[osener]

"I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine. In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion."

- Patrick Bateman

[stuntmachine]

Exactly. Sometimes I feel like we're playing a game where we see just how many different ways we can regurgitate old ideas in the style of Patrick Bateman (emotionless, preachy, assuming superiority).

Hopefully OP realizes this before it's too late: This lifestyle -- these attempts at maximizing productivity will decrease your happiness. They completely ignore a well-accepted truth: variety is the spice of life. In the 90s we started to laugh at the yuppie workaholics of the 80s for what they were and all they failed (and succeeded) to do. It seems we've forgotten the tragedy of their often short-sighted and unsustainable lifestyle choices because I see them being repeated.

To anyone who has subscribed to this lifestyle: Go watch American Psycho and introspect on how much you're becoming a modern day version of that caricature of insanity (minus the literal killing).

[poopicus]

I'm not entirely sure what you're driving at. It seems you're equating having a routine with being a psychopath. While narcissism like in your extract can be considered part of the dark triad, it seems like you've decided the OP is also a narcissist with little to no evidence to back it up. Then again, I can only guess at what you're getting at when your only statement (argument?) is a quote from a piece of fiction.

Working out regularly does not make you a narcissist. In fact, he doesn't even specify the exercises he does. For all we know, he goes jogging to help boost his cardiovascular health, rather than pumping iron. And even if he did pump iron, let him. It's what he wants to do, and it doesn't make him a psycho.