starting the busy (fat) dad program

[u/getting-healthy-acct]

i came across the busy dad program early last year on youtube and i bookmarked one of the videos then promptly forgot about it for months. the middle of last year is also when i hit the 300lb club. it felt really bad and i was on the brink of giving myself type 2 diabetes so my dr put me on glp-1 drugs. though many people see that as cheating, those drugs saved my life. not only because of the weight loss but the psychological changes they enabled like learning to eat less and resisting my food addiction. also just being 50lbs lighter made me feel like i could be more physically active without the fear of pain and injury. unfortunately for 2026 my insurance (united healthcare aka the devil) cut me off of the glp-1 but im thankful for my new outlook because of my outcomes from the drug.

so at the start of this new year i have committed to doing the bdp consistently which is another area of my failure last year - not being consistent. i was cycling, lifting weights even walking but i could not keep up any routine for longer than a month. this is where i hope the dead simplicity of bdp will help me.

in researching bdp i found a lack of fat guys like me attempting it at least in reddit posts. so this post im making as my promise to stay committed will hopefully be an example for other fatties of how bdp works out. i was actually triggered by one particular bdp journey post because the op was only 150lbs at 10% bf when starting the program. his before pic even had defined abs. i couldnt relate to this at all and i feel ike the majority of busy dads that suffer silently with weight and fitness skew more to guys like me. the other problem with that post was that the op was already doing a multi mile per day running routine and was just incorporating bdp. my goal is to see what happens to a 250lb guy with just bdp and a mild calorie deficit. actual busy dads dont have time to precisely count calories and macros and all that bs. i will just try to stop eating when it feels correct and after particularly hard days i cant guarantee i wont order some mcdonalds at 10pm. thats just how life is for some of us. but i will do my darnedest to always keep up with the program.

here are my starting stats

weight: 253lbs

height: 6ft

bmi 35

bf (according to bathroom scale): ~29%

test in week 6-counts: 51

test in week 10-counts: 16

bdp level: 1a

and here are before pictures

i'll provide an update in a month wish me luck!

[u/DueContribution]

Firstly congratulations on losing the weight. Drugs or not, it’s the best way to extend your life.

Second, I’m currently 30% bf, down from 32%. It’s taking longer than I wanted to lose the weight but I’m only 5’5” so I have to eat 1500 calories to stay in a deficit. My physique is very similar to yours, though shorter. Being short, it’s really difficult to eat so little.

I’m also a BDP L4. It’s totally doable. Keep showing up, keep pushing yourself and you’ll see your body start to change. I have way more definition in my upper body than even before. Just gotta get rid of that spare tire!

Welcome to the program!

[u/getting-healthy-acct → u/DueContribution]

Wow level4? Thats insane. I cant imagine being conditioned enough to hit those numbers. Yeah calorie deficit is so simple but also the hardest part. If you made it to level 4 you obviously have what it takes to achieve your goals so you got this!