¶ Achieving Fitness Goals for Busy Dads
So the question is how do busy dads get into great shape with limited time , space and equipment , all while enjoying the process and without sacrificing family time ? If you want to know the secrets to dialing in your nutrition , being consistent and staying motivated to achieve your fitness goals once and for all , then this is the podcast for you .
I'm Kevin Torres and this is the Dad Bod Wad podcast . All right , what's up ?
Legacy makers , welcome to another episode of the number one podcast for busy dads who want to go from dad bod to fit dad and lose your first 20 plus pounds without fasting , without cutting carbs and without sacrificing family time , so that you can create a legacy of health and fitness , not only for yourself but for generations to come .
And on this show and inside of my program , we're teaching busy dads just like you had to do just that , so hit that subscribe button if you haven't already . And on today's episode , I'm joined by a super special guest , robert Stickley , who's a member inside of our Forging Lead Fathers one to one coaching program . Robert , what is up , man ? How are you ?
Good , good , glad to be with you . Hell yeah , man . I really appreciate you taking the time to hop on this call and share a little bit about your experience , because I was just looking over your stuff and we were chatting before and I know people are just going to be so inspired by the progress that you've made so far .
They're going to be so inspired to take massive action themselves . So I can't wait to jump in . So why don't you give us like the quick 30 second spiel , like who's Robert ? And like what do we need to know about you ? Man ?
Well , so my name is Robert . Everybody knows me as Bobby . I'm going to be 44 next week . I was when I was younger . I was in the Marine Reserves . So I was in , I was a chubby kid , it wasn't in great shape and I kind of always wanted to be a Marine , just to kind of prove it to myself that I could do it . And I barely chugged through boot camp .
I made it . I wasn't the guide on or anything , but I made it . So that was good enough . And after I got out in 2004 , just kind of let it go , man , you know , right , currently married , been married for almost eight years .
My daughter is going to be four in a couple months and that's me right now working , paying bills , you know , doing my thing , and just kind of let it all slide , you know . Well , I hear you there .
And you know , with being a chubby kid , your whole life totally resonate with that . You know like that's . You know elementary school I was always like the chubby kid in middle school , same in high school . I fluctuated . And then when I was even in the military , I still wasn't in amazing shape , even in the military , right .
So and then when I got out again like 30 or 40 pounds , and that was you know , that's when finally things had to change . But so what was your like fitness like before joining the Forging Lead Fathers program ? What were you way at ?
So my fitness was pretty much just whatever happened at work . So I got to a point in 2017 when I almost hit 300 pounds . I was like 298 , 299 and I was like , oh man , I need to do something . But you know , like when you get older , when you got pay your mortgage and you know , take care . I was only married at the time .
We didn't have our daughter yet , but it's just , you know , you don't , you can't find the time for it , like he used to .
Like when I was 20 years old , in the middle of my enlistment , and I was working out four or five days a week for an hour and a half , two hours at the gym and I was pounding creatine and rip fuel and , just , you know , going crazy . And or I could go and run six miles .
If you know , if I got off working it was midnight , I'd go run , you know , and just can't do that anymore . So I Remember my , my sister-in-law is a nurse and she was telling us she's like , hey , you know , all the doctors and nurses , they're all doing this new keto thing . You know you should try it .
And I was like , oh , okay , so I could just eat and not work out . Yeah , I could do that . So I had , I had pretty good success with that for about four years and I got down from like like 298 to the lowest I got was 219 , and so I was like , yeah , you know , this is pretty good , this works .
And then when the baby came , you know your schedule just gets all jumbled up and I wasn't like when I was doing keto I was able to go to bed at a certain time , wake up at a certain time and I had all my food set out .
So from that perspective , before I came to this program , I already had kind of like the tracking and nutrition down and I already had like the scale and all that . But it just it . I wasn't able to keep up with it once you know , you throw a baby into the mix and so I could only imagine what it's like having two or three kids .
You know it's just it's . It's not like you say , it's not sustainable . So I got to a point where I work for a work for a water utility . So for the last six years I do a lot of underground construction , you know , laying water main , doing sewer repairs , a lot of 10-hour days in a trench .
So I was , I was staying fit , well , I should say keeping the weight off . But then last year I got a promotion . I got moved to the , to the treatment plant . So I'm doing a lot more sitting around Monitoring things . We still go out and do stuff , but we're not nearly as active as as we were .
So Slowly , over the last year I put on 25 , 30 , 35 pounds Just from that job transition and I kind of got to a point where I realized , like a you know , now I'm starting to put on my old clothes , on my double X's and triple X's , and , you know , something's got to change . So that's when I started kind of doing some , some research .
And you know things , things are so negative on social media . I spent a lot of time on YouTube and and on Instagram and I kind of got to a point where I was like you know , I'm really kind of wasting my time here , like I needed , I wanted , I wanted to seek out more positive things and be a better father .
And so I started looking for stuff and you know , like , like just suggestions , like what other dads are doing , you know , and you know , just trying to focus more mainly on , like , family life . And so I , I listened to , I . I found a couple different podcasts I was listening to , and the one where I found you was the epic , epic dad podcast .
And so I heard your story and I was going man , this program sounds like it's right up my alley because you know I already get up early for work and so it's hard to get up earlier to to go to the gym . And you know , in the old mentality where you know I got to work out for an hour and a half , you know , otherwise there's no point .
And After work , you know I want to spend time with my family , I want to see my daughter before she goes to bed , and so so , just hearing like all your points and From your trainer's perspective , I was like , man , this is , this is perfect , I need to try this . So that's when I contacted you and Best thing I ever did , hey , dude .
Well , thank you so much for sharing all that context and and and . Kudos to drew cam from the epic dad for for having me on because , yeah , I still work with him . He's an awesome dude . Um , and so you know you're up to in the two nineties . We're doing keto .
I lost some weight doing keto , a significant amount of weight , but then when the baby came , it just no longer was sustainable . And also congrats on the promotion . But of course , with the promotion comes like the double-edged sword of like .
Now I'm no longer doing the grunt work , so to speak , right the physical side of things , but instead I'm now like freaking , doing an office job essentially , which is cool because you're promoting , you're making a little bit more money , but then you're not doing the physical side of things and thus gaining the 20 , 30 pounds again , fitting back into those XXLs and
all that stuff . So I guess , like , aside from the podcast and hearing whatever I said on that show , what specifically resonated with you that you were like okay , I want to jump in . What inspired you to join the Forging Lead Fathers ?
Well , I just really I was ready for a change and the keto worked good for a while , but I needed something that was , I guess you could say , easier .
And after hearing you , I was thinking well , I could do 15 , 20 minutes a day , again , an hour lunch break , and we actually have a gym at my work which is just kind of a collection of everybody's leftover stuff they just brought in to get out of their garage . And I was like you know what , looking at my phone , for an hour I could
¶ Fitness Progress and Routine Program
be in there . So I just started doing that and it's really was easy to start , you know , a couple , a couple of workouts a week and just kind of being conscious of conscious of what you're eating .
You know , I'm still a marine , so the crayons isn't very nutritional , but just , I think , just being more aware of everything and kind of just just being observant . And I think it was a really easy way for me to start , just and I'm a person that likes routine . I got to have . I got to have .
I get up at this time , I eat at this time , I do this at this time . So if I have something to follow , rather than just relying on myself like oh yeah , I'm supposed to work out today , you know what am I going to do ?
It's , it's so easy , just getting up , looking at the app and going , okay , this is what I'm doing , and just do it without thinking about you know , and that's I think that's the brilliance of the program .
Besides that , having having the support of Ryan and the trainers and just all the other guys , seeing what the other guys are going through and you know things like when you start to plateau or stall out , like you know talking to the other guys , even just little things , like I asked a question like , hey , what's everybody reading or watching ?
And you know , got a bunch of , got a bunch of great ideas from the guys . So , overall , just like the community is a great part of this program also , hi , man .
And , like you said , community is huge .
Because you know again , and not not a knock on your friends and your family , but like , if the people around you don't want to level up in this area of their life , right , it's going to be so much more harder and so much more difficult for you to be like swimming upstream all by yourself and when everybody else around you is like , oh , it's okay , oh ,
it's okay , you know , it's okay . Like to be this way . Or to you know to have an extra slice or to drink another beer . So you need to surround yourself with like like-minded people who are also like , yeah , guys , let's get after it . Yeah , post your sweaty selfies . You know , we just did 30 burpees , like this is awesome .
Or , like you said , like what are you guys listening to ? And like hearing , like you know , yeah , listen to this podcast , read this book , watch this thing to level up your mindset . I think that's huge . And then also , like you said , you know just like having that routine and being able to .
To you know , because I always say like it doesn't matter how disciplined or motivated you are right , because discipline and motivation kind of like wax and wanes , but if you have like just like your solid habits and routines that you kind of just do every day , right , like it doesn't matter . You don't need any discipline or motivation .
To brush your teeth , right , because like it's part of just your routine , like every day , just like , yeah , it's part of my routine , right ? Or showering , like you don't need to be motivated or disciplined to take a shower , you just it's part of your routine . You don't want to stink and that's it right . So it's the same thing .
When you can like level up your , your , your daily habits and your routines , everything else starts to fall in place . And so you know you've been in the program . You're learning about like the daily habits and routines . You're keeping your nutrition in check .
You're communicating with the other guys Coach Ryan's been like a huge help to you and even like when you're plateauing and just like seeing other guys overcome that , how , what kind of results have you gotten since you joined the program ? I think you joined the program at the end of February , so almost about like four months to go coming up on , right .
So what kind of progress have you made in those four months ?
So when I started I was 261 , 262 right around there , I think 261 this morning I weighed in at 229.7 .
Yeah , man .
So yeah , just over 30 pounds . That's awesome and it does go up a tad like and down a tad . So I try not to worry about that too much every day . But you know it's more about how I feel every day and I've definitely had a lot more energy . You know , just like when I get home , like my daughter's , like I'm crazy , right .
So as soon as I get there , it's party time , you know , and I definitely noticed I'm not getting winded . You know , tossing her in the air and chasing her around . She's just like . You know she's loving it , and I think that that was one of the main things was . I wanted to be able to keep up with her and , you know , help , help , tie her out .
You know I'm at work all day and mom's home , so as soon as I get home it's my turn to get her tired . So you can go have your time and you know it's been a good thing .
Dude , that's awesome . And that's awesome that you do that for your wife too , because , like , yeah , it's like you know , when you , you know she's been on all day and like you know , the last thing she needs is for you to like want to come home and take a nap on the couch , you know .
And so the fact that , like your energy is still up , you can play with the kid , and you know she's four right now , so she's definitely like full of energy and running around and doing all that stuff , and so I guess , like you know , how does it feel to be down 30 pounds ? Like , was it ? Was it easy to get there ?
Like , do you feel like it's sustainable ? Like , have other people noticed ? Has your wife noticed ? Have other people noticed at work ?
Yeah , yeah , definitely , everybody's noticed and you know they ask me what I'm doing and I point them to you and you know I'm just like , hey , you know , look like they , they all noticed , especially the guys at work . They go oh there , he goes , he's going to work out again .
And I'm like , yeah , dude , you know it's right there , you guys can come join me if you want . You know , like , like , come on , like why you want to look at your phone for an hour , you know
¶ Balanced Fitness Program Benefits
. So , yeah , it's just it's actually kind of hard to believe that that I've done 30 rounds , you know , because it's just . You know , if you think about it from like the long view , it's like , oh man , you know that's so much work .
But if you put in the time and the effort daily and just do the basic things , even if you're not working out when , when I started , I was doing like three workouts a day and I think I didn't do any of the core workouts until like week four , you know , right , I'm not doing like at least five , usually six workouts a week and I just I crave it every
day . And if you'd asked me you know , four months ago , you know , were you going to be addicted to working out ? And I'm like , oh , you know you're crazy man , but it's , it's . It's been a great program , it's been easy and the best part is doing it in front of my daughter at home . On Monday's off , she comes downstairs .
She'll do hundreds with me on Monday morning , you know , and it's just like that's exactly what I wanted was to set a good example , you know , and it's just , it's , it's . It's been everything I expected , and more .
Dude , that's so awesome to hear and I love that you mentioned just doing it in front of your daughter , like when you're home on your day off , because , like that's one of the things that I always say is like , if you're not working out at home , you're missing like a really awesome opportunity to just show your kids , not to put it down their throat , but
just to introduce them to like fitness as medicine , right , movement as medicine . Because , like you know , when they grow up and it's like , oh man , I got to start working out , they'll have no idea how to exercise if they've never seen it right . But if they're exposed to it every day and like they're like , oh yeah , I know , I know how to exercise .
You do push-ups , you do squats , you do some burpees , you run down the block , run back up the block , right , like that's all you have to do , versus like this scary thing of like bench presses and squat machines and weird machines that you that you don't know how to use . So that's awesome , man , I'm so happy to hear that .
And you know that your coworkers have noticed and they're like , oh , there's Robert going to go work out again . That's huge , you know , and I always say it's like there's like the habit phase where you're like , okay , I'm trying to build a habit , right , I don't know if this is going to work or not .
And then there's like the lifestyle phase when , like , your life starts to revolve around this thing . But then there's the identity phase where it's just like , this is just who you are , this is just who I am right , like I just yeah , I work out , like that's just what I do .
And so I guess , like my biggest question for you is like , between the keto because you did lose significant weight in with keto before and the way you're eating now , like what's been like the biggest difference for anybody who's listening , who'd be like , okay , so I'll just do keto , because he lost like 90 pounds on keto .
Like what would you say is like the biggest difference between like doing keto and like the , the balanced proteins , fats and carbs that were recommended to you ?
Yeah , well , I love Mexican food and so that was probably one of the hardest things to give up when I was doing keto . And now , you know I just the best thing about it is not being limited to what you can eat . You know , like I , like I can Set my schedule for the day .
I have what I'm , what I do for breakfast , for snack , for lunch , for the next snack , and then I'll have , you know , 600 calories left at the end of the day . So I don't have to be picky .
I can go , okay , you know , instead of telling my wife you need to make me , you know , chicken and rice for dinner , you know it's , it's like , yeah , screw you , I can come home , go hey , all right , there's chicken , there's rice , there's there's veggies . So I just bust out my scale and figure out what I got left and and I'm done .
You know it's , it's easy . It's it's way easier than keto was . I mean , yeah , I lost a lot of weight , but it wasn't healthy weight , you know , and I wasn't in shape . And now , now I have strength .
That's the biggest difference and and this actually works and sustainable , and you can do it every day of the week if you want , or you can do it a couple days of the week if you want . But Even just going to like , we had a birthday party two hours away a couple weeks ago and I didn't know what they're making .
So I've just I've gotten good at , you know , evaluating what's there , setting an aside , going this , this looks and feels like about three ounces , so I'm gonna put down . I had three ounces of steak . You know this looks like half a cup of brown rice , so I throw it in .
Everything's right there ready to go , and you know I've had pretty good success , like it's continued to trend down since day one .
So yeah , you know it's .
No brainer man .
Dude , I love that . And , yeah , you know what would people what ?
What you haven't explicitly said , but , like , what I want people to pick up on is like you also now just have like an awareness Of how much food you're eating , like and what , and like how to estimate more or less right , like you know , like right now , if I ask anybody , hey , can you can , like what do you think's in a spoon of peanut butter ?
Show me a spoon of peanut butter . It's like , okay , it's like a glob of peanut butter , or like a little smear peanut butter , or like an ice cream scoop of peanut butter , like , how are we defining spoon ? And then it's like , hey , how , how much , how many calories you think this food of peanut butter is like ?
I don't know hundred , two hundred , three , who knows ? Right , but it's like . But when you practice this enough and you weigh and measure your food enough , okay , you don't have to do it for the rest of your life , but it just gives you like that awareness of like , oh , that's about five ounces of chicken With 30 grams of protein .
That's about , like you know , five ounces of carbs . That's probably like 40 grams of carbs , right , like , oh , that's a spoon of peanut butter , so that's like eight grams of fat and you know whatever .
So it's like just that level of awareness so you can go to like a buffet or a family or a party and like know how to navigate it without overdoing it or without punishing yourself , right , like like torturing yourself , being like , oh , I can't , I can't have any tortillas , I can't have french fries , I can't have , you know , chips , I can't have pizza , I
can't have ice cream , because I'm on a diet , so to speak . Right , dude , so what would you say to somebody who's like maybe they're on the fence , maybe they've been listening to the podcast for a long time , or they've been following on Instagram for a long time , they've been thinking about joining . They're not sure they wanted their toe , they don't know .
Like what would you tell somebody who's like considering it , but they're just not sure ?
The main thing is you're number one . You know like you're not , but you are . You know what I'm saying . Like a lot , of , a lot of the stuff that we do is for the family , Right , but but the number one thing you can do for your family is to take care of yourself .
And so a lot of times you'll say , oh , you know this , this cost this much , this cost that much , but you know how much are you spending on on coffees and and and dip , and you know , like just all the things that you don't need . You know , like you know , more investment should be for yourself .
Because for me , like I want to stick around , I want to be here for my family , I want to be here for my daughter and like all the big things that are coming . So you know , making the investment in yourself is it's not selfish , it's selfless because you're you're , you're not just doing it for you , doing it for your family .
So you know , I , if I had to start over again , I would definitely join this program . It's , it's , it's been awesome . I really recommend it to everyone . It's so easy and it's flexible . You know that's that was the biggest selling point for me was the flexibility , so I can work out in the morning , I can work out at lunch while I'm at work .
If I skip something , I got some time , I can do it in the evening . You know it's , it's just people are . People are I don't want to say lazy , but you know creatures of comfort , like if you have options . You know it's it's , it's just a no brainer . I would totally do it .
Hi everybody .
It's way more in depth than just the . You know . I've seen the videos on Instagram , you know , but actually getting in the program , it's , it's life-changing .
Hell yeah , dude , I love it , I love it . Again , thank you so much for sharing all that and sharing your entire story . I think , like so many people listen to this , are gonna be just be inspired to take action right , like , like you said , like , and a lot of guys who , who , who do , follow me like they've done everything you've done .
They've done the keto , they've tried , you know , crossfit or orange theory , or their wife has a palatine , you know , they try running and all that stuff and they can see nominal success with fasting or keto , but then it just they gain it all back once the babies come in the mix , once the routines get out of whack and all that stuff .
So I'm so glad that , like you know what I , when I was building this thing , I was like , hey , this is what's working for me . I like I think it's really sustainable . I should show other dads how to do this thing .
And like it's so cool that that you know that guys like you that it's working for Other guys and it's not just something that like worked for me , but it's like something that's like literally working for other dudes . So it's really cool . Any anything else you wanted to share before , before we say goodbye , robert or Bobby . No that's it .
They won't take care of yourself , you know .
Yeah , come on in the program and then you could come hang out with Bobby at one of our coaching calls or in the group chat and Just be a part of this amazing community that we're all just trying to build together and create a legacy of health and fitness Again , not only for ourselves , but for generations to come
¶ Lead Fathers Program Support and Information
. So if you're curious about the Forging Lead Fathers program you want to learn a little bit more about how we can help you hit your goals ? I would love for you . Just go to forgingleafatherscom .
Forward slash , apply and then click on that apply button and I'll be in touch to work out if and how my program can help you Hit your goals , and I'll personally be in touch to answer all of your questions . We don't even have to get on a call . I'm not going to twist your arm . I'm not doing any heart sales . You're an adult .
I'm just going to give you information and then you can make a decision for yourself . All right , so until I see you next time , legacy makers , let's keep creating a legacy of health and fitness , not only for ourselves , but for generations to come . Let's go . Thanks , robert man . You really appreciate it .