The 30-minute workout that helped this man lose 110 Pounds in 1 year

Daniel Dwyer’s wedding day was one he’ll never forget—but not for the reasons you’d think. While the 44-year-old was ecstatic to be marrying the love of his life, it was also the day he weighed in at his heaviest: A whopping 314 pounds, with the professional photos to prove it.

“The heaviest I had ever been was in the 270s and 280s, so I just couldn’t believe it when I hit 314,” he says. “I knew I had to make a change.”

Dwyer hadn’t always been that big. He came from an athletic family and played baseball in high school. But as he grew older, he formed unhealthy habits and his gut grew bigger.

“I didn’t even feel comfortable golfing, I didn’t want to go bike riding, I stopped doing everything,” Dwyer recalls.

After the reality of his wedding weight sunk in, Dwyer’s sister—a CrossFit enthusiast—encouraged him to come to a group workout at the gym where she trained. Naturally, he felt intimidated by the idea of breaking a sweat with a bunch of fitness freaks, but he worked up the courage to tag along.

When he walked into the gym, playing on the screen was Men’s Health Fitness Director BJ Gaddour’s MetaConda workout video, a metabolic fat-burning routine. Thinking “why not,” Dwyer gave it a shot—and though it was brutal—he was immediately hooked.

He Googled to find the workout again and realized MetaConda was part of a larger fat-loss workout program from Men’s Health, The 21-Day MetaShred. He placed an order.

“It was amazing that you could do it right in your living room,” Dwyer says. “You don’t need a full gym, just minimal equipment and your bodyweight. It’s half an hour. Anybody can commit to half an hour.”

The intensity of the first workout tested his limits—“I thought, oh my god, am I sure I want to do this?”—but the different levels helped him push through. The program incorporates exercise variations for beginner, intermediate, and advanced fitness levels. Anyone can get started with it, and that’s what kept Dwyer coming back for more.

“If you do the full 21 days, you don’t come back to that first workout until basically a month later, but then you see the difference,” he says. “I remember thinking ‘Oh wow, last time I couldn’t do this,’ but I had built up strength and endurance over time.”

After several months of pure dedication, Dwyer’s body was stronger and leaner. He worked up to the advanced-level exercises and now he gets moving with the Men’s Health MetaShred every other day. In between, he sweats it out at his local gym, something he never had the guts to do on his own before.

If he runs out of inspiration, he gives Gaddour’s other workout videos a try. And though we know most guys love a good arm pump, it’s all about leg day for Dwyer.

“BJ always talked about the importance of training your legs and your glutes,” he says. “Even when I was younger, I never had any kind of strength in my legs—now they are so strong.”

Like most people who see lasting weight loss success, Dwyer adjusted his diet, too. Before his wedding, he chowed down on fast food, skipped breakfast, and guzzled soda. Now he fills his plate with lean proteins, healthy fats, and plenty of vegetables. He admits he’d go stir crazy if he didn’t treat himself every once in a while, so he gives himself one day a week to enjoy the foods he loves.

“It keeps me so accountable the rest of the week,” he says. “If I wanted to eat a chocolate chip cookie, I would just wait until Saturday.”

It’s been a little over a year since Dwyer started working to lose weight and he’s now down to a healthy 204 pounds. Physically, he looks like a different person—but the mental and emotional changes have made just as big of an impact on his happiness.

For the first time in years, Dwyer feels like he finally has control over his health again. He has the energy to chase around his 4-month year old son, his confidence has never been higher, and he actually gets excited to work out.