I’VE FINALLY REACHED MY GOAL!! NOW WHAT?

On January 27, 2015, after years of neglecting my health and watching my waist-line expand to Big and Tall proportions (a section of the store you never want to be in – the selection sucks), I finally decided that I was going to lose weight. At the time, I weighed 243 pounds, with a 40-inch waist and XXL shirt size. At 5’9 and a half, those are not ideal proportions. I knew I was at risk for just about every metabolic disease possible, and I was afraid to go to the doctor because I was convinced that he would tell me that I had suffered from one or all of them. I already knew that sleep apnea was becoming an issue. My snoring was so bad that my poor wife had to resort to wearing ear plugs at night. When that wasn’t enough I was forced to get one of those plastic mouth guards (mine was called the Z-Quiet), and even that didn’t work most nights. I limped out of bed every morning because my tendons and joints were over-taxed by the extra weight I was carrying. And most important of all, my son had just turned five and I knew he would require more out of me than I had been willing or able to give. He loved getting piggy-back rides up the stairs at bedtime, but I couldn’t do it because I was a huffing, puffing blob of walking exhaustion by the time I made it to his room. There were times that I worried I wouldn’t be around to see his sixth birthday. Something had to change, and it had to change quickly!

So I finally slayed the psychological and emotional dragons that kept me from doing the work, I slowly but surely kicked my sugar addiction (an addiction that is as real and potent as any narcotic), I found an exercise program that worked for me (T-25 by Shaun-T), and I went about the business of changing my life. For months I pulled myself out of bed at 3:30 A.M. (the only real free-time I had), and I worked out. It was the middle of winter, the house was cold, the weather was dreary, and nothing seemed better than staying curled up in my warm comforter. But I was finally committed so I pressed on. Before I knew it, results started coming. They were gradual, barely noticeable even to those closest to me, but they were real. My energy was up, my strength was up, my depressed mental state was improving, and my no’s were becoming yes’. Eventually, the XXL’s became XL’s, then L’s, then M’s. By the time spring rolled around, I’d ditched all the size 40 pants. By the time summer hit, I needed a new wardrobe altogether.

My ‘Before and After’ from earlier this summer

Same shirt, different fit

Motivated by the incredible progress I was seeing, the complements I was receiving, and the inspiration others told me I had become, I pushed on – creating goals for myself that I previously didn’t think would be possible. My initial goal was to lose 50 pounds. I achieved that in the first six months. So I went for more. I knew the ideal weight for someone my size was around 175 pounds, so I set my sights on that. That meant the work would have to continue, and the discipline would have to increase. Every day that I resolved to reach this new-found goal, the work became easier, and at a certain point, it was no longer work; no longer a diet. It was part of my lifestyle, part of who I was. At that point, it wasn’t so much about the pounds anymore. It was about living every day as the best version of myself that I could be, then waking up the next day and becoming an even better version of that.

I’ve weighed myself every morning since this journey began, not because I’m weirdly obsessed with what the numbers say, but because it had become part of my routine, and I believe that maintaining a routine is a vital aspect of making any lasting change. It was also a tangible way of staying in touch with my goals. I knew that if I went on a sugar bender over the weekend, I would have to deal with the consequences of seeing the extra pounds on the scale come Monday morning. I still went on my benders, but because of my weigh-in routine they never got out of control.

Every week the scale went down. Some weeks saw rapid loss, some weeks were agonizingly slow. But I kept plugging as I had grown accustomed to doing.

Then this morning, it finally happened. The number I had dreamed about seeing (but never really thought I would) was staring at me with bright red vibrancy. 175. I did it. I actually did it! After giving the requisite fist pump, I took a moment to reflect on the nine-plus months of work that it took to get here. Aside from getting married, having my son, and publishing my first novel, it is the most significant milestone of my life, and I have never been more proud of myself.

The ‘Me’ I’ve always wanted to be

But after the well-deserved back-patting was done, I was struck with a thought: What do I do now? I’ve had this goal in mind for so long. It’s driven and pushed me in ways I’ve never been driven and pushed before. Where do I find the motivation to continue? How do I follow-up the feat of reaching a mountain peak that I previously thought was unreachable?

The answer is that I use the confidence gained from reaching this goal to reach for even loftier ones. I’ve lost nearly 70 pounds, completely turned around my health and well-being, and am a better person than I ever thought I could be. I have more energy for my family, more joy for the people around me, and an unshakable belief that anything in life is possible as long as I am committed and willing to put in the work.

I have learned that the attainment of a goal, no matter how big or small, is not an end unto itself. It is an opportunity to build, to expand your vision even further. You may have already scaled your own mountain, but understand that there are many more mountains to climb. Some may appear steeper than you can ever hope to handle. But if you’ve already done what you once thought was impossible, the rest is easy. You simply have to believe.

175 pounds may have been my ultimate weight loss goal, but it isn’t the end of the journey. It is the beginning of a whole new one.

I couldn’t be more excited to see where it takes me.