The WWE Universe has been seeing less of Michael Cole recently. Not less of him in the sense that "The Voice of WWE" isn’t still the lead announcer for WWE’s flagship program, Monday Night Raw and special events on WWE Network. There is actually much less of Michael Cole for WWE fans to see!

Recently on WWE.com, Michael Cole revealed to Triple H that he has lost 65 pounds over the last 11 months. We followed up with Michael and his trainer, Jesse Marines of jmprogram.com, whom he credits for his dramatic weight loss, to see how this amazing body transformation came about.

WWE.COM: Michael, What was the catalyst for you undertaking such a body transformation?

It was the perfect storm. All factors came together at once last October; getting older, being on television on a weekly basis, my metabolism slowing down, being unhappy when I looked at myself in the mirror and my energy wasn’t what it used to be.

I was climbing mountains, and the big mountain that we tried to climb was Grand Teton in Wyoming. We got snowed off the mountain at 12,500 feet and even if we didn’t get snowed off, I knew inside that I wasn’t going to be able to finish the climb. I knew I wasn’t in shape to do it. All of those things combined made me realize that I needed to make some life changes.

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WWE.COM: Exactly how much weight have you lost as of today?

COLE: I started at 226 pounds with 29.9 percent body fat and as of today, 11 months later, I weigh 169 pounds with 6.5 percent body fat. I was down 65 pounds, but I’ve put on a little weight because we changed my diet and added some calories. I feel better now at 48 years old than I did at 21 years old.

WWE.COM: How did you go about losing so much weight?

COLE: I’m working with a trainer out of McAllen, Texas, named Jesse Marines (pictured, below). He put together a basic program for me to begin with where I was doing cardio two to three times a week and doing weight training with him two to three times a week. He gave me a simple diet to follow and since my diet was so awful, it was pretty easy.

I was eating a lot of carbs; a bagel for breakfast, a sandwich on a hard roll with potato chips for lunch and at dinner, I’d eat potatoes with whatever else I was eating. Another big thing for me was that I enjoyed drinking beer. I was a big beer drinker and those are very empty calories. I haven’t had a drink since we started this program almost a year ago. Jesse’s program really isn’t dieting. It’s increasing meals to eating six times a day every three hours and three of those meals are protein shakes. The other three meals are something like a chicken breast, a green vegetable and rice or yams for carbohydrates. Sometimes, I’ll eat egg whites and turkey bacon. We just wanted to make sure that I ate six times a day to jump start my metabolism. You have to eat to lose weight. We then slowly cut down my carbs and recently depleted all carbs for the pictures in this article. I haven't had a drink since we started this program.

After the first month, I was 10 pounds down. After the second month, I was down another 10 pounds. As I saw the progress and saw my body change, I really got into the program. Jesse started tweaking my diet, increasing my cardio, which is now 90 minutes on the StairMaster every day, and changing my weight training to the point where this has become part of my daily life whether I’m with Jesse at home or on the road.

I’m an obsessive compulsive in many ways and when I set my mind to something, I don’t stop until the job is done. Now that I’ve reached my goal, I don’t want to stop. We’re going to keep at this for years to come so I can keep the weight off, put on some muscle and have fun doing it.

WWE.COM: Jesse, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

JESSE MARINES: I got into bodybuilding when I was about 17, when I was approached and told I had a good physique for it. Ever since then, I’ve been into nutrition and training. I’ve worked with some top IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness) pros and some top coaches as well. I’ve taken lots of what I use in my weight loss program from them as well as what’s worked for me as a bodybuilder. I am certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and I’ve been training people for ten years now.

WWE.COM: How did Michael’s weight loss program with you begin?

MARINES: We started Michael with a diet of 2,200 calories per day just to see how he could handle it. At the time, he was doing some mountain climbing so we had to be careful how many carbs we cut because he needed energy.

We later introduced fasting into the program. We started him with a 16 hour fast, slowly built up to a 22 hour fast and then took it to a 36 hour fast once a week much further down the road. We started with baby steps. We did cardio and weight training within the 16 hour fast. That’s the key. When you fast, you reduce insulin levels. Your body produces insulin and it produces growth hormone but it can’t produce both at the same time.

Your growth hormone levels are highest when you sleep. Working out while fasting has been a huge part of Michael’s weight loss and body fat loss. He’s a machine! We’ve dropped Michael’s body fat percentage from 29.9 percent to 6.5 percent. Fasting isn’t marketed by anyone because there is nothing to sell to people [laughs].

COLE: I cannot tell you how much fasting does for you. You can’t just start the program with fasting once a week. You have to eat to lose weight. You have to eat in order to speed up your metabolism. Once you are two to three months into the program and seeing progress that means that your metabolism has kicked up. Then you can fast for 16 to 20 hours once a week to start. It forces your body to burn your body fat for energy because there is no food to burn for energy. We've dropped Michael's body fat to 6.5 percent.

As we moved farther along, I was fasting three times a week. It was amazing to see how much body fat I dropped. Again, fasting is something you have to do later in the program. When fasting, you can have all the water, unsweet tea and black coffee you want. I was up to two gallons of water a day. I would fast on days when I was on planes most of the day and then I would just go to the hotel and go to sleep.

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WWE.COM: What advice would you give to anyone else looking to make a similar lifestyle change?

COLE: The biggest thing I would tell people is make sure that you are ready to do it. It is a full time commitment. So many people dive in for two or three weeks, lose five or ten pounds and then stop and put it back on.

For me the most important thing is my trainer, Jesse. He’s given me accountability. I have to show up once a week to weigh in and have him take my body measurements. You don’t want to show up having gained weight. You want to show progress. Jesse inspires me. He is attempting to become a professional bodybuilder. He has won several amateur contests throughout the country. At an age when most kids are out partying, he’s completely dedicated to eating right, training and living a healthy lifestyle.

Jesse is awesome at what he does and customizes his programs for anyone. You don’t have to be in McAllen, Texas to work with him. Jesse does most of his work online with clients around the country. He e-mails training tips, diet information and videos of how to exercise correctly. You email him pictures of your body so he can see how you’re progressing and he can make changes to your program. He’s in your corner and supporting you constantly when you’re doing this.

WWE.COM: Will we see you show off your new body on TV? Will we see you back in a wrestling singlet or maybe even tights?

COLE: [Laughs] Never, ever again!

WWE.COM: How can people looking to lose weight reach Jesse?

COLE: Go to jmprogram.com and check out Jesse Marines’ program, before and after photos of people like me and information on how to reach him.

I’m sharing my story in hopes that at I can inspire at least one person to see that I did this and they can too. If I can do this at 48 years old with my schedule of traveling around the world every week then anyone can do it. If I can inspire just one person to become healthier, then I’ve done a good thing.