Final goal met - 168 pounds lost

I was unhappy for months, maybe years, about my weight. I had no confidence and zero self-esteem left before I made the choice to better myself. I found that I was avoiding nights with my friends or even taken trips to go shopping because I became so self-conscious about how I looked. I decided the month before I began my journey that I wanted to become the happy, confident, and full of life person that I was when I was younger. I had the typical story, I ate too much bad food, drank too much, and exercised very little. I blamed a bad knee injury for my laziness.

It's hard to believe that I am the same person at times. I was struggling a bit last night with tiredness and with my own personal struggle of anxiety, it unfortunately decided to target the training and especially the big push I've been on the past 3 months. I was struggling to find that sense of 'it's all been worthwhile' and until last night I never had the sense of 'achievement' or pride in what I've accomplished, until my girlfriend asked me to compare these two photographs out of the blue.





It's safe to say that any doubts or negative thoughts I was having have gone. It really put into perspective what I've accomplished, how much my life has changed. I am now 168 pounds lighter (12 stone exactly) and I can't believe that I have actually got to this stage after all the months of training and dieting that I can now say I am 'done' with losing weight, that I have reached the end goal that I once never thought was possible. I suppose I just began to forget too often what I've overcome to get to this stage. I forgot what I've already done and became to focused on what I've yet to achieve. I want more but forget that I've already succeeded in accomplishing.
I'm a different person both physically and mentally as a result of this, but I wouldn't change it for anything in this world. I wouldn't go back and say I wish I never got that overweight, because the strength and lessons I have learned from it has finally made me appreciate living my life. I am by no means done with training or eating well, as through this I've gained a love of bodybuilding and I am learning to become a personal trainer. I know in every city or town there is an abundance of personal trainers and nutritionists, but I hope that I can pass on the knowledge I have learnt in regards to both the physical and mental challenges to losing weight be it through an online capacity or to clients.