Eight weeks of the contest is left and it won't be over soon enough.  It is getting to be a lot of hard work.  Considering what it took earlier on to make progress, maybe it's just MORE work.

Thanks to breaking through a plateau, I actually lost about 5 pounds this past month.  At the end of the day, I realized it was due to nothing but two things:  hard work and MORE hard work.

Diet has become a moot point because I don't really crave anything unhealthy.  If I do happen to partake in something less than "really" healthy, my hard workouts more than justify and burn off the trivial reward.

My dear girlfriend and I have gotten our health radar aimed at better food choices.  We have the luxury (or advantage) of not being sucked into the vortex of appeasing chicken wing craving spouses who are not in the contest or Happy Meal craving children or grandchildren.  No reason in the world to go to Mickey D's, KFC, or Pizza Hut.  We do pass those places on the way to the Y and don't miss them a bit.

I do crave a lot more food than what I consumed early in the contest.  Now, I lovingly call it "fuel" for my workouts.

At times, I am exhausted, but it has been worth it.  I can run an hour straight without being particularly out of breath, just weary.  Now, not so surprisingly, I do realize that I do not still have the body of a twenty-five year old.  For a fifty-five year old though, this old body is close enough.  My knees creak a little, and my back aches on occasion, but I plug along.  I am still healthy and strong enough to run through some pain and a few cramps.

My clothes either fit loose or ridiculously loose.  For the two suits I bought last summer to fit any more, I pray for a miracle from the tailors at Men's Wearhouse.

How did I get to this point?  Did I mention hard work?  And two other things, hard work and hard work.  No smoke, no mirrors, no energy drinks, no weight loss supplements, no protein shakes, and no liposuction.  Just hard work.

Did I mention hard work?