You’re only 9 months ahead of me in age, but clearly years ahead in your dad experience. My wife and I expect our first child (a girl!) to enter the world on or around March 24th.

The last seven months have been an incredible time of growth and change. I’ve understood the baby-making process for years, but only recently began to consider the incredible difference between being a father (which most of us are physically capable of) and being a dad (which few of us are emotionally prepared for).

In the next 53 days and over the next year, I have committed to a motto and balance of “work. play. do good” in all areas of my life.

For the first 28 years of my life (prior to marriage), I lived in the “work” corner of the triangle. I accomplished nearly all of my professional goals, but relaxed rarely and did very little to improve my world.

In the last 3 years (blessed with a teacher as a wife), I have found a heart for community service. I have received great satisfaction from the community service and pro bono projects I have been involved in. It’s tremendous being part of something bigger than yourself. Unfortunately, between “work” and “do good”, I had begun to feel like I had lost the joy in small things.

What a tremendous time to be blessed with a first child! What an opportunity to start over in the “play” portions of life! I feel like I’m being blessed with new eyes and a chance to start over.

My commitment to health is the same. My weight has always been a struggle. I could be successful for a brief period of time by focusing on the “work”, but because there was no “play” or “do good” involved I would quickly burnout and lose interest.

In this new year and with my new eyes, I plan to regain balance in my health. I want to get to the point where I can go for a walk with my wife (who is a runner and exercise fanatic) and not be winded. I want to be able to play with my daughter without struggling. I want to shovel the neighbor’s driveway without risking a heart attack. Most importantly, I want to be certain that I’m around to see her grow up and be a proper role model for the balance that she can attain.

I have a long way to go. If I’m being honest, I should lose over 100 pounds. My goal is to reach that 100 pound loss by her first birthday. This gives me about 14 months. With some focus AND some balance, I believe I can accomplish that.

Here’s my story: Two years ago I had a scare when a benign tumor the size of a small Nerf football was removed from under my right lung. Ever since then, I’ve decided that life is too short to leave it to luck and you need to make every day count…especially if you have a family that’s counting on you. ( You gotta kiss your wife and your kids and tell ‘em all how much you love them everyday)

To that end, in an effort to confuse Father Time and all of his nasty buddies, I started hitting the gym regularly and in October of 2008 I began training doing Thai boxing. My goal by August is to be the oldest baddass in the class with a mean left hook and a chop kick that would take your leg out..(getting there…)

I’ve also made the acquaintance of “Maniac” Mikez from STBF and his enthusiasm has taken my pitiful workouts to another level.

By August I expect to be able to crank out 60 push-ups, run a 9 minute mile, and weigh 199lbs with ~10% bodyfat.

Great blog, Chris!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Extreme Grandparenting, by Dr. Tim & Darcy Himmel

You might want to check it out for ideas for your older clients. Although I have not read it, it comes well-recommended from someone I respect. My understanding is that it's written from a Christian perspective but not limited to spiritual matters.

Again, thanks for sounding the call for men to be better and more involved fathers. That's what kids need.

Melissa Hawley

Let’s see…

In terms of exercise and eating right, I WANT to get back to my “fightin weight” of 155. And that’s as far as I have gotten. They say desire is the first step. Right?

Being a good dad? My goal is to not fall asleep before my kid does when I’m reading him his bedtime book. And this is not just a one-time thing. I have fallen asleep multiple times and waken up with him totally busting on me that I passed out as I was reading to him. A for effort?

Serving as an example… I bust my ass daily to wake up, make sure he’s good for the day, brave an hour of freeway traffic, put in 8 hours at the office, brave another hour + of traffic jam, come home and try to make like the coolest most fun thing I could be doing right that second is fixing his Lego Droid Gunship. that’s gotta count for something!!

I’m not looking to win any prizes. Just a shout out for being a dad who makes time for what counts in life: your family’s well being and your kids’ laughter (I guess even if it’s at my expense).

I am determined to spend time with my children during these next 3 years. I want them to know I will be there for them no matter how busy I may get.

My 4 year old already shares my enthusiasm for working out. She can do pretty good jumping jacks, squats, lunges, and pushups with me at home. She also loves to tumble. One of my goals is to be able to afford for her to start gymnastics in the fall.

Kyle

Happy Birthday!

One of the things that has kept me back from many sporting activities in my life is my ::blush:: ‘man-boobs’

But this year I have swallowed my pride and I am taking my wife and son to the local pool here to teach them how to swim.

Take care,
Andrew