Nothing gets noticed faster than a good guy with a bad body. Especially someone who most people think isn’t capable of pulling off that lean, muscular look. As he surprises the world and shocks his closest friends and family, the disbelief reaction to John Krasinski’s radical physical transformation is what made it most gratifying for him.

Most people know him as the charming and delightful Jim Halpert from The Office for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for 2007 and 2008 two years in a row. After a career spanning more than a decade as a producer, director, writer, film and television star, John finally got the chance to put a stunning twist on his sweet image. The Transformers trilogy director, Michael Bay, in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) demanded that Krasinski be tricked for just four months. John revealed his body fat percentage was 25% when he started exercising and it dropped to 9% when he was ready to start filming.

As much as everyone wants a quick transformation and three to four months is what many are willing to do, the actor reiterates that the drastic change was possible for him because he received the best guidance in terms of exercise and diet, to further his brutal routine of exercising. 6 times a week, twice a day.

If you’re feeling inspired but still unsure if you’d ever want to step into John’s shoes, then read on for what John has to say about all the feelings he experienced during and after reaching his best self.

The process is merciless

Celebrity trainer Jason Walsh was responsible for several radical transformations in Hollywood, including Bradley Cooper’s 40-pound muscle gain for American Sharpshooter (2015) taking Krasinski under his wing.

Contrary to popular misconception, losing fat and building muscle at the same time is not possible without the use of steroids and is achievable for people who are NOT experienced lifters. But it is not easy. Nothing worth ever seeing. John’s workouts were broken up into separate workouts for strength training and high-intensity, metabolically demanding cardio that included moves like prowler pushes.

Exercising twice a day allowed him to recover faster on a diet of just lettuce, chicken, and water. In order to keep the body anabolic (muscle building), he had to train all parts of the body equally. As much as John hated the inability to walk and sit with ease right after his leg workout, Krasinski couldn’t skip leg day.

But it’s also pleasantly surprising

You may not have a celebrity coach by your side and calling you, but any big change requires some level of awareness and the resulting time and effort of educating yourself. Just prior to beginning his grueling workout, John experienced a massive high and thought all the fat in his body was turning into muscle.

Finally, aware that fat storage and muscle building are two completely separate biological mechanisms in the body, John would be surprised to see his body respond with improved muscle tone, even if he thought he was eating very little all week while he was working out keeps up with heavy lifting.

As soon as you start seeing results, you suddenly feel thankful for your health

Though John claims he’s often tried to fit into an occasional workout, it requires serious discipline. The day he discovered his lower abs gave him a tremendous sense of accomplishment. After working extremely hard to get shredded at the age of 35, Krasinski now intends to respect his body and treat it responsibly for the rest of his life.

You become addicted to improvements

He never thought he would turn out to be someone who claims he loves working out. But witnessing your strength gains in the gym is a total game changer. The motivation to bench a little extra weight and dig deep after another pull-up provides a set of validating performance metrics that clearly show that you’re getting stronger by the day and that John insists on being utterly exciting.

You suddenly no longer feel the need to judge your body with a mere number on the scale

Jason Walsh advises against taking Libra too seriously and asked John to get rid of his. Body weight only shows part of the picture of an ideal body transformation. The mirror, on the other hand, clearly shows how slim or soft your body is becoming and assesses how you feel, how you act and how you look. Walsh claims you know when you’ve reached your ideal form.

Her confidence is shooting through the roof

There’s nothing ambiguous about rounded, balanced power. Exercising to build your entire body evenly will make you feel good about every other aspect of your life. Now, as John Krasinski lifts his two-year-old daughter with surprising ease, he claims to walk taller with greater awareness. No longer content to sit alone in a corner, he willingly takes the initiative to approach others in a crowded room.

This sense of certainty has sailed into his professional life as well, as John no longer wants to limit himself to one genre and wants to tackle whatever projects he can get his hands on.