4 Reasons Why You Will NOT Experience a Set-Back If You Ate Too Much This Weekend

I hope you enjoyed the Easter/Passover Break.

It seemed like the girls, Rozanne and I were everywhere over the past 3 days spending time with family and friends and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine...after all, that's what a long weekend is about isn't it?
(To the right is a picture of my protein-junkie 18-month-old, Mikey, enjoying a hard-boiled egg...don't worry, she had about 6 chocolate eggs after!)

Amidst all the pizza, pasta, ham, dessert and all the little chocolate eggs that I ate, I still managed to get to the gym couple of times and stayed on track with my workouts.

Even though there was a lot of distraction (my in-laws have this knack for breaking out the poker chips at just the right time), I stuck to my schedule and was disciplined enough to cut out from the family stuff for a quick 45 minutes (traveling time included) to get to the local YMCA.

And even though I got kicked off the Smith Machine while I was doing Blast Strap Push-Ups because a trainer wanted their 40-something-out-of-shape-female-client to do some Smith Machine bench presses (!?!?!), I was still able to get a great muscle building workout in...


1a) 3 sets of weighted Chin-Ups
1b) 3 sets of Standing Military Presses

2a) 3 sets of DB Rows
2b) 3 sets of Blast Strap Push-Ups





Holiday eating can really throw you off your stride if you can't quickly get back on the horse. I’ve seen many a client just throw away all their fat loss efforts and completely fall off the wagon because of one indulgent weekend.

But that’s not going to happen to YOU (or to me)…

4 Reasons Why This Past Long Will NOT Set You Back From Your Fat Loss Goals
1. The weather is getting better. It's spring time and that means more family bike rides, hikes, playing in the park and NO STUFFY GYMS that make you feel trapped and clausterphobic. Being outdoors and doing your fat loss workouts outdoors will make you feel vibrant and alive. Your body relishes the Vitamin D that it's been missing over the winter. So get outside, take a kettlebell and and head over to the playground and do some chin-ups with your kids! ***Remember, no kettlebell swings while the little ones are around.
2. You will stick to your plan. The best part about your FitAndBusyDad workouts is that it allows for flexibility. If you miss a workout, it's not that big a deal because you can stack the missed component onto the end of another workout. And with each workout only being 20-minutes of less, you won't be caught in the gym or away from the family for very long at all.

3. Your diet could use the break. Chances are, if you've been eating well for the past few weeks, you're body could be reaching a plateau. Just like how our workouts need to be changed every few weeks to give our body a different stimulus to change, the same holds true for our diets. If you've been eating a lot less than normal lately, then a sudden "re-feed" could be just what your body needs to say, "whoa, what the HE** was that?" and restart your fat loss metabolism! Just make sure to go back to your clean eating ways starting today.

4. Don't sweat the small stuff. Truthfully, if you enjoyed yourself this weekend - spending time with the kids and your friends, family and loved ones - then in the big picture of things, if you ate a little too much this weekend, IS IT REALLY THAT BIG OF A DEAL? The answer of course is NO. We just need to jump back on course and continue with the healthy lifestyle that we've been living and teaching our kids. One long weekend of indulgent eating will not hinder our results if we've committed a lifetime of healthy habits to ourselves and our family. Now, it's just a matter of getting back on track and continuing what we started.

I hope you guys had as enjoyable weekend as I did. I'm off to the farm now (it's my day off) for a children's birthday party. Then it's off to the gym.

Enjoy your day!

Chris Lopez
The FitAndBusyDad

P.S. Speaking of indulgent eating, my good friend and fellow author Joel Marion just finished recording some REALLY eye opening videos on the pitfalls of dieting and how you can actually use your favorite foods to lose fat *faster*. I'll be sending you a direct link to check out these powerful videos tomorrow, so make sure to keep a close eye out on your email. Believe me when I say you're definitely NOT going to want to miss these!

Who's Supporting Your Fat Loss Efforts?

I can't stress enough the importance of accountability when it comes to your goals - health, fitness or lifestyle.

Being accountable, not only to yourself, but to a group of like-minded peers will propel you towards success.


It will give you motivation on those days when it seems just too hard to get out bed 20-minutes early for a workout.

Or when the kid's fries are staring you in the face daring you to dip them in ketchup and stuff them in your mouth.

Accountability to a group with a similar focus and set of goals is what will take you from good to GREAT!

That's why I spend good money joining coaching groups and masterminds and have a set of colleagues/friends that won't hesitate to call me out when I don't live up to my promises or fall short of a goal.

There are a number of ways for you to find a group of people who share the same passions and goals that you do and that would welcome the opportunity to share ideas, motivational tips and, most importantly, hold you accountable.

I just started our new FREE Ning Community Site at www.FitAndBusyDad.ning.com and we'll be using this community as FitAndBusyDad TRANSFORMATION CENTRAL!

There, you'll find other dads like you and me who want to share our goals and our hardships & struggles of being busy dads who want to get or stay in shape.

I'm on the forums TWICE daily to answer any questions or concerns or to provide any tips when needed.

I'll also be putting up EXCLUSIVE videos and workouts for MEMBERS ONLY. So those of us who are on there already will have already reaped the benefits of some of the stuff that's on there.

To join, just answer a few (not so) personal questions and click submit. That's it. It's FREE. No payment. No hassles. To catches.

Just me and you and a bunch of others like us who want to share experiences or are looking for support.

=>Join the FitAndBusyDad Community TODAY

Another great tool is the (relatively) new micro-blogging site called TWITTER.

I use Twitter as a way to let my "Tweeps" know what I'm doing, what I'm eating and what I did for my own personal workouts. Thankfully, I've got a pretty active and responsive group of Twitter followers who will hold me accountable if I haven't posted for a while.

I'm getting all the participants in the 1st EVER FitAndBusyDad Transformation Challenge to follow me on Twitter and post their diets and workouts to keep them on track. By putting themselves out there, they'll feel some accountability not only to themselves, but to me and their group of followers.

If you're not on Twitter yet, click the link below to sign-up and follow me...

=>Follow @fitandbusydad on Twitter

REMEMBER...After diet & exercise, having the support of a group of like-minded individuals with similar goals (ie Social Support) is the BEST tool to help you reach your fat loss & muscle-building goals.

Success is just around the corner. Don't fall off the wagon! WE won't let you!

Chris Lopez
The FitAndBusyDad

P.S. Don't forget to enter the 1st Ever FitAndBusyDad Transformation Challenge!

=>Get Started with the FitAndBusyDad Lifestyle TODAY!

P.P.S. The last day to enter the challenge to get a FULL 12-WEEKS of Transformation is March 9, 2009. Don't delay!

The 1st Ever FitAndBusyDad Transformation Challenge - Are you "DAD" enough?

OK, I know I'm a day late with this last announcement, but I had some loose "legal" ends that I needed to tie up just to make sure that I can do what I'm about to do.

So here's BIG Birthday Announcement #3...

I am launching the 1st EVER FitAndBusyDad Transformation Challenge!

***Notice how I didn't say "Contest", I said "Challenge". A contest is something that you do to compete against other people. A CHALLENGE is something you do to compete against YOURSELF.***

There are 2 things that you need to do to enter and to make it as a finalist in the F&BD Challenge:

1. Submit BEFORE and AFTER photos (taken on Day 1 and Day 84, respectively) showing the dramatic changes you made to your physique.

AND...

2. Write a 300-500 word essay on the steps you took to BECOME A BETTER DAD throughout your 84-days of transformation.

(*FULL Contest Rules and Details will be posted on Monday, Feb 2, 2009)

That's right, guys.

THIS IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE TRANSFORMATION CONTEST.

I still believe that a lot of us ("us" being Busy Dads) still get a lot of flack for being "secondary" caregivers.

People's first instinct when they see us with our kids at the park or at a ballgame or at the mall is "Oh, that's cute. They must be babysitting." That initial reaction is changing now that more and more of us are taking an active involvement in our kids' lives, but it still happens.

(BTW, if you're watching YOUR kids, it's not "babysitting"! It's called PARENTING.)

And that's why the essay portion of this contest counts for so much.

How, in your busy life, are going to improve being the type of father that your kids will want to be proud of for the rest of their lives?

Sure, it's relatively easy to ignore our families, focus totally on ourselves, eat boiled chicken breasts & steamed broccoli everyday and spend countless hours in the gym trying to get our bodies better for an 84-day challenge...but who really wins in the end? If we take this approach, what do we sacrifice and at what cost? Are we really being a better dad?

This challenge is meant for you to go beyond fitness and really dissect your lifestyle. To go deep and make yourself ask HARD questions like...

Am I being a shining example of health to my family?

What kind of impact am I putting on their lives?

Thirty years from now, what will my kids remember about me the most?

Or, even more importantly...


Given my current lifestyle, am I even going to be around 30 years from now to see my grandchildren?

This isn't just a body transformation challenge...it's a LIFE TRANSFORMATION.

And if your family and your health isn't incentive enough, here is the prize line-up:

Grand Prize - $750 Cash, 1-year telephone coaching & personalized program consultation with me & LIFETIME products from FitAndBusyDad.

Runner-Up - $500 Cash, 6-months telephone coaching & personalized program consultation

3rd place - $250 Cash, 6-months telephone coaching & personalized program consultation

Prizes will also be given to the contestant who best BLOGs about his experience(s) throughout the contest AND to the contestant who best VIDEO BLOGs his experience(s).

So, are you up for the challenge?

Are you ready to step-up and be a better man, a better parent, a better DAD?

I think you'll be just fine AND you'll have my support 100%.

So don't wait, make the decision to change and get going!

=>Get Your FitAndBusyDad Workouts NOW

Your Coach,
Chris Lopez
The FitAndBusyDad

P.S. You have until Friday (tomorrow) at midnight to get your NEW FBD workouts at the promotional price of $39. Click HERE to get started FitAndBusyDad Workouts!

P.P.S. Today is the last day to enter to WIN the flip video camera. All you have to do is leave a comment. Click HERE for your chance to win.

What's the BEST Cardio Machine to Use?

As much as I hate doing cardio and would never tell you guys that it's a necessity for fat loss, I know that some of you just love it.

So I wrote an article ranking THE BEST CARDIO MACHINES suggesting which ones you should use and which ones are just a complete waste of time.

You can check my article out on TheFatherLife.com by clicking HERE.

=>The FitAndBusyDad's Ranking of the BEST Cardio Machines

Just do me a favor though, OK?

Read Men's Health or Men's Fitness or GQ while you're sitting on the recumbent bike. Leave the People Magazine to the Cardio Queen with the liatard on.

CL
The FitAndBusyDad

p.s. The best way for Busy Dads to lose fat WITHOUT doing cardio can be found HERE.

=>Get started with FitAndBusyDad Workouts

4 Tips On How To Get a Great Night's Sleep (Inspired by a Naked Dad)

A couple of months ago, I was in Stamford, CT for a conference. The first morning there, just before my first session I went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

I got to the hostess about the same time as another guy. I knew who he was, but I wasn't sure if he knew me. Still being half awake and somewhat shy, I didn't introduce myself. We waited at the front of the almost empty restaurant for almost 5-minutes and were both visibly annoyed that we were ignored by the hostess.

While we were waiting, Vince Delmonte came down, who just happened to be a common friend (I think Vince knows everybody). He introduced us and we've been emailing each other every week ever since.

That guy, was Mike Roussell.

Mike just happens to be one of the top nutrition experts in the world and runs a very successful nutrition program over at NakedNutritionNetwork.com.

Mike is also one of the busiest dads that I have met.

Back in September when we first started talking, he was in the middle of studying for/writing his comprehensive exams for his PhD, working on his latest fat loss project called Warp-Speed Fat Loss (a collaboration w/fat loss expert Alwyn Cosgrove) and trying to be an exemplary parent (along with his wife Emily) to (then) 6-month-old twins.

Mike sent me this email that I thought you busy dads out there would appreciate...

Hey Chris. Glad you emailed me. There aren't a lot of guys like us - family man, fitness, blogging - we should stay in touch.

You would appreciate this... Classic 'dad' night last night - driving the kids around town at 1:30am to get them to stop screaming and sleep. Emily and I rate nights by what late night talk show host we will see before going to bed...

Jay Leno - great night (kids asleep before 12:30am)

Conan - average night (kids asleep by 1:30am)

Carson Daily - bad night (too late to remember)

Hope you're well, Mike

I'm not sure if you guys are anything like me, but I've always been hung up on how much sleep I get (or don't get these days). In fact, based on my 10-years of fatherhood, I've got a pretty reliable rating system as well...

#1 Rating - Bath & bed time story =
7-8hrs of sleep...A GREAT NIGHT!

#2 Rating - Bath & bed time story followed by a tantrum =
5-6hrs of sleep...BREAKFAST PREP WILL BE RUSHED, BUT CAN STILL GET DONE IF I DON'T SHOWER.

#3 Rating - Bath & bed time story followed by a tantrum, pee in the bed & late night laundry session washing soiled sheets =
4-5hrs...NO SHOWER, NO TIME TO PREPARE BREAKFAST FOR MYSELF THE NEXT MORNING, BUT I'LL STILL MAKE IT TO WORK.

#4 Rating - Bath & bed time story, tantrum, late night pee in the bed and/or puke followed by another bath and a late night laundry session washing soiled sheets =
ZERO hrs of sleep...DON'T EVEN BOTHER GOING TO BED BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GET UP IN AN HOUR ANYWAY!

On a "normal" night (whatever that is), here are the 4 things that I try to do to make sure I get a great night's sleep NATURALLY...

1. Stop the coffee by 3pm. If I'm drinking espresso, I make sure that the last one I have is at 3pm. The 1/2-life of caffeine is about 3-4 hours in a healthy adult, so by having my last espresso at 3pm, I can ensure that most of the caffeine I consumed during the day is gone by around 9ish. That's just in time to...

2. Try to get to bed by 10pm. Your body wants to follow nature and the best possible sleep means that you're following sleep-wake cycles similar to that of the sun (darkness-daylight). If you're already going to bed too late, try to get up a little earlier each day, forcing you to hit the sack earlier, until your body adjusts.

3. Have your dinner earlier (or no later than 6/6:30pm). A lot of people use this trick for weight-loss, which I believe works, and it helps you with sleep quality because you'll make sure that your body's digestive processes are somewhat calm by the time bedtime rolls around (meaning that your heart won't be working as hard to feed all the muscles involved with digestion).

4. Calm your mind by using meditation or some form of relaxation. I just started using this technique and it's really worked out well. I'm the type who's always thinking...about what I need to do tomorrow, about ideas for my business, about whether or not my 3-year-old went to the bathroom prior to bed so I don't have a #3 or #4 kind of night. After reading the book "A New Earth", I learned that by just focusing on my breathing for 5-minutes, my mind stops racing and I'm able to really calm myself and relax right into a great sleep.

CL
The FitAndBusyDad

P.S. Getting up at 5am after a great night's sleep has been part of my morning routine for almost 10 years now. It enables me to get a lot done while my wife and kids (and the whole world pretty much) are still in bed. It also allows me to get my metabolism revved up with quick intense workouts that really take no time at all!

An Experiment Gone Bad?

About 3 weeks ago, my wife and I set out on a quest to try to stay under a grocery/food budget of $200 for our family of 6. It's the middle of the final week now, as November comes to a close, and it's been pretty friggin' hard.

As of today, we've spent $196 on our groceries/food. Not bad for 3 weeks. We've managed to use up almost all of the food in our freezer. We're more conscious of not letting things go bad in the fridge and making sure that we don't let anything go to waste.

But it's been a trying experience and to ask us to just spend $4 for the rest of the week on food for our growing family is, to put bluntly, NEGLECTFUL.

We've clipped coupons, shopped at local farmer's markets, used up all of the organic meat in our freezer and 90% of the canned beans in our pantry.

We've been invited, more often than usual, to my in-laws for dinner on Friday and/or Saturday nights. My father-in-law has bought dinner for the entire family AT LEAST 1 night per week after he picks-up the kids for us (bless his kind soul).

Rozanne and I have also followed a strict Eat-STOP-Eat Lifestyle, fasting every 5 days and we've both lost some weight. In fact, in keeping up with my workouts (using a Bod Pod measurement) I've manage to drop my body fat percentage to 10% while maintaining the same amount of lean mass that I started with.

But...

"CAN A HEALTHY-EATING FAMILY OF 6 LIVE ON JUST A $200 FOOD/GROCERY MONTHLY BUDGET?"

The answer, for THIS family at least, is a big fat

NO!

Like I mentioned in my first blog post this month, our family theme for November, is GRATITUDE (that's what the symbol above means).

So believe me, we're thankful...

Thankful that we can afford more than $200/month for healthy (and in most cases organic) food.

Thankful that we have a supportive extended family that have our backs.

Thankful that we know where our next meal is coming from and that it's never a choice for us to either feed the kids or pay for an electricity bill.

I wouldn't call this past experiment "fun".

A better word would be enlightening.

It's made us realize (again) how lucky we are with what we have - not just us as a family, but as a society with electricity, indoor plumbing, running water and heated (or air conditioned) homes.

Would I try this all again? Probably not. I think I would try to cut out other excessive things in our life (not that there's a lot of them). But good quality food, as I have said before, I won't compromise.

That said, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my friends south of the border. I hope that you experience immense gratitude the same way my family and I have over this past month.

Now please excuse me while I hit the grocery store :-)

CL
The FitAndBusyDad

Spotlight on The FitAndBusyDad

A couple of weeks ago, I did an interview for Jeremy Biser over at DiscoveringDad.net. I've done a few interviews in the past, but he asked me one of the best questions I've ever been asked...

****
In general, how do you think dads are perceived? Why?

I think you’ll get 2 types of dads…Guys with kids, and “Dads.”

I’m a DAD before anything else.

We get a bad rap sometimes and are really still considered secondary caregivers. I think there are still a lot of “traditional” thinkers out there who think that dads should be leaving at 6am and not coming home until 7pm while they “bring home the bacon,” that we have no business child rearing or keeping house.

I’m lucky in that I’ve managed to structure my business around how I want my life to be. I still leave quite early in the morning because that is my most productive time, but I come home at 3pm every day in time to pick-up my kids, make dinner, give them a bath and read them a bedtime story.

I got a lot of flack for that from my clients who were more of the “guys with kids” types. I even had one client suggest that I hire a driver to pick my kids up from school so that I could work an extra 2-3 hours in the afternoon to be his trainer!!!

Overall though, I think times are changing. You’ll see a lot more of us at PTA meetings, cheering on the sidelines of our kids’ soccer games and just being more involved. It’s refreshing to see and somewhat comforting to know that there are others like me out there.

You can read the rest of the interview HERE.

****

I'll be contributing to DiscoveringDad.net on a regular basis so stay tuned for my column.

I've also been asked to be a regular contributor to Muscle Mondays on TheDadJam.net and to the new fitness series on TheFatheringLife.com so I'll be sure to let you know when those pieces come out as well.

I've turned to these 3 sites for advice and information on fatherhood and entertaining stories on what it means to be a MODERN DAY MAN and I highly reccomend adding them to your weekly readings.

CL
the FitAndBusyDad

Lessons from the YMCA

We spent this past weekend house-sitting for my in-laws while they were out of town.

While we were there, I managed to get up early Sunday morning to head out to the local YMCA for a workout. I didn't think there would be a lot of people there, but boy was I wrong. The cardio machines and weight machines were packed! What was odd to me, though, was that there were only 2 people in the weight area for a good chunk of time. More on that later, but for now, here's what I did...

1) Front Squat (5 x 185, 4 x 205, 3 x 225)

2a) DB Row (8 x 80, 85, 90)
2b) BB Reverse Lunges (3 x 10 x 135)

3a) Dips (3 x 15, 12, 8)
3b) DB Curls (3 x 8 x 35)

OK, so back to my story...With all the research out now provine that resistance training with free weights is more effective for fat burning than cardio and machine training, you'd think that there'd be more people lifting weights. That wasn't the case yesterday morning.

Here are some other observations that I found a little odd...

• A trainer came up to me and told me to stop squatting below parallel because (I'm paraphrasing) my knee caps would pop off and hit the mirror in front of the squat rack and there'd be shattered glass everywhere!

THE TRUTH: Squatting is as primal a movement as walking. Humans learn to squat from the ground up even before they take their first step. Don't believe me? Watch this video of my 1-year-old...

• Every guy that came to weight area...EVERY guy...started his workout by doing bicep curls. After that, they'd proceed to do some type of exercise for their chest.

THE TRUTH: If you want to get huge arms or huge in general, stop focusing on bodyparts and doing single joint exercises like bicep curls. Instead, do big multi-joint movements like squats, deadlifts (yes they work your upper body too), chin-ups, dips, presses or rows. Also, don't neglect the muscles in your back. If you've noticed my programs lately, there are minimal if any pressing exercises. The front of our bodies get worked enough (we do everything in front of our bodies). Why do more and make our already tight chest and shoulders tighter?

• There were an alarming number of skinny teenage guys on elliptical machines or running on treadmills.

THE TRUTH: Just my humble opinion, but if you're a skinny teenage boy with raging hormones and you're trying the attract the opposite sex, making yourself skinnier by doing cardio isn't going to help your situation. IN FACT, if YOUR teenager is an athlete that participates in any sport that requires power (which is almost every highschool sport, except for cross-country), then he or she may be hindering their progress as an athlete if they're doing cardio!

I'll elaborate on that in tomorrow's post...

CL
The FitAndBusyDad

P.S. Click HERE for the most effective fat burning system for Busy Dads.