying visible bloating - the Punjabi food diet is high in carbs and dairy with very little protein, and the dancing keeps you active but doesn't build muscle or address body composition. The bloat is masking whatever bone structure you have underneath. We'll address this with what you can actually do right now.
Forward head posture is confirmed - visible in the side photo. It's not severe but it's there and it's compressing the neck and dragging the jaw area down. Chin tucks daily will fix this.
Grooming - The Biggest Immediate Changes
02Goatee - Shape It Properly
The goatee is currently extending into the sides and the bottom sits below and outside where it should. This is directly amplifying the asymmetry in your face rather than working with it. The goal is to shape it so both sides are symmetrical with the lip line and the bottom is clean and defined.
- Both sides of the goatee should align with the corners of your lips - not extend past them. Anything going into the sides past that point gets cleaned up.
- The bottom line should be defined cleanly with a trimmer. Not extended downward.
- Keep the mustache and chin growth but everything needs even length and clean edges.
- If one side looks fuller than the other due to the ramus asymmetry, trim the fuller side slightly shorter to visually balance them. This is the main trick for managing facial asymmetry with a beard.
- No neckbeard. Line it at the jaw every time.
Eyebrows - Density and Color
Your brows are thin and grayish. There's no strong contrast between them and your skin which is killing the impact of the eye area. You need both density and darkness - one without the other won't do much.
- Minoxidil 5% on brows, AM and PM - small amount, fingertip application directly to both brows. Give it 2-3 months minimum before judging results. Don't stop early.
- Derma roller 0.5mm once per week on the brows before applying minoxidil. Improves blood flow and product absorption significantly.
- Castor oil at night over the minoxidil - improves hair quality as it grows in.
- Dye the brows dark - use a dedicated brow or lash dye. Your goatee is a strong dark color which shows what the right contrast looks like. Your brows need to match that energy. Apply with a small brush, petroleum jelly around the brow to protect skin, follow timing, rinse clean. Every 4-6 weeks.
- Once you have real density from the minoxidil: clean up stray hairs below only. Aim for a straight, masculine shape.
Eyelashes - You Have Almost None
Your eye area is one of the main things you want to improve and right now there are barely any lashes framing the eyes. This is a huge missed opportunity because growing them in is completely passive - you just apply the serum and wait.
- The Ordinary lash serum - twice per day. Morning and night, applied to the lash line. Needs to be consistent for 2-3 months to see real results. Don't skip days.
- Once you have length: get a lash curler. Curling opens the eye, makes the iris more visible, and reduces how pronounced the negative canthal tilt looks on the affected side.
- After curling, a small amount of Aquaphor from base to tip - holds the curl and adds a healthy shine.
Mastic Gum - Masseter Development
Your masseters need development. Fuller masseters will add width to the lower jaw, improve the side profile, and help balance the asymmetry visually by adding muscle volume on both sides. This is a long game but it works.
- After meals only, never on an empty stomach
- 30 minutes once daily. Slow, deliberate chewing - feel the masseters engaging on both sides
- Deliberately load the weaker side slightly more at the start of each session to work toward evening out the asymmetry
- Muscle fatigue is fine. Sharp joint pain means stop immediately.
Skin
03You already have salicylic acid and niacinamide which is a decent foundation. Here's the full proper protocol built around what you have and what you need to add.
Morning Routine
- The Ordinary Glucoside Foaming Cleanser - gentle cleanser, rinse with cool water
- Niacinamide serum - you already have this, apply after cleansing. Niacinamide reduces redness, tightens pores, and evens skin tone. Keep using it.
- The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA - lightweight moisturizer
- SPF 50 broad spectrum - La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMUNE 400 SPF 50+. Every morning, no exceptions.
Evening Routine
- The Ordinary Glucoside Foaming Cleanser - same cleanser
- Salicylic acid - you already have this. Apply after cleansing, focus on areas with active texture. Salicylic acid goes into the pore and clears out the buildup that causes breakouts.
- Adapalene 0.1% gel (Differin) if available - apply to the whole face after salicylic acid. Normalizes cell turnover, clears pores long term, improves skin texture. Start 2x per week and build to nightly over a month.
- If adapalene isn't available: The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% - same protocol.
- The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA to finish.
Eye Area
- Ice roller every morning - 2 minutes under and around the eyes. Reduces puffiness fast, especially important when the diet is contributing to fluid retention.
- Lymphatic drainage - ring fingers, inner corner of eyes outward toward temples, then down toward ears and neck. 2-3 minutes. This is moving fluid away from the under-eye area manually.
- Orbicularis oculi exercise - fingers on outer corners, pull slightly up and out, close eyes tightly against resistance until you feel the burn. 2-3 minutes once daily. This tightens the whole eye area over time.
- Forehead relaxation - fingertip circles across forehead and temples, 2 minutes, twice daily. Releases the tension that keeps your brows lifted and your upper eyelid exposure higher than it should be.
Face Protocol
04Mewing - Start Now
You said you don't pay attention to where your tongue sits. That needs to change. Mewing is not just resting the tongue up there softly - you need the entire tongue surface making contact with the palate, back third specifically engaged, with suction. Say the word "sing" and hold the final sound - feel where the back of the tongue goes. That's the position. Mouth closed, jaw relaxed, nasal breathing. At 18 this is still actively influencing your midface development.
Tongue Chewing - Build the Strength to Hold It
If you can't hold mewing posture consistently all day it's because your tongue isn't strong enough yet. Tongue chewing fixes that.
- One piece of gum on the palate just behind the upper front teeth
- Press the full tongue surface against it - middle and back doing the work, not just the tip
- Hold 3-5 seconds, release, repeat. 10 minutes daily.
- Fatigue is normal and expected. Sharp jaw joint pain means stop.
Chin Tucks - Daily
Forward head posture is confirmed. This compresses the under-jaw and drags facial skin downward, making the side profile softer than the actual bone structure warrants. Chin tucks fix it directly.
- Stand upright, eyes forward. Pull your head straight BACK - not down, back. Like giving yourself a double chin on purpose.
- Feel the tension under the jaw and along the front of the neck. If you only feel it in the back of the neck you're nodding not retracting.
- 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps, 2 second hold. Daily without skipping.
Posture
05You confirmed shoulders slightly forward and some slouching. Looking at the side photo the forward head posture is real. Here is the full daily routine to fix it.
Why This Shows Up in Your Face
Your face sits on top of your spine. When the head sits forward of the shoulders, the neck muscles in the front get chronically tight and pull the jaw and facial skin downward. That compression is part of what's creating the soft side profile look. Fixing posture is a direct face improvement, not just a back thing.
Daily Posture Routine - 15 Minutes
Phase 1 - Release First
- Upper trap stretch - drop ear toward shoulder, hold 30-45 seconds each side
- Doorway pec stretch - forearms on door frame, lean through. 30-45 seconds. Tight pecs pull shoulders forward.
- Thoracic extension over foam roller - roller across mid-back, arch over it gently. Work up and down the T-spine for 60-90 seconds.
- Hip flexor lunge stretch - one knee on floor, lean into the hip flexor. 45 seconds each side.
Phase 2 - Strengthen
- Chin tucks - 3 sets x 15 reps, 2 second hold. Pull head BACK, feel it under the jaw and front of neck.
- Wall angels - 3 sets x 10 reps. Back against wall, arms at 90 degrees, slide arms up overhead and back. Keep contact throughout.
- Band pull-aparts - 3 sets x 15 reps. Hold resistance band at chest height, pull it apart until arms are wide at your sides.
- Dead bug - 3 sets x 10 reps each side. On your back, arms up, knees at 90 degrees. Lower opposite arm and leg toward floor while keeping lower back pinned.
- Glute bridges - 3 sets x 15 reps. Feet flat, drive hips up, squeeze hard at the top.
All Day
- Phone at eye level - not in your lap or below your chest
- Screen at eye level when sitting
- Don't rest your head on your hand - it asymmetrically loads the neck and over time contributes to asymmetry
Debloat - What You Can Do Right Now
06You can't change the Punjabi food right now, that's understood. But you can manage the fluid side of things which is a significant part of what's making the face look puffy. The diet bloat is real but the fluid management will still make a visible difference even without changing the food.
Water, Potassium, and Sodium
- 3L of water daily - consistent water intake helps your body stop holding onto fluid defensively
- Hit 4,000mg potassium daily - the full breakdown is in the meal plan section above. Banana + potatoes + sweet potato + kiwis + raisins + apricots + tomatoes + kefir gets you there. This is what signals your kidneys to flush excess sodium.
- Request that food is cooked with less salt when eating at home. This is the single most impactful change you can make to the diet right now without changing what you eat.
- Avoid pickles, chutneys, and heavily salted snacks entirely. These are sodium bombs that undo the potassium work.
- Cut or reduce sodas completely - if you're drinking them they're adding unnecessary sodium and sugar on top of an already high sodium diet.
Gut Protocol
- Add kefir daily - 1 glass. The Punjabi food diet is high in dairy but kefir specifically has 30-50 probiotic strains that rebuild the gut microbiome and reduce systemic inflammation. Regular dairy doesn't do this. The gut inflammation from the current diet is a direct contributor to facial puffiness.
- Try walking 10 minutes after meals when possible - it keeps the gut moving and reduces the bloating from large meals.
- Chew your food properly - digestion starts in the mouth. Rushing meals means the gut does extra work and the bloating gets worse.
Sleep Position
- Head slightly elevated when sleeping - fluid drains from the face overnight instead of pooling. One extra pillow is enough.
- Stop scrolling on your phone in the dark before sleep. Blue light delays melatonin, wrecks sleep quality, and high cortisol from bad sleep directly causes facial fluid retention the next morning.
Supplements
07You already have creatine, zinc, and magnesium. Here's the full stack and what everything does.
| Supplement | Dose | Timing | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnesium Glycinate | 400mg | 30-45 min before bed | You already have this. Lowers cortisol, improves sleep depth, reduces fluid retention. Take it consistently. |
| Zinc | 25mg | With food | You already have this. Skin, testosterone, immune function. Non-negotiable. |
| Copper | 2mg | With food | Always pair with zinc. They balance each other out. |
| Vitamin D3 | 5,000 IU | Morning with food | Bone density, skin, testosterone. Critical at 18. Most people are deficient especially with covered skin from the turban and religious clothing. |
| Vitamin K2 (MK-7) | 200mcg | Morning with food | Always pair with D3. Directs calcium into bone not soft tissue. They work as a system. |
| Omega-3 | 2-3g EPA/DHA | With meal | Reduces systemic inflammation directly. Given the current diet this is especially important - it counteracts some of the inflammatory load from the high carb/dairy eating. |
| Creatine | 5g daily | Any time | You already have this. Keep taking it even without gym - it supports muscle function and when you do start training it'll be in your system ready. |
When the Tour Ends - Diet, Training & Body Comp
08Body Composition Reality Check
At 54kg and 171cm you're underweight and skinny fat - low muscle with soft fat sitting where definition should be. The dancing is cardio intensive which is great for conditioning but it doesn't build the muscle base that changes your body composition or face structure. When you can gym, the goal is a clean lean bulk - adding muscle without adding fat.
- Calorie target: 2,350 calories daily - calibrated for when you are training 4x per week and hitting 10,000 steps daily. Don't follow this number during the tour.
- Protein target: 120-130g daily - the main challenge without much meat, but doable with the plan below
- Target weight: 60-62kg - 6-8kg of lean mass. At your height that's where the face and frame start looking completely different.
- Weigh yourself every morning after you pee, no food before. Track the weekly average. If the scale isn't moving up after 2 weeks, add 150 calories.
Diet - Built Around What You'll Actually Eat
You said you don't love the taste of meat but you're willing to add it if it genuinely helps. It will - hitting 120-130g protein without meat is tough. Here's the plan built around what you'll actually eat:
| Meal | Food | Amount | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Whole eggs | 4 eggs (200g) | 280 | 24g |
| Low fat cottage cheese (low sodium) | 100g | 72 | 12g | |
| Sourdough bread | 2 slices (100g) | 260 | 9g | |
| Kefir | 240ml | 110 | 8g | |
| Banana | 1 medium (120g) | 107 | 1g | |
| Breakfast total | 829 cal | 54g | ||
| Lunch | Paneer (grilled or in curry, minimal oil, minimal salt) | 100g | 240 | 14g |
| Lentils / dal (low sodium, home cooked) | 200g cooked | 230 | 18g | |
| Potatoes (boiled, no salt) | 200g raw | 154 | 3g | |
| Tomatoes | 200g | 36 | 2g | |
| Lunch total | 660 cal | 37g | ||
| Snack | Greek yogurt (plain, unsalted) | 150g | 130 | 15g |
| 2 kiwis | 160g | 98 | 2g | |
| Raisins | 40g | 122 | 1g | |
| Dried apricots | 30g | 72 | 1g | |
| Snack total | 422 cal | 19g | ||
| Dinner | Chicken breast (raw) - or 150g extra paneer if no meat | 180g raw | 212 | 40g |
| Sweet potato (boiled, no salt) | 200g raw | 172 | 3g | |
| Tomatoes | 200g | 36 | 2g | |
| Dinner total | 420 cal | 45g | ||
| DAILY TOTAL | ~2,233 cal | ~150g protein | ||
Training - Upper/Lower Split 4 Days
2 sets per exercise. Set 1 heavy to 1 rep before failure. Set 2 absolute failure. Progressive overload every week - if the weight isn't going up, something is wrong.
| Day | Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper | Incline Smith Press | 2 | 6-10 |
| Machine Chest Fly | 2 | 8-12 | |
| Machine Shoulder Press | 2 | 6-10 | |
| Lateral Raises | 2 | 10-12 | |
| Lat Pulldown or Assisted Pull-Up | 2 | 6-10 | |
| Machine Upper Back Row (chest against pad) | 2 | 8-12 | |
| Preacher Curl (dumbbell) | 2 | 10-15 | |
| Hammer Curl (dumbbell) | 2 | 10-15 | |
| Straight Bar Pushdown | 2 | 10-15 | |
| Neck Curls | 2 | 15-25 | |
| Lower | Leg Press or Squat | 2 | 6-10 |
| Leg Extension | 2 | 8-12 | |
| Hamstring Curl | 2 | 10-15 | |
| Calf Raises | 2 | 8-12 | |
| Ab Crunch Machine | 2 | 12-20 |
Key priorities for your face and frame specifically:
- Neck curls every upper day - your neck is thin and it's affecting the side profile. Non-negotiable.
- Rows and rear delt work - directly fixes the shoulder rounding and forward head posture from the back end.
- Lateral raises - wider shoulders make the head look smaller and the face more proportional. Lead with elbows not hands, engage lats first before lifting.
Creatine - Start Now, Don't Wait
- You already have it. Take 5g daily right now even without training - when you start the gym it'll be fully loaded in your system.
- 10g daily for the first 2 weeks if you haven't been consistent with it, then drop to 5g maintenance.
Daily Schedule
09- 3L water - hit it consistently
- Mewing all day - back third of tongue engaged with suction, not just resting
- Chin tucks - 3-4 sets, 5 minutes
- Kefir - 1 glass
- Head elevated when sleeping
- Phone down 30 min before sleep
- Lash serum AM and PM - every day without fail
- Minoxidil on brows AM and PM
- SPF 50 on face every morning
- Ice roller under eyes - 2 minutes
- Lymphatic drainage - 2-3 minutes
- Forehead relaxation - 2 minutes
- Skincare routine - cleanser, niacinamide, moisturizer, SPF
- Orbicularis oculi exercise - once daily, 2-3 minutes to the burn
- Forehead relaxation - second session before bed, 2 min
- Light squint habit throughout the day - subtle lower lid tightening, no forehead wrinkles
- Phase 1 Release: upper trap, pec stretch, foam roller T-spine, hip flexor
- Phase 2 Strengthen: chin tucks, wall angels, band pull-aparts, dead bug, glute bridges
- 30 minutes. Slow and deliberate. Feel the masseters. Favor the weaker side slightly.
- Derma roller on brows once per week - apply minoxidil immediately after
- Castor oil on brows at night - daily
- Brow dye every 4-6 weeks when color fades
What to Expect
10Week 1-2
Goatee shaped correctly immediately changes how the asymmetry reads from the front. Brow dye creates instant contrast and makes the eye area pop. Ice roller and lymphatic drainage noticeably reduce morning eye puffiness. These are day-one changes.
Month 1-2
Brow minoxidil starting to show new growth. Lash serum producing visible length. Skin improving from the full routine. Eye area tightening from orbicularis work. Potassium protocol reducing daily facial bloating. Chin tucks beginning to change the side profile.
Month 3-4
Brows fully denser and properly dark - the eye area looks completely different. Lashes long enough for the curler to make a significant difference. Masseters developing from mastic gum. Posture visibly improved. Face reading sharper overall.
Tour Ends
When training starts the whole thing compounds. Muscle on the frame fills out the face, neck thickens, side profile improves further. The face work done during the tour means by the time training kicks in, the grooming and eye area are already locked in and the results stack fast.
Theory & Guidance
——The why behind everything in your protocol. Click to expand.
Facial asymmetry is almost universal - very few people have perfectly symmetrical faces. The issue isn't that you have it, it's that the current goatee shape is drawing the eye directly to it rather than balancing it out.
When the goatee extends into the sides and the bottom doesn't sit cleanly on the lip line, it creates an uneven frame around the mouth and lower face. Because the frame is uneven, the eye immediately reads the difference in the ramus length on each side. A clean, symmetrical goatee that sits flush with the lips on both sides creates a visual anchor that the eye reads as balanced, even when the underlying bone structure isn't perfectly even.
The trim strategy
Take a front-facing photo with neutral expression after every trim. Look at both sides and compare. The side with the longer ramus will tend to look fuller - trim that side slightly shorter than the other until the photo looks balanced. This compensates for the structural difference with an optical correction. It takes some adjustment to find the exact point but once you find it, replicate it every trim.
Recessed orbitals means the bone around the eye socket sits further back than ideal. When the orbital bone isn't projecting forward enough, the eyeball appears to sit more forward and prominent relative to the surrounding bone. From the side this reads as eyes that stick out rather than eyes that sit deep and sharp in a well-defined socket.
You can't change the orbital bone without surgery. But you can significantly change how the eye area reads through the things around it. Fuller, darker brows sitting lower create the illusion of more orbital projection because they frame the eye from above. Longer lashes draw attention to the eye itself rather than the socket shape. Tighter orbicularis muscles reduce upper eyelid exposure which makes the eye look more recessed and intentional. All of these are achievable without touching the bone.
The canthal tilt situation
The negative canthal tilt on the affected side - where the outer corner of the eye sits lower than the inner corner - is partly structural and partly soft tissue. The lash curler helps significantly here. When you curl the lashes upward, especially on the outer corner, it creates the visual impression of a more positive tilt by lifting the outer lash line. This is not a fix for the bone but it changes how the eye reads in photos and in real life, which is what matters.
Your lymphatic system is your body's drainage network. Unlike blood it has no pump - it moves through movement, muscle contraction, and manual pressure. When it's sluggish from poor sleep, high carb and sodium meals, or low movement, fluid pools in the face.
The Punjabi food diet is high in carbs and sodium which creates a higher fluid retention environment. The dancing is intense but it's performance cardio not consistent daily low-level movement that keeps the lymph flowing throughout the day. This combination is why the face looks noticeably puffier than it would at the same body fat percentage with different habits.
How to do lymphatic drainage correctly
- Ring fingers only - lightest pressure. Direction matters more than force.
- Start at the inner corner of the eyes, sweep outward toward the temples.
- From temples, sweep down toward the ears.
- From ears, sweep down the neck toward the collarbone - this is where lymph re-enters the bloodstream.
- 2-3 minutes every morning. Think glide, not press.
Mewing isn't just resting the tongue up there passively. The key is suction - the entire tongue surface making contact with the palate with upward pressure, especially the back third. When this is maintained consistently, it applies gentle and constant upward support to the maxilla. Over time this influences how facial forces are distributed across the skull.
At 18 your bone is still responsive in a way it won't be at 25. The midface and orbital area are still being shaped by the mechanical forces applied to them daily. Consistent correct mewing posture is one of the few things that can actually influence orbital and midface development at your age. It's not going to happen overnight - this is months and years of consistent input. But the window you're in right now is the most valuable one you'll ever have for it.
Tongue chewing exists to build the endurance to hold this all day. If your tongue gets tired and drops after a few minutes, it means it's undertrained. 10 minutes of tongue chewing daily builds the strength so correct posture becomes automatic and passive rather than something you consciously maintain.
The orbicularis oculi is the ring-shaped muscle that wraps around the entire eye. It controls blinking, squinting, and how tight or loose the eye area sits at rest. When it's undertrained the eyes look passive, droopy, and disengaged. When it develops, the area tightens, upper eyelid exposure reduces, and the eyes look intentional and sharp without effort.
Given your recessed orbitals and the negative canthal tilt on one side, a tight orbicularis is especially valuable for you. Tighter lower lids create the appearance of more upward tilt at the outer corner, which directly counteracts the negative canthal tilt look.
How to do it
- Index and middle fingers on outer corners of eyes.
- Pull slightly upward and outward - light resistance only.
- Close eyes tightly against that resistance. Hold 1-2 seconds.
- Go until you feel a clear burn around the eye. Push slightly past it. Stop.
- Once per day, 2-3 minutes.
The habit that makes this permanent: keep a subtle lower lid engagement throughout the day. Not a squint, not a stare. Just slight tightening of the lower lid. No forehead wrinkles. After a few weeks this becomes automatic.
Vitamin D3 is produced when UVB rays hit exposed skin. Your turban and religious dress cover a significant amount of skin surface that would otherwise be exposed to sunlight. Studies specifically on Sikh and South Asian populations in northern countries show D3 deficiency rates significantly higher than the general population - precisely because of this reduced skin exposure.
D3 deficiency at 18 is a serious problem for bone development. Your facial bones, jaw, and orbital structure are still developing. D3 is required for calcium absorption and bone remodeling. Without adequate D3 you're limiting the genetic potential of your bone development during the exact window when it matters most.
5,000 IU daily is the right dose for your situation. This is not excessive. It's what's needed to consistently maintain adequate blood levels when sun exposure is limited. Pair it with K2 at 200mcg every time - K2 directs the calcium into bone rather than letting it deposit in soft tissue. They work as a system and one without the other is incomplete.