Which makes it even more important that I follow Harley's advice to watch my salt intake the day before the shoot and eat no dairy the day of. He tells me to do push-ups until exhaustion right before the photo session.

"This has really backfired on you," Cassandra confirms. Not only is she angry about my self-focus and all the time I spend walking, shopping, cooking, eating, and lifting—she doesn't even like the results. "You have a ripping six-pack, but it's a little gross. You ever see those pictures of Madonna? She's like 50 and made of sinew. You look like that." My head looks big and my wrinkles look deep, she adds. "Plus you're in a pissy mood because you're working out and hungry all the time." When Cassandra and I do have sex, which is far less often, it's in the dark. There are no fun outfits. When I tell her that all the women at the gym are interchangeable in that skinny and no-curve way that I don't like, she thinks I'm telling her how hot they are. I fear my training might lead to a divorce. At least if I were to get divorced, this would be the best possible time for it. I'm in divorce shape.

Eventually, however, I figure it out and even grow to like it. To my shock, the supermarket I always drive to is only a fifteen-minute walk. The great coffee place is ten minutes from my son's school. As I see my neighborhood on foot, I see it in a new way. I start to recognize constellations for the first time in my life. I call my parents and sister a lot. I run into friends. I listen to audiobooks, including Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, and at least momentarily believe that I have found meaning in walking.

I've only been training for ten days when I notice a muscle between my neck and shoulder that I've never had, and a rippled line between my chest muscles.

Instead of a cheeseburger, I am eating a lot of lean protein: eighty grams a day of fish, shrimp, chicken, pork loin, buffalo burgers, or flank steak.

after a while, I figure out that basically we do two or three muscles a day, about 160 reps for each one, along with some form of sit-ups. Most of the exercises are for my legs and back,

The workouts are hard but not miserable. We use dumbbells and machines almost exclusively and never too much weight. There isn't much resting unless I'm desperate. There are a lot of sets (usually eight per exercise) and a ton of reps (usually sixteen to twenty, but sometimes many more).

The Body Reset Diet

I must accomplish four things every day: walk 12,000 steps (about six miles); sleep at least seven hours; unplug from all technology for an hour to reduce sitting, snacking, stressing, and sleeplessness; and eat three 400-calorie meals and two half-meals that will each consist of lean protein, fiber, and a little healthy fat.

After reading that I drink wine with dinner every night, he tells me that my biggest change will be eliminating all alcohol. I am not happy about this. "When your body is metabolizing alcohol, it's not metabolizing fat," he says. "And when we drink alcohol, we tend to make poor food choices."