Weight Loss, Sponsorship, and Kona

it's amazing how fast you can start losing weight when you actually follow a plan and stick to it. I'm now 72 hours into not just following my Weight Watchers points, but actually making smart food choices for the food I intake. I'm down several pounds since Sunday. Some of that is due to kicking the salt out of my body, and some of it is simply eating a lot less. I'm going to bed a little bit hungry and definitely waking up hungry, which makes breakfast fun!

Waking up hungry has been a great reminder that when I eat properly, my body responds to it. And though I might not like going to bed a little hungry, it's further reinforcement to keep going in the right direction so that my body will slowly start to adjust. Being hungry isn't fun, but I know it's the right way to feel right now. I'm not starving, just not completely full. And that's where losing weight starts, taking in fewer calories than you burn.

Of course burning calories helps too. We had a rainy night here in Boston, and Rach, on a very rare day off, wanted to go have some fun. So off to the mall we went, for dinner and some window shopping. I ate at make-it-yourself salad place, and had a broccoli, mushroom, feta, turkey, and light ranch over spring mix salad. It was delicious, and I was really happy to have the willpower to ignore all of the poor choices around to focus on eating healthy.

One of things I love about triathlon is all the gear and technology, and losing weight has a benefit there as well. As I get closer to looking like a traditional triathlete (thinner and buffer), more sponsorships will likely come my way. In addition, the sponsorships I get will have more options for me. Not everyone makes a 3X cycling jersey or tri top. As an example, Mountain Khakis shorts only went up to 42 inch waist, so I requested the biggest I could get and will wear them as soon as they fit.

Sponsorships make doing more races possible, because I can get more and better gear for less or no money, and put our money towards race entries. One race I know Rachelle dreams of doing is Kona, the Ironman World Championship. The annual event is going to be held this weekend on the big island, and is something Rach and I hunker down to watch each year. They always package a highlights show for consumption, and while I love watching the human interest stories and hearing John Tesh do a breathy drama filled narrative, there's just something about seeing it live that brings out the excitement of this kind of race. So that's what I'll be doing with part of my Saturday.

Which means Sunday I'll probably be on the bike or running, because while I am easily inspired, nothing gets me more inspired than watching the pro's go all hard core on the toughest course in the world.