Nutrisystem + Nintendo = weight loss

At the beginning of the year, my New Year's resolution was to get back in shape and drop some L.B.s.

I weighed more than 200 pounds for the first time in my life. Too little exercise, too much Chik-Fil-A and too much sofa. So I went to the YMCA, where I've been a member for 18 years, and got a weight lifting plan and cardio evaluation from my buddy Denny at the Siskey Branch. I started working out three days a week with 30 minutes of cardio each day. I also worked with my good friend, Dale Similton from Charlotte Latin, running on Latin's track.

But by summer, I was still pretty much the same size. I was firmer and stronger, but wasn't losing any weight.

The last straw came when I was shopping at Harris Teeter and a reporter from WSOC interviewed me. When I saw the broadcast, they showed me returning my grocery cart to the cart rack.

Boy, I looked big.

I was like, "Who's that dude?"

I knew I needed to change my diet. Turns out my mom, who was eating all the time, was dropping weight like ice in the sun. She told me about Nutrisystem, a program that provides you with prepared entrees that you add side items to. There's no mixing or counting calories. The food is shelf-stable (think astronaut food) and most of it tastes pretty good.

My mom dropped 33 pounds in three months and after my first four weeks, I shed 17. My clothes didn't fit anymore and folks were commenting about my weight loss. Pretty good for little effort, because I've been so busy with sports playoffs and all the new videogame consoles, I just haven't been able to work out at all.

On Nutrisystem, I get to eat some really good hamburgers, hot dogs, a tiny pizza and even Beef Stroganoff. The portions are Lean Cuisine sized, but you're allowed to add, for example, two vegetable servings, bread and salad with dinner -- plus you get a dessert serving from Nutrisystem as well. There's Cracker Jack-like popcorn, biscotti, Hershey's Kiss-sized chocolates and a variety of dessert bars, slightly smaller than a Snicker's.

Best of all, for me, it got me away from my fast food trips. I would go because fast food was, well, fast. Now, I just go downstairs, pull a NS meal out of the box, heat and go. It's quick, convenient and pretty healthy. I'm also learning about portion control. I have been eating WAY too much food.

Lately, I've been getting a pretty good workout to go with my diet from the most surprising of places, my Nintendo Wii game console.

Using the Wii Sports' games, you can box and play baseball and play tennis. With Nintendo's new motion sensor controller, you make actual motions that you'd make playing the game outdoors or in a bowling alley. And playing my 6-year-old son, Trey, in boxing or tennis, we made a rule where you have to bounce up and down the whole time. Combine that with the punching (with both hands holding the 2-piece controller) and swinging motions and pretty soon, your T-shirt is sopping wet.

It's a weird combination, Nintendo and Nutrisystem, but I like them both.