TRANSFORMATIONS 2025 READY.SET.GO!

LOSE FAT. GAIN MUSCLE. ESCAPE ADDICTION.| Over five years, comedian and actor LIL REL HOWERY changed how he looks. But the biggest changes were on the inside.

- DONOVAN X. RAMSEY

BEAT DIABETES. FIND HAPPINESS. SIX GUYS SHARE THEIR TRANSFORMATION JOURNEYS, WITH TIPS, ADVICE, AND INSIGHTS TO HELP GUIDE ALL OF US IN FINDING SUCCESS.

FOR LIL REL HOWERY, the journey to fitness began not in the gym but in a theater, at the 2017 premiere of Get Out, the Oscar-winning thriller in which he costarred. Watching himself on-screen, he thought, Did Iget that big? It wasn't just about his appearance; it was a realization that his health had quietly taken a back seat. I gotta figure this out, Howery, now 45, remembers thinking. On a recent Zoom call from his home in L.A., he looks like the picture of a guy who's put in the work. He's wearing a blue sleeveless shirt that shows off his arms, a Cubs cap, and a gold cross pendant.

At first, his efforts were humble: a Peloton bike and a gospel playlist. But what started as exercise became a daily ritual. "I wasn't just working out; I was letting things go." The music connected him to memories of family and faith, transforming each ride into something profoundly therapeutic.

"It ain't the airy gospel playlist I'm playing. I'm playing Reverend James Cleveland, Reverend Milton Brunson," says Howery, who was practically raised in churches all over Chicago. "I remember getting tired on the bike. I was like, 'Okay, what's my motivation?" That's when I started having my conversations with God, manifesting my ideas."