As most of you know, i’m about to be a dad!
CRAZY, I know…
As i’m writing this, my wife is about halfway through pregnancy and I just started a new business about 8 months ago.
As most of you could imagine, managing stress is something that i’ve had to become extremely good at over the last year. Admittedly, my fitness has definitely taken the back seat. This brings me to the topic of today’s article, “How NOT to get a dad bod.”
Did you know that most dads gain weight during and/or after their wife’s pregnancy?
5, 10, 15 pounds…
Honestly, not surprising with the lack of sleep, exercise, and not prioritizing our own health.
So dads, what do you do?
Well, our baby isn’t due till February. But, this is my plan going forward over the next 4 months:
- Start Now!
- Kitchen Makeover
- Hire a Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach
Start Now!
Having a kid, especially your 1st kid is something that completely changes your life. Your world gets flipped upside down and that’s why it’s extremely important to start now.
Are you currently sleeping 7-8 hours per night?
Are you currently exercising 3, 4, 5 days per week?
Are you cooking the majority of your food?
Etc.
Assessment is always the first step before making change. What are you currently doing and what do you need to start doing?
Sleep, food quality / quantity, and exercise are 3 of the most important factors determining how you feel, look, and perform.
After assessing what you are currently doing and dependent upon your goals, try to identify your lowest hanging fruit.
What is the ONE THING that you need to start improving and becoming more consistent with?
Start with that!
KITCHEN MAKEOVER
Next up, it’s time to clean out your kitchen!
You know what i’m talking about…
Check the pantry, remove all the crap.
Check the fridge, remove all the crap.
Check the freezer, remove all the crap.
The focus here is to build a bada$$ kitchen stocked full of healthy whole foods.
Restock the pantry with healthy foods.
Restock the fridge with healthy foods.
Restock the freezer with healthy foods.
If it’s in your house, you’re going to eat it eventually.
The more you can prioritize cooking the majority of the food you eat, the healthier you are going to be long term. Cooking and eating healthy should be fast, easy, and tasty!
If you hate cooking, you probably aren’t that good at it. 🙂
If you think grocery shopping and meal prepping takes all day, you’re probably inefficient with your strategy and technique. 🙂
That’s ok! I used to suck at all of this too.
I have great news for you, our NEW eBook coming out soon guides you through this process and many more.
Sign up for our newsletter in order to get notified when the eBook releases!
Hire a Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach
I am a huge believer in people hiring coaches. Obviously the accountability is great, but the education and tools that you become equipped with are priceless going forward.
I hired one of our coaches on staff to coach me through this transition.
I’m going to be a NEW dad and i’m sure i’m in for a rude awakening, but i’m going to get started now so that i’m in a great place going into the process. From there, my coach is going to hold be accountable to not getting a dad bod 😉
If your or anyone you know has a kid on the way and you’re scared to get a dad bod like me, then go ahead and share this article to help give them the peace of mind that the dad bod does not have to be your reality.
But it’s up to you, the choice is yours.
At a minimum, read our NEW eBook: iCoach Nutrition “The Blueprint” to learn everything you need to know in order to live your best life with nutrition!
If you’re still struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out! My team and I would love to help!
You deserve to live your best life!
Coach Justin
PS In the meantime, identify the one thing on this list that you’re not doing and start with that for the next 2 weeks. From there, identify the next thing that you’re not doing and work to improve on that. Try to get all of these habits into place before the baby gets here in order to set yourself up for success!
Lifestyle Hacks:
- Sleep 7-9 hours per night
- Cook the majority of your food
- Minimize alcohol consumption
- Strength / resistance training at least 3 days per week
- Walk 10,000 steps per day