Get Started on Your Dad Bod
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As a father, you are a physical embodiment of the discipline, strength and consistency that you want to pass on to your children. No matter your best intentions, your child will see you as an example to follow-for good or for bad. Childhood obesity is on the rise. Look around a family restaurant and see how screens are destroying the health and attention of our young and impressionable. This is not a problem you can ignore.
My Story: Trust me, I know how freaking unbelievably hard it is to lose weight. I’ve yo-yoed my weight from 215 to 160 and ever number inbetween from the last 15 years. Having my son changed things. Health and fitness became an absolute priority. Holding my son in my arms for the first time brought the entire weight of mortality and adulthood onto my shoulders. I have to be there for him. I have to be strong to protect him and to be a living example of what it means to be healthy, disciplined and strong.
Purposely fat picture
Me at my absolutely skinniest
We have to do better as fathers. You have to do better. If you have been holding off on starting…if you’ve told yourself multiple times, “I should lose some weight” or “I should get back in shape”…this is your CALL TO ACTION to start TODAY.
Me as a father.
IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE COMPLICATED. With that said, it’s not going to be EASY either. Things can be simple but difficult, and, honestly, getting in better health is one of those things.
Now there’s plenty of things I want to share, but for this first step, I want to share the 3 big changes that really jump started my journey.
1.Track your calories. Don’t eyeball it/guesstimate your calories. Get an app like Kronometer, Macrofactor or MyFitnessPal and start tracking every single thing you put in your mouth. This builds accountability, consistency, and it also gamifies and educates you about how exactly you eat throughout the day. You might not realize that little snack or latte is adding 500 extra calories to your daily intake, which can lead to several pounds of fat that you don’t need to be carrying. Be a little obsessive about it. Do it for at least 2 months and you will start to become more mindful about what you are putting into your body.
2. Focus on protein. Centering my macros around protein was key to getting my weight under control. Shoot for 1g of protein per pound of your IDEAL weight (let’s just call this the weight where you would feel the most fittest/leanest). You don’t need to eat that much daily, but it’s a pretty easy calculation to set a goal that ensures you are getting enough. It’s actually really important that you try and hit this goal when you are losing weight to help reduce the muscle/lean tissue that you lose when you go on a calorie deficit. Having trouble eating that much protein?
Here’s a quick hack: Fairlife Protein Shake. Tastes like chocolate milk, low sugar, and 30g of protein for 150 calories. Quite unbeatable.
3. Lift 2-3x a week. If that’s hard, lift once a week. If that’s hard, go do a pushup right now. Just one. Something is always better than nothing. Lifting heavy weights consistently and progressively is one of the most valuable things you can do to help your future self live a better life. Not only does a good amount of muscle make you look good, it helps stave off injuries, sickness, improves your energy, it gives you better libido (to make more children) and it makes it easier to play with your children…to carry them…to throw and catch them…to flip them around like a kettlebell and powerslam them onto the couch.
It makes your life BETTER. No one complains about being too strong.
You can do bodyweight exercises to start, but you really want to invest in some dumbbells or kettlebells to really get those gains going. You can be a complete mad man like me and build out a garage gym, but beware the addiction that comes with this.
THATS IT! If you followed these three things for 3 months, you would see tremendous gains in your body composition and weight. Check out the rest of the dad bod section of the site for more protocols, tips, and gear to help get you to look like an OC Dad.