Why Do Expectant Fathers Put On Weight?

The Dad Bod Project is AskMen editor Ian Taylor’s attempt to take a pre-emptive strike on his misshapen, doughy torso before he becomes a father. He’ll be charting his efforts in weekly articles that cover the workouts, nutrition and black-belt time management required to get into shape, stay fit and beat the dad bod.

About halfway through my wife’s pregnancy, I noticed something big and scary: my stomach. It was, to my horror, roughly the same size and shape as my better half’s. The only difference was that while hers was blooming and beautiful – a cradle for a precious, tiny little life – mine was (and is) filled with pale ale and refined carbohydrates.

Fortunately, in the months since then, her growth has outpaced my own, but the situation remains sub-awesome. Over the past seven months, I have put on a stone and a half. A stone-and-a-sodding-half. That’s 9.5kg, the weight our son will be when he’s nine months old. The weight of an unloaded barbell or a morbidly obese pug.

My wife, 34 weeks today, calls it sympathy weight. She’s kind. As it turns out, she’s also dead right. I’m not the only expectant father who arrives at the third trimester with a bump of his own. Being a dad comes with a ready-made dad bod – science says so.

Couvade Syndrome is the name given to men who experience ‘phantom pregnancy’ symptoms. Some guys get nausea, others suffer depression or back pain. Me? I got the baby-fat – and again, I’m not alone. A survey by marketing company Onepoll found that on average, dads-to-be gain a stone during their partner’s pregnancy. A quarter are even forced to buy a ‘paternity wardrobe’.

What's going on?

Researchers have some solid theories about why expectant fathers put on weight. There’s evidence, for example, that a man’s balance of hormones shift around when their partner is pregnant. That could play a part. If you’re feeling any stress or anxiety about impending fatherhood, that could too.

A more mundane explanation can be found in the kitchen. Like all pregnant women, my wife was advised to eat around 300 extra calories a day during her pregnancy. She craved pancakes in her first trimester, pizza in her second. There were snacks everywhere – and that was before the month-long international beer festival known as Christmas. For seven months the woman I love – and the person who traditionally acted as my appetite’s brake pedal – has been eating for two. And as you can see below, so have I.

I weigh more right now than ever: 14.5 stone (92kg). My waist has never been bigger. I’m a lanky 6’5 so it’s not so much the weight that bothers me but the distribution of it. My gut is really the only thing that’s expanded – and abdominal fat is linked with a sorry collection of illnesses later in life, including diabetes and heart disease. Something must be done.

The plan

For the next 12 weeks (more, hopefully), I’m going to follow a strict training and nutrition plan to lose the dad bod before I’ve even learnt how to be a father. Our son is due six weeks today. I’m going to cut as much of the baby weight as possible before he arrives, then attempt to keep it off and balance parenthood and fitness in the dreaded first weeks when everyone says you get no sleep.

I’m not so stupid as to think I can do this on my own, so I’ve called in top men to help.

Who?

Top men.

Okay, these guys:

Greg Rutherford
The double-Olympic medallist has just launched a fitness platform called Take Flight, a 12-week training programme that you can follow online. Using a mix of running, resistance and plyometric circuit training, it’s inspired by the kind of training Greg uses as a world champion long-jumper. Even more importantly for me, you can follow the programme anywhere – that may be vital after the baby arrives.

Fresh Fitness Food
This premium food delivery company brings tasty, macro-tracked meals devised by nutritionists and cooked by top chefs to your door. While they’re grilling me lean chicken dinners, I’ll be grilling them on why I’m eating their prescribed balance of protein, fats and carbs, and how other dads can benefit from the same nutritional rules.

The Third Space
One of London’s best health clubs combines classes, first-rate training spaces, and sports medicine facilities. As well as training there, I’ll be consulting their in-house experts on things like recovery, and asking them to set mini side challenges that I can do alongside Greg’s workouts. They also have the unholy task of measuring and tracking my belly fat using state-of-the-art equipment.

In addition, I’ll regularly be speaking to AskMen’s own fitness writers, people like Ross Edgley and John Romaniello, plus other experts. My aim is to pass on everything that works, everything that’s useful, in these posts. Of course, I’m quitting alcohol and cutting right back on sugar. I also want to break a lifetime addiction to milky tea if I can (big ask). But I genuinely want to do this – all of it.

I want to be fit for fatherhood. I want to be an active and healthy role model to my son. I want to have at least some energy when he arrives and robs me of sleep. I’d like to lower my body fat before I hit my late thirties. In an ideal world, my chest would stick out further than my stomach. And yes, it would be nice to post on social media an artful (topless) photo of my baby and me. You know, something classy and sepia-toned, like the old Athena poster.

To lay down a marker, here’s where I am right now.

Weight: 92kg
Chest: 99cm
Waist: 97cm
Hips: 94cm
Left bicep: 32cm
Right bicep: 33cm
Left thigh: 55cm
Right thigh: 55cm

All being well and on time, B-day is 20th February. I’m not expecting to look like Ryan Gosling by then (or ever), but I’d like to be a bit less DiCaprio and a bit more DaVinci. I want to look like the Vetruvian man – that’s what a dad should look like. And the extra pair of hands would be welcome, too, when the boy arrives.

Follow Ian's attempt at fit fatherhood on Instagram @ianstean. And if you're an expectant father – or another gym-phobe going lean for 2017 – send us your story in the comments, on Facebook or at editorial@askmen.com.