Defining Dad Bod Alex VanHouten

The season 3 of Defining Dad Bod has been an amazing year! Join Gabriel and I as we highlight the most powerful work of on the show and announce the exciting changes coming for season 4!

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Top 5 Single Topic Episodes -

5) Sleep - Definingdadbod.com/blog/83

4) Epigenetics - Definingdadbod.com/blog/126

3) Carry Your Cross - definingdadbod.com/blog/119

2) Testosterone - definingdadbod.com/blog/149

1) Fasting 101 - definingdadbod.com/blog/188

Top 5 Series At Defining Dad Bod -

5) Supplement Series - episode 1 - definingdadbod.com/supplements

4) Macro Nutrients - episode 1 - definingdadbod.com/blog/181

3) Beyond Calories - definingdadbod.com/beyondcalories

2) Hormones - definingdadbod.com/hormones

1) Exercise and The Brain - episode 1- definingdadbod.com/blog/190

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Top 5 Interviews At Defining Dad Bod -

5) The Secret Life Of Fat With Dr. Sylvia Tara - definingdadbod.com/blog/194

4) Bedroom GAINZ With Dr. Judson Brandeis - definingdadbod.com/blog/121

3) Fat Loss Forever With Dr. Layne Norton - definingdadbod.com/blog/104

2) Your Amazing Microbiome With Dr. Bruce Cooper - definingdadbod.com/blog/140

1) The Sniper Mind With David Amerland - definingdadbod.com/blog/179

This information is meant to be actionable information to promote health and well-being and not to be used to diagnose or treat medical symptoms or conditions. 

Live workshop from Coach Alex VanHouten for Better Daily members.

Visual Presentation Here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCJfhyNdFAU

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This information is meant to be actionable information to promote health and well-being and not to be used to diagnose or treat medical symptoms or conditions. 

Have you ever heard of the cycle of history?

“Hard Times make Strong Men

Strong Men make Good Times

Good Times make Weak Men

Weak Men make Hard Times”

What if parents could find a way to break the cycle so that Good Times make BETTER MEN AND WOMEN? What if the cycle of history could be broken and things could get better and better?

What if the hard-earned lessons of privation and hardship could be passed down well from generation to generation even in times of abundance such that the pendulum swing back to privation and hardship could be avoided altogether?

Maybe it’s a pipe dream. But as I raise my sons, these are the things that keep me up at night— and here is the best list I can put together so far of how to avoid this trap in fatherhood.

1) Teach them how to choose a good spouse by working well with yours. One of the things that’s lost in fatherlessness is the example of what worthwhile, productive, peaceful relationships look like. Having a great companion will teach them more than you can.

2) Get in and stay in the best shape you can manage. The grit, endurance, and discipline that comes from eating well and exercising regularly is invaluable. Additionally whatever potential is wrapped up in a person’s DNA becomes foundationally impeded when untrained.

3) Tell your story. Just because they didn’t grow up like you doesn’t mean those lessons weren’t valuable. Most children don’t know the struggles of their father until late in life- if at all. Privation teaches by necessity. Love teaches by admiration.

4) Play as often as you can. They’ll have to learn to play every game with the best hand they’ve been dealt. And How to have some fun while doing it. That’s most of life. Model the good sport, be gracious in defeat, and play to win.

5) Let them see you fail. Men who grew up without dads think they must only show their successes. Not true. The most valuable thing we can teach our children is that THEY WILL FAIL. Success is built on HOW we respond to failure. Model humility and they will too.

6) Serve the less fortunate with them. Exposure to the tougher side of life is important for the cultivation of gratitude and selflessness. Don’t let them naively believe that abundance the natural state of existence — to whom much is given, much is expected.

7) Introduce them to history and drama and talk about it. Both religious and non-religious traditions have powerful histories that give each generation common languages and points of reference. Operating with wisdom requires an understanding of the story we are living out.

8) Spend time hiking Nature is naturally beautiful and naturally humbling. Sunlight, fresh air, and the sheer grandiosity of creation is a powerful force that drives a man to a fully integrated sense of self.

9) Work hard and invite them to do the same—with patience. Kids are capable of immense determination and indomitability. Give them many chances to work shoulder to shoulder with you and watch your diligence rub off on them.

10) Define words like Courage, honor, integrity, humility, peace, patience, mercy, forgiveness, joy, discipline, fidelity... And their counterparts Malice, deceit, suffering, strife, envy, arrogance, rage, sloth... And learn to tell the stories make these words come to life.

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This information is meant to be actionable information to promote health and well-being and not to be used to diagnose or treat medical symptoms or conditions. 

Just because we can’t escape getting older doesn’t mean we have to surrender to falling apart.

Let’s dive into the science of aging and some of it’s preventable affects on our minds!

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Start Improving Your Nutrition With NEW SCIENCE

definingdadbod.com/blog/181

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This information is meant to be actionable information to promote health and well-being and not to be used to diagnose or treat medical symptoms or conditions. 

What do we do when "chill pills" are not enough?

19% of U.S. Adults in 2019 reported wrestling with anxiety.

Post-Covid in 2021 - 30% of U.S. Adults report wrestling with anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are no joke. Miserable, isolating, and potentially life-threatening - we need an effective way to combat them that empowers individuals, improves families, and is sustainable over time!

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Anxiety and Depression Are Often Dually Diagnosed.

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This information is meant to be actionable information to promote health and well-being and not to be used to diagnose or treat medical symptoms or conditions. 

“If everyone knew that exercise worked as well as Zoloft, I think we could put a real dent in the disease.” Dr. John Ratey

Depression is an erosion of connections — in your life as well as between your brain cells, according to Dr. John Ratey, a practicing psychiatrist, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and author of seven books on brain functioning including SPARK, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. In SPARK, Dr. Ratey presents numerous cases of worldwide scientific research and studies to affirm that exercise, in fact, reestablishes those connections.

In Britain, doctors now use exercise as a first-line treatment for depression, but it’s vastly underutilized in the United States…a fact that Dr. Ratey says is a shame given the supporting studies. It is this lack of appreciation for the value of exercise that has ignited Dr. Ratey’s passion for spreading the word – and for founding his new nonprofit organization, Sparking Life.

Here’s what’s known

Studies suggest that endorphins produced directly in the brain contribute to the general feeling of well-being that usually comes along with exercise. Aside from elevating endorphins, exercise also increases our body and brain levels of endocannabinoids, brain growth factors (BDNF)and regulates all of the neurotransmitterstargeted by antidepressants.

For starters, exercise immediately elevates levels of norepinephrine in certain areas of the brain. It wakes up the brain and gets it going and improves self- esteem, which is one component of depression.

Exercise also boosts dopamine, which improves mood, motivation, feelings of wellness and attention. Chronic exercise increases dopamine storage in the brain and also triggers the production of enzymes that create dopamine receptors in the reward center of the brain, and this provides a feeling of satisfaction when we have accomplished something. If the demand is there, the dopamine genes get activated to produce more, and the overall effect is a more stable regulation of these pathways, which also are important to controlling addictions.

Serotonin is equally affected by exercise, and it’s important for mood, impulse control, and self-esteem. It also helps stave off stress by counteracting cortisol, and it primes the cellular connections in the cortex and hippocampus that are important for learning.

In addition to feeling good when you exercise, you feel good about yourself, and that has a positive effect that can’t be traced to a particular chemical or area in the brain. If you’ve been feeling down and you start to exercise and feel better, the sense that you’re going to be OK and that you can count on yourself shifts your entire attitude. The stability of the routine alone can dramatically improve your mood. Clearly, there’s something going on.

“What makes aerobic exercise so powerful is that it’s our evolutionary method of generating that spark,” according to Dr. Ratey. “It lights a fire on every level of your brain, from stoking up the neurons’ metabolic furnaces to forging the very structures that transmit information from one synapse to the next.”

This Episode Has Been Brought To You By “Better Daily”!

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Jumpstart With Coach Alex

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This information is meant to be actionable information to promote health and well-being and not to be used to diagnose or treat medical symptoms or conditions.