Dad Diet

Post written by Leo Babauta.

I’m a big subscriber to using whatever you can find to work out: pullups on trees, throw big boulders, flip logs or big tires, jump over things, sprint up hills (see Minimalist Fitness, part 1 & part 2).

As a parent and a minimalist, I’d like to share my ultimate minimalist workout secret: my kids are my gym.

Fellow parents, if you’re not doing this yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough. How are they my gym? Instead of paying hundreds of dollars (even thousands) a year for a gym, I use my kids to get in shape.

How? Every way I can, but here’s a few:

• I carry them on my shoulders as we walk around town.
• We race each other to the corner, sprinting. Often up hills.
• I do pushups with them on my back.
• I lift them up in the air — it’s like lifting weights.
• I’ll let them hang on me as I do chinups.
• We climb and jump around in the playground.
• We play with the soccer ball — getting lots of sprints in as we do.
• We jump around in the ocean. A great workout.
• We wrestle.
• We challenge each other to do pistols (one-legged squats) or handstand pushups (what they sound like). Mostly we can’t, but it’s fun.
• We do lunges while walking up a hill.
• I carry them slung across my shoulders — a fireman’s carry — which is a great workout btw.
• I’ll carry one on my back, piggy-back style, while racing another kid up a hill. Yes, I love hills.

Awesomer than a gym

So why is this so awesome?

1. We bond. Instead of spending time away from the kids at a gym, I spend time with them. And get a great workout in throughout the day. It’s two birds, one stone, saving time while helping me bond with my kids.

2. Work becomes play. It’s not exercise, it’s not a workout, it’s *play*. And that’s a whole different ballgame. Play is fun, it’s challenging, it’s easy, and yet it’s a great way to get in shape.

3. No cost. OK, kids aren’t cheap — but I have them anyway, so why not use them? I’m saving money and getting fit — that’s all kinds of win.

4. I’m being a role model. Kid learn most of all from what they see others doing, especially their parents. You can tell them things all day long, but unless they see you doing it, you’re not teaching them much. When we go to the gym, they don’t see us working out. When we workout as we play with them, they’re learning how to be healthy, and that is a gift that will last a lifetime.

5. It’s a lifestyle. I don’t work out at one time during the day, and then stay sedentary the rest of the day. It’s all throughout the day, every day, which means it’s woven into my life, not a small segment of my life. This is what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

6. It’s functional. When you do a bicep curl with a dumbbell, you’re making a motion that you never would do in real life — when have you ever lifted something heavy while keeping your upper arm fixed to your torso? Instead, when we lift heavy things, we bend at the knees, and use our legs, our torso, our shoulders, our arms — basically most of our body at once. When I lift my kids, that’s the same motion I’d use to lift anything else. Functional exercise is much more useful than isolated lifts.

Working out using my kids as equipment is the best thing I’ve done with my fitness. It’s fun, so I never want to stop. It’s functional, it’s cheap, and best of all, I get to do it with my kids. I love it.

Most parents know that a healthy diet is vital for children from toddlers to teenagers, especially during periods of rapid growth.

Good nutrition helps children meet their energy and other important nutritional requirements, so they can achieve their growth and development potential.

Yet how can a balanced diet be achieved for children when parents are up against various challenges, such as long working days, running a household, satisfying each child’s needs and fussy eaters?

There is no single answer, but to give children the best start in life, it is important to introduce a wide variety of food, to establish a good nutritional foundation. The sooner your children start on the road to healthy eating, the sooner they will benefit. Eating habits established as a child are carried throughout life.

Try the following tips to help your children on their way to developing healthy eating habits for life.

• One fun way to help your children learn about nutrition and develop an appreciation of good food is to involve them in meal preparation.
• Enjoy meal times together, in a relaxed, enjoyable manner. This becomes a key time to catch up on each family member’s day.
• Be creative by using a variety of brightly coloured vegetables and arrange them to make different pictures – such as a face or a house. Also try different textures such as frozen fruit instead of fresh.
• For fussy eaters, try grating vegetables such as carrot and zucchini into soups or pasta.  Home-made pizzas and lasagnes are another way to incorporate vegetables in meals that children love.
• Set a good example. If your children don’t see you enjoying a balanced diet, it will be much more difficult to convince them they should eat well. And it’ll be good for you, too!
• Get them involved. Whether grocery shopping together, selecting fresh vegetables from the crisper, or washing, grating and peeling, children are much more likely to eat what they have helped to prepare.

For more information regarding getting your kids excited, The healthy eating for kids website has tons of fun recipes that will turn mealtime into funtime!

[via NineMSN]

1. Workout No Matter What. After a busy 5 days of sitting on my butt in meetings and seminars I still managed to workout 4 out of the 5 days while in Florida. Which is even more than I workout at home!

Wether it’s a quick hotel room bodyweight workout, a hotel gym workout or a Powerhouse gym workout, just make sure you do some exercise while traveling to offset all the sitting down on airplanes and in meetings.

2. All You Can Eat. The great thing about travelling to new cities is experiencing new places to eat. But if you’re not careful you could be paying the airlines extra weight on the way home, and I am not talking about your luggage…

So do what you should every morning; eat a nutritious breakfast. Even though our hotel served a FREE buffet breakfast every morning, I skipped the bacon and breads and had a huge freshly prepared omelet stuffed with veggies with a little fruit on the side. Keep lunch small with a salad or whole grain wrap so you don’t get sleepy during the afternoon meetings, and enjoy a nice dinner with some lean meat and veggies and even a glass of wine.

3. Drink Up. I don’t mean spend your nights at the hotel bar getting sloshed. I mean drink lots of cold refreshing water. It will keep you full and focused and your mind off the donuts and croissants sitting across the conference table.

It’s really easy to drink lots of H2O during these hotel conferences as they usually serve you pitchers of water in your meeting rooms and in the big conference rooms. Just to be sure you always have water on hand, pick up a couple of litres of spring water at the hotel gift shop and keep on ice in your room.

4. Ditch the Cab. If you are up for some sight seeing or heading to a nearby restaurant for dinner, ditch the cab fare, get some directions and walk there instead. Google Maps on your smart phone works great for this! Walking is a great way to see a new city and burn some calories. Strolling back to the hotel after dinner is a great way to end the evening and ease the guilt from that decadent dessert.

You can also try to find a park or gym a couple miles away and walk or run there to get your heart pumping and your warmup out of the way.

5. Recharge. If you’re traveling solo, staying at a hotel is a great way to get some extra rest and relaxation. You get the bed to yourself, and you have no worries of the kids jumping in the bed at the wee hours of the morning.

It’s also a great time to catch up on some work or read that book you have been trying to get through. A dip in the hotel pool and a hot sauna afterwards might be just what you need to recharge your batteries before you get back on the road.

So there you have it, The 5 Best Ways To Stay Fit While Traveling so you’re wife still recognizes you when you get home.

Learn more about the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report at www.dadfitness.com

Whether your children are at school, or home on holidays, it can be really difficult coming up with healthy kids lunch ideas day after day to keep them interested.

We’re all extremely busy these days, so the last thing we need is to get complicated at lunchtime.

But, what should your child’s lunch contain?

Here are some guidelines:

• Source of protein to help them stay alert
• Fruit and vegetables for vitamins, minerals and fiber
• Complex carbohydrates for slow-release energy and fiber
• Calcium for growth, healthy bones and teeth

If you’re stuck for kids lunch ideas, here are 5 simple suggestions:

1. Vary their breads
Most kids love of bit of variety and surprise, so rather than sticking with the same bread day in, day out, choose from a range of sliced bread, bread rolls, pita pockets, wraps, bagels, crackers and breadsticks.

Encourage your children to eat wholegrains, to make sure they’re having plenty of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

If your kids are young, try cutting sandwiches into different shapes using a cookie cutter, or roll them up and slice to make pinwheels. It’s amazing how a boring sandwich gets gobbled up when in the shape of something interesting!

2. Ditch the processed meats
Instead of using processed meats every day, which are unhealthy and a bit dull, use leftover meat from the night before, such as roast chicken, or beef. Alternatively, you could go for fish or boiled eggs, if your kids will eat them.

You could also think about preparing a range of shredded vegetables, with meat, a little sauce, and wraps or pita pockets, which your children can make up themselves. Obviously this depends on your child, some kids will love this idea, others won’t eat if it takes a lot of effort–playtime is much more important!

3. Be creative with salads
Cook a batch of potato or pasta salad with lots of chopped up vegetables, some lean sliced chicken, turkey or ham, and store in the fridge for a quick and easy lunch throughout the week. Then all you need is a green salad, and lunch is ready in a flash.

4. Get your kids involved
At the weekend why not take a few hours in the kitchen with your children and have a go at making healthy versions of your favorite cookies and muffins? This is a great way to get kids interested in what they’re eating, and also to teach them about healthy food choices. Whatever you make will be perfect the following week as a lunchtime treat.

5. Cut the sugary drinks
We should all be cutting back on the sugar-laden beverages, and our kids are no different. Water, milk, or calcium fortified soy milk are the best beverage choices for children.

If your children are resistent to trying new foods, why not ask them when they would like to have at lunchtime? I’m sure you’ll get a range of interesting answers!

Source: Diet Blog

The idea of these workout tips came to me while watching one of the classic episodes of Seinfeld, “The Bizarro Jerry” episode.  The concept behind this episode was of having a world made up of everyone’s total opposite, which is based on the Bizarro World stories featured in the Superman comic books.

The Bizarro versions of Jerry, George, Kramer and Newman were called Kevin, Gene, Feldman and Vargas.
So if you are not getting results from your workouts, maybe it’s time you do the opposite of what you see most people doing in the gym.

A lot of regular gym goers continue to look the same year after year despite how often they make an appearance and I am sure you don’t want to look like “most” people, as over 60% of people today are obese.
For the first time, the number of overweight individuals around the world rivals the number who are underweight.
In fact a new word – “globesity” has now been coined to reflect the escalation of global obesity and the overweight!

Remember, Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does this quote apply to the way I workout?

If so, it’s time to stop being a workout slave to your old school workout routines and time to break away from the crowd by doing the opposite of what they are doing.  The results just might surprise you.  That also includes those people you see in the gym who are there consistently but continue to look the same year after year.

1. Quality, not Quantity – Don’t fall for the cardio confusion where you think the more time you punch on a cardio machine the more fat you burn. You don’t need to spend hours working out everyday to get those rock hard abs or bulging biceps. The key to effective workouts is intensity. With shorter weight training and interval cardio workouts you spend less time working and more time burning fat. High intensity workouts elevate your metabolism up to 36 hours after your workout.

2. Mirror Muscles – Most guys love training the muscles they can see in the mirror like their chest and biceps. But 50% of your muscles are on the back of your body.  Muscles of your upper and lower back, hamstrings and even your triceps on the back of your arm are often neglected in favor of pumping up those mirror muscles. This contributes to overuse and imbalances in the shoulders and spine making you more susceptible to shoulder and back injuries. Do more pulling than pushing when you are in the gym and you will really be glad with what you see in the mirror.

3. Bet on Low – Betting on high might be the smart choice in a game of poker, but for better workouts, go low. Instead of following the classic “3 sets of 10 reps” routine, go bizarro and do the opposite with “10 sets of 3″. This will allow you to focus on the performance and quality of your repetitions instead of fatiguing your muscles with higher reps.  Most people train to improve appearance; you should train to improve performance and your appearance will improve as a result.

4. Step Away From the Machine -  You don’t need to workout on expensive equipment that isolates small muscles and put your body in unnatural positions all while you sit down. When you perform an exercise using machines you force your body to follow the range of motion dictated by the machine, when it should be the other way around allowing your body to control your range of motion.  Besides some cable movements. which are actually closer to free weight movements than machines, stick with barbells, dumbbells and bodyweight exercises so you build functional muscles that you can use in the real world.

5. Be Flexible – I am still amazed at how many people still don’t pay proper attention to warming up before their workout and stretching at the end of their workout.  If you want to have healthy joints and pain free flexibility, follow a proper warmup and cooldown.  Get your body primed for training with dynamic movements like bodyweight squats and pushups, then help to lower your heart rate and relax your muscles with some stretches after your workout is over. This is not something that you can afford to ignore if you want a healthy body for many years to come.

Follow these 5 tips in your next workout and if anyone asks you “what your doing?” tell them the opposite!

Learn more about the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report at www.dadfitness.com

I’ve been receiving a few random questions about how I feel about the P90x.  Designed as a workout at home solution, the p90x is intense and will get you results in 90 days.

Before you rush in though, I would recommend that you get your muscles ramped up to the heat that the P90x will bring.  The easiest way to do this is with a flat surface and an empty door frame.

1.  Flat Surface – Go to the 100 Push-Ups Site and download the weekly workouts.  It’s by far the cheapest thing, other than running, that you can start today that will help you sculpt your body.

2.  Door Frame – Get the Iron Gym.  With a door frame and 15 minutes per day, you can get your arms, chest, stomach and back, where they need to be.

I’ve been using the 100 pushup routine along with the Iron Gym for quick at home work outs.  Taivon put me on to the Iron Gym after he started using it to get in shape for football season.  Now that we both use it on a regular basis, It has turned into a Dad Diet favorite.

Learn more about the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report at www.dadfitness.com

Old habits are hard to break. But if you keep doing these 5 old school exercises you will be breaking more than old habits.

1. Leg extensions- Unfortunately this exercise seems to be the extent of most guys leg training.  Probably because sitting down and pumping out reps of leg extensions are a lot easier than squatting down with hundreds of pounds on your back.   Despite the “burn” you may feel from your upper thighs when performing this exercise, it is not a very efficient leg exercise as it only isolates the muscles above the knee.

The only time this exercise has much benefit is in a rehab setting where these muscles directly surrounding the knee need to be developed for stability and strength. Otherwise opt for any variation of the free-range squat.

2. Behind the neck pulldowns- This is another exercise that I still see people doing in the gym. I cringe every time I see someone take a wide grip on the angled ends of the pulldown bar and start pulling it down behind their neck.

The angled ends of the bar are an outdated design and are not where you should be gripping the bar. This puts your shoulders and rotator cuffs in a very vulnerable position.

Putting most of the stress on the shoulders and limiting range of motion away from the back muscles this exercise should be crossed off your list. Work on being able to do bodyweight chin-ups instead or at least pulldowns to the front.

3. Behind the neck shoulder press- Similar to the behind the neck pulldown, the behind the neck barbell shoulder press places your shoulder in a delicate position.  It is basically the same movement but by adding additional weight to the bar and pushing up in the vertical plane you are putting your rotator cuffs at an even greater risk of injury.   With the extra weight you can pile on the bar with this exercise, trying to even unrack the bar will soon send your shoulders screaming in pain. Switch to the safer option; the front barbell shoulder press.

4. Concentration Curls- Probably the most popular bicep exercise for beginners wanting to “get the pump” and get Arnold-like biceps.  It’s too bad a lot of experienced trainers still waste their time on this exercise.
No matter how many reps of concentration curls you do, you won’t get that bicep peak like the Terminator, as muscle SHAPE is genetically determined. Muscle SIZE on the other hand can be increased through basic movements that allow a heavy weight while using many muscles instead of isolating one smaller muscle.

Standing barbell or dumbbells curls are a better choice for bicep development, but better again are close grip chin-ups, which put a lot of stress on the upper arms while working many other muscles.

5. Crunches- It would be nice if all you had to do to get that ripped six pack would be to lie on the floor and pump out hundreds of reps of back breaking crunches. Despite what the infomercials want you to believe, this is NOT true!
You wouldn’t build your biceps by doing 100 reps with no weight, so why would you think you would develop your abdominals by doing 100 crunches or more? Your abdominals primary purpose is to actually stabilize your spine and to keep your torso from twisting in half under times of physical stress, not lift your neck off the floor.

Overall, the best exercises for your abs are exercises that allow your body to use your core the way it was meant to be used: for stability and support. Bodyweight planks, and compound exercises like squats and overhead presses will work your abs better than any crunch will ever do. Combined with a clean diet you might just see those abs looking back at you in the mirror.

…OK quiz time.  Do you see a trend with these 5 exercises?

They all involve sitting or lying down, (which we are all experts at already) and they work only a small section of muscle, allowing you to pump out endless reps without much effort.

For you busy guys who want to get the most out of your workouts, stop wasting your valuable time on these old school exercises that break your body down instead of building it up…

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com

If your like me you love firing up your backyard grill on those sunny summer days. Heck, I even use my BBQ year around up here in northern Canada! I just keep the snow cleared from deck with my snowblower and it’s grillin and chillin time.

Nothing beats food on the grill, its tasty and if you use lean cuts of meat, chicken or fish, you will give your body the muscle building fuel to get lean and mean for summer.

Here are some tips to becoming the king of the grill:

1. Crank up the heat. Make sure you let your grill reach its maximum temperature. Light it up, close the lid and wait until the thermometer hits its max, usually around 500 degrees.

2. Grease your grill. To prevent sticking, oil your grill with some oil dabbed on a paper towel or spray your grill with pam before you light up. You don’t want a mushroom cloud of flames coming from your backyard!

3. To grill the perfect steak to medium rare and get those awesome grill marks. Place steak on hot oiled grill pointing in 2 o’clock direction for 2 mins, then lift and turn to opposite angle of 10 o clock for another 2 mins. Then flip the steak and repeat the same, 2 mins, rotate, 2 more mins.

4. Don’t cut into the steak to see if its done, this will let out the juices and dry out the meat. Follow these steps and your steak will cook perfectly every time.

5. Remove steak from the grill and let sit for 5 mins to allow the meat to absorb its own juices.

*Take advantage of the large cooking surface and fill it up with chicken breasts, kabobs and lean burgers so you have awesome meals for the next couple days!

I like the new BBQs like the Broil King I have. It has burner plates which prevent flare-ups instead of charcoal or bricks.

Now get grilling!

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com

Here is the easiest way to keep yourself on track to eat healthy during those busy days.

Just look at your hand! That’s right, you were born with the perfect diet reminder.

Count off each meal and snack on your fingers, 5 fingers (I know the thumb, but lets call it a finger), 5 food servings.

In order to keep your blood sugar stable and avoid going into starvation mode during the day, you need to eat 5 times during the day.

That of course includes your regular 3 meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner. But also, make sure to have 2 snacks, a small snack in between breakfast and lunch, and another snack between lunch and dinner.

This keeps things simple as most busy dads don’t have the time or the drug enhanced metabolism’s to be eating 6-8 MEALS a day like the “bodybuilding” magazines might tell you.

So here are some quick and healthy snack tips I like to use during the day.

Sometimes I feel like a nut!

I like to nibble on heart healthy nuts in between meal. I like the Walnut pieces that come in the resealable bag. Walnuts contain the highest amount of fat burning omega 3’s. I also like Pistachios, as they take time to peel apart keeping you from eating too many too fast. Another great sources of healthy fats. Just make sure to get the natural nuts that are not fried in any vegetable oils or loaded down with salt. Check the ingredients and avoid any that has these listed. Also use your hand as your guide here as well and just take a small handful and put them away to avoid eating too much.

Protein Pudding

I love this high protein snack before bed or in the afternoon. I like to use a scoop of protein powder. Get a protein powder that has fast acting whey protein as well as slow digesting casein protein. This will satisfy you longer than just whey protein alone. The casein protein also mixes into a pudding alot creamier and thicker. Take your favorite protein flavor and mix it with 1/2cup of PLAIN yogurt or cottage cheese. Add some fresh berries or slivered almonds and you have a great tasting dessert like snack.

Natures Snack

Fruit has been getting some bad rap lately regards to fat loss. When people start blaming fruit for getting them fat, I have to strongly disagree! Since fruit does contain some natural sugars people avoid it thinking that it will make them fat. I highly doubt that FRUIT is what is making people overweight these days. Yeah maybe if you eat a bag of apples a day on top of your current diet. But I don’t think anyone eats that much fruit as most people hardly eat any. Grab an apple or orange or your favorite piece of fruit in between meals to nourish your body and actually help burn fat.

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com

These 5 foods will make sure you are on your way to living a long and healthy life so you can be the strong dad you need to be to keep up with your family.

1. Tomatoes – This plump red FRUIT provides a powerful punch for men especially. Yes, it is a fruit, not a vegetable. If it has seeds, its considered a fruit. You might of heard of the powerful nutrient in tomatoes called lycopene. Lycopene has been show to be beneficial in preventing prostate cancer in men. To absorb this wonderful nutrient the tomatoes need to be broken down such as tomato sauce and tomato juice.

2. Oysters – Don’t pass on these slimy sea mollusks just yet. Oysters are a high quality protein source which is great for building lean muscle. They also provide heart healthy omega 3’s as well as another prized nutrient that every man should have in their diet. Oysters have been known for centuries as a libido enhancer. This is mainly from the high concentration of Zinc. Most men today are shown to be deficient in this vital nutrient. It aids in testosterone production which gives us men strength and energy in the gym as well as in the bedroom.

3. Brazil Nuts – Nuts are a great nutrient dense snack full of fiber, healthy fats and even protein. Brazil nuts especially are high in selenium. Brazil nuts may contain as much as 544 micrograms of selenium per ounce. Just one Brazil nut will give you your recommended daily allowance of the selenium. This mineral is crucial in antioxidant production in your body to fight off disease.

4. Broccoli – We all hear how good this green cruciferous vegetables is for us. But most men don’t really know how beneficial broccoli really is for our health and longevity. More and more evidence is mounting showing the anti-cancer benefits in this super food. Look at broccoli as “nature’s brooms” as they are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that clean your arteries and keep your cells strong and healthy throughout your body.

5. Flaxseed – This little seed is loaded with nutrients. A lot of people know flaxseeds are a good source of healthy fats and fiber. But the mistake they make is eating the seeds whole. For your body to absorb the fats, flaxseeds need to be ground before they are eaten. A coffee grinder is great for this or you can buy organic milled flaxseed. Ground flaxseed is great to add to cereal, oatmeal, burgers, meatballs, shakes and stews. Store ground flaxseeds in the fridge to prevent oxidation of the healthy fats. With all the talk on plastics in our environment and the phytoestrogens they mimic, lignans in flaxseeds help the body get rid of these toxic compounds.

There you have it, The Top 5 Foods For Men that you may not be eating but should…

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com