Excuses, Excuses.....

OK...I am back.....What Happened??? I got lazy! The same as I did last month. I hurt my knee, I was going on a guys weekend, business is slow, getting the girls ready to go back to school.....you name it, they were all excuses for me to "start again next week".

Well.....next week is here and it is time to get to gettin. The good news is that my weight has not gone up. While I was lazy, I was not totally stupid. Yes, I drank too much beer. But, it was still only Mich Ultra...(lame, I know) I did try the new Bud Select 55....55 calories and 1.3 grams of carbs per beer. Unfortunately, that is about all you can say about it. Anything that makes Mich Ultra taste good.....we'll....nuff said. Sorry Budweiser, if you still want a corporate sponsor, I can give it another try.

OK...today...I am back on track. Chicken, protein shakes, running, lifted....feeling good. Plus I got a new grill so I can grill up all that chicken! So, I didn't put on any weight, but I didn't lose the 10 lbs I should have in this time.

My buddy Jamie and I went down to Bristol, TN this weekend to watch the NASCAR race. We had a blast! If you have not been...go check out a race. There are no words to do it justice. Anyway....the only good that has come out of the last 2 weeks is that it dawned on me that there was no way on earth that I could have done this trip last year at this time carrying 70 extra pounds. We had about a 4 mile walk each way to and from the track to the car. Not to mention, it was a 15 minute walk from the entrance to the track just to get to the seats. After the race we had the 4 mile walk back, in pitch black, in the rain, mud, barbed wire ( don't ask) a maze of RV's and 165,000 of our closest friends. Oh, did I mention the 20 flights if steps we climbed to get to our seats?

AND....2 cute Tennessee girls flagged us down, picked us up and gave us a ride to the track from the parking lot. Yeah...they were just looking to make money...but don't ruin it for me. As far as ya'll (my new favorite word) are concerned...2 hot little southern girls picked me up! Even if they did call me "mister"

Anyway, the point is that last year I was so overweight and out of shape, that I could not have physically done this trip, and that would have been a shame because while I may have had a few (or 13) Mich Ultras, this was really a great trip that chances are I would have passed on last year.

And that got me thinking. How many things that I have passed on in my life because I was overweight? I never wanted to go to the pool with the girls. Sports, as much as I loved them, were out of the question. Anything where I had to dress up I avoided because no matter what the temperature was, I would be in an embarrassing sweat. I was not only doing myself a disservice, I was doing the same thing to my friends and family. And I can name at least 10 other people that are reading this Blog who are in the same situation...you know who you are. So, if you are not going to do it for yourself, do it for your family....do it for your kids....do it for your friends...but most importantly get off your fat butt and do it....ya'll

Talk to you tomorrow.

d

Oh Man.....

So today I received an interesting email. I will not call you out publicly, but you know who you are. It was from a nutritionist telling me that "I was doing a disservice to the diet industry because my diet was not nutritionally sound."

Oh...man....

First, thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate your interest. And thank you for taking the time to email me. I have never met you, and I am not sure how you found me, but thank you again for taking the time out of your apparently not so busy day to email me.

My response....NEITHER IS A McGRIDDLE!

Drastic times, call for drastic measures honey! You can be as nutritionally sound as you like when you can cram yourself into smaller jeans. Right now we are focused on losing weight. I am not sure what constitutes nutritionally sound as I have a degree in television not nutrition, but all I know is that I lost 70 lbs in 7 months, my blood sugar, blood pressure and cholestorel went down, and I can now run. So if that is what nutritionally not sound gets me...sign me up! I told you from the begininning I have no training in this and don't sue me when you fall over dead.

I could go on for awhile with you, but if you would like, I welcome you to post a comment here and explain exactly what I am doing wrong.

That should about handle that. Now, today there is a special treat for you. If you are doing the diet, you get to have 190 calories and 5.2 grams of carbs from beer. Thats right..I went to Quaker Steak and drank 2 Mich Ultras. Here is what I did to justify that in my head.

Breakfast- My favorite protein shake

Lunch- A turkey and swiss sandwich on wheat. But Medium Dave you ask....bread...carbs...bad. Carbs are not bad. You just shouldn't eat a whole lot of them if you are trying to lose weight. And they could have come from a Baconator and not a turkey sandwich. I needed the carbs, because, I played tennis for an hour and a half. Ran 2 miles, then cut the grass at 6:30 in the heat.

To reward myself, I continued to carbo load with 2 Mich Ultras and had the boneless wings at The Lube, which are just grilled chicken with some sauce. No breading and no deep fry.

Now I have come to the realization that I am old and tennis, running and cutting the grass was not the best plan because my knees are killing me, and the 2 beers have done nothing but make me feel full. BUT. I have lost 5 lbs since Monday, although I will say I took full advantage of weighing in after sweating for 3 hours and not eating since lunch. But in my mind...the scale says 5 lbs less than it did on Monday!

Keep being not nutritionally sound!

Why the name?

I had had a few people email asking what is up with the name "The REAL Loser". It is simple. I hate the tv show, "The Biggest Loser".

It is not reality TV. Tell me in who's reality does someone take you away to a retreat, give you the best trainers and nutritionists in the business, take all of life's cares away from you and then PAY you to lose weight. If you cannot lose weight in this scenario, you are a LOSER. A big fat chicken wing eating, Mountain Dew drinking, drive myself around in a scooter cuz I am too fat to walk through the outlet malls....LOSER! (that is a topic for another post) These people that are given this chance and then sit there and have to worry when they step on the scale....PLEASE!!!

Let me tell you about reality.....reality is when you have to get 2 kids to the bus by 7:30 in the morning, run a small business, run children to 20 different lessons and practices, all the while driving through Wendy's with the Baconator looking right back at you through the Plexiglas. (which for the record I have never eaten...if you have...shame on you...but please let me know how it was!)

Reality is running in the rain, snow, 90 degree heat and in the middle of the night because this is all the time that you have to squeeze in your workout. Reality is getting pulled over by the cops on your run (trust me I wasn't speeding) because you are out in the dark and rain, wearing dark clothes and 2 streets over there have been cars broken into...then the cop who just totally screwed up your workout wouldn't give you a ride home! All while managing to stay in business, married and be the apple of my daughter's eyes, and drop 70 lbs Hey NBC...I got your reality right here.

It may make for compelling television...but it is the farthest thing from what the average person trying to lose weight will go through. It is hard to lose weight. There is no quick fix. I have said it before and I will say it again...you didn't get fat in 2 weeks, and there is nothing on this planet that will make you thin in 2 weeks. I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone that has have the courage to admit they have a weight problem and then do something about it. There are definitely ups and downs and it has to be a lifestyle change and not a quick fix or all the weight is going to come back on...but in the end you will be so much better off for it.

My doctor told me when I started (well...actually 2 years before I started this..it just took awhile to sink in and decide to do it) that this was my wake up call. I was getting too old and too fat to continue to put my body through this. Sooner or later is was all going to catch up with me and it would take years off of my life. Those would be years that I would miss with my family and friends and I decided to go do something about it. For those of you who are reading this for motivation....GO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Become a REAL Loser

Got to go...I have 18 almonds with my name on them....I call it The Almond-ator!

Wednesday Aug 5th- Uneventful

Pretty uneventful day today. Tried to get some tennis in but there were no availabilities on the courts. We will play tomorrow.

Breakfast- Uneventful. Had my normal protein shake with apples and peanut butter Yum.

Lunch- Since Claire ate my chicken for dinner last night, I had my favorite Wendy's grilled chicken wraps for lunch with an iced tea. I swear, if anyone from Wendy's is reading, you should hire me as your Jared. The woman at the drive through at the Mariemont Wendy's knows my truck and order when I pull in. The only question is usually do I want a Diet Coke or Tea. Now that is service, all for $5.17. It is actually pretty good and it is fairly good for you. Plus I am better looking, funnier and can kick Jared's ass in a street fight. Bring it Jared!

Since my cardio work was not stellar last night, I need to get in a good run when I get home from the office. Mommy is home tonight after being gone for 3 days which means dinner out somewhere...which for me means some type of protein grilled with maybe a salad! Oh well, at least the kids will have fun.

Tennis tomorrow and running a 5K on Saturday. There may be exactly 3 Mich Ultras in my future Sat night (95 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs!) We will have to wait and see.

UPDATE- I did manage to get in a good run. Got a couple miles in although it was hot and humid as hell out there. It also seemed like the entire subdivision had their yard fertilized today, so it was like running through agent orange. I am sure that was healthy. Went to the local Mexican joint for guess what...some more grilled chicken! I cannot tell a lie, I ate 5 or 6 tortilla chips before my 9 year old busted me.

Until tomorrow

Medium Dave

Man What a Day

Today I did something just as bad as overeating......I did not eat enough. I have been running from meeting to meeting since 7:30. Lightening hit a tree at the office and took out power. A pipe burst in the basement and I had to run our $75,000 HD deck to service because it stopped working!

Oh yeah....it has been pouring down rain since 7am as well. So far today, I have had some coffee, iced tea, 2 scrambled eggs and a couple handfuls of almonds. NOT GOOD. Got to go home and take the girls to piano lessons and hopefully throw down something somewhat nutritious.

Where this is going to hurt me the most is with any type of workout I try to do tonight. Too wet to run, so I need to lift pretty heavy and that is not going to be easy, given the fact I have starved myself most of the day.

UPDATE- Here is how we ended the day. Had to eat quick because it was off to piano lessons, so I went the egg route again for the protein. 2 eggs...some egg beaters, a couple strips of turkey bacon, garlic and a little cheese. Got the girls home and while they were in the bath, busted out 20 mins on the heavybag, and after today, it felt good. Lifting was not going to go well, so we will live to lift weights another day.Gonna grab a protein shake and water before bed and call it done.

Haven't weighed in yet since Sunday....probably jump on the scale tomorrow.....I know most of you all won't be able to sleep waiting to see if I lost any weight, but you will have to wait until tomorrow night!

Lucky you...it's dinner time! Now

OK kids.......

I know you are filled up from all that we ate today....but it I hope you can squeeze a little more in. Here is what else we did today.

After work....came home, and got the girls off to cheer practice (Go Eagles!!) then went for a 2 mile run. Came home and busted out a little work out.

3 sets of Bench press x10 reps

3 sets DB overhead press

3 sets 1 arm rows

throw in some shrugs, curls, push ups, and 200 crunches ( cause I want those 12pk abs) and call it done.

I realized no one was home and I had an hour to kill so I fired up the car and headed to The Lube. Why ruin all your hard work. I was running at 6pm in 85 degree heat, drenched in sweat. Here is a tip....you can still sit at the bar and not drink alcohol. Order up a nice refreshing ice tea and enjoy a lovely Cincinnati evening while watching the Reds suck.

Ice Tea = $1.50

Tip to not have Steph the cute bartender hassle you to drink at her bar or ship out=$7.00

1 hour without the family to watch the Reds and the drunk hillbillies=PRICELESS

Head home and throw down 1 grilled chicken breast, some romaine lettuce and Parmesan cheese, put the girls to bed....read tales of a 4th grade nothing with Claire and explain to Cora, why she cannot have a cell phone for the 900th time and here I am talking to y'all! How can it get any better. Drink a big glass of water and head to bed. After you deal with email from all of your West Coast clients where it is still only 6pm and they are just getting back to you.

Every excuse you had for not losing weight.....I just overcame. What is your problem!

Talk to you all tomorrow.......omelette's for breakfast!!!!

The Problem with Success

Here is a problem that I have run into on occasion with diets in the past and was starting to happen this time around.

Once you experience success on your plan and people take notice and congratulate you, DO NOT THINK YOU ARE THIN!!! Yes, I lost 70lbs, yes I lost 6 inches in my waist, etc, but I still weigh 276 pounds! I am far from skinny. I have gone from Big Dave to Medium Dave....but there is still much work to be done.

Don't get me wrong. I am happy to have come this far and there is an amazing differenece in the way I feel, act and approach life in general, but I am still fat. Just not as fat as I was!

Do not get caught up in your success! I don't know what my goal weight is. I am not really stopping at a number. I am just looking to be healthy, and maybe buy a pair of fancy jeans! But as the last couple weeks have taught me, I have about 20 years of bad habits to break, and while I have been good for the last 6 months, it is very easy to fall back into those bad habits again. This is not a quick fix. If you want this to work, You have to keep working at this everyday.

Its Lunchtime!

Ok....I was bad and forgot the lunch I made for myself so we get a special Wendy's "Treat" today!

2 Grilled Chicken Wraps with no Honeymustard sauce and an Ice Tea ( Unsweetened of course!)

Just wait....there are 18 almonds coming my way later this afternoon for a snack! And don't forget another delicious protein shake!!

Good Morning

Nothing says Monday morning like a protein shake!

1 TBS Peanut Butter

2 Scoops protein powder

1 TBS sugar free apple sauce

Water, crushed ice...throw into a blender.....

Yum.

And of course some coffee.

Have a good day!

Time to finish what I started!

First off...welcome to my blog. Secondly, you must have something better to do than to read this!!! I am using this blog as a way to record my thoughts and motivate me to continue on this journey. If I happen to help, inspire or entertain someone along the way, even better.

It is time to finish what I started at the beginning of the year and lose the rest of the weight that I want to lose. While I still have been working out and eating fairly well, I have been "enjoying" the summer a little too much the last few weeks and the weight loss has stalled out. It is amazing how fast you can fall back into old habits.

So...starting Monday it is back to the diet. Thanks to all of you have have been encouraging me along the way, your support keeps me going! A lot of you have asked for tips on what I have been doing. "Whats your secret?" The answer is simple. There is no secret....when you eat right and work out, you will lose weight. You can't take a pill, drink a juice, stand on your head 3 times a day and bow towards Rally Burger and think that you will lose weight. The ONLY way to do this is to change the way you think about yourself and the food you eat. The ONLY way to do this is to eat less and workout more. Period end of sentence.

That being said, I am going to post what I am eating and the workouts that I am doing. For those of you at home who would like to follow along, knock yourself out. Just know, I have no formal training in this, or anything for that matter, all I am doing is posting what has worked for me and things I have learned along the way. Hopefully it will work for you. Hopefully you will not fall over dead. If you do fall over dead, do not sue me. I don't have much that I own outright anyway. The old line of "check with your doctor" applies here.

So stay tuned for random thoughts and some ideas for some pretty bland meals. But if you are trying to lose weight, I hope for the both of us that this works!