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Courtney Orton reporting Just a couple of years ago, the principal of Glendale Middle School weighed 400 pounds. Today, he's lost more than half of that, weighing in now at 180 pounds.
The principal admits he's very proud of the fact he lost the weight on principle: "With no surgery and no chemistry," just good old diet and exercise. If that isn't enough, he's now running marathons, and he's even featured in this month's edition of Runner's World magazine.
Two years ago, Ernie Nix weighed 400 pounds, his cholesterol level was at a whopping 440, and his blood pressure was 220 over 110. Now, all of that has changed.
"We needed to do something serious or we were going to die, like the doc said, a very painful death. I probably had five, six years left," Nix said.
Nix knew he had to get moving, so he and his wife--who, by the way, has lost 100 pounds herself--started walking, and then they joined Weight Watchers.
When he had lost 150 pounds, he started running. "The quest was to get healthy, and we were going to do whatever it took--even if it means getting our backsides out of bed at 4:30 in the morning, getting on that track at 5:00 and running until 6:00," Nix said.
Nix exercises before he gets to school each day so he can pass along his extra energy to students and faculty. They now have healthier lunch options and competition to make physical education fun.
"He's had so much more energy and enthusiasm. It's been wonderful," said Stephanie Watrin, physical education teacher at Glendale Middle School.
Eighth-grader Erica Duran said, "I was really surprised how much work he did."
Nix says one of the things he enjoys best about being thin is the reaction he gets from students who haven't seen him in a while. "He just stops dead in his tracks and he said, ‘Mr. Nix, dude!' And I'll always remember that, just to see that reaction on his face," Nix said of one student.
Nix completed his first marathon last year in Logan, finishing in four hours and 20 minutes, and he's currently training for the Salt Lake Marathon in April. This principal now lives on a principle he learned: Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
