When I first met Chris Draft, I was an overweight internet content writer for the St. Louis Rams organization. Little did I know the impact his Get Checked! Get Fit! Message would have on me.

I knew very little about Chris Draft at the time, other than what I read about him in his media guide biography from the Carolina Panthers. I knew he was a heck of a linebacker and a great addition to the St. Louis Rams, but that was about it. It wasn’t until he walked through the doors that I was able to see what he was really about.

It wasn’t long before I was covering Chris Draft Family Foundation events, like Draft Family Fitness Day, for the St. Louis Rams.

You can hear the message of Draft Family Fitness Day, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to stick. I was a very overweight guy, writing about a fitness and character camp. The message didn’t really seem to hit home. It’s likely that I stopped for a cheeseburger on the way home from the event.

The message was always in my head, it just took the right moment to draw it out. In 2007, I proposed to my girlfriend of six years. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. We began our wedding planning, but didn’t end up getting married until June of this year, 2009.

During that time, I was asked by my cousin to be a part of his wedding, which was an honor. I had to go get fitted for the tux, which turned out to be surprisingly big. The  mantra of Draft Day® was pounding in my head, but I just wouldn’t let it out.

My cousin’s wedding day was just over a year before mine, in May of 2008. We donned our tuxes, looking sharp, and posed for about a million pictures. It wasn’t until I saw some of those pictures that I realized something needed to change. I saw one particular picture of me posing with another one of my cousins, and I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I looked like in that tuxedo. I looked big. I looked sloppy. I couldn’t stand at the altar in my own wedding looking like that.

The mantra of Draft Day® came flooding back. It was all there. I knew what I had to do, I just had to do it. I completely changed my lifestyle, starting with my diet. I replaced fast food with whole wheat pasta, chicken, rice and fish. I completely stopped drinking sugary sodas in favor of water.

I began a very strict exercise regimen that consisted of running, biking and rollerblading. I worked out once a day, seven days per week. This may seem a little extreme, but that’s how serious I was. Once I got going, I added in a weight lifting routine, to try and mix things up a little bit.

I continued my quest religiously, dropping weight slowly over the course of the year. By the time my wedding day rolled around, the 315 pound Rams internet writer stood a svelte 213 pounds at the altar when he took his lovely wife’s hand in marriage.

The mantra of Draft Day® was always there, waiting in the back of my mind. I just had to make the choice to embrace it. If the Draft Day® message can motivate me, it can motivate you too. Get out there and move around a little bit. You’ll like it. I promise.