Gave up beer and sleeping past 0530. I’m lucky enough to have the room so I put a half rack, plates, and dumbbells in the garage. I was able to workout while they slept for 30-40 mins. No more elevator for anything less than five floors and I put a rowing machine near the washer so I could multitask. I also use the workout app called Fitbod so I don’t have to worry about programming my routines. It does it for me using the equipment I have available.
This, convenience and early starts are key. I signed up for a tri, but training is only possible because I have a turbo in the spare room, can run around woods next to the house and have a swimming pool 3min walk from work for easy access at lunch.
I like a goal though keeps you motivated as <05.30 doesn’t get easier.
Also no I don’t count calories my biggest issue is eating enough.
Nah, anything at home simply does not work for me. If it did, I would have done it long ago. Started many times, but there are just way too many distractions at home.
I have to build a routine of going to the gym right after work with no excuses for not going. "There is so much work to be done"? You don't fee like it? Your wife asks you to come home early, because she had a tough day? NOPE, no excuses.
My problems are holidays and getting sick, which both destroy my routine. Then I have to build it up again.
Yes, I’ve been using it for a few years now. Usually you can find a coupon for 30-50% off the annual price of $79. It’s been well worth it. I’ve managed to drop 30lb of fat and a 38-49 waist and gain 30lbs of muscle back and kept my waist at 33-34.
My eldest wakes up at 5:30. Typically in bed around 9:30 and out by 10. 10:30 at the latest, and when that happens it's usually a mistake because I got sucked into reading another chapter of a book. The worst part is I'm waking up naturally at 5 now anticipating him and couldn't get back to sleep anyway.
my alarm is set for 5- 5:20 and i often wake up before that. Try to be in bed by 9, I usually start the kids bedtime routines between 7:30 and 8, and if I'm lucky I get a little bit of time with the wife or to read before I go to sleep.
Don't take this the wrong way, but how the fuck do you get to bed by 9? I would love to get up early to work out, but I can't get to bed before 11 every night, and I can't justify it just to get 5.5 hrs every night.
I hear ya. I had a 4:45 start for years, but i couldn’t do it anymore. I’m a night person. Took a pay cut (at first, now I make way more) to start work at around 10
Pick something that you're going to enjoy, like cycling, running, climbing. If you have to grind it out you're going to quit.
I've never had to count calories, but if you actually want to lose weight then it will help. Eating wise, cut out as much shit as you can. Quit the fizzy drinks. You can make grilled chicken and rice in about 15 minutes.
Half an hour running a day, you'll be doing 5ks in a month or two. Everyone has a spare half hour in their day.
Honestly, finding something that you don't think of as exercise is a massive advantage. I know for a fact that I couldn't motivate myself to go to the gym, but I really enjoy going out exploring on my mountain bike. Getting fitter is simply an awesome byproduct.
+1 for mountain biking. Physical health, mental health, fresh air, exploring, progression, fun. Tonnes of benefits and it's so much more enjoyable than running.
Yeah this is a big one. I added 6 hours of cardio a week by incorporating 3x weekly volleyball. This in turn has me wanting to do other physical activity like lifting and mobility training to support my volleyball hobby. I’m seeing massive improvements on the scale yet, but I’m certainly much more fit than I’ve been in ages.
>Half an hour running a day, you'll be doing 5ks in a month or two. Everyone has a spare half hour in their day.
That's not the main issue, it's the warm down and shower after that's also a half hour.
Personally I think the main issue is keeping fit.
Yeah, ok. Realistically you might need up to another 30 mins after your run. You'll need to shower after whatever sport you choose.
Why not add in the ten minutes you'll need to put your shorts and running shoes on too? Or the ten minute drive to and from the gym?
i’ve commonly heard this framed as “don’t drink calories”. your body digests liquids a lot faster and they end up being less satiating.
imo some minor exceptions to that are fine like a *little* half and half in your coffee, or like a ~60 cal kombucha.
Just do *something.*
People get hung up on doing the “right” or “best” or “perfect” thing. In reality, the only thing that’s important is being consistent.
Going for a 2mile walk 3x a week is already thousands of times better than doing nothing. In fact, just go for a walk right now even. Take your kids to the park or something. For exercise, find something that you *enjoy* doing. If there’s nothing you find super enjoyable then make fun rituals around what you do - ex: you only drink the fancy special coffee when you go for a morning walk. It’s also easier if you can make it into a family activity even indirectly - ex: where my kids have swimming lessons also has a gym, so that’s when I go the gym each week.
The most important thing is that you understand that you are changing how you live the rest of your life. Big sudden changes are rarely sustainable because they are difficult to remain consistent with. You change your life by making small, *sustainable* changes.
It’s why “going on a diet” rarely works for people. They are often dramatic, and unenjoyable, and therefor impossible to maintain for most.
Just like for exercise, for healthy eating make small easy changes, one or two at a time, and don’t change anything else until these have become habitual for you.
The highest yield dietary modifications for most people are: cutting down/out alcohol, cutting down/out soda and other high calorie drinks, and cutting down on snacking.
Eat 2000 - 2500 cal a day
Try to be active in your daily life (walk more, take the stairs ect)
Workout 3-5 times a week, minimum 20 minutes (whatever you think is fun but you need to get your heart going) bonus if it builds muscles
Cut down/cut out carbs from sugar, alcohol and pasta/bread
Eat more protein
Thats it
Source: I have lost over 40 kg and kept it off for over 10 year.
And to anwer your questions regarding strategy
I meal prep 500 cal lunch/dinners that cointains one protein, one carb and veggies niotiden else. I also mealprep breakfast (overnight oats) and snacks.
I use to go to the gym 3-5 times a week but now when Im home with the kid i do a 20 min non stop kettebell workout while he is sleeping every week day.
And when I "cheat" I will try to pick the lesser of two evil (just the burger, no fries/save half the pizza for the day after/popsicle instead of ice cream, non alcoholic beer or 20 cl beer instead of 50 cl pint ect)
Ok I’m 35, have 3 kids age 6, 4 and 3, have been lifting a long time and I’m probably in the best shape of my life now. Here’s how I make it work and what I eat.
Put a home gym in my garage.
Wake up at 5:30, hammer a protein shake with two scoops of protein in water, then I’m in the gym by 5:45, done by 6:30, every day (pending things coming up so that I legitimately can’t)
Breakfast - Have a coffee and either vector cereal or oatmeal with Greek yogurt.
Lunch - something like a tuna wrap with a whole can of tuna on it, or ham cheese and mustard on a bun, plus a banana.
Supper - whatever we’re having, usually meat, carb, and vegetable, just eat a reasonable amount.
Then, the hardest part: avoid snacks. Some tips for that - brush your teeth after supper, so you won’t have a few little things that lead to more little things and end up in having 1000 calories before bed. Don’t finish everything the kids don’t eat, just save it or throw it out. Don’t drink anything with calories, just water and other 0-calorie drinks. Stick to the same routine eating on the weekends.
Feel free to PM with more specific questions.
The no snacking: I recommend taking up a high-nicotine hobby.
JK. Sigh. I never ever snacked. Quit nicotine a few weeks ago after 23 years; gained 12 lbs.
Working on it, though!
Yup, a lot of these are things I'm implemented in the past few years, that have taken me way too long to realize (specifically the brushing early after dinner and trying to not eat my kids leftovers despite feeling bad about wasting food).
For me it’s been a habit that I kept up after having kids and making sure i prioritize it.
I’m up at 4am every day and lifting in the basement by 415 with my coffee and kettlebells in hand. I do it 5 days a week (chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms, and Abs 3x/week). 4 sets of 12-15 reps before moving up the weight and typically 5-7 working sets per body part. Typical workout is roughly an hour so by 515/520 I’m done.
On top of working out I do tend to watch what I eat, it doesn’t hurt I’m also medically limited but I focus on high protein, Whole Foods. Typical breakfast is 3 eggs with ground s turkey and spinach, chicken sausage and two pieces of toast. Lunch is a chicken/salmon salad and dinner is usually chicken/fish/turkey with rice or the occasional sandwich. I don’t count calories per se but don’t eat wildly and try to keep snacking to a minimum. Overall I’ve probably lost 15 pounds in the last year and for the first time in my life, at 35, have visible abs and veins around my lower abs.
It’s not easy but it’s never supposed to be.
I s cond this - my kids are asleep at 10:30 (my wife insists it's impossible to do earlier) and work starts at 7 - so I don't see how I can work out when there are things like dishes, laundry, etc to do in that half hour
1030? Fuck on out of here. My kids are in bed by 730 and asleep around 8. Thankfully they’re 3 and 5 and don’t need anything at night so it’s a solid night of sleep.
What time do you go to bed? Best case scenario we get the 3yo and 3mo asleep at 8-8:30pm. Then by the time I shower and talk with the wife it’s 10-11pm.
My kids are in bed lights out by 730 and usually asleep by 8. Wife and I watch tv/talk until 9ish then we’re in bed either on our phone (her) or reading (me) and then asleep by 10, sometimes later if ya know what’s going on.
My wife and I agreed to hold each other accountable and wake up at 5 each weekday morning. Weekends are usually her doing something targetted, me doing yard/house/garage work.
Diet is a lot of lean protein. I love to cook and try new recipes so that part is pretty easy. If I decided to give up alcohol I could probably look like a frickin Adonis but I'm pretty happy with where I am.
I also started following Schwarzenegger on Twitter (currently known as X) and he's surprisingly inspiring to keep it up.
Same here, along with eating better in my eating window. More protein and veggies, less carbs and sugar, and no booze in the past 8 months. I lost about 25 pounds just by stopping drinking, and another 20-25 within a couple months to get to my target weight. Crazy how quickly it worked.
IF + eating healthy + limiting booze to the weekend has helped me a lot. I typically do 20:4, breaking my fast with a massive bowl of veggies around 4-5, then having dinner late in the evening. I highly recommend black coffee and/or (naturally) flavored sparkling water.
Topo Chico is the bomb. I drank coffee, and Topo Chico exclusively till my dinner. Now I had a big dinner but my job is physically demanding so it equaled our.
I'll echo what everyone has pretty much said. Cut the sugary drinks and cut alcohol.
I also focused on increasing protein intake as well.
For fitness, definitely find something you like. But, cardio and weights are great, even for 15-30 minutes. And, don't fool yourself into thinking that's the total time. Take into account getting changed into and out of training gear and a shower afterward.
I am consuming cannabis a lot. And yes, no way I'm giving that up. So I started making it a habit to do 10 push ups every Time I light up.
As I am a computer scientist, I could barely do 10.
This habit transformed to 100 a day, to get some continuity in. And doing 36000 push ups a year sounds bragging.
First 10 sets of 10
Then 6 sets of 15
Then 5 sets of 20
Then 4 sets of 25
Centrally 2 sets of 30 and 1 of 40.
This has been going on since January. As I was the average no fat no muscle boney guy, success are already visible.
Don't beat yourself up. It's harder than ever to find time for yourself with kids, and they exist solely to create chaos & ruin your attempts at creating routine. Just find small steps you can take, set a reasonable target (3 walks per week or something to start), and simply try again if you miss on a given week. Easier said than done of course :)
1. Have a midlife crisis causing you intense depression/anxiety and loss of appetite
2. Get prescribed Wellbutrin which suppresses appetite
3. Pick up running as a way to literally run away from your problems.
3. ...?
4. Profit
I started by counting calories and getting a game plan. Already had a good scale so that made it easier for sure, but they're cheap anyway.
Most of the food I ate came from the against the wall sections at the grocery store. Middle aisles are filled with shit for the most part.
Eat healthier food, I had a hard time getting to the target calorie number when I was eating real food
A big one for me was just bike riding. If it’s within 8 miles we usually ride there. We started with a Thule bike seat and now have the Kids Ride Shotgun seat. Then a pretty good size backpack. We ride to the grocery store so it’s shorter more frequent trips and you really have to prioritize since you’re space limited so you aren’t getting things like soda and chips. Recently we started trying to go to every park in the city. We’re in a newer city that has easily over a hundred parks plus the neighboring cities so it’s kinda my son and I’s “thing” right now.
I’m glad I moved somewhere bicycle friendly and we can ride into town for errands and dinner. When I was in the Midwest the only reason an adult was on a bicycle in town was because they had a DUI.
If you're talking about loosing weight, it really is 80% diet. Excercise is great for so many reasons, but is usually responsible for a small proportion of the calories you burn every day, even if you really go for it. Regarding excercise, find something you really, really love. Running if you hate running won't last. Things that you find theraputic or social are good. We have limited time so activities that scratch more than one itch are good. I've got fit and unfit a few times. Mountain biking was great, I love being in the woods, but it's expensive and requires tonnes of time for maintenance, travel to places to cycle and is hard to to in bad weather. Just hasn't worked out in my Dad years. Brazillian Jiu Jitsu has stuck for me for a few years now and has got me in decent shape in my 40's because it's easy to do in small hour to 2 hour chunks, is done indoors so not weather dependent, and the social aspect of it is a motivation to turn up and learn.
Not where I want to be but not where I was. A lot of veggies, tend not to eat out , that’s more of a treat. Apple watch and setting move goals helps. I tend to wake up before everyone to get some exercises in, nothing crazy, at least 30 mins. I do cook in bulk/meal prep. All the little things add up over time.
Keto worked for me as well but I just felt weird the whole time. Then shit happened and I fell off and gained it all right back. I don’t feel like keto is really sustainable.
I’m a single dad and my weight has been slowly creeping up and up over the past few years. I started doing the keto diet in February and I’m down 25 lbs so far. Still a ways to go but definitely good progress. I’ve been lifting weights again consistently for a few years and that helped with general fitness but didn’t cause weight loss on its own. I’ve also taken up disc golfing which is better exercise than it sounds, but it’s mostly the diet change that has lead to actual weight loss
I had done it about 6 years ago off and on and at the time I bought a couple books that were good resources and also had some recipes. This time around I’m doing it kinda lazily without tracking but just knowing what foods are low in carbs and only eating those
Edit: this was the book I had that was a good starter guide: https://www.amazon.ca/Keto-Diet-Complete-Delectable-Confidence/dp/1628600160
Ey, nice im starting disc golfing this summer, ive played with friends, between the walking and throwing its such a nice hobby for some light activity.
Not to be boring but like everyone said: diet and exercise.
Step 1 is counting calories and monitor what happens to your weight when you eat a certain amount. Even though I'm taller I only need around 2000 calories a day because I have a desk job. 1800 if I want to lose weight. Weigh your food and don't lie to yourself because at the end of the day it's calories in - calories out. Your body doesn't magically conjure up calories and fat.
Step 2 is working out to get you the rest of the way there. What clicked for me was that I needed to get my core stronger for my herniated disk. I enrolled in a local HIIT class and that took me from being in decent shape to being in good shape. Now I'm scaling back my HIIT stuff with more low impact since I'm trying to maintain vs having a hardcore burn session.
1. Got a bike and cycled to work
2. Got some weights and put them in the garage
3. Diet is still a struggle. I know you can't keep outrun a shit diet and all that but points 1 and 2 have helped a ton
I have a big lunch and then skip dinner and get a workout in 2 or 3 evenings a week, after the kiddos are in bed.
Getting to bed by 10pm latest, so I get 7ish hours sleep a night.
Doing the above consistently.
Figure out how many meals work for you (for me it’s 3 meals plus I snack) and don’t eat outside of these meals. Prioritize protein at every meal. Keep all meals roughly the same size, (don’t have to weigh, but might help for first little while). After protein, prioritize fibre and healthy fats. Don’t have to restrict carbs or cut out sugar, but prioritizing protein, fibre and healthy fat, with make it much easier to naturally limit and reduce cravings for junk.
While I am not fit, I am slowly getting in better shape. The answer is having more physical hobbies. Given time is an issue. But also doing fence work is helpful.
Prioritize eating protein, which is the hardest to eat enough of and also the most satiating. You will naturally eat less bs if you prioritize eating protein.
Kettlebells are a very space, cost, and time efficient tool. Pushups, pull ups, and body weight squats are underrated.
Remember that starting is the hardest part - use that as motivation to make it through the first few weeks, and then use it as motivation to never stop so you don’t have to restart.
Know that there is no better ego boost than not wanting to work out, having every reason not to, and then working out anyway. It’ll do more for your mental health than almost anything else.
Start with small goals. Keep it simple. Never stop.
The easier it is to exercise, the more likely you are to do it. I got a rowing machine that I've used daily for the last 6 years. No need to drive anywhere or pack anything. Just do a 10k when I have the time for it. Set up a tablet with some noise cancelling headphones and you can watch your show while you do it (or whatever your vibe is).
Diet is really important too, but it sounds like you already know that. All I will add is that food quality is important too. You'll be losing a lot of electrolytes through sweat so get lots of leafy stuff and veggies.
Lost 80lbs in the last year on Wegovy.
It works. No doubt. I’m now at a healthy BMI and off my blood pressure meds to boot. Also I have a much better handle on food in general.
Now I need to start working out to tighten some stuff up. And increase my stamina/cardio health.
Skipped breakfast completely, only ate one serving per meal. No more leftovers from the kids, no sweets.
Went to the climbing gym once per week and cycled to work/kindergarten (about 8km per day).
Lost 7Kg in 6 weeks.
Personal trainer.
1. It's so ridiculously luxurious to have someone that makes your schedule (less mental overhead) and helps with the workout (technique, handing weights and keeps track of counts/sets).
2. It's so expensive that I literally could not live with myself if I skipped a workout.
My wife left me and only thing that helped me stop screaming in my head was to go run as far as I could. Started averaging 8 miles a day between a couple runs. Lost 40+ pounds at this point, feel amazing physically, still cursing her on my runs though
At 42 I read a book called [The Barbell Prescription.](https://aasgaardco.com/store/books-posters-dvd/books/the-barbell-prescription-strength-training-for-life-after-40/) Short version is you need strength to age well and barbells are the best way to do it.
I want to be physically able to do what I want for as long as I can. I’m 48 now and feel younger than I did when I turned 40 thanks to that book.
Am on the journey to getting fitter, all i did was, my commute to work doesnt change much if i walk half of it in either direction, my sons kindergarden is 5 mins away on foot, and he like to get carried, so i make it a slow walk and carry him there(hes about 12kg now). I walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator and last but not least, ive swapped like 20% of the carbs i would eat usually for protein containing stuff, meat, beans, lentils, fish etc. I activly play with/carry my kid on my shoulders as much as he allows me to, been going on walks like this with him to practice left and right.
And im feeling so much better, my back isnt in pain anymore my stamina and muscles i used to have are slowly returning and i got so much more energy and dont feel tired in the afternoon/evening.
Once swimming outdoors is viable here again ill add that as a bi weekly extra thing to have fun with my son.
Been doing it for like 3-4 months and its honestly refreshing slowly transforming my slightly sagging moobs into perky moobs with some muscles under the fat.
My motto was "just do something, anything."
I lost 6 stone in the run up to my son being born.
I discovered running, week before he was born I'd done my first triathlon.
9 years
Later 8 half iron man's,
2 fulls
Bariatric surgery. Was fat all my adult life and it got worse when we had kids. 420 at my fattest. Plateau now at 275 around two years after surgery and working with the clinic on how to get even lower. Love working out and how much more energy I have with nearly 150 lbs off my body.
I’m a work in progress after gaining a huge chunk after eating the leftovers (food is expensive!). In 6 weeks I’m about 5kg down through calorie counting (I need the accountability) and using the stronglifts programme with my squat rack in my garage. I’m hopefully I can build some consistency with it this time.
For fitness, Make it a habit that you look forward to. In that case, you will prioritize it. My goal is lift 2x per week, play tennis at least once per week, and 2 total hours of cardio (inclusive of tennis) each week.
For diet, you have to enjoy the challenge of making healthy foods taste good.
I've just started doing Just eat/Uber eats/deliveroo deliveries on my bike. I get to work out but also get paid for it. It also holds me to commit to a session, and when I've got people's hot food I don't want it to go cold so really push myself effort wise. Seems to be working so far.
There’s going to be a lot of bullshit in here. Walk, count this, eat avocado, do body weight blah.
Honestly, consistency is your goal.
I would suggest doing 2 things and 2 things only.
CrossFit. 4-6 times a week. No thinking involved, turn up, die, repeat. It’s an hour a day and zero thought.
Meal prep mince of some sort. Eat 500g a day with rice or a tortilla or a spoon. That’s about 70g of protein, you probably want twice that but it’s a start. No snacks.
If you do that consistently for a few months you won’t know yourself. You’ll change each week.
I bought a bench and some weights and train 3 nights a week for about 1,5 hours per session. I stopped eating breakfast and just have 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning. I stopped drinking softdrinks and reduced my intake of sweets and try to eat more fruits instead…
Some great advice here, my advice is try and work out in the morning when the kids are asleep, if you leave it till the evening you'll get caught up with them
Started running with the stroller then eventually just started going when everyone was asleep. I dropped from 245lbs to around 210 in around a year, maybe 18 months? And have kindof hovered from like 207-215 ever since.
I still have beers, but I also still have a belly as a result. But my blood pressure was 118/78 for my life insurance check a couple weeks back, my resting heart rate is in the 40s. Running also turns you into a ravenous monster so it’s totally possible to start running and lose no weight at all.
I also successfully buttoned up a 15 year old pair of 32x30 jeans the other day weighing in at 209. Could barely squeeze my thighs into the legs, but they buttoned quite easily.
Activities are great and make you feel great but it’s 90% about what you eat/drink. It’s tough to give up booze and heavy carbs and empty calorie junk food and especially eating/drinking to excess, but you get that under control and you’ll start seeing results fast.
And lifting, running, hiking, biking those will make you feel great and also motivate the diet discipline
Fit is one thing, but if you actually mean lose weight, you have to count calories if you want to be serious about it. Use myfitnesspal and it’s pretty easy to do, and you’ll watch the pounds fly off.
Bought a Fitbit, protein shakes, creatine, started doing strength work 3-4x per week in the basement (only like 20-30mins) and stopped drinking alcohol.
I have been aggressively calorie counting since this last Thanksgiving (~6 months). Although I don't consider myself "fit" yet, I have been very successful with either constantly maintaining or losing weight during this time (~27 pounds down, no exercise, 9+ hr/day office job). I'd like to start working out soon to build muscle/tone, but that's a whole other level of time commitment that I would still need to figure out.
I use the free version of an app called Cronometer to track everything (I used to use My Fitness Pal in the past, but that app has gone downhill in my opinion). The app automatically adjusts your calorie allowance for the day based on your current weight/weight loss goals. I was originally taking in 1850 calories/day at 210 pounds. Now that's down to 1700 calories/day at 182 pounds. Typical meals were something like breakfast (300 calories max), lunch (700 calories max), and dinner/dessert (remainder, typically 850 calories give or take). Protein bars are an easy breakfast, which also allow for more calories at lunch/dinner.
During this time I have been able to go from ~210 pounds, down to ~182 pounds; no exercise other than whatever typical walking I do around the office on any given day. Although I'm not following any specific "diet", the nature of calorie counting kinda makes you make better decisions about what you're eating so you don't feel like you're starving all day long when you run out of calories.
MyFitnessPal is very helpful to figure out where you are at. As far as calories. You don't need to track everything forever, but it can give you an idea of where you're at. If you track for a couple weeks. I get up before everyone in the house to give myself about an hour to work out.
I've been doing it since my kid was about two. He's eight now. I did it for the same reason. I wanted to be able to keep up with him and play with my kids. I'm in the best shape I've ever been in.
I planned my life. I have premade snacks and lunch and schedules workout times. Even when I didn’t feel like it, I went and just half assed the start of the workout (once I was there I usually did it).
I weighted in daily but only stressed the trend.
My breakfast and dinner were mostly the same daily with some minor variations.
Basically..I got boring.
54yo here. It might be my body type, but I have found that if I don't eat for maybe 12 hours at a time, I drop a little weight, like maybe half a pound to a pound. So you could try something like not snacking after dinner before bed and then not eating an early breakfast. Morning coffee can tide you over since the caffeine cranks your metabolism while suppressing your appetite for an hour or two.
YMMV
I struggle with it. I yoyo by 60lbs every other year or two. I'm tired of it but I keep getting injured and then I start stress eating and boom. Weight is back on. I can never keep it off for more than 6 months. It sucks... kind of lost the drive to even try anymore. If I'm being honest.
Factor foods or another premade quick microwaveable meal focused on health is a great first step.
Walks! Lots of walks and little ones can be included.
Drink water, coffee/tea and that’s it.
Body weight exercises while kids are napping or around. Push ups / sit ups / squats
Yoga / flexibility / core
- my family (adults) does a weight loss competition for the first 3 months every year. Small financial incentives and a community to help build positive patterns.
Watching calories, smaller portions, intermittent fasting and a commitment to 250 minutes of intense exercise a week. For me, getting and using a Pelaton with a TV to keep me entertained let me stick to it. I'm in the best shape I've been in the past 35 years. Basically a 45 minute commitment a day did it.
I eat what my kid eats. We always cook him healthy food so it works.
I drink less.
I didn’t exercise for a long time and so I got fat. Now I have him in a yoga class and, when he does yoga I lift weights down the hall.
Before that I would sporadically do home workouts when he gave me a chance.
I take the stairs at work.
I have a few weights at home. When kiddo was 6 weeks old she would wake up and feed every 2-3 hours and so I thought… hmmm… what if I did curls after she went down each time? Maybe add bench on alternating sets…
Don’t change into work out clothes, just doing curls and bench in my PJs. By the time she was 3 months old I was pretty close to my all time max on bench. Met another dad at a daycare viewing. Next thing you know we had a dad group that would lift 1-2 times a week.
What really works for me after having children is common sense.
Yesterday you had pizza, today salad.
I had one small burguer, don't have another.
I didn't exercise so I will eat less.
Today i don't feel so hungry do I'll do intermittent fast.
Today I'm celebrating I will go a bit overboard, next day I'll try and exercise and eat less even if I have to wake up early.
... and so on.
Be completely sober. Less bread, mostly meat and veggies, and various powders. Wake up at 4 am and run 3 miles. Do arms at the gym whenever you can. God speed.
Counting calories helps if your goal is to lose weight.
I also did intermittent fasting. Not so much because I’m 100% sold on it, but more because it gave me an excuse to not eat the donuts and crap people brought in to the office.
I run. Was at 30 mi/ week. Dropping that down to get more strength and yoga in since I think that’s more important as we age.
Running or working out isn’t about motivation it’s about dedication.
We’ve also shifted to more plant based diet. Healthier for us and less demand on industrialized food, which is healthier for the planet that we’re handing off to our 2 boys.
The only other thing I’d say is a habit takes 2 weeks to form. Stay dedicated for a short time, and it’ll get easier. In the end it’s worth it.
Sorry, trying not sound too preachy. But it is what it is.
Yep I committed to counting calories, have barely missed a day in a year and a half. Got a great routine of cardio and resistance training. It's worth it. Don't half ass it. Count calories, do all the stuff.
I call it the baby squat program. In the first almost 2 years of my daughter’s life I’ve lost something like 40ish pounds, but most of it came off towards the beginning. Just the constant holding and bending and picking up, and squatting to pick things up as a sahd.
I started skipping breakfast until 1030am and I make an egg breakfast burrito with a small amount of cheese and meat. It holds me over with a mid afternoon snack until dinner. So essentially skipping a meal. I’ve lost 20lbs. Working from home and being able to do this helps
Garage gym @ 5am, lifting, not much cardio (I probably should for heart health). Diet is around 80% “good” food, 20% is whatever I want. Cut out almost all alcohol (just haven’t wanted any since having the boy) and minimize sugar intake. I’d recommend making small incremental changes that are sustainable, rather than doing everything all at once. Good luck!
Short answer. Do what you need to and let your partner know that this is important to you. This is important so they can stop offering you bad health choices and give you the time you need to workout.
I have an active job as a paraprofessional and future credentialed teacher so I don’t work out any extra.
I was stress eating a lot. Snacking on a meal when I got home, having a big dinner with desert, and then snacking on sweets at night. In the past year I gained 15 lbs. maybe from 180 to 195. One night I had a wake up call. My feet were swollen out of nowhere and that’s never happened before. It went down and I made an appointment for blood work. I had high triglycerides and blood sugar right on the cusp of being pre diabetic.
I cut out all the extra snacking and eating at a ridiculous amount and really cut carbs. I switched to keto friendly carb replacement tortillas and had salads at lunch with a little side of protein. A beer for rare occasions. It’s been 2 months and with the active job I’m down 23 lbs and my blood sugar is in a nice range.
Regarding our partners…. Now she’s also cutting the carbs and doing a 3 day a week boot camp! Many times in the past month she and her family would offer me ice cream or cookies and I would get frustrated explaining the goal of not eating so much sugar. Well she also went to the doctor recently and some to her realization. We’re now trying to educate her parents about it. They’re old and need to enjoy the time they have left, but they don’t need to be having sodas as water and adding sugar to their fresh squeezed juice.
1. Frontload some meals for the week. Make 2-3 dinners all at one time, make enough for leftovers—that way you’re making healthy meals & not wasting a ton of time every night cooking & cleaning all the time.
2. Skip breakfast & bring a small bag of veggies, a piece of fruit & nuts for lunch. That way you get sustenance but it’s lean and healthy.
3. Integrate your family into your exercise routine: biking together as a family, hiking is fun & exhausting too.
4. Simple exercises you can do EVERYDAY at home: jump rope, jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups. Even some simple dumb bells can expand your strength training easily. You can do it at the beginning, middle, or end of the day.
I lost 30 lbs since January and my wife had lost 20. I'm seeing abs for the first time since high school/college. 3 main things we did...
1) Diet - picked up the app Eat This Much after talking with someone over on r/progresspics . This is definitely the #1 thing that helped. All the exercise in the world won't do jack. This helps you see what calories per meal should look like for your goal/height. It can also help on the other side bulk up after you've cut.
2) Exercise - I started the recommended routine at r/bodyweightfitness . I bought a pull up bar and some rings and never have to leave my house. I do it after the kids are asleep typically. This program (with your new good eating habits) will get you turning heads at the pool by next year.
3) Consistency - it takes 66 days to form a habit. For the first 66 days, be relentless about eating right and dragging yourself back to the pull-up bar. No excuses during this time. Miss a day? Guess who's working out today then... This will give you enough time to start feeling better/stronger and if your eating right, you'll be seeing the pound drop week after week on the scale. From there, it'll become just part of what you do. You'll have holidays where you eat a little or life blocks you from working out but it's just one day and the next day you go straight back to the grind.
No alcohol, no sweets such as chocolate, cake, cookies. Dinner not after 8pm, ideally much earlier. This and having a lunchtime-run once or twice a week (~5km, moderate speed, I just started running in January) made me lose 20kg from January 1st to April 26th when our second child was born.
(Sorry for km and kg, German dad here 😄)
Since you're asking this question, I'm assuming you don't enjoy working out. Neither do I. I essentially do two things... Make exercise as quick/easy/convenient as possible, and gaslight myself for motivation. I'm a big basketball fan and last fall I committed to exercising every day the OKC thunder played a game. I became superstitious about it and OKC ended up surprising every one with how good they played all season. So i refuse to believe I had nothing to do with it. I haven't yet figured out a good replacement now that their season is over.
As far as convenience goes, figure out a routine that requires minimal equipment that takes up minimal space so that you can keep your equipment where ever you spend the most time. For me, if it's out of sight it's out of mind. Also, I need to be able to squeeze in my work out when I have the free time and it needs to be ready to go whenever I am. If I have to relocate to a gym somewhere else I'll never do it. Too inconvenient. I have a folding exercise bike (magnetic resistance so now power supply needed), a few dumbbells, and a pull up tower. It all fights easily in a 2x2 ft space.
Focusing on only one area of the body per day is great if you're trying to be a body builder but only really works if you go to the gym almost every day. If that's not your goal, come up with a good full body routine with some cardio.
I cut down on sugary drinks a lot. I'm fortunate enough to not have to struggle with weight much, but not drinking my calories makes it really easy to not have to worry so much about what I'm eating.
I also injured my back a few years ago and learned how to build up the supporting muscles around it to prevent future injury. Being terrified of reinjuring myself has been a big motivating factor.
The other thing to remember is that taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for your children in the long term. I've seen a lot of people have to care for their parents while also juggling raising children and work and all that. I don't won't to burden my children when they're still trying to figure out how to support their own families.
Start small and be realistic while still challenging yourself. The hardest part is building the habit. So at first make your routine easy and simple. It's more about establishing the habit at first. The rest comes easier after that.
As much as I dislike exercising I always feel better when I'm doing it regularly.
I'm by no means ripped or anything but I'm in pretty good shape for my age. For reference I'm 35, 5'10", and 155lbs. I exercise on average 3 times/week for about 20 minutes and eat pretty much whatever I want.
5am starts and DDPY. A high protein low (not no) carb diet. I eat regularly at 7am, noon, and 5p. Keep snacking to a minimum. If I want something "not" healthy I have it in moderation. I shoot for 85% good throughout the week. I'm not looking to be what I was in my teens just healthy to keep up with the kid.
Its crazy, but I asked Chatgpt to make me a weekly plan based off my age and weight and made sure to include that I was pretty busy so it gave me a decent weekly plan with rest days included thats totally achievable
I use the app My Fitness Pal to track calories. I set my plan to lose 2 pounds per week and ate 1600 calories and lose 35 pounds in four months (195-160 from Dec-March). It helped that I was used to being obsessive about my weight from my wrestling days.
Eat protein and veggies. Try for .7-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Cut out alcohol and sweets as best you can. If you’re gonna snack, make sure it’s veggies, yogurt, or a protein bar cause that will hold you over for less calories. Look into protein shakes (Premier Protein and Fairlife are both good). Cottage cheese, grilled chicken, and salmon are insanely good protein sources for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I lift with a Push, Pull, Legs schedule 6 days a week at 5:00 am when my kids are still asleep. I’m also a teacher so I already have a relatively active job and get my steps in that way.
I’ll be honest, it sucked for a bit but it got the job done in a pretty fast fashion. Now I can focus on maintaining a healthier weight (I eat like 2200-2600 calories now) while maintaining my lift schedule. I don’t recommend a dramatic cut like I did but the My Fitness Pal app can also do plans that lose at a slower pace (.5 pound or 1 pound a week) so that’s easier.
Good luck!
Lot of vegetables, if any alcohol and exercise both strength and endurance. 3 months if you’re good about it all. I replaced my lunches with vegetables and ate more at dinner
I stopped cleaning ny kids plates. Relized it's gonna be waste or waist.
I lost 10 lbs when I stopped drinking. (1 or 2 most days)
For fitness, I play at the playground, too. Dips and pullups. Box jumps, squat the kids.
We also live in a bike friendly area, so getting the kids used to biking where we need to go.
If you are moving, you are winning.
I think I had a pretty useful and easy to follow strategy and lost 30 lbs (~14kg if you're non-US) this year:
- stopped drinking alcohol
- replaced with a lot of seltzer water
- don't eat breakfast
- lunch during the week is a pre-made salad kit from Sam's Club or Aldi (350 calories and $3)
- 1 serving of dinner. No eating off kids/wife plates
- 3ish 30 min workouts a week alternating between run, yoga, arm lift, leg lift
- get steps in whenever I can. Carry kids when needed. Do the extra "lifting" and find exercise in daily life
And that's it
Went to the gym.. my want to be able to play with my kid in my 40s was what mattered.
When my son turns 18.. I'll be 52...
I didn't want him having a fat weak dad dropping him off at school, at his football/baseball games, etc.
My son was my ultimate motivator.
I have been going to the gym at lunch time, which has the added benefit of preventing me from stuffing my face at lunch time, I just have a protein shake and I am good till evening.
I don’t drink and I get up at 5 am to either workout or go for a run. I have to talk shit to myself or I won’t get up. Most mornings the alarm goes off then I think to myself I’m just going to sleep in today, I deserve it and I’m tired. Then I say to myself, you stupid fuck get up and work out so you can be healthy and play with your kids, now fucking get up asshole.
It works for me but most days I just have to repeat a motto to myself “just fucking do it”. I also have Bandits words in my head most of the time too “it’s gotta be done”.
I'm not fit, but am well on my way from no longer being a fat-dad (list 32kgs since September). Low-carb/Keto and using the calorie counting app "lose it" have been great, especially because my kid is young and I don't have the time to do more exercise than walking the dog.
I got fat again and haven’t forced myself back into, but I did keto for a few months and once the pounds started coming off I started weight training and the fat started melting off and I wouldn’t say I was ripped, but I was looking very good. Then it got cold and I stopped working out and it snowballed back.
I lost weight doing the CREED boxing game on Oculus, 30 min in our bedroom. No travel time, motivating by game play. Still love it. But dropped 25 lbs basically by doing that and returning eating to normal/pre birth routine (ie cutting out the additional snacking and sweets and shit I ate out of sheer exhaustion in the first 6 months).
Work out with your kids. Like when they’re home hanging out in the living room, get on the floor and do a plank or push-ups. They will then jump on your back to make it much harder or incite a wrestling match. Keep going. That is legitimately a better workout than most people get in a day, just what i described above, and it took no time out of your day.
Getting in shape and being healthy can seem very daunting. Don’t try and do it all at once. Start with cutting back on snacks at night, or walking around the block, or whatever. Build that one thing up until it’s habit. Then tackle the next thing.
I did an 18/6 intermittent fasting. Ive kept it up for about 8 months now and lost 20lbs+. It kept me from eating leftover cereal and snacks from my kids and drinking/eating after bed time. Having those strict rules worked well for me.
I’ve always played hockey twice a week for exercise.
Currently down 45 pounds over the course of 3 years. All I did was cut one meal a day and walk. I don't work out a ton or watch what I eat, I just eat breakfast and lunch or dinner. If I don't eat breakfast then I eat lunch and dinner.
Dad trying to get fit here. Calorie counting using the Lose It app, dumbbell set in the basement and subscription to Fitness Blender for at home workout videos and programs.
Wife and I try to hold each other accountable. I usually work out in the morning before work (some days waking up at 4:45 to get it done) and she works out when we get home from work.
Our current project is finding high protein low calorie recipes to try. Tomorrow’s going to be a meal prep day for us.
Been going strong since February, hoping to keep it up long term.
My aim was to gain strength (and a little weight). Was 74kg with a little pot belly. Been hitting the gym regularly and now 80kg (targeting 85) but still working on the belly.
Eat; more protein, less carbs and sugar. Gave up booze.
Exercise; work offers a subsidised gym membership, so I took that up and aim for 5 x 1hr sessions a week. Threw a few pt sessions in the mix to make sure my technique and program was right.
I decided back in January I wanted to get back in shape. I'd topped 200 lbs for the first time since before I was married and I didn't like where I was headed. I'm 43, 3 kids, and I figured I either fix shit now or I end up in my 50s fat, diabetic, feeling like crap, and unable to enjoy life after my kids start flying the nest.
Right now I'm down almost 30 lbs and I've lost 5-6% body fat. I'm also stronger than I've been since my 20s. I'm lighter than I've been since before the kids arrived.
So here's my parameters I had to work with. I like breakfast, I love coffee, I love beer, and family dinners are important to us. I wasn't going to do intermittent fasting, and keto, carnivore diet, or anything else faddy my wife would veto. Breakfast and lunches are whatever I want to eat, but dinners had to be stuff that the family would enjoy. Fortunately we've always cooked pretty balanced meals, so portion control on dinner is the only major hurdle.
So to start I read Bigger Leaner Stronger. It's a good starting place. I'm not religious about it but I try to put into place a lot of what's in the book.
I calorie count. I don't mind doing it. I got a food scale and I'm meticulous about it. I shoot for a diet that is higher protein than what I had been eating, but not crazy. The research seems to suggest that 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is ideal, so I try to eat about 130 grams of protein per day and ~1800 calories per day.
My general strategy is that meals need to be around 500 calories and 30 grams of protein. I have a few go to breakfast I can make in my sleep, and I meal prep lunches on Sunday for the week. I spend 5 minutes before work just throwing things into a container to heat up at the office. Dinners my wife mostly plans and I just make sure to keep the portions reasonable. I usually drink one (1) lightish beer with dinner, Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty is my current go to (95 calories). My last bit of protein to get me up to ~130 g usually comes from whey protein after the gym.
Right now my workouts are the 4 day Bigger Leaner Stronger plan. We have a small gym at the office so I go there after work and do 45 minutes before I get home. I warm up for 5-10 minutes, stretch, and then lift. One day a week I do kettlebells and other functional training in my basement, on Saturdays I typically run with a friend early in the morning, and the Sunday I rest (as much as my kids allow).
So that's the whole plan. I do 3-4 hours per week in the gym, a run with a friend on Saturday, and 30 minutes of work in my basement on the day when kid/family stuff makes the gym impossible.
This plan has been pretty manageable. I'm not usually hangry. I feel good. I eat food I enjoy and I'm able to slot in meals and days where I relax and don't worry about the calories. If you can get over the having to weigh food and enter stuff in an app bit I highly recommend going this route. It's effective and pretty low sacrifice.
Get up and run before the kids get up. Set an alarm and don't sleep through it. 5:15am is my new friend. Helps to have a training goal (race or time goal etc.) Go get those kms!
I was super fit before my daughter was born (1:33 half marathon fit), but then covid cancelled all the races, my daughter was born, and we moved from a suburban to a rural area and my fitness has taken a massive dive these last four years.
A lot of people are giving good advice but keeping motivated is the difficult part and a lot of folks aren’t really discussing that aspect.
For me, now this sounds kinda bleak, but I tell myself that if I don’t do it that I am going to die prematurely. Sure, there is nuance to that statement but it’s something that is there in the back of my mind that keeps me going because I think about all the stuff I’d miss if my veins got blocked or whatever. So, I work out
Swapped to carnivore diet and then carved out an hour from about 4:30ish 4 times a week.
The key but is not beating myself up for missing a session or occasionally eating off protocol (that has become easier to stick too as well)
I know no one likes to hear this but dieting fails like 95% of the time (literally. There are so many studies showing this)for a lot of reasons. Research overwhelmingly shows the best thing to do is to find some kind of exercise you enjoy and do it at least three times a week, and eat a varied, nutritious diet. This also models good behaviors for your kids!
I joined Orange Theory with my wife where we take nightly turns which has gotten me into shape, and got a prescription for wegovy to help with the calorie intake to drop the weight.
Counted calories big-time using the Loseit app. Did not eat breakfast. Did not eat after 8pm. Did not snack. Rarely (like 3 times in 4 months) drank a beer. Ran 2-3 miles 3x/week on the nights my wife put the boy down for bed.
Lost 50 lbs in 4 months.
There's no secret to it. Eat a lot less and exercise. It kinda sucks for sure, but when you see progress, it's pretty rewarding.
First and foremost, set your eating hours and do not break them. Mine are 10-6. Do not eat or snack afterwards, to allow your body to enter its metabolic state. This was the most successful change I made and I dropped fat like crazy.
2)Yes, I count my calories. I use MFP and I’ve had success with it.
3) Zone 2 running. Nice, slow runs. I’ve worked up to about 30 miles a week.
This keeps me very fit and active.
No soda. I try to drink mostly water or seltzer. Healthy breakfast and lunch. I never over indulge myself.
Dinner is hard because I am the only one who cooks but I never make anything too bad. I buy healthy pre made meals and eat them a few times a week.
I hit the gym before everyone wakes, 4x a week and I try to go while my kids nap during the weekend.
I alternate days of lifting and cardio. My routine takes 45-60 mins For example...
M: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 10 mins, Chest workout
T: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 30 min, abs for 10 mins
W: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 10 mins, back workout
TH: Off day
F: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 30 min, abs for 10 mins
S: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 10 mins, arm and shoulder workout
SUN: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 30 min, abs for 10 mins
...And rinse and repeat. I will also run occasionally at a local park.
I don't train legs. I did for years but I'm always immobile now after a leg day so now I do the stair climber with no hands for 15 mins.
1) I don’t rely on exercise at all. I do it but it’s completely unrelated to weight loss. It’s all about diet.
2) I hate cardio so I don’t really do cardio outside of some recreational soccer. Sure you can burn 400 calories or whatever but that’s like a cheeseburger, and not even a big one. Plus it makes me hungry so it still comes back to diet.
3) I lift heavy like 30 minutes a day 3-4 days a week. I just do a routine I enjoy.
4) I avoid carbs, I’m not like full keto or anything and if I’m out for dinner or such I’ll get what I want but especially lunch and breakfast I’ll aim for no carbs. I think like 90% of my cravings are for carbs like chips/ice cream/candy/chips again. After a few weeks with lower carbs the cravings aren’t nearly as bad. I do not, ever, no matter what buy chips. If I go to a party I’ll probably eat your entire bowl of chips as fast as seems polite… I’m sorry. But I don’t buy them!
5) no calories in drinks, no juice, no soda, no beer. I’ll have milk with protein shakes. I’ll drink a vodka spritzer or make a no sugar cocktail (gin+soda is my go to)
6) I accept I’m not going to be shredded like when I was when I was 20. My body fat will never get to 10%. But I can keep it around 14-15.
r/busydadtraining
No equipment or gym needed, low time commitment, can be done anywhere, can be fit in around your family's schedule without needing to get up obscenely early, and super simple so you don't have to worry about programming a workout.
That and cleaning up my diet cut 20 pounds. Of course, then my almost 2 year old decided that sleeping through the night without waking up screaming was overrated and I stopped working out and my diet spiraled. In other words, parenting is hard y'all.
16/8 'diet' and running in the AM before everyone is awake (5am). I also do a shit ton of walking with the kids - average of 7.5 miles a day (I live in a city).
25lbs down and back to a healthy BMI, bloods look great, and eating has become a mindful activity.
Buying new running shoes every few months is annoying.
My fit friend goes to a CrossFit gym at 7:10 after dropping his kid off at school at 7. I intend to get to the gym at 8:15 after dropping my kid at 8, it’s just harder because he’s 4 and we’re usually late and I don’t have enough time.
Honestly as long as you're not very overweight I'd concentrate on the fit part and not the bod part.
Kids don't care if you're carrying a couple extra kgs, as long as you can keep up. Right now I'm about 10kg heavier than I'd like to be, but I can easily cycle 50km in under a couple hours, throw a roundhouse or crescent kick above my head, and come out of a front roll into a sidekick to the bottom of a face or a groin, so I'll take it.
I love the line “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” Meaning, you don’t need to be perfect, or even good. Just get some inertia going. It takes about a month to get a new habit settled. After that it gets much easier.
Breakfast:
2 cups of plain 0% fat yogurt with a little jelly
or
Overnight steel cut oats with cinnamon, a little brown sugar, and pecans. I’ll make a weeks worth at a time
I add my own flavor to both so I can control the calories. I try to limit 40 grams of sugar per day.
Lunch:
Grilled chicken (make a few at a time and reheat later) and a sweet potato ( 7 minutes in the microwave)
Then I’ll just do whatever the family is doing for dinner.
Workout:
Getup an hour before the family and alternate lifting weights or cycling.
For weights, I do a press/row day, deadlift/ lat day, and quad/ shoulder day.
For cycling, I just cycle for 45 minutes and target my heart rate at around 140-145.
I don’t plan for rest days because life just happens anyway.
Added benefit of cycling I get to watch all the shows my wife hates.
If you don’t have equipment, body weight exercises can be super effective, and you can always upgrade to bands or kettle bells. Burpees will kick your butt.
Persistence. The beginning of any fitness journey is the hardest: it’s physically difficult, the results won’t be immediately visible. But that’s why as others said you need to find something you enjoy, whatever it may be. And find a way to make your exercise/fitness/whatever less about “I should do this” and more about “I enjoy this, it makes me feel good.” Easier said than done, but for me that’s what helped me become disciplined, because I knew the benefits and I enjoyed them.
I started running. And in particular, tracking it at first with the Strava app then via a smartwatch with GPS and heart rate monitor. I've had a Garmin watch for a while I'm happy with.
The extra stats are interesting to track and numbers help me go for my own "high score" be it distance in a month, longest distance for a run, fastest mile, fastest 5k or 10k, or along a certain local path, etc.
Then there is the social element on Strava. I kind of compete with my brother. Also a few people from a professional group started a 100 miles of May running challenge, so I see how I stack up.
It is hard to squeeze in with life, but I find it sort of zen. I also listen to podcasts or more music than I would usually which I wouldn't do much otherwise, so it's sort of me time.
I recommend Tozo Open buds as they sound decent, and don't plug your ears up so you can hear traffic and bird chirps and stuff. I had some Plantronics with a similar idea, but they ended up falling out eventually for myself and my brother.
If you are trying to lose weight, then I would say dieting is most of it. I've been going HAM this month running and have lost like 3 lbs. About 8 total since it got warm and I've been running this year. But, I feel good and am strog and able, have energy for my family I wouldn't have if I were sedentary.
Got fit after the first kid by exercising relentlessly. Never used elevators and routinely jogged up and down 12 flights of stairs. I’d go for runs before work while everyone was still asleep, then hit the gym.
Fast forward to 2 kids and now 4 stepkids (and being older). I’m working my way back to fit. I eat vegan now and exercise when I can. I ballooned up to 230, (now at 210). Slowly working my way back to where I feel good and look good. For reference, at my fittest, I was 175. I don’t think that number is attainable, nor do I intend to try to get that low again.
Try the most convenient changes 1st.
I went from taking the kids to the park once a week to now to 3-4 times a week. You can range exercises with them from lifting them up like little dumbbells (they love that.) all the way to doing pull ups depending on the park you go to (I try to find quiet low traffic parks. I don’t like doing pull ups in front of people lol.)
I make coffee in the morning, instead of creamer I mix and steam bovine collagen into milk I steam. Little changes to introduce protein help a ton.
Became aware of how toxic sugar, maltodextrin, and seed oils are and seek to avoid those.
TLDR: Can’t go wrong with more protein, exercise and avoiding bad substances in diet. Convenient changes you know you can make are sometimes better than shooting for the moon.
Discipline with time management. Specifically breaking down both into manageable chunks of time where im not putting my kid in danger and able to “invest” towards my end goal.
I set aside time while watching my lil dude to do burpees, isometrics and such. Things I could do while he was in his stroller for 15-20 mins.
Then if I had time to watch a show or game for 40 mins in the evening, I’d get a more serious workout in. But I’d *always* fit in 2-3 sessions of the more calisthenic focused stuff.
I’d suggest a calorie counter app or website for diet - and again that falls under having discipline. Don’t want to get fat/overeat? Instead of checking Facebook or Reddit, look up info on how to structure meals and meal planning. Just takes 5-10 mins here and there, then write down a trial list of meals. Start with just planning out breakfast, then after a few weeks change up lunch and finally dinner. Ease into it and wait until the first part is a habit, then introduce the next phase.
IMO if you’re out of shape/not maintaining/getting sloppy and have been viewing it as being too busy - dive headfirst into carving out time. Being healthy and setting a good role model figure for your children is extremely important to me, so making sure I make that time has always been high on the list of things that *have* to happen every week.
To finish off the advice - be kind on your mirror and scale results. You can become very healthy and fit, yet not see exactly what you want on a scale or in a mirror. If regular doctor visits are an option for yah, use science and facts to validate progress - hell use a cardio or workout trial to mark progress. Just approach it knowing the endgame could be further away than what a magazine or someone else’s life will make it seem.
Gave up beer and sleeping past 0530. I’m lucky enough to have the room so I put a half rack, plates, and dumbbells in the garage. I was able to workout while they slept for 30-40 mins. No more elevator for anything less than five floors and I put a rowing machine near the washer so I could multitask. I also use the workout app called Fitbod so I don’t have to worry about programming my routines. It does it for me using the equipment I have available.
This, convenience and early starts are key. I signed up for a tri, but training is only possible because I have a turbo in the spare room, can run around woods next to the house and have a swimming pool 3min walk from work for easy access at lunch. I like a goal though keeps you motivated as <05.30 doesn’t get easier. Also no I don’t count calories my biggest issue is eating enough.
Seconding Fitbod. I don’t have any equipment, just do body weight only workouts 3x a week, say 45 minutes, at 40, I’m in the best shape of my life.
Having a home gym is legitimately the easiest way to get fit. No more excuses of not going to the gym
Nah, anything at home simply does not work for me. If it did, I would have done it long ago. Started many times, but there are just way too many distractions at home. I have to build a routine of going to the gym right after work with no excuses for not going. "There is so much work to be done"? You don't fee like it? Your wife asks you to come home early, because she had a tough day? NOPE, no excuses. My problems are holidays and getting sick, which both destroy my routine. Then I have to build it up again.
Do you pay for the Fitbod subscription?
Yes, I’ve been using it for a few years now. Usually you can find a coupon for 30-50% off the annual price of $79. It’s been well worth it. I’ve managed to drop 30lb of fat and a 38-49 waist and gain 30lbs of muscle back and kept my waist at 33-34.
I’m in the military and my buddies swear by Fitbod.
Just downloaded Fitbod. Looks like a great tool! 👍 Thanks!
Mine didn't cost money like someone mentioned. Was it free for you too? This app looks really solid!
What time do you go to sleep that you're able to get up at 0530?
My eldest wakes up at 5:30. Typically in bed around 9:30 and out by 10. 10:30 at the latest, and when that happens it's usually a mistake because I got sucked into reading another chapter of a book. The worst part is I'm waking up naturally at 5 now anticipating him and couldn't get back to sleep anyway.
my alarm is set for 5- 5:20 and i often wake up before that. Try to be in bed by 9, I usually start the kids bedtime routines between 7:30 and 8, and if I'm lucky I get a little bit of time with the wife or to read before I go to sleep.
Don't take this the wrong way, but how the fuck do you get to bed by 9? I would love to get up early to work out, but I can't get to bed before 11 every night, and I can't justify it just to get 5.5 hrs every night.
5:30? You’re insane.
*laughs in 4:30 am for a 5:30 am shift start* *then weeps openly in 4:30 am for a 5:30 am shift start*
I will see your 4:30am and raise you a 3:15am wake up time for a 4am shift start 😅
I hear ya. I had a 4:45 start for years, but i couldn’t do it anymore. I’m a night person. Took a pay cut (at first, now I make way more) to start work at around 10
Pick something that you're going to enjoy, like cycling, running, climbing. If you have to grind it out you're going to quit. I've never had to count calories, but if you actually want to lose weight then it will help. Eating wise, cut out as much shit as you can. Quit the fizzy drinks. You can make grilled chicken and rice in about 15 minutes. Half an hour running a day, you'll be doing 5ks in a month or two. Everyone has a spare half hour in their day.
Honestly, finding something that you don't think of as exercise is a massive advantage. I know for a fact that I couldn't motivate myself to go to the gym, but I really enjoy going out exploring on my mountain bike. Getting fitter is simply an awesome byproduct.
+1 for mountain biking. Physical health, mental health, fresh air, exploring, progression, fun. Tonnes of benefits and it's so much more enjoyable than running.
Yeah this is a big one. I added 6 hours of cardio a week by incorporating 3x weekly volleyball. This in turn has me wanting to do other physical activity like lifting and mobility training to support my volleyball hobby. I’m seeing massive improvements on the scale yet, but I’m certainly much more fit than I’ve been in ages.
Heavy squats will improve your vertical
Yeah you’re right but I think even more than that would be losing like 50 lbs
> Everyone has a spare half hour in their day *laughs in 2 under 2*
Half hour run most days is the way. It’s quick, you get a full sweat and can get in some podcasts!
This was martial arts for me. Currently BJJ, but my true love is boxing.
>Half an hour running a day, you'll be doing 5ks in a month or two. Everyone has a spare half hour in their day. That's not the main issue, it's the warm down and shower after that's also a half hour.
Personally I think the main issue is keeping fit. Yeah, ok. Realistically you might need up to another 30 mins after your run. You'll need to shower after whatever sport you choose. Why not add in the ten minutes you'll need to put your shorts and running shoes on too? Or the ten minute drive to and from the gym?
Is there something wrong with seltzer/sparkling/soda water?
Nah, but that's not really what I meant. I was more thinking about Coke/Pepsi etc. Even the 'diet' versions.
....diet versions? Switching to sugar free soda is a great way most people can cut calories without having to change up their life too much
Just make sure there's no sugar or sodium in it. I usually buy regular seltzer from Costco, it's just carbonated water.
i’ve commonly heard this framed as “don’t drink calories”. your body digests liquids a lot faster and they end up being less satiating. imo some minor exceptions to that are fine like a *little* half and half in your coffee, or like a ~60 cal kombucha.
Just do *something.* People get hung up on doing the “right” or “best” or “perfect” thing. In reality, the only thing that’s important is being consistent. Going for a 2mile walk 3x a week is already thousands of times better than doing nothing. In fact, just go for a walk right now even. Take your kids to the park or something. For exercise, find something that you *enjoy* doing. If there’s nothing you find super enjoyable then make fun rituals around what you do - ex: you only drink the fancy special coffee when you go for a morning walk. It’s also easier if you can make it into a family activity even indirectly - ex: where my kids have swimming lessons also has a gym, so that’s when I go the gym each week. The most important thing is that you understand that you are changing how you live the rest of your life. Big sudden changes are rarely sustainable because they are difficult to remain consistent with. You change your life by making small, *sustainable* changes. It’s why “going on a diet” rarely works for people. They are often dramatic, and unenjoyable, and therefor impossible to maintain for most. Just like for exercise, for healthy eating make small easy changes, one or two at a time, and don’t change anything else until these have become habitual for you. The highest yield dietary modifications for most people are: cutting down/out alcohol, cutting down/out soda and other high calorie drinks, and cutting down on snacking.
Motivating! Thanks for writing it out
Eat 2000 - 2500 cal a day Try to be active in your daily life (walk more, take the stairs ect) Workout 3-5 times a week, minimum 20 minutes (whatever you think is fun but you need to get your heart going) bonus if it builds muscles Cut down/cut out carbs from sugar, alcohol and pasta/bread Eat more protein Thats it Source: I have lost over 40 kg and kept it off for over 10 year.
And to anwer your questions regarding strategy I meal prep 500 cal lunch/dinners that cointains one protein, one carb and veggies niotiden else. I also mealprep breakfast (overnight oats) and snacks. I use to go to the gym 3-5 times a week but now when Im home with the kid i do a 20 min non stop kettebell workout while he is sleeping every week day. And when I "cheat" I will try to pick the lesser of two evil (just the burger, no fries/save half the pizza for the day after/popsicle instead of ice cream, non alcoholic beer or 20 cl beer instead of 50 cl pint ect)
40 kg? Thanks for the math homework on converting it to pounds. Just playing good work on the weight loss!
Having a workout buddy also makes things infinitely more doable. You're automatically motivated.
Ok I’m 35, have 3 kids age 6, 4 and 3, have been lifting a long time and I’m probably in the best shape of my life now. Here’s how I make it work and what I eat. Put a home gym in my garage. Wake up at 5:30, hammer a protein shake with two scoops of protein in water, then I’m in the gym by 5:45, done by 6:30, every day (pending things coming up so that I legitimately can’t) Breakfast - Have a coffee and either vector cereal or oatmeal with Greek yogurt. Lunch - something like a tuna wrap with a whole can of tuna on it, or ham cheese and mustard on a bun, plus a banana. Supper - whatever we’re having, usually meat, carb, and vegetable, just eat a reasonable amount. Then, the hardest part: avoid snacks. Some tips for that - brush your teeth after supper, so you won’t have a few little things that lead to more little things and end up in having 1000 calories before bed. Don’t finish everything the kids don’t eat, just save it or throw it out. Don’t drink anything with calories, just water and other 0-calorie drinks. Stick to the same routine eating on the weekends. Feel free to PM with more specific questions.
The no snacking: I recommend taking up a high-nicotine hobby. JK. Sigh. I never ever snacked. Quit nicotine a few weeks ago after 23 years; gained 12 lbs. Working on it, though!
Brushing your teeth right after supper, now that's a pro tip, thanks.
Yup, a lot of these are things I'm implemented in the past few years, that have taken me way too long to realize (specifically the brushing early after dinner and trying to not eat my kids leftovers despite feeling bad about wasting food).
Take it easy on the tuna. Mercury accumulation will get you eventually.
For me it’s been a habit that I kept up after having kids and making sure i prioritize it. I’m up at 4am every day and lifting in the basement by 415 with my coffee and kettlebells in hand. I do it 5 days a week (chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms, and Abs 3x/week). 4 sets of 12-15 reps before moving up the weight and typically 5-7 working sets per body part. Typical workout is roughly an hour so by 515/520 I’m done. On top of working out I do tend to watch what I eat, it doesn’t hurt I’m also medically limited but I focus on high protein, Whole Foods. Typical breakfast is 3 eggs with ground s turkey and spinach, chicken sausage and two pieces of toast. Lunch is a chicken/salmon salad and dinner is usually chicken/fish/turkey with rice or the occasional sandwich. I don’t count calories per se but don’t eat wildly and try to keep snacking to a minimum. Overall I’ve probably lost 15 pounds in the last year and for the first time in my life, at 35, have visible abs and veins around my lower abs. It’s not easy but it’s never supposed to be.
What time are you going to bed to get up at 4am? Are you getting up to your kids still or you sleeping though? Solid dedication 💪🏽
I s cond this - my kids are asleep at 10:30 (my wife insists it's impossible to do earlier) and work starts at 7 - so I don't see how I can work out when there are things like dishes, laundry, etc to do in that half hour
Kids asleep at 10:30? Wtf
10:30 is brutal. I work 7-3:30 and if I’m up past 10:30 I’m wrecked the next day.
1030? Fuck on out of here. My kids are in bed by 730 and asleep around 8. Thankfully they’re 3 and 5 and don’t need anything at night so it’s a solid night of sleep.
You should start showing your wife that it’s possible
There are two of you and you can't get chores done while the kids are awake? Dude, you may need to work on your management skills with the wife.
100% this. My kids may not love when we vacuum or do laundry/dishes when they’re around but shit needs to get done for my mental health.
I’m in bed by 915/930 and usually asleep by 10ish. And my kids are up at 6ish.
What time do you go to bed? Best case scenario we get the 3yo and 3mo asleep at 8-8:30pm. Then by the time I shower and talk with the wife it’s 10-11pm.
My kids are in bed lights out by 730 and usually asleep by 8. Wife and I watch tv/talk until 9ish then we’re in bed either on our phone (her) or reading (me) and then asleep by 10, sometimes later if ya know what’s going on.
>I’m up at 4am every day Dad bods are hot now, right?
Yeah I just can’t accept that personally. Sure it’s the easy way but idk, it just doesn’t sit right with me.
Good for you man, I won't be up at 4AM. Stick to my 30 mins run 3x a week and having a belly
My wife and I agreed to hold each other accountable and wake up at 5 each weekday morning. Weekends are usually her doing something targetted, me doing yard/house/garage work. Diet is a lot of lean protein. I love to cook and try new recipes so that part is pretty easy. If I decided to give up alcohol I could probably look like a frickin Adonis but I'm pretty happy with where I am. I also started following Schwarzenegger on Twitter (currently known as X) and he's surprisingly inspiring to keep it up.
I did intermittent fasting. Didn’t worry to much about what I ate that evening
Same here, along with eating better in my eating window. More protein and veggies, less carbs and sugar, and no booze in the past 8 months. I lost about 25 pounds just by stopping drinking, and another 20-25 within a couple months to get to my target weight. Crazy how quickly it worked.
Ya beer is my kryptonite, an 18 pack a week keeps me fat but when I stop for 30 days once a year I drop like a pound a day
IF + eating healthy + limiting booze to the weekend has helped me a lot. I typically do 20:4, breaking my fast with a massive bowl of veggies around 4-5, then having dinner late in the evening. I highly recommend black coffee and/or (naturally) flavored sparkling water.
Topo Chico is the bomb. I drank coffee, and Topo Chico exclusively till my dinner. Now I had a big dinner but my job is physically demanding so it equaled our.
I'll echo what everyone has pretty much said. Cut the sugary drinks and cut alcohol. I also focused on increasing protein intake as well. For fitness, definitely find something you like. But, cardio and weights are great, even for 15-30 minutes. And, don't fool yourself into thinking that's the total time. Take into account getting changed into and out of training gear and a shower afterward.
I am consuming cannabis a lot. And yes, no way I'm giving that up. So I started making it a habit to do 10 push ups every Time I light up. As I am a computer scientist, I could barely do 10. This habit transformed to 100 a day, to get some continuity in. And doing 36000 push ups a year sounds bragging. First 10 sets of 10 Then 6 sets of 15 Then 5 sets of 20 Then 4 sets of 25 Centrally 2 sets of 30 and 1 of 40. This has been going on since January. As I was the average no fat no muscle boney guy, success are already visible.
My dude. "So I started making it a habit to do 10 push ups every Time I light up". 100 a day/10... 🤣 My kinda dad
I went to hit a 100 push ups a day. Got there. Then my shoulder decided FUCK YOU!! And that was that.
I used to be a daily smoker. Life has been much better without it, though I never thought I would actually say that.
I'm literally 20kg heavier than I was 6 years ago... Need to start doing all this fucking yesterday and yet still struggle with motivation..
Don't beat yourself up. It's harder than ever to find time for yourself with kids, and they exist solely to create chaos & ruin your attempts at creating routine. Just find small steps you can take, set a reasonable target (3 walks per week or something to start), and simply try again if you miss on a given week. Easier said than done of course :)
1. Have a midlife crisis causing you intense depression/anxiety and loss of appetite 2. Get prescribed Wellbutrin which suppresses appetite 3. Pick up running as a way to literally run away from your problems. 3. ...? 4. Profit
I started by counting calories and getting a game plan. Already had a good scale so that made it easier for sure, but they're cheap anyway. Most of the food I ate came from the against the wall sections at the grocery store. Middle aisles are filled with shit for the most part. Eat healthier food, I had a hard time getting to the target calorie number when I was eating real food
This is a great answer. The wall sections are where it's at man.
A big one for me was just bike riding. If it’s within 8 miles we usually ride there. We started with a Thule bike seat and now have the Kids Ride Shotgun seat. Then a pretty good size backpack. We ride to the grocery store so it’s shorter more frequent trips and you really have to prioritize since you’re space limited so you aren’t getting things like soda and chips. Recently we started trying to go to every park in the city. We’re in a newer city that has easily over a hundred parks plus the neighboring cities so it’s kinda my son and I’s “thing” right now.
I’m glad I moved somewhere bicycle friendly and we can ride into town for errands and dinner. When I was in the Midwest the only reason an adult was on a bicycle in town was because they had a DUI.
If you're talking about loosing weight, it really is 80% diet. Excercise is great for so many reasons, but is usually responsible for a small proportion of the calories you burn every day, even if you really go for it. Regarding excercise, find something you really, really love. Running if you hate running won't last. Things that you find theraputic or social are good. We have limited time so activities that scratch more than one itch are good. I've got fit and unfit a few times. Mountain biking was great, I love being in the woods, but it's expensive and requires tonnes of time for maintenance, travel to places to cycle and is hard to to in bad weather. Just hasn't worked out in my Dad years. Brazillian Jiu Jitsu has stuck for me for a few years now and has got me in decent shape in my 40's because it's easy to do in small hour to 2 hour chunks, is done indoors so not weather dependent, and the social aspect of it is a motivation to turn up and learn.
Not where I want to be but not where I was. A lot of veggies, tend not to eat out , that’s more of a treat. Apple watch and setting move goals helps. I tend to wake up before everyone to get some exercises in, nothing crazy, at least 30 mins. I do cook in bulk/meal prep. All the little things add up over time.
I did Keto for 3 months and then started running. That was great for about 3 years, then I got injured and got fat again.
When I did keto for a summer it was by far the best shape I’ve ever been in.
Keto worked for me as well but I just felt weird the whole time. Then shit happened and I fell off and gained it all right back. I don’t feel like keto is really sustainable.
I’m a single dad and my weight has been slowly creeping up and up over the past few years. I started doing the keto diet in February and I’m down 25 lbs so far. Still a ways to go but definitely good progress. I’ve been lifting weights again consistently for a few years and that helped with general fitness but didn’t cause weight loss on its own. I’ve also taken up disc golfing which is better exercise than it sounds, but it’s mostly the diet change that has lead to actual weight loss
What resource are you using to learn about keto? I'm interested, but unsure of the details.
I had done it about 6 years ago off and on and at the time I bought a couple books that were good resources and also had some recipes. This time around I’m doing it kinda lazily without tracking but just knowing what foods are low in carbs and only eating those Edit: this was the book I had that was a good starter guide: https://www.amazon.ca/Keto-Diet-Complete-Delectable-Confidence/dp/1628600160
Ey, nice im starting disc golfing this summer, ive played with friends, between the walking and throwing its such a nice hobby for some light activity.
Yeah it’s great, also super accessible where I live since a lot of the courses are just in public parks that you can play for free
I just go to the gym. And eat what I’ve always eaten.
Not to be boring but like everyone said: diet and exercise. Step 1 is counting calories and monitor what happens to your weight when you eat a certain amount. Even though I'm taller I only need around 2000 calories a day because I have a desk job. 1800 if I want to lose weight. Weigh your food and don't lie to yourself because at the end of the day it's calories in - calories out. Your body doesn't magically conjure up calories and fat. Step 2 is working out to get you the rest of the way there. What clicked for me was that I needed to get my core stronger for my herniated disk. I enrolled in a local HIIT class and that took me from being in decent shape to being in good shape. Now I'm scaling back my HIIT stuff with more low impact since I'm trying to maintain vs having a hardcore burn session.
1. Got a bike and cycled to work 2. Got some weights and put them in the garage 3. Diet is still a struggle. I know you can't keep outrun a shit diet and all that but points 1 and 2 have helped a ton
I have a big lunch and then skip dinner and get a workout in 2 or 3 evenings a week, after the kiddos are in bed. Getting to bed by 10pm latest, so I get 7ish hours sleep a night. Doing the above consistently.
Figure out how many meals work for you (for me it’s 3 meals plus I snack) and don’t eat outside of these meals. Prioritize protein at every meal. Keep all meals roughly the same size, (don’t have to weigh, but might help for first little while). After protein, prioritize fibre and healthy fats. Don’t have to restrict carbs or cut out sugar, but prioritizing protein, fibre and healthy fat, with make it much easier to naturally limit and reduce cravings for junk.
While I am not fit, I am slowly getting in better shape. The answer is having more physical hobbies. Given time is an issue. But also doing fence work is helpful.
Prioritize eating protein, which is the hardest to eat enough of and also the most satiating. You will naturally eat less bs if you prioritize eating protein. Kettlebells are a very space, cost, and time efficient tool. Pushups, pull ups, and body weight squats are underrated. Remember that starting is the hardest part - use that as motivation to make it through the first few weeks, and then use it as motivation to never stop so you don’t have to restart. Know that there is no better ego boost than not wanting to work out, having every reason not to, and then working out anyway. It’ll do more for your mental health than almost anything else. Start with small goals. Keep it simple. Never stop.
The easier it is to exercise, the more likely you are to do it. I got a rowing machine that I've used daily for the last 6 years. No need to drive anywhere or pack anything. Just do a 10k when I have the time for it. Set up a tablet with some noise cancelling headphones and you can watch your show while you do it (or whatever your vibe is). Diet is really important too, but it sounds like you already know that. All I will add is that food quality is important too. You'll be losing a lot of electrolytes through sweat so get lots of leafy stuff and veggies.
Lost 80lbs in the last year on Wegovy. It works. No doubt. I’m now at a healthy BMI and off my blood pressure meds to boot. Also I have a much better handle on food in general. Now I need to start working out to tighten some stuff up. And increase my stamina/cardio health.
Skipped breakfast completely, only ate one serving per meal. No more leftovers from the kids, no sweets. Went to the climbing gym once per week and cycled to work/kindergarten (about 8km per day). Lost 7Kg in 6 weeks.
Personal trainer. 1. It's so ridiculously luxurious to have someone that makes your schedule (less mental overhead) and helps with the workout (technique, handing weights and keeps track of counts/sets). 2. It's so expensive that I literally could not live with myself if I skipped a workout.
My wife left me and only thing that helped me stop screaming in my head was to go run as far as I could. Started averaging 8 miles a day between a couple runs. Lost 40+ pounds at this point, feel amazing physically, still cursing her on my runs though
At 42 I read a book called [The Barbell Prescription.](https://aasgaardco.com/store/books-posters-dvd/books/the-barbell-prescription-strength-training-for-life-after-40/) Short version is you need strength to age well and barbells are the best way to do it. I want to be physically able to do what I want for as long as I can. I’m 48 now and feel younger than I did when I turned 40 thanks to that book.
Am on the journey to getting fitter, all i did was, my commute to work doesnt change much if i walk half of it in either direction, my sons kindergarden is 5 mins away on foot, and he like to get carried, so i make it a slow walk and carry him there(hes about 12kg now). I walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator and last but not least, ive swapped like 20% of the carbs i would eat usually for protein containing stuff, meat, beans, lentils, fish etc. I activly play with/carry my kid on my shoulders as much as he allows me to, been going on walks like this with him to practice left and right. And im feeling so much better, my back isnt in pain anymore my stamina and muscles i used to have are slowly returning and i got so much more energy and dont feel tired in the afternoon/evening. Once swimming outdoors is viable here again ill add that as a bi weekly extra thing to have fun with my son. Been doing it for like 3-4 months and its honestly refreshing slowly transforming my slightly sagging moobs into perky moobs with some muscles under the fat. My motto was "just do something, anything."
I lost 6 stone in the run up to my son being born. I discovered running, week before he was born I'd done my first triathlon. 9 years Later 8 half iron man's, 2 fulls
So you're the guy who discovered running. It's an honor to meet you, sir.
Bariatric surgery. Was fat all my adult life and it got worse when we had kids. 420 at my fattest. Plateau now at 275 around two years after surgery and working with the clinic on how to get even lower. Love working out and how much more energy I have with nearly 150 lbs off my body.
I’m a work in progress after gaining a huge chunk after eating the leftovers (food is expensive!). In 6 weeks I’m about 5kg down through calorie counting (I need the accountability) and using the stronglifts programme with my squat rack in my garage. I’m hopefully I can build some consistency with it this time.
For fitness, Make it a habit that you look forward to. In that case, you will prioritize it. My goal is lift 2x per week, play tennis at least once per week, and 2 total hours of cardio (inclusive of tennis) each week. For diet, you have to enjoy the challenge of making healthy foods taste good.
Find something active that you enjoy and can do most days. Eat more plants and don't eat too much.
I've just started doing Just eat/Uber eats/deliveroo deliveries on my bike. I get to work out but also get paid for it. It also holds me to commit to a session, and when I've got people's hot food I don't want it to go cold so really push myself effort wise. Seems to be working so far.
There’s going to be a lot of bullshit in here. Walk, count this, eat avocado, do body weight blah. Honestly, consistency is your goal. I would suggest doing 2 things and 2 things only. CrossFit. 4-6 times a week. No thinking involved, turn up, die, repeat. It’s an hour a day and zero thought. Meal prep mince of some sort. Eat 500g a day with rice or a tortilla or a spoon. That’s about 70g of protein, you probably want twice that but it’s a start. No snacks. If you do that consistently for a few months you won’t know yourself. You’ll change each week.
I bought a bench and some weights and train 3 nights a week for about 1,5 hours per session. I stopped eating breakfast and just have 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning. I stopped drinking softdrinks and reduced my intake of sweets and try to eat more fruits instead…
I still drink beer but I wake up at 5:15 to run 15-20 miles a week. No fast food. Also fortunate metabolism.
Some great advice here, my advice is try and work out in the morning when the kids are asleep, if you leave it till the evening you'll get caught up with them
Started running with the stroller then eventually just started going when everyone was asleep. I dropped from 245lbs to around 210 in around a year, maybe 18 months? And have kindof hovered from like 207-215 ever since. I still have beers, but I also still have a belly as a result. But my blood pressure was 118/78 for my life insurance check a couple weeks back, my resting heart rate is in the 40s. Running also turns you into a ravenous monster so it’s totally possible to start running and lose no weight at all. I also successfully buttoned up a 15 year old pair of 32x30 jeans the other day weighing in at 209. Could barely squeeze my thighs into the legs, but they buttoned quite easily.
Activities are great and make you feel great but it’s 90% about what you eat/drink. It’s tough to give up booze and heavy carbs and empty calorie junk food and especially eating/drinking to excess, but you get that under control and you’ll start seeing results fast. And lifting, running, hiking, biking those will make you feel great and also motivate the diet discipline
Eat real food.
Fit is one thing, but if you actually mean lose weight, you have to count calories if you want to be serious about it. Use myfitnesspal and it’s pretty easy to do, and you’ll watch the pounds fly off.
I joined the fire dept where I'm forced to be active every day. I do not recommend this method for all dads.
Fit? Carry my toddler around, ride bikes as a family, go on hikes. Lose weight? Just eat less and go to bed on time.
Bought a Fitbit, protein shakes, creatine, started doing strength work 3-4x per week in the basement (only like 20-30mins) and stopped drinking alcohol.
I have been aggressively calorie counting since this last Thanksgiving (~6 months). Although I don't consider myself "fit" yet, I have been very successful with either constantly maintaining or losing weight during this time (~27 pounds down, no exercise, 9+ hr/day office job). I'd like to start working out soon to build muscle/tone, but that's a whole other level of time commitment that I would still need to figure out. I use the free version of an app called Cronometer to track everything (I used to use My Fitness Pal in the past, but that app has gone downhill in my opinion). The app automatically adjusts your calorie allowance for the day based on your current weight/weight loss goals. I was originally taking in 1850 calories/day at 210 pounds. Now that's down to 1700 calories/day at 182 pounds. Typical meals were something like breakfast (300 calories max), lunch (700 calories max), and dinner/dessert (remainder, typically 850 calories give or take). Protein bars are an easy breakfast, which also allow for more calories at lunch/dinner. During this time I have been able to go from ~210 pounds, down to ~182 pounds; no exercise other than whatever typical walking I do around the office on any given day. Although I'm not following any specific "diet", the nature of calorie counting kinda makes you make better decisions about what you're eating so you don't feel like you're starving all day long when you run out of calories.
MyFitnessPal is very helpful to figure out where you are at. As far as calories. You don't need to track everything forever, but it can give you an idea of where you're at. If you track for a couple weeks. I get up before everyone in the house to give myself about an hour to work out. I've been doing it since my kid was about two. He's eight now. I did it for the same reason. I wanted to be able to keep up with him and play with my kids. I'm in the best shape I've ever been in.
I planned my life. I have premade snacks and lunch and schedules workout times. Even when I didn’t feel like it, I went and just half assed the start of the workout (once I was there I usually did it). I weighted in daily but only stressed the trend. My breakfast and dinner were mostly the same daily with some minor variations. Basically..I got boring.
54yo here. It might be my body type, but I have found that if I don't eat for maybe 12 hours at a time, I drop a little weight, like maybe half a pound to a pound. So you could try something like not snacking after dinner before bed and then not eating an early breakfast. Morning coffee can tide you over since the caffeine cranks your metabolism while suppressing your appetite for an hour or two. YMMV
I struggle with it. I yoyo by 60lbs every other year or two. I'm tired of it but I keep getting injured and then I start stress eating and boom. Weight is back on. I can never keep it off for more than 6 months. It sucks... kind of lost the drive to even try anymore. If I'm being honest.
I'm not fit, but I can say that finding a local ultimate Frisbee group has definitely helped my health tremendously.
Factor foods or another premade quick microwaveable meal focused on health is a great first step. Walks! Lots of walks and little ones can be included. Drink water, coffee/tea and that’s it. Body weight exercises while kids are napping or around. Push ups / sit ups / squats Yoga / flexibility / core - my family (adults) does a weight loss competition for the first 3 months every year. Small financial incentives and a community to help build positive patterns.
Watching calories, smaller portions, intermittent fasting and a commitment to 250 minutes of intense exercise a week. For me, getting and using a Pelaton with a TV to keep me entertained let me stick to it. I'm in the best shape I've been in the past 35 years. Basically a 45 minute commitment a day did it.
Walking at night (an hour) and MyFitnessPal go a long way!
I eat what my kid eats. We always cook him healthy food so it works. I drink less. I didn’t exercise for a long time and so I got fat. Now I have him in a yoga class and, when he does yoga I lift weights down the hall. Before that I would sporadically do home workouts when he gave me a chance. I take the stairs at work.
I have a few weights at home. When kiddo was 6 weeks old she would wake up and feed every 2-3 hours and so I thought… hmmm… what if I did curls after she went down each time? Maybe add bench on alternating sets… Don’t change into work out clothes, just doing curls and bench in my PJs. By the time she was 3 months old I was pretty close to my all time max on bench. Met another dad at a daycare viewing. Next thing you know we had a dad group that would lift 1-2 times a week.
What really works for me after having children is common sense. Yesterday you had pizza, today salad. I had one small burguer, don't have another. I didn't exercise so I will eat less. Today i don't feel so hungry do I'll do intermittent fast. Today I'm celebrating I will go a bit overboard, next day I'll try and exercise and eat less even if I have to wake up early. ... and so on.
Be completely sober. Less bread, mostly meat and veggies, and various powders. Wake up at 4 am and run 3 miles. Do arms at the gym whenever you can. God speed.
You already know the answer. There’s no shortcut. Gotta do the work.
Counting calories helps if your goal is to lose weight. I also did intermittent fasting. Not so much because I’m 100% sold on it, but more because it gave me an excuse to not eat the donuts and crap people brought in to the office. I run. Was at 30 mi/ week. Dropping that down to get more strength and yoga in since I think that’s more important as we age. Running or working out isn’t about motivation it’s about dedication. We’ve also shifted to more plant based diet. Healthier for us and less demand on industrialized food, which is healthier for the planet that we’re handing off to our 2 boys. The only other thing I’d say is a habit takes 2 weeks to form. Stay dedicated for a short time, and it’ll get easier. In the end it’s worth it. Sorry, trying not sound too preachy. But it is what it is.
Yep I committed to counting calories, have barely missed a day in a year and a half. Got a great routine of cardio and resistance training. It's worth it. Don't half ass it. Count calories, do all the stuff.
I call it the baby squat program. In the first almost 2 years of my daughter’s life I’ve lost something like 40ish pounds, but most of it came off towards the beginning. Just the constant holding and bending and picking up, and squatting to pick things up as a sahd.
Get your kids into sports if you can. If they’re just starting out you will be teaching them most of everything and training them too.
I started skipping breakfast until 1030am and I make an egg breakfast burrito with a small amount of cheese and meat. It holds me over with a mid afternoon snack until dinner. So essentially skipping a meal. I’ve lost 20lbs. Working from home and being able to do this helps
Garage gym @ 5am, lifting, not much cardio (I probably should for heart health). Diet is around 80% “good” food, 20% is whatever I want. Cut out almost all alcohol (just haven’t wanted any since having the boy) and minimize sugar intake. I’d recommend making small incremental changes that are sustainable, rather than doing everything all at once. Good luck!
6-8 miles a day for kiddo’s nap on the jogging stroller
Short answer. Do what you need to and let your partner know that this is important to you. This is important so they can stop offering you bad health choices and give you the time you need to workout. I have an active job as a paraprofessional and future credentialed teacher so I don’t work out any extra. I was stress eating a lot. Snacking on a meal when I got home, having a big dinner with desert, and then snacking on sweets at night. In the past year I gained 15 lbs. maybe from 180 to 195. One night I had a wake up call. My feet were swollen out of nowhere and that’s never happened before. It went down and I made an appointment for blood work. I had high triglycerides and blood sugar right on the cusp of being pre diabetic. I cut out all the extra snacking and eating at a ridiculous amount and really cut carbs. I switched to keto friendly carb replacement tortillas and had salads at lunch with a little side of protein. A beer for rare occasions. It’s been 2 months and with the active job I’m down 23 lbs and my blood sugar is in a nice range. Regarding our partners…. Now she’s also cutting the carbs and doing a 3 day a week boot camp! Many times in the past month she and her family would offer me ice cream or cookies and I would get frustrated explaining the goal of not eating so much sugar. Well she also went to the doctor recently and some to her realization. We’re now trying to educate her parents about it. They’re old and need to enjoy the time they have left, but they don’t need to be having sodas as water and adding sugar to their fresh squeezed juice.
1. Frontload some meals for the week. Make 2-3 dinners all at one time, make enough for leftovers—that way you’re making healthy meals & not wasting a ton of time every night cooking & cleaning all the time. 2. Skip breakfast & bring a small bag of veggies, a piece of fruit & nuts for lunch. That way you get sustenance but it’s lean and healthy. 3. Integrate your family into your exercise routine: biking together as a family, hiking is fun & exhausting too. 4. Simple exercises you can do EVERYDAY at home: jump rope, jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups. Even some simple dumb bells can expand your strength training easily. You can do it at the beginning, middle, or end of the day.
75 hard. Amazing benefits all around
I lost 30 lbs since January and my wife had lost 20. I'm seeing abs for the first time since high school/college. 3 main things we did... 1) Diet - picked up the app Eat This Much after talking with someone over on r/progresspics . This is definitely the #1 thing that helped. All the exercise in the world won't do jack. This helps you see what calories per meal should look like for your goal/height. It can also help on the other side bulk up after you've cut. 2) Exercise - I started the recommended routine at r/bodyweightfitness . I bought a pull up bar and some rings and never have to leave my house. I do it after the kids are asleep typically. This program (with your new good eating habits) will get you turning heads at the pool by next year. 3) Consistency - it takes 66 days to form a habit. For the first 66 days, be relentless about eating right and dragging yourself back to the pull-up bar. No excuses during this time. Miss a day? Guess who's working out today then... This will give you enough time to start feeling better/stronger and if your eating right, you'll be seeing the pound drop week after week on the scale. From there, it'll become just part of what you do. You'll have holidays where you eat a little or life blocks you from working out but it's just one day and the next day you go straight back to the grind.
No alcohol, no sweets such as chocolate, cake, cookies. Dinner not after 8pm, ideally much earlier. This and having a lunchtime-run once or twice a week (~5km, moderate speed, I just started running in January) made me lose 20kg from January 1st to April 26th when our second child was born. (Sorry for km and kg, German dad here 😄)
Since you're asking this question, I'm assuming you don't enjoy working out. Neither do I. I essentially do two things... Make exercise as quick/easy/convenient as possible, and gaslight myself for motivation. I'm a big basketball fan and last fall I committed to exercising every day the OKC thunder played a game. I became superstitious about it and OKC ended up surprising every one with how good they played all season. So i refuse to believe I had nothing to do with it. I haven't yet figured out a good replacement now that their season is over. As far as convenience goes, figure out a routine that requires minimal equipment that takes up minimal space so that you can keep your equipment where ever you spend the most time. For me, if it's out of sight it's out of mind. Also, I need to be able to squeeze in my work out when I have the free time and it needs to be ready to go whenever I am. If I have to relocate to a gym somewhere else I'll never do it. Too inconvenient. I have a folding exercise bike (magnetic resistance so now power supply needed), a few dumbbells, and a pull up tower. It all fights easily in a 2x2 ft space. Focusing on only one area of the body per day is great if you're trying to be a body builder but only really works if you go to the gym almost every day. If that's not your goal, come up with a good full body routine with some cardio. I cut down on sugary drinks a lot. I'm fortunate enough to not have to struggle with weight much, but not drinking my calories makes it really easy to not have to worry so much about what I'm eating. I also injured my back a few years ago and learned how to build up the supporting muscles around it to prevent future injury. Being terrified of reinjuring myself has been a big motivating factor. The other thing to remember is that taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for your children in the long term. I've seen a lot of people have to care for their parents while also juggling raising children and work and all that. I don't won't to burden my children when they're still trying to figure out how to support their own families. Start small and be realistic while still challenging yourself. The hardest part is building the habit. So at first make your routine easy and simple. It's more about establishing the habit at first. The rest comes easier after that. As much as I dislike exercising I always feel better when I'm doing it regularly. I'm by no means ripped or anything but I'm in pretty good shape for my age. For reference I'm 35, 5'10", and 155lbs. I exercise on average 3 times/week for about 20 minutes and eat pretty much whatever I want.
5am starts and DDPY. A high protein low (not no) carb diet. I eat regularly at 7am, noon, and 5p. Keep snacking to a minimum. If I want something "not" healthy I have it in moderation. I shoot for 85% good throughout the week. I'm not looking to be what I was in my teens just healthy to keep up with the kid.
Its crazy, but I asked Chatgpt to make me a weekly plan based off my age and weight and made sure to include that I was pretty busy so it gave me a decent weekly plan with rest days included thats totally achievable
I use the app My Fitness Pal to track calories. I set my plan to lose 2 pounds per week and ate 1600 calories and lose 35 pounds in four months (195-160 from Dec-March). It helped that I was used to being obsessive about my weight from my wrestling days. Eat protein and veggies. Try for .7-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Cut out alcohol and sweets as best you can. If you’re gonna snack, make sure it’s veggies, yogurt, or a protein bar cause that will hold you over for less calories. Look into protein shakes (Premier Protein and Fairlife are both good). Cottage cheese, grilled chicken, and salmon are insanely good protein sources for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I lift with a Push, Pull, Legs schedule 6 days a week at 5:00 am when my kids are still asleep. I’m also a teacher so I already have a relatively active job and get my steps in that way. I’ll be honest, it sucked for a bit but it got the job done in a pretty fast fashion. Now I can focus on maintaining a healthier weight (I eat like 2200-2600 calories now) while maintaining my lift schedule. I don’t recommend a dramatic cut like I did but the My Fitness Pal app can also do plans that lose at a slower pace (.5 pound or 1 pound a week) so that’s easier. Good luck!
Lot of vegetables, if any alcohol and exercise both strength and endurance. 3 months if you’re good about it all. I replaced my lunches with vegetables and ate more at dinner
I stopped cleaning ny kids plates. Relized it's gonna be waste or waist. I lost 10 lbs when I stopped drinking. (1 or 2 most days) For fitness, I play at the playground, too. Dips and pullups. Box jumps, squat the kids. We also live in a bike friendly area, so getting the kids used to biking where we need to go. If you are moving, you are winning.
Cut back on drinking and junk food. Started running again. Lost 30lbs. Finished 5 marathons
Count calories, lift weights, get decent sleep (this is the hardest one imo).
I think I had a pretty useful and easy to follow strategy and lost 30 lbs (~14kg if you're non-US) this year: - stopped drinking alcohol - replaced with a lot of seltzer water - don't eat breakfast - lunch during the week is a pre-made salad kit from Sam's Club or Aldi (350 calories and $3) - 1 serving of dinner. No eating off kids/wife plates - 3ish 30 min workouts a week alternating between run, yoga, arm lift, leg lift - get steps in whenever I can. Carry kids when needed. Do the extra "lifting" and find exercise in daily life And that's it
Went to the gym.. my want to be able to play with my kid in my 40s was what mattered. When my son turns 18.. I'll be 52... I didn't want him having a fat weak dad dropping him off at school, at his football/baseball games, etc. My son was my ultimate motivator.
I have been going to the gym at lunch time, which has the added benefit of preventing me from stuffing my face at lunch time, I just have a protein shake and I am good till evening.
I don’t drink and I get up at 5 am to either workout or go for a run. I have to talk shit to myself or I won’t get up. Most mornings the alarm goes off then I think to myself I’m just going to sleep in today, I deserve it and I’m tired. Then I say to myself, you stupid fuck get up and work out so you can be healthy and play with your kids, now fucking get up asshole. It works for me but most days I just have to repeat a motto to myself “just fucking do it”. I also have Bandits words in my head most of the time too “it’s gotta be done”.
I'm not fit, but am well on my way from no longer being a fat-dad (list 32kgs since September). Low-carb/Keto and using the calorie counting app "lose it" have been great, especially because my kid is young and I don't have the time to do more exercise than walking the dog.
After the separation I now have so much free time every other week that I had no more excuses.
I got fat again and haven’t forced myself back into, but I did keto for a few months and once the pounds started coming off I started weight training and the fat started melting off and I wouldn’t say I was ripped, but I was looking very good. Then it got cold and I stopped working out and it snowballed back.
I lost weight doing the CREED boxing game on Oculus, 30 min in our bedroom. No travel time, motivating by game play. Still love it. But dropped 25 lbs basically by doing that and returning eating to normal/pre birth routine (ie cutting out the additional snacking and sweets and shit I ate out of sheer exhaustion in the first 6 months).
Work out with your kids. Like when they’re home hanging out in the living room, get on the floor and do a plank or push-ups. They will then jump on your back to make it much harder or incite a wrestling match. Keep going. That is legitimately a better workout than most people get in a day, just what i described above, and it took no time out of your day.
Getting in shape and being healthy can seem very daunting. Don’t try and do it all at once. Start with cutting back on snacks at night, or walking around the block, or whatever. Build that one thing up until it’s habit. Then tackle the next thing.
I did an 18/6 intermittent fasting. Ive kept it up for about 8 months now and lost 20lbs+. It kept me from eating leftover cereal and snacks from my kids and drinking/eating after bed time. Having those strict rules worked well for me. I’ve always played hockey twice a week for exercise.
Currently down 45 pounds over the course of 3 years. All I did was cut one meal a day and walk. I don't work out a ton or watch what I eat, I just eat breakfast and lunch or dinner. If I don't eat breakfast then I eat lunch and dinner.
Dad trying to get fit here. Calorie counting using the Lose It app, dumbbell set in the basement and subscription to Fitness Blender for at home workout videos and programs. Wife and I try to hold each other accountable. I usually work out in the morning before work (some days waking up at 4:45 to get it done) and she works out when we get home from work. Our current project is finding high protein low calorie recipes to try. Tomorrow’s going to be a meal prep day for us. Been going strong since February, hoping to keep it up long term.
My aim was to gain strength (and a little weight). Was 74kg with a little pot belly. Been hitting the gym regularly and now 80kg (targeting 85) but still working on the belly. Eat; more protein, less carbs and sugar. Gave up booze. Exercise; work offers a subsidised gym membership, so I took that up and aim for 5 x 1hr sessions a week. Threw a few pt sessions in the mix to make sure my technique and program was right.
Home gym, sleep less (workout instead of going to bed early or wake up to work out), give up some other hobby (gaming, TV, browing internet).
"Sleep when the baby sleeps" "Okay got it, workout while the baby sleeps."
I decided back in January I wanted to get back in shape. I'd topped 200 lbs for the first time since before I was married and I didn't like where I was headed. I'm 43, 3 kids, and I figured I either fix shit now or I end up in my 50s fat, diabetic, feeling like crap, and unable to enjoy life after my kids start flying the nest. Right now I'm down almost 30 lbs and I've lost 5-6% body fat. I'm also stronger than I've been since my 20s. I'm lighter than I've been since before the kids arrived. So here's my parameters I had to work with. I like breakfast, I love coffee, I love beer, and family dinners are important to us. I wasn't going to do intermittent fasting, and keto, carnivore diet, or anything else faddy my wife would veto. Breakfast and lunches are whatever I want to eat, but dinners had to be stuff that the family would enjoy. Fortunately we've always cooked pretty balanced meals, so portion control on dinner is the only major hurdle. So to start I read Bigger Leaner Stronger. It's a good starting place. I'm not religious about it but I try to put into place a lot of what's in the book. I calorie count. I don't mind doing it. I got a food scale and I'm meticulous about it. I shoot for a diet that is higher protein than what I had been eating, but not crazy. The research seems to suggest that 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is ideal, so I try to eat about 130 grams of protein per day and ~1800 calories per day. My general strategy is that meals need to be around 500 calories and 30 grams of protein. I have a few go to breakfast I can make in my sleep, and I meal prep lunches on Sunday for the week. I spend 5 minutes before work just throwing things into a container to heat up at the office. Dinners my wife mostly plans and I just make sure to keep the portions reasonable. I usually drink one (1) lightish beer with dinner, Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty is my current go to (95 calories). My last bit of protein to get me up to ~130 g usually comes from whey protein after the gym. Right now my workouts are the 4 day Bigger Leaner Stronger plan. We have a small gym at the office so I go there after work and do 45 minutes before I get home. I warm up for 5-10 minutes, stretch, and then lift. One day a week I do kettlebells and other functional training in my basement, on Saturdays I typically run with a friend early in the morning, and the Sunday I rest (as much as my kids allow). So that's the whole plan. I do 3-4 hours per week in the gym, a run with a friend on Saturday, and 30 minutes of work in my basement on the day when kid/family stuff makes the gym impossible. This plan has been pretty manageable. I'm not usually hangry. I feel good. I eat food I enjoy and I'm able to slot in meals and days where I relax and don't worry about the calories. If you can get over the having to weigh food and enter stuff in an app bit I highly recommend going this route. It's effective and pretty low sacrifice.
Get up and run before the kids get up. Set an alarm and don't sleep through it. 5:15am is my new friend. Helps to have a training goal (race or time goal etc.) Go get those kms!
I was super fit before my daughter was born (1:33 half marathon fit), but then covid cancelled all the races, my daughter was born, and we moved from a suburban to a rural area and my fitness has taken a massive dive these last four years.
A lot of people are giving good advice but keeping motivated is the difficult part and a lot of folks aren’t really discussing that aspect. For me, now this sounds kinda bleak, but I tell myself that if I don’t do it that I am going to die prematurely. Sure, there is nuance to that statement but it’s something that is there in the back of my mind that keeps me going because I think about all the stuff I’d miss if my veins got blocked or whatever. So, I work out
Swapped to carnivore diet and then carved out an hour from about 4:30ish 4 times a week. The key but is not beating myself up for missing a session or occasionally eating off protocol (that has become easier to stick too as well)
I know no one likes to hear this but dieting fails like 95% of the time (literally. There are so many studies showing this)for a lot of reasons. Research overwhelmingly shows the best thing to do is to find some kind of exercise you enjoy and do it at least three times a week, and eat a varied, nutritious diet. This also models good behaviors for your kids!
I joined Orange Theory with my wife where we take nightly turns which has gotten me into shape, and got a prescription for wegovy to help with the calorie intake to drop the weight.
Counted calories big-time using the Loseit app. Did not eat breakfast. Did not eat after 8pm. Did not snack. Rarely (like 3 times in 4 months) drank a beer. Ran 2-3 miles 3x/week on the nights my wife put the boy down for bed. Lost 50 lbs in 4 months. There's no secret to it. Eat a lot less and exercise. It kinda sucks for sure, but when you see progress, it's pretty rewarding.
First and foremost, set your eating hours and do not break them. Mine are 10-6. Do not eat or snack afterwards, to allow your body to enter its metabolic state. This was the most successful change I made and I dropped fat like crazy. 2)Yes, I count my calories. I use MFP and I’ve had success with it. 3) Zone 2 running. Nice, slow runs. I’ve worked up to about 30 miles a week. This keeps me very fit and active.
No soda. I try to drink mostly water or seltzer. Healthy breakfast and lunch. I never over indulge myself. Dinner is hard because I am the only one who cooks but I never make anything too bad. I buy healthy pre made meals and eat them a few times a week. I hit the gym before everyone wakes, 4x a week and I try to go while my kids nap during the weekend. I alternate days of lifting and cardio. My routine takes 45-60 mins For example... M: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 10 mins, Chest workout T: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 30 min, abs for 10 mins W: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 10 mins, back workout TH: Off day F: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 30 min, abs for 10 mins S: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 10 mins, arm and shoulder workout SUN: stretch for 10 mins, cardio for 30 min, abs for 10 mins ...And rinse and repeat. I will also run occasionally at a local park. I don't train legs. I did for years but I'm always immobile now after a leg day so now I do the stair climber with no hands for 15 mins.
1) I don’t rely on exercise at all. I do it but it’s completely unrelated to weight loss. It’s all about diet. 2) I hate cardio so I don’t really do cardio outside of some recreational soccer. Sure you can burn 400 calories or whatever but that’s like a cheeseburger, and not even a big one. Plus it makes me hungry so it still comes back to diet. 3) I lift heavy like 30 minutes a day 3-4 days a week. I just do a routine I enjoy. 4) I avoid carbs, I’m not like full keto or anything and if I’m out for dinner or such I’ll get what I want but especially lunch and breakfast I’ll aim for no carbs. I think like 90% of my cravings are for carbs like chips/ice cream/candy/chips again. After a few weeks with lower carbs the cravings aren’t nearly as bad. I do not, ever, no matter what buy chips. If I go to a party I’ll probably eat your entire bowl of chips as fast as seems polite… I’m sorry. But I don’t buy them! 5) no calories in drinks, no juice, no soda, no beer. I’ll have milk with protein shakes. I’ll drink a vodka spritzer or make a no sugar cocktail (gin+soda is my go to) 6) I accept I’m not going to be shredded like when I was when I was 20. My body fat will never get to 10%. But I can keep it around 14-15.
r/busydadtraining No equipment or gym needed, low time commitment, can be done anywhere, can be fit in around your family's schedule without needing to get up obscenely early, and super simple so you don't have to worry about programming a workout. That and cleaning up my diet cut 20 pounds. Of course, then my almost 2 year old decided that sleeping through the night without waking up screaming was overrated and I stopped working out and my diet spiraled. In other words, parenting is hard y'all.
16/8 'diet' and running in the AM before everyone is awake (5am). I also do a shit ton of walking with the kids - average of 7.5 miles a day (I live in a city). 25lbs down and back to a healthy BMI, bloods look great, and eating has become a mindful activity. Buying new running shoes every few months is annoying.
My fit friend goes to a CrossFit gym at 7:10 after dropping his kid off at school at 7. I intend to get to the gym at 8:15 after dropping my kid at 8, it’s just harder because he’s 4 and we’re usually late and I don’t have enough time.
Waking up early. Exercise. Rinse, repeat every other day.
Don't eat your kids' leftovers. Easy way to add unintended calories that you wouldn't otherwise consume.
Honestly as long as you're not very overweight I'd concentrate on the fit part and not the bod part. Kids don't care if you're carrying a couple extra kgs, as long as you can keep up. Right now I'm about 10kg heavier than I'd like to be, but I can easily cycle 50km in under a couple hours, throw a roundhouse or crescent kick above my head, and come out of a front roll into a sidekick to the bottom of a face or a groin, so I'll take it.
I love the line “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” Meaning, you don’t need to be perfect, or even good. Just get some inertia going. It takes about a month to get a new habit settled. After that it gets much easier. Breakfast: 2 cups of plain 0% fat yogurt with a little jelly or Overnight steel cut oats with cinnamon, a little brown sugar, and pecans. I’ll make a weeks worth at a time I add my own flavor to both so I can control the calories. I try to limit 40 grams of sugar per day. Lunch: Grilled chicken (make a few at a time and reheat later) and a sweet potato ( 7 minutes in the microwave) Then I’ll just do whatever the family is doing for dinner. Workout: Getup an hour before the family and alternate lifting weights or cycling. For weights, I do a press/row day, deadlift/ lat day, and quad/ shoulder day. For cycling, I just cycle for 45 minutes and target my heart rate at around 140-145. I don’t plan for rest days because life just happens anyway. Added benefit of cycling I get to watch all the shows my wife hates. If you don’t have equipment, body weight exercises can be super effective, and you can always upgrade to bands or kettle bells. Burpees will kick your butt.
Persistence. The beginning of any fitness journey is the hardest: it’s physically difficult, the results won’t be immediately visible. But that’s why as others said you need to find something you enjoy, whatever it may be. And find a way to make your exercise/fitness/whatever less about “I should do this” and more about “I enjoy this, it makes me feel good.” Easier said than done, but for me that’s what helped me become disciplined, because I knew the benefits and I enjoyed them.
I started running. And in particular, tracking it at first with the Strava app then via a smartwatch with GPS and heart rate monitor. I've had a Garmin watch for a while I'm happy with. The extra stats are interesting to track and numbers help me go for my own "high score" be it distance in a month, longest distance for a run, fastest mile, fastest 5k or 10k, or along a certain local path, etc. Then there is the social element on Strava. I kind of compete with my brother. Also a few people from a professional group started a 100 miles of May running challenge, so I see how I stack up. It is hard to squeeze in with life, but I find it sort of zen. I also listen to podcasts or more music than I would usually which I wouldn't do much otherwise, so it's sort of me time. I recommend Tozo Open buds as they sound decent, and don't plug your ears up so you can hear traffic and bird chirps and stuff. I had some Plantronics with a similar idea, but they ended up falling out eventually for myself and my brother. If you are trying to lose weight, then I would say dieting is most of it. I've been going HAM this month running and have lost like 3 lbs. About 8 total since it got warm and I've been running this year. But, I feel good and am strog and able, have energy for my family I wouldn't have if I were sedentary.
Got fit after the first kid by exercising relentlessly. Never used elevators and routinely jogged up and down 12 flights of stairs. I’d go for runs before work while everyone was still asleep, then hit the gym. Fast forward to 2 kids and now 4 stepkids (and being older). I’m working my way back to fit. I eat vegan now and exercise when I can. I ballooned up to 230, (now at 210). Slowly working my way back to where I feel good and look good. For reference, at my fittest, I was 175. I don’t think that number is attainable, nor do I intend to try to get that low again.
Try the most convenient changes 1st. I went from taking the kids to the park once a week to now to 3-4 times a week. You can range exercises with them from lifting them up like little dumbbells (they love that.) all the way to doing pull ups depending on the park you go to (I try to find quiet low traffic parks. I don’t like doing pull ups in front of people lol.) I make coffee in the morning, instead of creamer I mix and steam bovine collagen into milk I steam. Little changes to introduce protein help a ton. Became aware of how toxic sugar, maltodextrin, and seed oils are and seek to avoid those. TLDR: Can’t go wrong with more protein, exercise and avoiding bad substances in diet. Convenient changes you know you can make are sometimes better than shooting for the moon.
Discipline with time management. Specifically breaking down both into manageable chunks of time where im not putting my kid in danger and able to “invest” towards my end goal. I set aside time while watching my lil dude to do burpees, isometrics and such. Things I could do while he was in his stroller for 15-20 mins. Then if I had time to watch a show or game for 40 mins in the evening, I’d get a more serious workout in. But I’d *always* fit in 2-3 sessions of the more calisthenic focused stuff. I’d suggest a calorie counter app or website for diet - and again that falls under having discipline. Don’t want to get fat/overeat? Instead of checking Facebook or Reddit, look up info on how to structure meals and meal planning. Just takes 5-10 mins here and there, then write down a trial list of meals. Start with just planning out breakfast, then after a few weeks change up lunch and finally dinner. Ease into it and wait until the first part is a habit, then introduce the next phase. IMO if you’re out of shape/not maintaining/getting sloppy and have been viewing it as being too busy - dive headfirst into carving out time. Being healthy and setting a good role model figure for your children is extremely important to me, so making sure I make that time has always been high on the list of things that *have* to happen every week. To finish off the advice - be kind on your mirror and scale results. You can become very healthy and fit, yet not see exactly what you want on a scale or in a mirror. If regular doctor visits are an option for yah, use science and facts to validate progress - hell use a cardio or workout trial to mark progress. Just approach it knowing the endgame could be further away than what a magazine or someone else’s life will make it seem.
Gotta get up early before the kids, don't drink your calories, don't underestimate body weight workouts.