I hit my first short-term goal today.

This whole thing started back in December when we received a Wii for X-mas.

My wife was excited about the fitness possibilities and as such, I bought her a Wii Fit and EA Sports Active shortly after the new year.

I was interested in using it as well, so I looked to see what the weight limit was. I was disheartened to see that it maxed out at 330.

I hadn't weighed myself in probably years, but I dusted off the scale, took a deep breath, and stepped up onto it.

Then I nearly feinted when it told me I was pushing 370.

I literally freaked out. Guys don't typically freak out about their weight, but I was just so crushed. I went through a number of emotions that night... sorrow at how far I'd let myself go, anger, for the same reason, fear of what my life would become and how I was trading time on this earth with my wife and daughter for cheeseburgers and pizza. I always assumed I was somewhere between 330 and 350, but something about being a lot closer to 400 than 300 really got to me. I hardly slept that night.

The next day I started a diet, but I had no guidance. A couple days later, I was playing with my iPhone when I started to wonder if there were any cool iPhone apps that could help me. I found an app called FatWatch that I paid $9.99 for, only to find out that it essentially just lets you record your weight (I got burned on that one). I had read a bit about the Hacker Diet, and one of the important factors is recording your caloric input, so I started looking for an app that would accomplish that goal. I found the MFP app, and was impressed. And to think ... it was FREE! I went to the website, and I was even more impressed. Here was a whole community of people just like me. It was like Facebook for fitness ... Suddenly I didn't feel so alone.

That was 54 days ago. In that time I have lost 36 pounds and I weighed in this morning at 329.0. In the past 54 days I've completely changed my diet. At first I relied heavily on Subway. I ate there every day for a month. But now that I had a handle on calories, I started looking at other factors. MFP was quick to point out that my new-found love of Subway was causing me to consume an inordinate amount of sodium every day. So, I retooled and now I rarely "ear fresh", as it were.

I still can't exactly rock the Wii Fit ... well, unless I'm naked and have recently used the restroom ... But I'm not worried about it. I know that in a few days, I'll achieve that goal as well. This site has given me the confidence to see where I'm going, and what I can achieve, and that means a lot more to me than a cheeseburger from McDonalds.

So ... now my next goal is 300. And I'm confident I'll hit it, and in a reasonable amount of time no less. I'm going camping for a week in August and I'm hoping to be in the 270's by then. It might be tough, but I think I can do it.

So, this turned out to be wordier than I intended, and probably wordier than it deserves. I've lost 36 pounds, and sadly, any sense of inner pride I feel is just that, inner pride. Aside from my wife, nobody else has even noticed. And if somebody saw me for the first time, they'd probably look down on me as just some seriously over weight guy. But that's ok. I'm going to hang on to my inner pride, and let it grow while I continue to shrink.

And whether you know it or not, you're all a little bit responsible, because it's this community that has really kept me going over these last 54 days. It really does seem like we're all in this together.

So, thanks.