It's Almost Time!

At the beginning of the year one of my goals was to be able to compete in a particular surf contest without becoming so winded I thought I was going to burst. Well, I don't really remember how I worded it...but, you get the point. Now, said contest is just a few weeks away. To say I'm excited is an understatement.

In addition, I have some really good news: I really think I will meet and exceed my goal. Heck, I even have a plan to win this year! Seriously! I've been surfing 4-6 times per week (well, except for this past week but that's another story) and many times near the break where the contest will be.

Overall, my fitness goals are really coming along quite nicely. After what I thought was a major setback at the beginning of the summer, I'm actually in pretty awesome shape. The setback being a brief hospitalization. I'm not really sure what happened and neither are my physicians. We do know it had something to do with the digestive issues that I've had for the last several years. Also, I was somehow anemic. That didn't make much sense but the tests confirmed it. Since then, I'm so much better. A medication that I had been taking for years turned out to be completely unnecessary and added weight that was really slowing me down. I'm now back to my "normal adult size" that I was up until about 5 years ago. It feels absolutely great. I was never considered "heavy" but I certainly wasn't tiny. Let's just say that I'm grateful to be 5'10". Colleagues, friends, and family are all telling me how awesome I look. Some are a bit puzzled since they never considered me in need of "losing weight".

I did make a few other adjustments to my diet. I've completely eliminated caffeine from my daily beverage intake. Amazingly I am more awake than before and don't miss it at all. I've also been able to re-introduce one of my major food loves - corn tortillas. I love me some corn tortillas. Yum. In addition, I get to eat black beans again. Double yum!

I still don't add salt or sugar to anything and remain a chocolate hater. Yes, I truly dislike chocolate. The thought of it makes me queasy.

With the newly lost pounds also comes a better outlook. It's exciting to fit into clothes that I thought I had to give away for good. It's even more exciting to spend 2+ hours surfing without being totally wiped out. My neck/shoulder aches and pains have even subsided.

Well, enough about how awesome I feel lately. I've got to work on my costume for the contest. It's almost time! Any suggestions?