From dad bod to dad warrior
closing in on the big 40 soon! Holy crap. So many thoughts go through my mind about so many different areas in life. Yes, I think about the things I’ve achieved in my life but mostly things things I’ve yet to do or even try! I want to talk to those things maybe in a later post but for now I’m going to focus in on my fitness. Yes, as guys, we also think about how we look but also how we feel and perform in the various arenas of our life and the potential arenas we can find ourselves in if we have to defend ourselves or even our family and friends. You just never know! Now I would classify myself as a sensitive creative. But, with that said, I also life to think of myself as a weapon. Someone who’s strong, who has endurance to run and endurance for combat. While I can pick my kids up over head with one arm now, I want to be able to do that when they’s in their teens. Basically, if need be, I’d want my entire family to be able to pile on me as I carry them to safety. At least that’s what goes through my head when training. My problem.
Now, I’ve been a lot of things in my life, personal trainer being one of them but that was lifetimes ago! I’ve always been active with working out but never really consistent with routines. I’ll do things for a brief period of time and then change it up to do something else. That’s really my personality and while there’s some good in that there’s also some negatives. But in all honesty, my training probably doesn’t matter so much given my current goals. Yes, If I was working to lift some serious weights or do some crazy gymnastics moves then specific training would be paramount. But that’s not where I’m at right now.
Back to my first line. I’m turning 40 soon. I have a wife and three young kids, a job, etc. All that to say, I’ve developed a dad bod. And, while this was a cute trend a few years ago, it really disturbs me. I don’t want that. I don’t want it for myself, for my wife or for my kids.
Now, even thinking back to my thinner days, I still had some fluff. I was never lean. Strong? Yes. Lean to the point of seeing my abs? Not completely. Except for a brief period back in college were I could see a little 4 pack when I looked down.
Over the past 4 years, I’ve started a new position in sales and my weight has steadily climbed. Now, I’ve not huge by any means but I’m definitely not at a comfortable place.
So, this is my goal.by the time I turn 40 I want my abs back. I don’t just want to be thin, I want to be respectfully muscular, have good endurance and look goo for my wife. I’m not setting out to be huge. I don’t want that. I want to be athletic and lean. I know that to do this it’s going to come from my diet! And, I’ve tried all sorts of “diets” that worked to a degree but wasn’t sustainable for me and my lifestyle. recently I tried a diet…I take that back. It wasn’t really a diet so much as a way of life. Which I agree with. I see our diets as what we consume daily to support our life and if in balance will yield a good looking healthy body. The problem with my last “diet” was that it had me eating like 8 to 9 small meals a day. I did this for a whopping 6 days…I know. I told you I jump around. It just consumed my days. The foods where great and really healthy. I felt good. But I know in the long run, pursuing other career endeavors and family life, I wasn’t going to be able to keep that pace up. I did learn some great things from it and bought a food scale which I think I’ll incorporate here and there in my nutrition moving forward. I was also introduced to some new foods like kefir as well as new perspectives on macronutrients.
What Am I Going To Do Now?
Well, this is what I’m decided moving forward. I’ve found and set my daily calorie needs to lose one to 2 pounds a week which I believe is reasonable given my current body fat % and overall weight. I’ve taken my daily calorie needs and figured my macros per day. Now I’m just going to focus on eating single ingredient foods and do my best to hit those macro needs daily. If I come up short of my target for the day, fine. My main focus is not going over my daily caloric needs. I’m starting with three decent sized meals (I don’t want to do to big on my meals because that tends to make me feel full and bloated during the day) and I’ll sub in 1 to 2 healthy snacks as I feel I need them. For example, if It’s time for breakfast but I’m just not that hungry, I’ll eat a smaller breakfast and probably add in a snack or two during the day to get my macros where they need to be. Same goes for the afternoon. If I eat breakfast, feel I need a little snack and eat lunch, I may not feel I need a snack in between lunch and dinner. I’m going to really try to focus on how I’m feeling, what types of activities I’m doing that day and let that drive my caloric needs and macros. All while trying to hit my numbers but not go over. I’ve also, thought about decreasing my calories by 100 calories a week for three weeks from my starting target. After those three weeks recalculate my nutritional needs and eat at my new maintenance for a week and then slightly drop it again to start a new phase of fat loss.
Super Simple Summery:
Nutrition: Eat really food (sub in protein sups as needed) to hit my daily caloric needs. DO NOT EXCEED MY NUMBERS UNLESS FOR STRATEGIC PURPOSES.
Workout: Right now I’m doing Phill Daru’s Body Armor Program and on cardio days I’m working up to a 30 minute easy jog to build some endurance back. After this program I’ll do something probably geared towards heavy kettlebells and strongman style workout while still keeping in my cardio. I love a workout that’s more raw and functional in nature. I like to train in a way that I envision a viking or spartan would train. AGGRESIVE STRENGTH OVER EXTENDED DURATION
This is all an experiment really. I’m not recommending this to anyone but rather putting my experiment out to keep me accountable. We’ll see what happens!
Oh, I’ll be taking weekly progress pictures to track this journey (don’t know about posting them just yet but we’ll see!)
