Motivation can come when a person least expects it, a reality check you never saw coming.

For Brent Anbe, the 36-year-old casting associate for “Hawaii Five-0,” a photograph turned his life around. He knew he was out of shape, but a photo of himself with pop singer and actor Nick Jonas offered proof, Anbe said.

Jonas was fit and sported a softball-size biceps. Anbe was anything but that, the result of spending all his time casting actors for the CBS drama and movies shot in Hawaii. “Stout” and “round” are the words he uses to describe himself back then.

“That’s when I saw how heavy I had gotten,” said Anbe, who also serves as festival director for the Rainbow Film Festival and the Hawaii European Cinema Film Festival.

“I never made time for exercise,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh my god, I look so big. This is not where I want to be.’ I decided to make fitness and health a priority in my life and invest in myself.”

This was in April 2014, when the 5-foot-7 Anbe weighed about 170 pounds.

Help was nearby, however. The “Five-0” production crew included an unofficial personal trainer — Keala Nakanelua — who led Anbe and other employees in a twice-a-week workout after work.

For six months the results came slowly.

“I saw my strength increase but not so much of a physical transformation,” Anbe said. “I didn’t have my diet in check. I needed exercise, plus diet, plus discipline.”

The transformation

Anbe started his fitness journey with “boot camp” circuit training that included high-intensity aerobics and exercises that use your body weight for resistance in strength building.

They did mountain climbers, Bosu ball squats, pushups, situps, pullups, dips, running and the exercise Anbe loves to hate, burpees. Burpees vary but most often involve dropping to the ground into a pushup position, doing a pushup, bringing your feet forward in a hop and then jumping into the air as high as you can go.

“The No. 1 thing is burpees,” Anbe said. “It’s a big-bang-for-your-buck exercise that I have grown to love.”

Even a few burpees can leave you out of breath and your heart racing. When he started, Anbe could barely do 10. Now he can do four sets of 25.

Sometimes he’ll do burpees and then run. It’s brutal.

He also goes to vigorous power yoga classes. Yoga gives him a fitness boost, in part because it’s different, Anbe said.

“That really melted the belly fat and sculpted my biggest problem, my midsection,” he said. “Fitness is tricking your body into using new muscles. If you keep it to the same exercise, you only use the same muscles over and over again.”

Some days, Anbe will start his day with burpees at his Aiea home.

Anbe would not have succeeded without changing his diet, but there isn’t anything fancy about what he did.

Before he started, he would often eat a fast-food breakfast of Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice. That changed to yogurt and fresh fruit. Lunches were split into two smaller meals, and that got him through the afternoon without snacking. Dinner was ruled by portion control.

Overall, he tries to choose meals with healthy ingredients — to a point.

“If I go to a family event, I’m not going to deny myself,” he said. “I will just work it off the next day or through the week.”

The results

To date, Anbe has lost 25 pounds and added muscle to his frame. He said he feels energized and more confident.

Success has a simple recipe, he said.

“If you want your body to change, it’s not training harder, it’s training consistently,” he said.

Anbe has shared his progress on social media platforms, and there is more than pride at work.

“Posting a photo online, for me, it makes me accountable,” he said. “You can’t be posting all this stuff and eating all this crap.”

But it also inspires Anbe — and others, too.

“It’s really validating to hear people commenting on all the time and sweat I have put into my transformation,” he said. “It helps you stay motivated. But when you hear you are motivating other people, it really pushes you to stay on track.”

“Good Fit” spotlights inspiring fitness stories of change, self-discovery and challenge, and other fitness related topics. Tell us what motivates you and how you stay fit and healthy. Email features@staradvertiser.com.