ReHealth Dads

05/28/2026

Three years ago my father died suddenly and without warning.

At the time, I was on the verge of being in the best shape of my adult life. After years of struggling with my health during the pandemic, everything finally felt like it was moving in the right direction.

Then my world stopped.

Over the next several months, I gained weight, stopped caring about my health, and honestly lost a big part of my sense of purpose. Grief has a way of making everything that once felt important suddenly feel very far away.

It took professional help, specifically EMDR therapy, to finally process the trauma and fix the broken mechanics of my daily life.

One thing I still do, even three years later, is watch the recording of my father’s funeral service. I go back and listen to the words I said about him because they remind me of the kind of man I want to become.

The day after he passed away, a close family friend told me something I have never forgotten:

“The qualities that made you love your father so much... become those qualities.”

I think about that often now, especially as a father myself.

This week I wrote about grief, rebuilding my health after losing my dad, and the realization that honouring someone is not just about remembering them. It is about carrying forward the qualities that made them who they were.

(Link in comments)

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05/27/2026

Three years ago today, my father died suddenly and without warning.

At the time, I was in the best health rhythm of my adult life. Then everything stopped. I gained weight, lost momentum, and honestly lost a big part of myself for a while.

EMDR therapy helped me finally process the trauma and begin rebuilding the mechanics of my daily life.

One thing I still do is watch the recording of my father’s funeral service. I go back to the words I said about him because they remind me of the kind of man I want to become.

The day after he passed, someone told me:
“The qualities that made you love your father so much... become those qualities.”

I think about that often now, especially as a father myself.

This week I wrote about grief, rebuilding my health, and what it really means to honor someone you love.

Read the full piece at the link in my bio.

05/20/2026

A few weeks ago, Holland Bloorview filmed an interview with my family about raising our son, who was diagnosed with autism at two and a half.

Watching it back reminded me how much of parenting happens quietly behind the scenes. The exhaustion, the worry, the trying to hold everything together.

But it also reminded me how far my son has come. Seeing him laughing, playing, and doing things that once felt impossible meant a lot.

I shared the video and a more personal reflection in today’s post. Read the full piece at the link in my bio.

05/14/2026

Last week reminded me how fast momentum can disappear.

By Thursday, I felt locked into a really good rhythm with my health. I was working out, fasting, eating well, and feeling mentally sharp.

Then I got sick.

What threw me off was not even the cold itself. It was the frustration of watching my plans collapse for the second Friday in a row. I kept focusing on everything I could not do instead of recognizing what I still managed to carry while running on fumes.

I still showed up for my family. I still carried my son on my shoulders when he needed me. I still made sure Mother’s Day felt special for my wife and mom even though my body wanted to shut down.

I think a lot of us as fathers quietly judge ourselves by the small percentage that slipped instead of the majority we still handled under pressure.

That realization turned into this week’s article.

Read the full piece at the link in my bio.

05/07/2026

Three healthy habits slipped in the span of four days.

A few weeks ago, my son got sick for an entire week. Then midway through it, my pregnant wife got sick too. I knew immediately that my normal routine was gone.

The old version of me would have written off the entire week. Once one habit slipped, everything else usually followed. That ‘all-or-nothing’ mindset has derailed my health more times than I can count.

I think a lot of fathers quietly fall into this trap where one rough day turns into a full collapse. We treat imperfect days like failures instead of understanding that momentum is often built by simply avoiding 0% days.

I wrote more about that mindset shift and how to ditch the all-or-nothing trap in this week’s article.

Read the full piece at the link in comments.

04/24/2026

One morning last month started at 4:40 AM with my son screaming for me.

He had a bad chest infection that week and everything felt harder than usual. Getting him cleaned up, getting him dressed, and trying to give him medication all turned into battles. Every step turned into a fight, even though he was clearly exhausted and not feeling well.

At one point he bit into my shoulder and I had to leave the room to walk it off. By the time we finally got his medicine into him, it wasn’t even 7:00 AM, and I was already completely drained.
In the past, I would have used that level of exhaustion as an excuse to self-sabotage my own health. It is so easy to tell yourself that you deserve a drink or a night of junk food because the day was just too hard.

I shared some honest reflections today on how I navigated that week, the reality of the "invisible load" we carry as dads, and why showing up for your family on difficult days matters more than a perfect win streak. (link in comments)

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04/23/2026

4:40 AM, and he was already screaming for me.

By 6:12 AM, I was bitten, headbutted, and already running on fumes.

Things fall apart fast when your child is sick, especially with autism. The usual routines under strain, and everything turns into a series of physical and mental battles.

In those moments, the temptation to find fast relief is intense. The easy path is to reach for a drink or just check out mentally to escape the pressure. But I realized that holding the line on days like this is what dictates our long-term health.

This week I wrote about the reality of parenting through these brutal stretches and how not to throw in the towel when everything is working against you.

You can read it on my Substack (link in comments).