After sleeping at our in-laws most of the week because we have been renovating our bedroom, I am glad to be able to sleep in our own bed tonight.

and I must say…we did a good job. Thanks for all the help dad!

• buy New Jersey Drive

How not to use a hammer!

So this week was also a good time to take a week off from the gym as it has been another 8 week run with my workout routine.

By taking a week off from the gym every 8-10 weeks it not only gives me a mental and physical break from my intense workouts but it also frees up some time I can devote to other projects like this renovation for example.

You can time your rest week from your Dad Fitness workouts for other things that might come up as well like vacations, an unexpected injury, or just to spend some extra time with your family with the long summer days ahead.

That’s what I love about my Dad Fitness 3 day a week workout program, it gives me the flexibility to do all the other things I need to do as a busy dad without having to stress over trying to get in a workout every day.

So after my wife getting her “new” bedroom, she has to head out of town for the weekend on business.

…Oh the thanks us guys get!

This weekend will also be the last weekend I spend at home as a full time stay-at-home dad with my baby daughter as I will be returning to work on Monday after 4 months parental leave.

With my wife and I back to work we reluctantly will have to leave Matea with a babysitter for the first time on Tuesday. Luckily it is a friend of ours so we are hoping the transition will be OK.

It’s been a privilege to play such a hands on roll as a dad and I look forward to coming home from work and seeing her beautiful 3 teeth smile greeting me at the door…

Sean Barker, CPT

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

Forrest Gump dvd As for me, I had a great workout this afternoon. I got to the gym at 11am instead of my usual 12pm this morning as my wife came home for lunch early so she let me out early, lol

Thanks to my properly designed Dad Fitness workouts I can get to the gym, warm up, workout, stretch and drive home, all within an hour to be back home to resume my daily duties as a stay at home dad with my baby daughter so my wife can head back to work.

…and I only need to do this workout 3 times a week so I don’t have to worry about fitting in a workout everyday!

Here is Day 1 of the new workout routine I started today that I will do for the next 3 weeks.

Day 1-Max Effort Upper Body

Weighted Dips, 1 max set of 3-5 reps
Flat DB Bench Press, 4 sets of 6-10 reps
Bent Over BB Row, 4 sets of 10-15 reps
Bent Over Cable Raise, 3 sets of 10-12
BB Side Bends, 3 sets of 8-12 reps

I have been feeling really good lately with my workouts and I am thankful that I have found the proper balance between family, fitness and fun by following the Dad Fitness Lifestyle.

If YOU find yourself feeling stressed about your health, wealth and happiness during these tough economic times you need to watch this video!

There is nothing like a little perspective to show you that if you take a minute to just look around, EVERYTHING IS AMAZING…

Let me know what you do to keep things in perspective by posting a comment below.

I would love to hear your opinion!

Sean Barker, CPT

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

• The 13th Warrior

My wife comes home for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursday so I can get out of the house for a break and head to my local gym for an hour. I also get a workout in on the weekends.

I must admit I absolutely love working out! I always have and especially now I found it to be a great stress reliever and a nice break in the middle of my long days as a stay at home dad.

I had a really great workout today as it was my Upper Body High Rep day in my current workout routine.

The Blast Straps are an awesome way to challenge your entire body no matter what exercises you are doing. You can use them for pushups, inverted rows, triceps, biceps, abs or pretty much any bodyweight exercise can be replicated with the blast straps.

I gotta tell you after using these for the first time awhile back doing pushups my abs were sore for 3 days afterward!

Blast Strap Pushups, 3 sets of 12 reps, 60 sec rest
Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extensions, 4 sets of 5-10 reps
Pull-Ups, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Preacher Curls, 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Ab Circuit, Cross body mountain climbers and Planks, 2 rounds

You can get the Blast Straps here

Then it was back home for a post workout meal of my wife’s tasty homemade chicken soup. Go here for the recipe ==>Mmmm Soup

Armed and Dangerous movie

For dinner today I took a recipe out of my favorite cookbook. Gourmet Nutrition

Sirloin Burgers

I took a couple pics to give you the recipe and a glimpse into this awesome healthy cookbook.

My version with a spinach salad

If you want to build the body you never thought you could have, start eating the meals you never thought you could eat! Get over 120 recipes and a no-nonsense nutrition plan that will show you how to make it all work.

Get Gourmet Nutrition today.

Sean Barker, CPT

PS -You can get the NEW “yet-to-be-released” Dad Fitness Maximum Muscle Home workouts for FREE when you download the Dad Fitness Lifestyle System

==>Click here to get your short home workouts

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

read on to see why…

I was inside with the baby all day and never got out much because we are getting nailed with a snow storm with heavy winds and a heavy snowfall warning of 15-25 cm.

Then Saturday it’s going to dip down to a frigid -43 Celsius with the wind!

So Matea and I spent lots of time playing with her toys and riding around the house on her little toy truck. Oh the life of a stay-at-home dad…

Being such a blustery winters day it was a perfect day for breaking out the slow cooker and making something hot and bubbly, and of course nutritious.

Nothing says home like a hot bowl of hearty soup. But I didn’t just make soup, I made what I call Snow Storm Soup. It’s a mix between soup and chili!

Here is the rundown:

I fried up a pack of lean ground turkey in grapseed oil with 1 onion.

Chopped up 2 sticks of celery and some baby carrots.

Added two cans of Alymer Chili style crushed tomatoes, 1 can of Campbells tomato soup, 1 cup of whole wheat elbow macaroni and 1 can of kidney beans to the crockpot.

Added the cooked turkey and veggies to the crockpot.

Threw in a dash of sea salt, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano and basil.

Then added 1 cup of water.

Mixed it up and let cook on low for 4 hours. Supper was ready and waiting when my wife got home from work!

Another hot and hearty meal Dad Fitness buy Erin Brockovich style that your family will love on those stormy winter days.

Get your kids involved in the kitchen when it’s too stormy for them to get outside. Crock Pots are great for this as there is no risk for little hands to be around hot burners or stoves.

Always add your ingredients to the cold crock pot, then throw on the lid and turn it on your desired setting.

Sean Barker, CPT

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

I got up at 5am before anyone wakes up, to work in my home office until 7am.

Being a busy dad who needed to find more time to get things done and work on my online business and writing projects for magazines, this is how I “made” more time in my day. I got up earlier.

Think about this the next time you say I don’t have time to exercise. Make the small sacrifice and stay up a little later or get up a little earlier so you can get in a short workout.

Yeah it might seem tough at first, but if you want to be successful in whatever you work towards in life you have to be willing to do what others are not willing to do.

So after having breakfast with our baby daughter my wife headed off to work and Matea and I headed downstairs to play.

Unfortunately, that’s when I got the phone call, and it wasn’t good news.

My aunt Violet, who is my mother’s closest sister, passed away in her sleep…

At 65 she had been battling blocked arteries and a bad heart and encountered many health problems over the years including brain surgery many years back.

She was also a long-time heavy smoker who didn’t take good care of herself.

I could go on about how this can happen to you if you don’t start living a healthy lifestyle, but I won’t because I think these events speak for themselves.

To make matters worse my mother was out running errands and we needed to get a hold of her to break the bad news.

As I was trying to put Matea down for a mid-morning nap, Mom happened to drop in for a visit… Now I was the one who had to tell her she just lost her sister!

Well as you can imagine, we all had a sad day here yesterday. Our thoughts are with my uncle Dallas (her husband) and the rest of our extended family.

Aunt Violet was the nicest, warmest, person you could ever meet. She came in to visit us from Montreal many times for Christmas, my high-school graduation and I will never forget how she catered to me in the summer of 88 when we stayed at their cottage on vacation and I came down with the chicken pox!

Give your family a big hug today, because you never know what tomorrow will bring…

Sean Barker, CPT

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

Despite the trials and tribulations of daily life with our 9 month old daughter, I must admit I enjoy it more than I did working at my regular job, which I am currently laid off from.

Watching her crawl for the first time, saying “Dadda” and seeing her grow up right before my eyes is such a daily treat.

It is nice when my wife finally gets home from work though as I could use a little break by then. “Momma” even made us her tasty turkey burgers last night for dinner.

Whip these up as a healthy alternative to regular burgers and your kids will love them!

Tasty Turkey Burgers

1 pack of lean ground turkey
1 tsp of savory spice (I think this is a Newfoundland spice)
whole wheat bread crumbs
1 omega 3 egg
sea salt and black pepper

mix it all in a bowl to make 4 burgers, add to heated pan coated in grapeseed oil until cooked through.

(cooking them in grapeseed oil is good as its a healthy oil good for frying and it smells like fried chicken when you cook with it!)

place on toasted whole wheat buns topped with baby spinach, tomatoes, sauteed onions, whole grain Dijon mustard and salsa

For dessert a little treat of dark chocolate packed full of antioxidants. Yes this chocolate is actually good for you! Try to get the stuff that is at least 70-80% cacoa, which gives you the health benefits.

Don’t confuse this with milk chocolate! That is pure junk.

I also had a great workout today at the gym as I trained chest, back and abs.

Flat Bench Press
Flat DB Bench Press
Bent over DB Rows
Rope Face Pulls (for upper back)
Barbell Twists

Looking forward to a nice weekend with the family as my wife is off for the weekend.

Might hit the gym tomorrow or Sunday, see what happens.

Sean Barker, CPT

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

With the crystal clear sky and the sun beaming down it just gives you more energy to get out in the snow and enjoy the fresh air.

As I am now an official “stay at home dad” I was looking forward to getting out of the house with baby Matea. Luckily my wife got off work early as well, came home and made us lunch and we headed out for another snowshoe adventure.

Yeah I know us Crazy Canadians do some strange stuff for exercise. But don’t knock it until you try it! If you want to relieve some stress, exercising outdoors in the sunshine has got to be the best.

Looking forward to trying out my new snowshoes I got for Valentines Day, we packed up the car and headed to a local walking trail that goes around a lake.

But this time I made sure to spice things up. Instead of pulling Matea in the baby glider sled, I had her on my back in a special backpack carrier for babies.

We had a great trek across the glistening powder, saw lots rabbit tracks, snowmobilers and even passed another couple snowshoeing.

See, we are not the only ones who do this!

We had a great afternoon and Matea loved every minute of it.

No matter what your current situation, make time for family fitness.

It’s one investment that is guaranteed to pay off…

Sean Barker, CPT

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

Whatever people call it these days. I just call it parenting.

As I mentioned awhile back I received notice that I will be laid off from my regular day job as a heavy equipment operator. It came into effect on Monday.

I am anticipating I will not be laid off

for too long as I only have 5 people ahead of me on the seniority list to get recalled. If you have been also affected by the economic downturn and been laid off from your job as well, post a comment below and share your thoughts.

So in the meantime I am home full-time taking care of our 8 month old daughter Matea as my wife returned to work. I just put her down for a nap, Shhhhh!

Things are going good so far as I am getting along well with Elmo and Ernie.

Bert keeps giving me a nasty look…or maybe that’s just his unibrow!

My wife came home for lunch so I could “get out” and hit the gym for an hour. With Dad Fitness I only need to workout 3 days a week to stay fit so there is no problem with that.

As I was warming up at the gym this afternoon I seen what must of been the worlds shortest workout. A guy came in skipped rope for 30 seconds, then did one set on the forearm gripper machine, got up and left!

I am not joking!

Oh well, I continued on with my workout of:

Perfect Pushups ,<==Click Here to see how I use these

Decline DB Extensions

Lat pulldowns

One arm DB shoulder presses

Thick BB Curls

Abs circuit of cross body mountain climbers and planks

3-4 sets, 8-13 reps of each exercise.

I pushed hard but wasn’t at my strongest today.

Heading over to my parents for dinner so that gives me a break from the kitchen.

The adventures of Mr.Mom will be continued… Stay tuned!

Sean Barker, CPT 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

It’s never a dull moment being home with my 8 month old daughter especially now that she is starting to say “momma” and “dadda”. Gotta love it!

So when my wife got home from work I surprised her with a fit and fancy dinner set for the three of us. Matea even got a little fancy baby food with pureed carrots over the top.

We can no longer use place mats as Matea likes to clean the table her way by hauling them off and everything that goes with it!

I made a super simple baked chicken breast done in Italian Shake & Bake, topped with a little spicy red pepper pasta sauce, a slice of deli ham, and a piece of cheddar cheese on top.

On the side I tossed together a quick veggie salad of baby spinach, broccoli, baby carrots, green pepper, clementines, cubes of cheddar and topped with toasted almond slivers. I opened a bottle of red wine as my wife LOVES red wine. I am not a huge fan myself but like an occasional glass.

The dressing was a healthy Caesar dressing from the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook
==>Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook.

It’s the only cookbook I personally use.

For more great food ideas check out my new article at TheFatherLife.com
==>5 Foods Men Should Be Eating

Sean Barker, CPT

PS. – Instantly download 16 weeks of workouts and nutrition bonuses for five bucks!…

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=> Click here for the Dad Fitness Trial Offer

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