SURPRISE, Ariz. -- To listen to Willie Calhoun, he didn't just remake his body this winter, he remade himself.

It's easy to see the results of the work on his body. The Rangers outfielder dropped 24 pounds over the winter -- down to 199 at spring training weigh-in -- thanks to a new nutrition plan and a chef who prepared the meals daily. He lowered his body fat to about 17 percent from somewhere far enough north of 20 that the calipers couldn't be considered reliable.

That, however, is only part of his personal project.

"I set out to become a better person, not just to have a better body," Calhoun said Friday after the Rangers' workout, a crate of chef-prepared health-conscious meals at his feet. "I fully invested in myself. I never stopped working. And I realized that I've got to keep this up the rest of my career, the rest of my life. I've got work to do. This was the biggest lifestyle change I've ever made. I know there has been some immaturity."

For a guy who turned 24 only three months ago, it was a pretty big dose of self-reflection and analysis. Then again, his previous approach hadn't exactly been working. It went something like this: He'd play Call of Duty or some other video game late into the night, snacking all the way through, while believing that a warp-speed set of hands would get him to the majors and keep him there.

Here's what happened instead: While the bat certainly made an impression, other stuff kept getting in his way. In 2017, he went to Dodgers camp early to work out with infield instructor Chris Woodward, but by the time camp started, he was still so overweight the Dodgers refused to play him for three weeks.

Then they moved him from second base to the outfield, because, well, there just wasn't a future in the infield. Three months later, they traded him to the Rangers. And, despite hitting .300 with 31 homers, he barely got a sniff in September.

Last year, with a spot in the outfield seemingly available to win, he was among the earliest cuts in major league camp. He didn't get called up until July, was returned to the minors, and then, after a September call up, was called out by GM Jon Daniels and then-manager Jeff Banister in a frank evaluation in Anaheim. They "suggested" he spend the offseason in Dallas and made it clear he wouldn't go to camp for 2019 with any guarantees about a job.

"But getting put in my place really helped me," Calhoun said. "I think it humbled me as a player and as a person."

Daniels didn't just challenge Calhoun, though. He offered resources. Nutritionist Stephanie Fernandes and the team's eager-to-help strength and conditioning staff headed by Jose Vasquez.

Calhoun has had to self-reflect before.

When he was on his way to failing out of Arizona, his father, a security officer at infamous San Quentin State Prison in California, took him on a tour of his work space.

It helped Calhoun rededicate to baseball, but not necessarily to himself.

"I was stubborn coming up with the Dodgers," Calhoun said. "The year and a half I've spent with the Rangers in the minor leagues, just because I was so talented and thought I knew everything -- when in reality I didn't. Last year really opened my eyes, and the feeling I had last year really drove me this offseason. If you had told me three years ago what the Rangers told me this offseason, I would have been like 'yeah, whatever.'"

But time and failure can change a guy's mind-set.

Calhoun's father has been supportive. So has his girlfriend, Kaitlin Faber. After the season, he went home, gave himself 10 days to visit all the junky restaurants and eat whatever he wanted to and then committed. He packed up, came to Dallas, got behind the nutrition plan and started working out at the club's Dallas academy. When the new manager came aboard -- that same old Dodgers infield instructor -- there was already the foundation for a relationship.

He and Woodward had worked hard together in the spring of 2017, even if Calhoun had been behind the other players. They did make progress together then. Woodward has sought to build on that now.

There remain no guarantees about a big league job. In fact, if he is to make the opening day roster, he will probably have to force the Rangers' hand with his performance. What Woodward did promise him is the opportunity to do so.

"I remember telling him in 2017: 'Listen, I'm not the guy that writes the lineup card out [but] if I was, my message to you would be that if you keep up the work, we will give you a lot of rope. We'll let you fail," Woodward said. "We don't want them to have that fear of failure. But if you don't stick to this plan, your rope is going to be [very short].

"Now, I do write the lineup card out and the message is the same," Woodward said. "I'm pretty consistent with that. 'Hey, I want to support you. Whether you make the team or not, I want to give you as much rope as possible ... I'm going to allow you to fall on your face and get back up, if you're doing the right things to prepare."

There are six weeks to go and a lot still to prove and a new lifestyle to maintain, but consider Woodward's first impressions of Calhoun in camp. Woodward was watching Calhoun shag fly balls with a purpose earlier in the week. On several occasions, Calhoun went into the fence to catch balls.

"I was like 'You couldn't have done that two years ago. There's no way,'" Woodward said. "Physically, he wouldn't have been able to do it. He's in a much better place."

Said Calhoun: "It's night and day."

Now, he's got to stay there.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant