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A 47-Year-Old Dad’s Incredible Body Transformation
Ian was feeling tired, unhealthy, and struggling to make time for himself to get healthier.
Being a dad of 3, a full-time nurse, and a Major in the Army reserves, he’d spent a long time looking after everyone else and doing his best work, so he often put himself on the back-burner.
This was ok for while, but age and time started catching up on him, and it made him reflect on how much his health and energy was affecting his family and work.
He knew he could give them much more, if he was only a lot healthier and feeling great about himself.
An Inspiration For Family Men In Their 40s
As things turned out, his story is a great inspiration and example of what’s possible for family men in their 40s…
He Just Wanted To ‘Feel Healthier’
I remember our first conversations about his goals. He didn’t have much of an aesthetic or weight loss goal. For him, it was mostly about getting healthier, having more energy for his family, and demanding work schedules.
He was coming from a place of trying to juggle everything but struggled with the energy to make any real progress.
Physically, this is a massive transformation. But honestly, the training and nutrition changes to get him to this stage were very simple.
Ian had very little spare time on his hands. He didn’t like vegetables, didn’t have much protein in his diet, and didn’t know much about good nutrition or have much experience in prepping meals. He also didn’t have much experience with strength-building exercise.
The Usual Approach To Fitness Doesn’t Work For Busy Working Dads
With all this in mind, a big overhaul of everything was never going to work for him. In fact, it would have done more harm than good. But Ian had a great thing to his advantage:
The WILL to try new things.
So although we took things slow, the changes we did introduce he fully embraced and did his best.
We started with simply making time, and planning ahead for his workout routines. (Which he was already good at doing with his work, so he just applied the same principles into his own personal time).
Then we made small nutritional changes, one at a time, starting with more protein at his meals. After a couople of weeks, we focused on getting 5 veggies and fruits a day. Then healthy fats at each meal. Then smarter carb choices.
Once we’d practiced all these over a couple of months, we put more focus into meal planning and prepping, and really sharpening up his portion sizes.
Consistency Over Perfection
Obviously, working in the hospital full time, and having a Major’s responsibilities in the Army reserves, sometimes work took over and we had some weeks where very little exercise got done at all.
And goes with out saying, his new eating standards would drop during those weeks, too. But that’s life. And none of us can be 100% on it all the time. Not even us nutrition and fitness gurus. So that’s ok.
And as you can see with Ian’s impressive results, life won’t stop you when you are focused on consistency over perfection over a long period of time.
Play The Long Game
These are results from around 12 months of good practices. So Ian’s now at a level where all the small daily practices we worked on, one at a time, are all his new normal and completely sustainable for him.
He doesn’t have to put life on hold to focus on it. It’s just what he does and part of his life now.
With this being his new baseline, he’s now building more slow and steady progress from here, which he’s really excited about.
“I’m Really Enjoying My Workouts Now”
I was just chatting with him the other week. He was telling me he’s picking up a new weighted vest to add to his press-ups and pull-ups at home until the gym’s open back up. He really enjoys his workouts now. His work-life is still stressful and puts a lot of pressure on him, especially with his dad-duties as well.
But he has so much more energy now. He feels a lot better, and he handles the work pressures and usual life stress much easier. So working out is a joy for him. He looks forward to those workouts, and really enjoys making himself stronger.
He’s closing in on the big 50 and feels great about where he’s at going towards it.
Are You A Busy Dad Over 30 Looking To Upgrade Your Health, Lose Unwanted Fat & Get In Awesome Shape?
If you’re a dad over 30 who wants to upgrade your energy and transform your body, but struggle to build it all around family and work life. And need some professional guidance, support, and accountability to get there?
I take on a limited number of clients into my 28-day Rebirth program each month, which is where Ian started his transformation journey with us.
Fill in the contact form on this site, or send me an email, or PM on Facebook (whichever works best for you), and we’ll have a chat to see where you’re at, make sure the program is right for you, then take it form there.
-Dean
PS – Want to find out more before reaching out to me?
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About the Author Dean McMenamin
Dean McMenamin is an Army veteran, father, dog-lover and body transformation coach to every day men all over the UK & Ireland. He's also a big eater of ice-cream.