I just stepped onto the scale for the first time in 8 months and it made me happy. I recommitted myself to a healthier lifestyle a couple years ago and I've now surpassed the original fitness goals that I'd made. 180lbs. and a 33" waist was my original target, now I'm 170lbs. with a 32" waist. This is right around where I want to stay.
I went on a severe diet and a rigid military-style workout regime back when I was about 19 or 20... dropping weight quick and bulking up on muscle fast (I think I was about 155lbs. with a 29" waist back then) but I looked like a Nazi prison camp survivor with a bit of extra muscle and I ended up with a lot of athletic injuries from pushing myself too hard. Things are definitely better and I am less injury-prone this time around. Back then, I was obsessed with fitness to the point of it becoming my identity. I was known as "the gym guy" around town and became the local gym's poster boy for a little while. Having lived as an awkward, overweight kid throughout most of my middle-school and high school years, it felt really good to be noticed for physical achievement. I came crashing back to earth in my early 20s, realizing that a well-conditioned body means nothing if you allow it to make you conceited and it causes you to ignore your emotional & spiritual health.
