It’s officially been 6 months since I made a vow to myself to permanently change my lifestyle. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but I already feel like a new person and my old habits and patterns have been replaced with more productive ones.

Here’s the 6 month numbers:

• Lost 35.6 pounds (technically almost 50 from when I first started dieting alone in June)
• Lost 6.4% body fat - measured with a crappy scale so who knows for sure
• Lost 3.5 inches from my chest, 8 inches from my stomach and 4.5 inches from my waist - XXL is massive on me now and half my XL stuff is loose too :D
• Increased strength in all my lifts by 50-100%
• Increased my cardio capacity - didn’t keep good enough records to really quantify this

I just took a new set of progress pictures and after comparing them side-by-side with my pictures from 6 months ago, the differences are amazing. I’ve got another 22 pounds to go to my goal of 220 by July 1st and I know I’ll hit that as long as I keep doing what I’m doing. It won’t be a problem because I’ve finally made a permanent lifestyle change rather than trying to go on a diet - so it’s finally a sustainable change rather than the usual yo-yo routine.

Even though I know I’ll reach my goal, it’s become secondary to actually following the road. Doing all of this has shown me a side of myself that was hidden away all this time. I’ve started new hobbies, got back into my own interests, found passion in my life and met some amazing people along the way. I’ve become a happier person in general and have even come out of my old introverted shell a little. Most importantly, I’ve realized how fortunate I am to have good friends and family in my life.

If I tagged you in this note, it’s because you’ve helped me along in some way during the last 6 months. You may not be aware of it, but you have inspired me, encouraged me, offered me advice or pushed me when I felt like giving up. Opening up and involving you more in what I’ve been doing was the smartest thing I’ve ever done and if I hadn’t done it, I would have given up by now just like I have countless times in the past. There is absolutely no way I could have done any of this without you helping me out and for that I will be eternally in your debt. Thank you - and know that I will be there for you if you ever need me.