Hello NS'ers!  This is a post celebrating my 1 year anniversary of joining NS.  Please enjoy and best of luck to everyone! 

One year ago today I began my effort to get back in shape. At the time I weighed somewhere between 280-290. The scales stopped at 270 so I'm really not sure what I weighed. I know my heaviest was around the 290 mark, but that may have been a little earlier. Anyway, here's a photo of me the day before I started (@280+) above a photo of me from a few days ago (~200).




I began the endeavor by using NutriSystem. From August through the end of February I ate nothing but NS foods (except for Thanksgiving and Xmas). It was the easiest thing I've ever done. Simple eating plan and it worked great. NS wasn't the only thing I was doing. I was working out as well. I had been working out for a year or so before beginning the diet, but I hadn't lost a pound.

When the diet began I thought I was really doing a lot of cardio. I was walking on the treadmill for about 30 minutes a day, and a couple of nights a week I was walking the dogs with Kim. As I started to lose weight I started to enjoy the cardio more and more. I joked with Kim one evening that maybe a good goal would be for me to get into good enough shape to run around the lake one day. The urge to attempt to run kept getting stronger and stronger and after a few days of running on the treadmill I ran a little one evening outside. 2 nights later I ran the entire route I'd hoped to complete one day. Before this I couldn't run from the living room to the kitchen. Now I could run ~2 miles! Today I run at least 3.5 everyday. Some days I run 6. To celebrate the one year anniversary of the diet I'm gonna run 10 miles. Along with the weight training and running I now also typically ride a spin bike around 30 minutes a day. For the past month and a half I've been doing Insanity Workouts as well. All that plus a 2 miles walking of the dogs most evenings makes up my daily workout.

I no longer drive myself crazy with trying to weigh and make sure I'm still losing weight. I've slowly transitioned from being all about losing weight each week to being healthy, fit, active, and happy. Now if I miss a day of training or eat unhealthy I feel bad. I feel almost sick. I can't eat the way/things I used to either. I've become a part time accidental vegetarian. Kim doesn't eat meat, and when I was eating only very restrictive foods it was easier to eat fake meats with her and I kinda grew to like them. Before the diet I would eat multiple steaks each week, maybe some BBQ ribs, and lots of fast food. I can't really eat steak anymore. It makes me sick. I haven't had ribs in over a year (sorry Dubs). About once a month, or while on vacation we'll have a bite of fast food. I'm never happy afterward, usually looking forward to getting back to my healthy eating. My diet is pretty clean and any greasy fatty food doesn't sit well with me. That's ok. I really don't miss it at all. I now enjoy lots of fish, grilled chicken, turkey, some salads, cereals, protein shakes, etc.

During the past year my body fat has dropped around 13%. Total pounds lost are somewhere around 80. I wore a size 40 waist, now a 32-33. I was having to buy XX-XXXL shirts. Now I wear L or XL. Crazy. I've gone from my workouts being mainly resistance (lifting) to now a good variety of intense cardio, pretty intense lifting, INSANE interval training, and enjoyable outdoor activities (like walking the dogs in the summer heat).

One of the main things that motivated me to start a diet was when Kim and I were on vacation in San Francisco last summer and she had to help carry some of my camera gear up a trail. She was afraid I was gonna have a heart attack. That along with the fact I saw a photo I was in and didn't recognize myself. Now I'm confident I can outlast Kim hiking and playing around outdoors. I'm really amazed at how much happier I am doing anything outside in the summer now. Last summer I just simply stayed indoors. This summer has been different. I'm not saying I love the crazy hot humid days we've been having, but I'm ok with it. When fall gets here I may go outside, start running and playing out with the dogs, and not come in until winter.

This spring Kim and ran in the South East Warrior Dash. I NEVER, EVER thought I'd run in any kinda race. Now I'd like to find a few different 5k or 10k races to run just so I can have something to motivate myself to train for. The Tough Mudder, USMC Mud Run, and Black Foot Mud Run (night run) all look fun too. Well, the Tough Mudder looks awful, but something to shoot for.

Here's a few more before/after photos.




And the after...




But here is my favorite new photo....




Of all the things that have happened over the past year that I'm so happy with (losing weight, running, being more fit, more healthy, etc.) the one that blows them all away is of course our engagement. Maybe when the wedding rolls around I'll push harder and "dig deeper" and get in even better shape! I'm so thankful that I'm in better overall health and look forward to a long, happy, healthy life with Kim!

So to any of you that are just starting your journey to better health, it can be done. If you're interested in following my daily exercise blog (and all of my past posts over the past year of eating and training) check it out here.

And we're back from Texas, by way of New Orleans. Actually we got back late Tuesday night, but it took me a minute to unpack, catch up, and rest before getting a post ready.

We were in Texas to visit with fiends and attend a few cook outs. On the way back home we stopped for a night in New Orleans to grab some of our favorite sandwiches from Johnny's Po Boys. Lovely time had by all, but it's always great to come home.

I returned to the gym and very strict eating yesterday. I've really been kinda relaxed with my eating since we went to Costa Rica back at the beginning of March. I'm now rested and ready to push hard and drop my BF & overall size some more. I'm so sick of eating after the trip (I was fed all kinds of crazy good Mexican meats like cabeza [cheek], costillas [beef short ribs], extremely slow cooked brisket, along with a huge amount of vegetarian Indian food, and some of the best Pho' I've ever had) that I've already planned my summer meals. All "on" plan/diet/low calorie with the exception of my father's birthday meal, my birthday meal, and the 4th of July.

I trained with my mom yesterday. When I arrived she'd already started on the treadmill so I joined her on a nice uphill walk for 20 minutes. I'm still babying my feet to make sure I don't injure either of them. We began the weight training with 3 sets of triceps push downs, 3 sets of overhead presses, and finally 2 sets of rope press downs. Biceps were next beginning with 3 sets of seated incline curls, and then 3 relatively heavy sets of standing dumbbell curls. Mom took off at this point and I returned to the cardio for a bit. 15 minutes on an elliptical and then 15 more minutes on the treadmill, again just walking uphill.

My food intake was very controlled yesterday. Breakfast was a NS Blueberry muffin and some yogurt. I snacked on a few Brazil Nuts before the gym. After the gym I had a protein shake. Dinner was a Lean Cuisine Thai Chicken & Noodle entre (310 calories)! Dessert was a bite of Chocolate Peanut Butter. On the day I had less than 1600 calories. A little too low really, but a good start back. I only burned around 3300 on the day, so I've gotta get back to work with my cardio.

Below is a photo of the courtyard at the W New Orleans. We enjoyed a relaxing evening hanging out there and down by the waterfront Monday night.

So we ran the SE Warrior Dash last weekend. To read about it check out my personal blog here.

We were tired afterward. Not so much from the race, just the entire weekend surrounding the race. We (and the pug) slept like we were dead last night. Today began the return to training for health/weigh loss again. Still gonna run, lots, but not the main concern now. I've got a real problem with my left heel/tendon (Achilles) area that I've gotta let rest and heal up. Cardio for the next couple of weeks will be all on the spin bike, the elliptical, walking around the lake, and walking uphill on the treadmill. I don't want to tear whatever is wrong with my foot, so not much running this week and next. When I raise my toes upward while keeping the heel of my foot on the ground it feels like something is about to snap, and hurts a lot. It even huts to touch it. So in my expert medical opinion, I need to rest it awhile.


I'm returning to a lower calorie daily intake for a while. 1500-1850 or so. No breaks on weekends. No breaks on vacations. Just back to normal (NS normal). My training switched today too. I trained with weights first. Cardio after. Today was chest. Lifting first I felt pretty strong. 1 warm up set and then 3 working sets of hammer strength bench presses, then 3 sets of incline presses, 3 sets of decline presses, 3 sets of machine flies, and 2 sets of push-ups. Most sets were between 8-12 reps except for the push-ups, which were sets of 30 & 20 reps. Cardio at the gym was 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes walking uphill on the treadmill. I did run for about 2 minutes on the treadmill testing out some new shoes. I finally found a pair of Vibram fivefingers! Pretty cool, geeky looking shoe. Think toe shoes. I'll post a pic soon. Anyway, the shoes are supposed to force you to run as if you are barefoot, which is supposedly better for you. As I ran on the treadmill, they did force me to land much more forward (the ball of the foot, I guess) and lessened the impact on the heel. I'm looking forward to running outside (on dirt/grass/trails) wearing these. Just gotta wait on the tendon/heel the get better. Late this evening Kim, Jumping Jack Flash, and I walked about 2 miles around the lake. I wore the Vibrams and was very pleased with the way they felt.


Food today was granola cereal for breakfast. Some lean ham and chicken for lunch. Post workout was a protein shake. Dinner this evening was a NS Buffalo Chicken Wrap. Dessert was a white chocolate chunk cookie. Good day!



BTW, someone ran the race (5K with obstacles) in 15:48. That's fast, yall!!!! We don't know our times yet, they'll be posted later this week. We are both beet up. Scratches and bruises all over. So much fun though. We're running another one on June 26th, assuming my foot heals up.

This is gonna be my last post on the NS site for a bit.  I've reached a point where I'm not really using NS (after losing 80+ pounds) at all anymore and I think my posts  have become more about my training and lifestyle post NS.  I think I may post something here about once a month or so concerning how I'm doing after NS, etc.  I'll still plan on reading blogs here, just no longer posting. 

I will still post almost every day over at the blog that I've mirrored here.  It's http://theonlythingsicaneat4amonthrnthisbox.blogspot.com/

& my personal/photography blog is www.zanehollingsworth.com

Best wishes to everyone!

Zane

Friday I returned to running outside. It was terrible. My first problem was my foot. The bottom of my right foot hurt (I guess from running so much on Thursday after having so many days off). The second problem was I was running later than usual, thus a little warmer than usual. And finally I extended the run from 3 miles to 4.3 miles. The first part of the run was great, right up until I hit the 2 mile mark. I decided to walk a bit and then run some more. Overall I was very unhappy with the run, but I burned a lot of calories (~1000). I later went to the gym planning to get a 3 mile run on the treadmill. The sucking continued. I managed another 2 miles and then retreated to the elliptical. Finally late Friday evening Kim & I walked 2 miles around the lake, bringing my total to around 9 miles for the day. I burned ~4400 calories on the day, but never really got in the intensity out of the workouts I was looking for.

Saturday Kim & I went to Atlanta to look at some wedding dresses for her. The only exercise of the day was a 30 minutes ride on the spin bike before we left. I did get a little walking in at various shopping locations, but noting with any intensity.

Sunday I planned to run outside, but my foot was still sore from all the running on Thursday/Friday, so I decided to get all of my cardio in on the spin bike. I'll return to both running (albeit on the treadmill because we're expecting lots of rain) and training Monday morning.

My eating on Friday and Saturday was good for some meals, not so much for others. Friday everything was great in the AM (cereal, protein shake, and then sushi for lunch) but dinner was a pork (carnitas) burrito. Saturday AM was again good (cereal) and lunch was good also (Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup). Dinner again was not so good. We ate at Honey Pig in Atlanta. It's a Korean place. Lots of pig and kimchi. Yum. If you're interested in reading about our meals, check my personal blog here for pics and links to the restaurants.

Three weeks to the Warrior Dash! Yippee!

Thursday found me almost back to my normal training level. I began the day with a 35 minute ride on the spin bike. Very easy and I felt fine after the ride. I headed to the gym with the intention of only running 3 miles and then trying to catch up on my missed workouts from earlier in the week. The 3 miles were easy and just as I was finishing up a cool down walk, DJ arrived and I decided to run a little more with him. I ended up with an hour total on the treadmill and then 10 more minutes on the elliptical trainer. After the cardio I decided not to workout (I was feeling very tired) and headed home. My only other exercise on the day was about a 2 mile walk after dinner with Jumping Jack Flash. ~ 8 miles total on the day.

My meals again consisted of cereal (twice), a protein shake, a lean cuisine meal for dinner (which wasn't bad at all), and a skinny cow ice cream sandwich. Total calories on the day were around 2200, BB reported a burn of + 3800.

Friday I hope to be running outside again (before the bad weather hit here this weekend) and maybe an ab workout or something in the gym. I've decided to rest each muscle group this week (except for abs, maybe) and begin fresh on Monday.

Wednesday's workout fell a bit short of what I wanted. After being sick for all day Tuesday (and not training at all) I managed to get in a 35 minute ride on the spin bike. Not to bad, but I felt exhausted afterward. After dinner, Kim, Jumping Jack Flash, and I walked about a mile and a half around the lake. Oddly enough, everything hurt. I really thought I'd feel better after taking a weekend + a few days off.

Since being sick I've ate a lot of cereal. That's really all I've felt like eating. Well under 2000 calories for Tuesday. BB showed a burn of a little over 3000.

Thursday I'm gonna try to spin for at least an hour, and run no less than 3 miles (on the treadmill, I don't feel ready to run outside yet).

I received an email from the organizers of the "Warrior Dash" a few days ago with updates concerning the race in late may. I've been growing a "Warrior Beard" for about 2 months so I could enter the Best Warrior Beard contest. The email explained that the contest would be held about 4 hours after we will finish the race. We have at least a 3 hour drive home, so I won't be there for the contest. Booo! So the beard is already gone. Below is a pic from its last night with me. Good bye Warrior Beard!

Wednesday morning began with me not sleeping well and rising very early. I took the opportunity to finish preparing for an insurance audit, catch up on my blog reading, shooting photos of the early morning fog, and then prepping for a run. The first 2o minutes of the run were awful. Evidently I didn't sleep well because I didn't feel well, or something. Anyway I was tired and felt like poo until the last 5 minutes of the run. I guess I realized I was heading home and felt better, thus making the running more enjoyable. I thought I would have one of the poorest times, but I actually came in just a little quicker than normal. Weird. Guess because of very cool temps I was moving well even though I wasn't feeling well.

Wednesday's gym experience was weird as well. I ran two miles on the treadmill with no problem, then it felt like someone flipped a switch and I was out of energy. I moved to the elliptical and continued for 20 more minutes before being ready to workout. I attempted to train back. I was tired, weak, and uninspired. I struggled through about 9 sets total before giving up and coming home. I collapsed into the bed ans slept for 4 hours. Pitiful, I know. Anyway, I woke feeling better and quite refreshed.

Thursday morning began with me waking after getting a full 9 hours of sleep! I found Jumping Jack Flash and took off on a run. He made it about 100 yards with me, saw a rabbit, and vanished into the woods giving chase. That was the last I saw of him on the run. I finished the run with one of my fastest times yet (when not on a treadmill). Very pleased I cleaned up and headed to the gym. Easy 3.5 miles on the treadmill and then an arm workout. 6 sets for triceps and then 6 for biceps. Fast, hard, heavy, and out! I love training that way. IMHO, if you're training arms and it takes an hour, and you're doing 15 sets for bis & 15 sets for tris, you're over-training. Just my two cents.

Food for both days has been good. Lots of granola cereal (I do this whenever the temps start rising, I could live on cereal alone during the summers), lots of grilled chicken and fish, and lots of protein shakes. I have made an effort to cut back on the number of granola bars I eat during the day. They are a healthy snack, but if you eat 6-8 per day......

Since returning from vacation and cutting back (stopping) on NS I've slowly crept back towards my weight before vacation. During the week I train hard, eat well, and loose a couple of pounds. On the weekends (or when we have to eat out for a Bday or whatever) I don't worry to much with what I eat and gain a pound back. So I've slowly been loosing weight, but the great thing is that I haven't reverted to my old habits and attacked fast food, or doughnuts, or some other terrible thing. It's safe to say my healthy eating, exercising, training, running, and concern for my health has become a lifestyle, and not just a temporary diet. Very pleased.....

Below is a pic of the 5AM foggy morning. I had to wait until 5 for some cars to drive by so trees would be lit up enough to tell what I had in the frame...

Tuesday I was unable to run outside at all. Rain had moved into the area and meant the dogs, and I had to stay inside. I took the opportunity to steal Kim's car away for the morning and get her some new tires and the oil changed. I even had a little time to grocery shop before I was due at the gym.

Gym was easy. 3.5 mile run on the treadmill followed by a shoulder workout. 3 sets of military presses, 3 sets of side lateral raises, 3 sets of upright rows, 3 sets of rear delts, and 3 sets of military presses. Sounds like a lot now, but I flew through the workout. Once home I hit the spin bike for 45 minutes (I needed to watch 24 from Monday night) and then had a snack. After dinner and during the Braves game I spun for another 35 minutes. Easy rides now. I push fast for a minute then increase the intensity and push hard and slow for a minute, then repeat.

Hope to be back running outside tomorrow morning. Just over a month until Warrior Dash!

Monday began with a 3 mile run. I ran alone today because Kim needed to get to work early and Jumping Jack Flash has gone to visit with my parents and their dogs. He needs a little rest anyway. He's been getting four or five miles in every day and is almost too small. We've decided to buy him some canned, high calorie dog food to supplement his diet. Summer is always rough on him. He plays too hard and eats too little. I've discovered that when I run alone I encounter much more wildlife. Today I saw the usual geese and other birds, and a few horses in the field, but then I ran across some ponies in the wooded part of the run I've never seen before. Moments later I almost ran over a couple of large deer. The pranced away and I continued my run towards home running across several very cute rabbits along the way. I guess without Kim or Jack to talk to as I run I don't make as much noise and get closer to the animals before they take notice. Of course Jack is usually either just in font or just behind me barking and playing making noise (or chasing the animals before I ever see them) so this could be a reason I don't see as many animals too.

After the run I went to the gym and ran another 3.5 miles. My old training partner DJ arrived during my run and we trained chest afterward. Today's workout continued my theme of getting stronger each workout after switching my diet. I think the increase in calories (minor) and the substantial increase in protein (considerable) has really made the difference. I think I've regained better than 1/2 of what I lost while using NS. Today we began with 3 sets of incline bench presses (~232#'s for reps today, while I used to do ~272#, & I got as low as ~180#'s), then flat bench dumbbell presses for 3 sets, next 3 sets of machine flies, and finally 3 sets of decline bench presses (almost back to the full amount I used to press here). All of this was after running 6 miles. Overall I was very happy with my workout. The running is very easy now (I've begun pushing my outdoor workout trying to decrease my time) and the workout intensity is returning as well. WOOHOO!

The only other exercise of the day was after dinner. Kim, the pug, and I took a mile walk around the lake just before dark. I'm still amazed at how many calories I burn just taking a leisurely walk in the evening.

Food was great all day, including the dinner at the local Chinese Buffet. I didn't go too crazy at the buffet. Some sushi, peanut chicken, shrimp, a little more peanut chicken, sesame chicken, and a cup of ice cream. The rest of the day was protein shakes, granola bars, granola cereal, and grilled chicken.