Fat Loss for Busy Dads

Copyright (c) 2008 Ed Scow

I get a lot of questions about how men and women are different when it comes to losing fat and quite honestly there are very few differences.

The fundamentals are the same, however there are a few minor differences between the mommies and daddies.

1) Stop eating like you're still in college.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this guys, but you're not 20 anymore. You can't go around eating whatever you want and not expect to get jiggly.

Gone are the days when you could eat a few pieces of pizza and drink a couple beers and not have to worry about your waist bulging and popping buttons off your shirt.

There are consequences now. You eat poorly, your body repays you with a spare tire or a keg rather than a six-pack.

It doesn't seem fair, but that's just the way it is. Nor can you let it go through your mind that because you worked out hard today that you can indulge a little and have seconds at dinner.

Remember your goal is to get rid of the fat.

2) Take the ego out of exercising.

Whenever I start training a new male client, I don't even tell him how much weight he's lifting in the first few sessions. If he asks afterward, I'll tell him, but not beforehand.

Guys get this thing stuck in their head that they need to be lifting a lot of weight in order to up their "man quotient". Not only is that not based in reality, but it'll lead to injury really quickly.

Just like you can't eat like you're still in college, you can't exercise like you're still in college.

Your body is different now. It takes longer to recover, especially if you haven't exercised for a few years...or decades.

You're busy now. You have new priorities.

Your body doesn't recover the way it used to, so you need to have a plan. That plan needs to be reasonable and you need to stick with that plan.

That plan needs to do more than just work the "beach muscles". It needs to work your entire body every single workout and it needs to be done quickly so you'll actually stick with it.

3) Get some support.

Everybody, whether they're a busy dad or busy mom, needs support when it comes to losing fat.

Study after study shows that if you have the support of a friend or loved one, you're more likely to actually stick with the plan.

So ask your wife to help you out when it comes to eating. If she does the grocery shopping, politely ask her to cut down on the junk food and stock up on the healthy stuff.

When you go out to dinner, you both have to decide that you're going to eat healthy and not gorge yourself on beer and buffalo wings, or deserts.

Find a workout buddy. Find a friend with similar goals so you can help one another reach the goal.

It'll help you stick with your workout plan and, since you're a guy, will breed some friendly competition, which is always good, as long as you stick with tip #2.