Kevin Smith reaches weight loss goal following massive heart attack

New Jersey native and filmmaker Kevin Smith is celebrating a "chunky milestone" in his weight loss journey following a massive heart attack that could have ended his life earlier this year.

Smith, 48, wrote on Instagram Saturday that he has lost 51 pounds since his heart attack in February, surpassing his weight loss goal of 50 pounds. The Mallrats director thanked his doctors and daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, as well as Weight Watchers, for which he became an ambassador in April.

"This is the lightest I've been since high school," Smith wrote. "My hope now is I can slowly lose another 10 with #weightwatchers and get down to my birth weight of 195."

Smith this year had a massive heart attack while taping a recently released TV special. The director, at the time, was suffering a 100 percent blockage of his LAD artery, which is often fatal, and required emergency surgery.

"If I hadn't canceled the second show to go to the hospital, the Doc said I would've died tonight," Smith said at the time.

This most recent weight loss check-in comes following one in April from Smith, when he said online that he had lost 32 pounds up until that point. Smith that month appeared at the Tribeca Film Festival, where he attended a screening of his daughter's film, All These Small Moments. As daughter Harley said at the time, Smith had recently gone vegan.

"He's doing really, really great," Harley told the Daily Mail. "He's the healthiest he's ever been."

All the better for Smith fans, who are currently awaiting the debut of the director's next film, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. A reboot of 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the film is tentatively scheduled for a 2019 release.