Drew Manning completed the first half of his yearlong

journey on Saturday, Nov. 5. The certified personal trainer began a six-month-long unrestricted diet with no exercise on May 7, with a goal to inspire and better identify with overweight people as he spends the following six months working off the weight.

When Manning began the Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit program, he was a fit 193 pounds. In his last weigh-in on Saturday, he weighed 265.2 pounds — an increase of 72.2 pounds. His waist increased from 34.5 inches to its current 48 inches.

You can follow Manning's progress back to fit on his website —

— where he posts daily updates including pictures, videos, measurements, workouts and meal plans. If you want to join him, be sure to check out his videos

and

before doing so.

For his part, Manning has jumped right into the second stage of the journey. On Saturday morning he posted "

It starts!!! So excited!

" on his

, and he's listed meal plans and workouts each day as promised on his website.

"We're gonna get fit together. I'm excited about this," Manning says at the end of his final Fit 2 Fat weigh-in, which also serves as his first Fat 2 Fit weigh-in (see the video below). "Let's do this."

Simon A. Thalmann is the online editor for Booth Features. He can be reached at sthalmann@kalamazoogazette.com.