Today I am putting a new day on my holiday calendar, August 16th—a day in 2015 that will live down in history, my personal history that is, as the day I reached a major goal—seeing my weight drop below 175 pounds for the first time in decades!
Now to celebrate!
My Long Weight Loss Journey
In April of last year I made a decision that dramatically changed the course of my life. After years of neglecting my health in general, and living with a lot of excess weight most obviously, I came to the point of making a serious commitment to get fit.
The most pressing part of that effort was to shed at least 80 pounds. Losing weight was only one part of what I recognized would be essential, but it stood out as a priority beginning point because it affected and in many cases limited my potential for achieving others.
I began weighing in at just over 255 pounds. Looking up my appropriate weight on the most authoritative health websites, I determined that for my height my maximum normal weight would be around 175 pounds and I set that as my target.
This was a challenging target for me even though it is at at the top of the acceptable range since I had not weighed that little since high school days, not even in mid life when I was in good shape and running several miles a day.
Today I Reached My Weight Loss Goal!
Today, sixteen and a half months after setting my goal of losing some 80 pounds, I reached my goal. When I stepped on the scale this morning the exact reading was 174.4! Wow!
Honestly, I have not yet altogether grasped the reality of the achievement. I know the fact of the situation mentally, but it is somehow hard to completely believe it.
It has been for close to seventeen months now that my mind has been focused on reaching this goal so it will naturally take a few days to internalize the idea that the end of this major phase of getting fit has arrived and I am moving on the the next phase—establishing long term supportive steps to assure I maintain it.
Now to Celebrate
At this point, however, I want to take a few days to celebrate this achievement. My only real guideline is that it will not be with food!
There are a few other things I may do, but I do have one step that I am excited about. It may seem a bit strange or corny, but it is special to me.
Some years ago (more than twenty as a matter of fact) I made a failing effort to lose weight and in the process bought two belt buckles (one for a black and one for a brown belt) that I set aside to use only after I lost the weight I planned then. Since I failed to lose all the weight, I put the belt buckles aside in a dresser drawer and never allowed myself to use them.
These two identical buckles, each featuring an eagle’s head, are a reward I look forward to wearing, as soon as I can buy a couple new belts!
Celebrate and Then Move On
Celebrating our successes is valuable and I want to do it purposefully, but already I am thinking seriously about what is next. I am happy to have achieved this goal but I know it is only one part of getting fit.
Still, because we all know how difficult losing weight is for all of us, I suspect achieving this major step toward reaching my overall fitness goal will remain the most valuable ones because it makes the others seem easy by comparison.