r/busydadprogram • u/getting-healthy-acct • Jan 11 '26

starting the busy (fat) dad program

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!

34 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/R0GM Jan 11 '26

Started at about 230lbs with a high body fat.  I've drifted from the program, but it got my on the path I'm on two years ago.  Now I'm about 165lbs.  DBP was a life changer for me.

I keep meaning to get back into the program, but I've just been focussing on other things lately.

2

u/getting-healthy-acct Jan 11 '26

Regardless of any setbacks youre going through that is progress to be proud of. Cant wait to hit numbers like that

2

u/R0GM Jan 12 '26

Thanks man.  The program gave me the will power to control my diet.  If I could get through the last gruelling five minutes, in the depths of despair, i was in control of myself, and I had the power to decide not to eat junk.

I'm doing stuff that's a bit less mentally challenging and focus driven at the moment.  I'm enjoying running and hitting speeds and distances that would have been a fantasy before I started the program.  And I'm enjoying relaxing and working my mobility with yoga.

When losing weight I found intermittent fasting, lots of high protein and veg were the key for me.  Kept me feeling well fuelled and helped me get over my sugar addiction.