All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!

Life, Parenting

Thanks, Similac, For Welcoming Dads Into the Sisterhood

01/26/2015 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

“The Sisterhood of Motherhood”, that is. Yeah, that sounds like it has a giant “Welcome Dads” sign held high right? Wrong; High not five Similac!

Similac, in its latest ad campaign titled “The Sisterhood of Motherhood“, created a video depicting various parent cliques coming face to face on the playground. There were working moms, stay-at-home moms, breastfeeding moms, “crunchy” moms, and even, yes, dads, all lashing out and talking down to one another.

As the lashing out reaches a climax and all of the close-minded groups charge at each other, a baby in a stroller begins to roll down a hill. Suddenly, the imminent brawl amongst clashing parent styles quickly ended as all groups rushed to save the runaway baby. The video ends with a quote saying “No matter what our beliefs, we are parents first.”

Or that’s when it should have ended. Instead, Similac went the extra mile and welcomed us in to the “Sisterhood of Motherhood.” And by us, I mean moms, apparently. Those dads in the video, they weren’t really there, or they were actually very masculine women.

Besides the dad wearing his baby facing out, which I am firmly against (click here to see why), the video was entertaining and you could even catch a smile on my face. Until that damned ending welcoming my clique, dads, into some sisterhood of motherhood. What the crap?!

So why even add a small group of dads in the video at all? Which, by the way, if I wanted to really nitpick, there’s more than just one group of like-minded dads, we have our own cliques too. But whatever, basically the ending would make more sense to read simply “Welcome to Parenthood”.

The large group of Dad Bloggers I am a part of on Facebook have all had their say on the video with most of us obviously not accepting of the closing words. One dad blogger, Chris Routly, who runs the blog Daddy Doctrines, goes into detailed analysis on where the video goes wrong and why it matters. Check out his post here.

As a caring father, I agree with Chris’ thoughts 100%. I get that dads are still the minority when it comes to ad campaigns, but that doesn’t mean we like it one bit.

So, thank you, Similac, for welcoming dads into the sisterhood to #SisterhoodUnite, but I think we’ll pass.

What are your thoughts on this video?

Do you agree the better approach would be to make the campaign gender-neutral by using “Parenthood” in place of the prefixes “Sister” and “Mother?

NuttZo

I’m a 2015 NuttZo Ambassador!

01/24/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

That’s right, NuttZo has given me the privilege of joining their team of ambassadors for 2015! You will now see this badge proudly displayed to the right of my blog….

Go ahead, click on the badge above or to the right to go directly to their site to learn about and purchase your own NuttZo. And, since you’re here reading this, I’d like to say thank you and share a discount code to use on their site. Just click here to visit their product page and enter code liley15 to save 15% off your entire order!

With many healthy certifications under their ~~belt~~ lid and being the most delicious, empowering nut and seed spread every, you will find it hard to resist putting the lid back on. Trust me, Avery and I have been enjoying the Crunchy Power Fuel for a while now, and the choice is clear…

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A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

Yep, Avery knows to go for the NuttZo every time! Of course, I still need to work on her not just grabbing and getting it all over her hands…….then cabinets, then floor, then me, then….you get the idea. Also need to work on her jar opening skills, or lack thereof.

I am forever grateful to NuttZo for accepting me into their team of awesome ambassadors who are mostly top notch athletes. I actually first heard about NuttZo from one of their long-time ambassadors, Kristen Stehly, who blogs over at STUFT mama. As a fitness instructor and personal trainer, mom of twin toddler boys, and avid marathon runner, she never has a dull moment and I’ve enjoyed reading her posts for years.

NuttZo is obviously fueling their high-octane athletes quite well, but now it’s time to see how it keeps an active at-home dad (that’s me) and his toddler daughter (that’s Avery) constantly “going” and growing. I may not be a competing athlete, but I train for strength and endurance every day with Avery usually alongside of me.

I can’t wait to share NuttZo recipes, pictures, and thoughts with you here and on my other pages. If you have any suggestions on what recipe I should try to come up with first, please leave me a comment and I’ll do my best.

Right now, I’m thinking an easy homemade Chocolate NuttZo “Jello” and bread is in our future. A healthy organic nut and seed butter jello? You betcha!

By the way, it’s National Peanut Butter Day (isn’t it every day?), so why not go above and beyond with NuttZo’s Nut and Seed butter? Remember, use code liley15 to enjoy 15% off your entire order. Imagine, Dark Chocolate NuttZo and your significant other having a wonderful Valentine’s Day in the comfort of your home and not worrying about some elaborate meal when it should be more about time together.

Have you tried NuttZo before?

If so, which one? I’m going to try their 70% Dark Chocolate One very soon…MMMMM!

Going Healthy, Life, Parenting

Personal Training From Our 1 Year Old

01/21/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Gone are the days of Avery sitting idle as Going Mom and I workout. From sitting in a swing, to bouncing in her jumper, our baby turned toddler has transformed into our personal trainer.

Not long ago, we used to only be concerned with keeping Avery entertained as we worked through an exercise routine either inside or in the garage, but now she’s part of the action and helping to increase intensity! I still remember having her watch us from her swing as we sweat it out with a workout video.

Or bringing her to the garage for first time and how worried I was to do anything.

And for the longest time, she’s been happily (for the most part) bouncing in her jumper as we lift in the garage.

babies, parenting, family, workout, fitness — Eager to workout with Daddy!

But now, with her walking and wondering all over, she prefers to get in on the action when and where ever possible. My wife and I were doing a quick body-weight routine consisting of 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off working through squats, push-ups, lunges, and planks for a total of 4 rounds; making it 16 minutes total. Short but intense and perfect for those with limited access to equipment.

Apparently, Avery didn’t think it was intense enough and she made sure to let her Mommy know to work harder!

push-ups, workout, fitness, parenting — C’mon, faster, Mommy!!!

And I guess Kelley looked like she needed a little extra weight as she doing push-ups, so Avery helped increase the intensity by adding her own weight.

fitness, workout — I’d say this isn’t fun, but I”d be lying.

Of course, I think Avery went a little too far with the intensity at one point. I’m not sure, but something tells me Kelley would agree….

What? Having trouble, Mommy? Can I have milk soon?

This happened with the plank hold too, and Avery would venture over to me every now and then to check in. I think my wife got the worst of it though, but she ripped through the 16 minutes; “baby weight” and all!

In the garage, we just hit a milestone by removing the jumper to make room for a play yard/pen (really looks like a place for a dog) that Avery can move around in as we lift weights.

I even had a second of feeling sad since it’s bittersweet to take it out. Our little girl is growing too much! Common saying from parents, and I completely understand! But there wasn’t much time to sit and ponder on the past, Avery let me know it was dead lift day and I needed to take my weight belt (she advocates lifting safely) and get to it.

Here, dad, you'll need this. — Here, dad, you’ll need this.

She looks pretty content in her new ~~cage~~ play yard, right? She seriously loves playing with the weight belt, so I know as soon as I’m done, she gets it back. It’s a good relationship though, she behaves and helps motivate me to lift heavy and keep focused, and I give her my belt once I’m done. Instant happiness….

I’ve had this mini kettlebell for kids in my Amazon cart for too long, and now I have motivation to finally buy it. Soon, you’ll see our daughter swinging her very own kettlebell with mommy and daddy!

How cool is that?

Whether inside or out, Avery’s keeping her Mommy and Daddy in tip top shape around here. And why not? Shouldn’t all kids want to have their parents be healthy so they are healthy enough to go play and run around with them?

I might joke about Avery being our personal trainer, but in a way, all parents should have their children act as personal trainers in the sense that they should want to get and stay healthy for themselves and their kids. I don’t want to be one of the parents sitting on a bench as my kid runs around playing on the playground, I want to be out there playing too!

Please, if you can’t find being healthy and fit for yourself being reason enough, do it for your kids’ sake. From chasing them on the playground as toddlers, to playing sports when they’re older, to helping them move out of the house when they’re fully grown, parents need to be there for their kids, physically and mentally.

Going Mom and I choose a healthy, active lifestyle, and I hope you do or will too. As and aspiring personal trainer (when Avery is older), I’d love to offer tips/advice to anyone who is serious, free of charge. In fact, if just one person reaches out to me, I would do my best to help you achieve whatever goal it is you have in mind.

Don’t limit yourself by thinking you can’t do something. Stay positive, set your goal, and get to it! Just like you are what you eat, you are what you think too!

Do you workout with your kids?

Any fun exercises or stories you care to share?

What goals do you have for yourself and how are you working to get there?