Family Day EVERYDAY | International Day of Families

You’ve been stuck in your home with your family. It’s like an indefinite family vacation. The walls start closing in on you. Little annoyances start to run you up the wall. Why is EVERYONE so noisy!?!?

Your kids are loud, messy kids and act like they don’t know how to pick up behind themselves. Your teething one year old is whiny, clingy, and eating everything in sight, the floor included. Your three-year-old who fancies herself a comedian, makes her little brother cry, then cries because you try to correct her behavior. Your wife doesn’t seem to get that Work-From-Home, literally means, WORK. From. Home.

This doesn’t sound so appealing, right? Man do I miss it!

My current situation has taken me away from “all the fun” for 45 days. So the first two anecdotes (and SO much more) are from the glue that holds our family together, my wife of course. That last one about Work-From-Home was from me (she doesn’t doesn’t read these anyways 😉).

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If you STILL Haven’t Started, Just SHUT UP Already!

I may be hangry from my intermittent fasting or just irritable after working 21 straight nights, half of which were 12 hour shifts. Regardless, I am not mincing words. I am going all in!

The whole world has been ordered to Shelter In Place—of some form or another—by our governing officials. The majority of you have taken that ordinance and have decided to conveniently use that as your reason to DO NOTHING.  Let’s be honest, you didn’t really need an excuse. If it wasn’t this excuse, it would have been another. You see, you are FULL of excuses (among other things). No amount of “Work From Home” or “Free time” would have ever been sufficient for you to Prioritize Physical Activity. You know why, because it starts with YOU and YOU don’t really want to change. You are satisfied with being one of the 40% plus of males either overweight or obese. You are comfortable with your lifestyle as is. Well, It’s Time To Move Beyond Comfort! Being a dad is not your issue. Time is not your issue. YOU are your issue.

You can make excuses or you can make progress. You choose.

Brian Tracy
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World Obesity Day

The “Official” World Obesity Day may have passed, but that does not mean we have move beyond the Clear and Present Danger of health of our time. Sure, there are sensational, sporadic events just about every other year. This condition remains a GINORMOUS problem. It is dull, yet insidious, and persistent. Because of this, it doesn’t get the attention it rightly deserves. People are quick to poke fun at it or poke fun at the people with this condition, but are unwilling to emphasize the underlying factors. Whether you like to hear it or not, obesity is preventable and treatable. We can, we must, take action now to break ourselves of our deadly routines.  

Eat, eat, eat. Sit, sit, sit. Day, after day, after day…OBESITY!

ACTIVE-DAD

The Great american dream

You have strived to achieve the “Great American Dream”. This dream has been distorted into extended periods of sitting around and eating. You get up in the morning, eat cereal — which may be delicious—that is high in sugar. You chase that down with coffee that contains even more sugar. You get into your spacious Ford F-150, sit and drive to work. You get stuck sitting in traffic.

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It’s Time To Move Beyond Comfort! Focus on T.O.P.C.

We get caught in a certain level of comfort. It’s not uncommon for the masses. We find a place where we have comfortable stress and adequate finances. We have friends and family that have accepted us as we are, and those associations are comfortable. They don’t think we are overweight, because the look no different. Besides, 37.9% of men over the age of 20 are obese. So healthy weight is NEVER a topic of discussion.

Something in human nature tempts us to stay where we’re comfortable.

Fred Smith

You do not like what you see in the mirror. Even worse you convinced yourself that you don’t care. But, you do. Deep down you really do care. You want to be better for yourself. You want to be better for your wife. You want to be better for your son. You don’t feel comfortable in your skin anymore and you are afraid that your kids are picking up on your lack of confidence. If this keeps up, he may grow up with the impression that on the Hierarchy of Needs (thanks to Abraham Maslow), Esteem is not really that important. At last, he had no examples of it from you growing up.

You might not have put much thought into it, but the moment your son was born he instinctively sought to fulfill his needs. Be it breathing air, water and food through milk, shelter from the environment, or sleep; everyday of your newborn son’s life revolved around all these Physiological Needs. Ask your mom, and she will tell you that you did the same. As your Physiological Needs were continuously met and you matured, your needs also matured. Your needs developed into the need of Safety. The need of security, resources, employment, safety of your family and of your HEALTH. As you worked to satisfy those needs, somewhere along the way, some of these needs were substituted. Somewhere along the way the need for the Safety of your Health was swapped out for the need for COMFORT.

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You Know Why You Gave Up, And So Does Everyone Else!

How Did You Get Here?

You look up, and BAM! You are not the same man you were 10 years ago.

Two kids later, you look up and realize you haven’t found a way to PRIORITZE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY daily. You look up and you are carrying way more pounds than any other point in your life. You somehow went from a size 32 in the waist, to a 40. You would have thought you were the one who carried those babies for nine months—no, that was NOT you. You look around, your family, your co-workers, your friends, social media…they ALL look like YOU. Your group of friends told you to “Just embrace it man, it’s normal.”. They all appear to be in the same situation. They all look like they are heavier than they have ever been. That makes it normal, right?

Just because you may be seeing more people in your day-to-day life, living unhealthy lifestyles, does not mean it is normal.

ACTIVE-DAD

But it isn’t just you and those around you. Thirty-seven-point nine percent (37.9%) of men over the age of 20 are obese. Do you know what age group of men are the fattest? Men aged 40 to 59 are 40.8% tubby tubbies!

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Why You Should SHUT UP About Leadership, If You Fail To Lead Yourself!

Have you ever gotten advice (often unsolicited) from someone who you knew with 100% certainty, they didn’t heed their own advice? I hear about it ALL the time. I have heard the complaints from colleagues and acquaintances of how a healthcare professional — particularly overweight or obese — proceeded to recommend that they lose weight to avoid health issues. They tell me how they thought to themselves (or maybe you even say it), “Excuse me, but shouldn’t you be practicing what you preach?” While this is sound advice and the healthcare professional was doing their job, their “body of work” spoke for itself. There are other elements that we consciously be considered.

A leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk.

John Boehner
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You Can Take Your Gym Membership and SHOVE IT!

Two and a half months into my first gym membership, the gym decided to close, for good! I moved from Alameda, California, to the east coast and left behind all the things I have grown comfortable with.

What were those things? Oh, let me count the ways!

  1. The San Francisco Bay Trail, with sections of paved trail along the Crown Memorial State Beach
  2. Bike/Walk Friendly with lanes throughout the City  
  3. Perfect weather!
  4. Places to go poop along the trail!
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Confront Your Body Issues! #BeThe1To

In preparation for National Suicide Prevention Month (September), National Suicide Prevention Week (September 8 – 14, 2019) and WORLD Suicide Prevention Day (September 10th), it is LONG overdue to address some issues of Body Image that may dwell in the hearts and minds of men.

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How To Inspire Others!

When you walk the walk, don’t be surprised when you see others get inspired.

How do you get motivated?

What are your sources of motivation? I rely on many sources of motivation, one of which is David Goggins. If you do not know who David Goggins is, he is known for his no nonsense, no excuse approach in overcoming a weak mindset. About a month ago I was watching a video shot by David Goggins giving pointers on how he builds muscle endurance and how to incorporate it throughout the day. Anyways, this approach in particular was called “Ins-and-Outs”. Basically, upon entering any structure with a doorway, you drop down and complete a set of push-ups. This could be 5 to 10 push-ups, more if you are feeling froggy. This would be the “Ins” portion. The same idea goes for the “Outs”. Before or after you exit a doorway, you drop down and complete a set of push-ups. Simple enough!

This resonated with me because one of my goals for 2019 is to increase the maximum number of push-ups I can complete.  I was inspired to jump right in with the Ins-and-Outs. I did so not knowing how it would impact others.

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What Is The Most Important Thing To You In Your Life?

What Is Most Important To YOU?

Have you asked yourself this question lately? What is the most important thing to you in your life? If you answered, “My Family”, then you are like most family men out there. We get married and have children, not to neglect them, but to grow and nurture that them.

“If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.”

Flight Attendant

As fathers, we lose sleep at night on how we are going to provide for the needs of our families. As you established those needs and progress out of the stages of self-preservation, providing food and shelter, we then focus on security. By security, I do not mean physical security. Having shelter for your family provides a certain type of security. Additionally, there are inexpensive ways to provide physical security these days. However, what I mean here is long term security, which may include financial or security through health and well-being. These types of security afford our offspring future OPPORTUNITIES and OPTIONS.

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