Mission accomplished. I’ve been waiting a long time to finally write this post. Now that the time has come, I don’t really know what to say. It sure did take me a lot longer to reach this goal than I thought it would. But I can honestly say, I’ve never been more proud of an accomplishment that I have achieved in my life.

I started this blog back in October of 2007 with an introductory post that I hope, someday, my kids will go back and read. They’re not going to remember that guy. They’re not going to remember the guy who was always out of breath, didn’t button his pants before he tied his shoes, and avoided taking his shirt off in front of everyone except his wife. They’re not going to remember the guy who wouldn’t have been able to play with them when they asked. When I made the choice to change my life, they were too young to understand that I did it for them.

But now I realize that I didn’t JUST do it for them. I did it for myself too. I wasn’t happy with who I was and now I am. In fact, I’m happier and healthier than I’ve ever been in my life. I can run for what seems like an eternity. My kids get tired before I do (I know that won’t last). Now I worry about my clothes being too big instead of too small. I don’t worry about blood pressure. I don’t feel guilty if I make a bad food choice–it’s a choice and I live with it and move on to the next one.

I’ve lost 51 pounds in two years and five months. That’s less than 1/2 pound per week. It took me about twice as long as I wanted it to do, but I never lost sight of my objective. There were times where I stumbled, but I never even considered giving up. One of the biggest reasons for that is the public accountability that comes with writing a blog like this. That was the primary goal for starting this website–I needed something to hold me accountable and to call me out when I was failing. At times, there were other goals as well: popularity, income, a desire to help others.

The first two of those aforementioned goals don’t exist any more. I don’t care if I’m popular, and I don’t care if I make any money off this blog. But the desire to help others achieve similar, or greater results than I’ve achieved is burning stronger than it ever has. There are a lot of people out there who’ve lost a lot more weight than me. There are a lot of people out there who still have a lot more weight to lose. I want to help them–in any way that I can. If you want help, please ask for it. Ask me, ask someone else. But ask. Losing weight is simple, but it isn’t easy. The rewards that come from accomplishing it are priceless and I want you to experience them.

Now that I’ve reached my target weight, my fitness goals are starting to change. I intend to lose more body fat and become a leaner, firmer, more athletic individual. A future post will describe these new goals. I intend to meet my marathon goal of 4 hours. I intend to meet my goal of finishing a 50K race as well.

I’m so happy that I finally made it and I’m ready for the next set of challenges that I set out on. Stay tuned to Get Fit Slowly to see where I’m headed next.