Audiobook4 hours
Fat Dad, Fat Kid
Written by Shay Butler and Gavin Butler
Narrated by Shay Butler and Gavin Butler
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
In today’s world where fast-food restaurants, soda, and processed foods reign supreme, does “fat dad” have to mean “fat kid”? Digital entrepreneur and beloved vlogger Shay Butler and his preteen son, Gavin, decided to find out the answer for themselves.
Before Shay became famous for vlogging about life with his boisterous brood of five, known on YouTube as the Shaytards, he was like many other American dads: He worked 9 to 5 to pay the bills, ate double bacon cheeseburgers during his lunch breaks, sipped soda throughout the day, and watched Netflix with handfuls of candy.
These small behaviors added up, and before he turned thirty, Shay was nearly 300 pounds. Motivated by the fear that he could have a heart attack before thirty-five, Shay decided to make incremental changes to his eating habits and exercise regimen. Adopting the attitude that every action, no matter how small, was better than what he was doing before, Shay lost more than 100 pounds and ran four marathons, becoming a source of inspiration for everyone who followed his journey on his ShayLoss channel on YouTube.
Now, at the age of thirty-five, Shay has discovered that “maintaining” is the hard part. He has also seen how some of his hard-to-break habits are affecting his children, particularly his eldest son, Gavin, who grew up during the years when his dad had “a little extra Shay on him.” Determined to get back into shape and inspire his son along the way, Shay asked Gavin to embark on a thirty-day challenge with him to eat clean and do thirty minutes of exercise a day. Full of Shay’s signature blend of humor, honesty, and unbridled enthusiasm, Fat Dad, Fat Kid chronicles the ups and downs of Shay and Gavin’s thirty days together, reflects on Shay’s lifelong struggle with health and fitness, and proves that it’s never too late for parents or children to embrace a healthier lifestyle—even when it doesn’t come easy.
Before Shay became famous for vlogging about life with his boisterous brood of five, known on YouTube as the Shaytards, he was like many other American dads: He worked 9 to 5 to pay the bills, ate double bacon cheeseburgers during his lunch breaks, sipped soda throughout the day, and watched Netflix with handfuls of candy.
These small behaviors added up, and before he turned thirty, Shay was nearly 300 pounds. Motivated by the fear that he could have a heart attack before thirty-five, Shay decided to make incremental changes to his eating habits and exercise regimen. Adopting the attitude that every action, no matter how small, was better than what he was doing before, Shay lost more than 100 pounds and ran four marathons, becoming a source of inspiration for everyone who followed his journey on his ShayLoss channel on YouTube.
Now, at the age of thirty-five, Shay has discovered that “maintaining” is the hard part. He has also seen how some of his hard-to-break habits are affecting his children, particularly his eldest son, Gavin, who grew up during the years when his dad had “a little extra Shay on him.” Determined to get back into shape and inspire his son along the way, Shay asked Gavin to embark on a thirty-day challenge with him to eat clean and do thirty minutes of exercise a day. Full of Shay’s signature blend of humor, honesty, and unbridled enthusiasm, Fat Dad, Fat Kid chronicles the ups and downs of Shay and Gavin’s thirty days together, reflects on Shay’s lifelong struggle with health and fitness, and proves that it’s never too late for parents or children to embrace a healthier lifestyle—even when it doesn’t come easy.
Author
Shay Butler
Shay Butler is an award-winning digital entrepreneur and vlogger. His YouTube channels attract millions of subscribers, and he has been hailed as one of the “most successful video entrepreneurs on YouTube” by Forbes.com. Butler is a cofounding talent of Maker Studios. He lives in Idaho with his wife, Colette, and five children. Gavin Butler is his eldest son.
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Reviews for Fat Dad, Fat Kid
Rating: 3.4375 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
8 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I want to preface this review by saying I'm not a Shaytards fan. Not really. My girlfriend is the fan. She's the one that bought this book. I've been exposed to my fair share of Shaytards through association, though. I've watched plenty of vlogs from start to finish with her over the years. I know all the kid's names. I'm very familiar with these people, but I'm not a fan. My feelings towards Shay and his vlogs are mostly apathetic in nature.
This book is basically Shay's personality in microcosm. There's nothing of outstanding intelligence here, but nothing you could call dumb, either. Shay is, from what I've seen, a man of average intelligence. There's lots of factual inaccuracies about what's good and bad in regards to food. Shay is often wrong about things. There's lots of repetition of ideas. Shay often repeats himself.
But the good parts of Shay shine through as well. Shay is endlessly optimistic, driven, and great at motivating people. Turns out, those are great qualities to have when writing a weight loss book. Shay is by no means an expert on health, and he admits as much throughout the book. I think that really helps set it apart. The overriding message is that you don't have to be an expert. You don't even have to consult an expert. You don't have to be perfect, either. You just have to make an effort. You just have to do the hard work, even if some of that work is misplaced, and even if you fall off the wagon sometimes.
It ultimately doesn't matter that Shay is still holding onto bad 1980s science that says (unprocessed) red meat is bad for you, when it's actually one of the best things you can eat. It's that mindset that also led to him giving up pop, which is bad for you. With so much information about food and health out there, much of it more conflicting and vague than the status of red meat, the idea that you can be wrong about some parts of the equation and still succeed is a powerful one that ultimately transcends weight loss and becomes a message about life. Don't worry about doing something wrong, just do it. We all need to hear that from time to time, I think.
Beyond that, there are (to my surprise) many practical tips in here. Just little things you wouldn't think of, but that make doing the hard things easier. For instance, Shay says you should drink a lot of water at night before bed (he also says you should force yourself to drink a gallon a day, which is silly, but Shay is often wrong). He says even if you have to get up to pee in the middle of the night, you'll feel way better when you wake up. I tried this, because what the hell (I also tried the gallon thing while he was actually doing it, before the book came out). I have found this to be entirely accurate. It may as well be a fact. Put it in the fact books. The difference is night and day, and it's advice that goes against the common sense of not drinking before bed.
So, in summation (that's what smart people say right?), this book is better than a non-fan like me expected it to be, and almost certainly worth reading for an actual fan.