. tonight on "nightline," he went from this to this. and back again. all in a year. one exercise buff's odyssey from fit to fat and back. why he spent six months packing on the pounds, how he lost them and the surprising things he learned along the way. fit for a queen. she may be the world's most famous grandma and the royal family was out in force to toast her at a jubilee concert that rocked london. we take you backstage. >> party on, your majesty. and up for grabs. as some of the most high profile supporters step up. >> president obama and michelle

are coming to my house for dinner. >> why president obama may be in the fight of his life, with his challenger, mitt romney, gaining ground in the race for the white house. . good evening, i'm terry moran and what we're about to show you is not your typical weight loss transformation. a hyper fit personal trainer who decides to stop working out and gain over 70 pounds. all in a bid to better understand the struggles of his overweight clients, though he started chowing down on cook questions and cake and went from chiseled to chubby to downright obese and discovered his great weight experiment had consequences way beyond the physical. >> reporter: drew manning had the body of a greek god.

a medical technician by day, personal trainer in his spare time. he could breathe through four sets of 15 pull-ups. but six months later he was so out of shape a flight of stairs got him winded. he could bearly muster three pull-ups. >> it feels like i have cement pulling me down. >> reporter: so what happened? manning had been one of those trainers who liked kicking his clients' butt. >> i would take someone who hadn't worked out and probably their whole life and put them through the same workouts i do. he puked after 30 minutes and i was just like just push through it. >> reporter: faced with a parade of customers who quit, drew made a radical decision to better understand his obese clients. by becoming obese himself. >> i thought it was all discuss going to be about the physical. i thought i would get man handles, big boob and a gut. >> reporter: instead. >> complete opposite. very, very hard.

before i looked at those things, things like food addiction, hitting plateau, those things are very real. >> reporter: turns out manning's year-long odyssey from this back to this challenged nearly everything he thought he knew about weight loss and willpower. >> so this will be my first meal on my journey to becoming fat. >> reporter: his journey from fit to fat began when a grotesque weekly display of gluttony. >> i decided to do a weekly food challenge where people would vote on what i ate. >> smashing it down. two at a time. >> i tried to eat a dozen doughnuts. i ate seven. i almost puked. >> reporter: he gained a whopping 12 pounds the first week. >> this right here wasn't there before. >> reporter: within one month -- >> i think i'm going to be puke to be honest with you guys. >> reporter: he packed on nearly 24 pounds. when you ate that big old cake --

>> yeah, 9x13. >> reporter: it was disgusting. >> i agree. it was horrible but the real learning came from what i ate the other six days of the week which were the white bread, white pastas, juices, chips, things like that, the typical american eats. >> reporter: within six weeks his six-pack disappeared. >> you see that. yeah. i know. gross. >> reporter: he went from eating 2,000 calories a day to 5,000. he described swapping a fitness addiction for food addiction. what specifically did you become addicted to. >> things like mountain dew. eating a whole can of pringles without thinking about it. >> reporter: after a can of pringles an hour later you're hungry. >> yes, after a big bowl of cereal, cinnamon toast crunch i would be hungry later. >> reporter: even though you consumed tons of calories. >> exactly but those kind of calories respect the kind that keep you feeling full for a long period of time. >> reporter: within three months he started to snore for the first time in his life. >> my wife keeps me up and i

have to sleep in a different room. >> reporter: his blood pressure reached dangerous levels and organs were rebelling. >> my kidneys were those of an alcoholic. >> reporter: why. >> because of all the soda i was drinking can do the same damage to your organs alcohol. >> reporter: he went to a 48-inch weight and his frame ballooned from 193 to 265 pounds but it wasn't just his body that changed. his wife lynn manning found herself married to a big fat stranger. >> are you loading the dishwasher. >> yes. >> reporter: when he said he was tired -- >> it did. he was tired then aside from that, you know, he didn't want me to see him naked and because he was so self-conscious about everything, you know, we turned off the lights. >> reporter: that was you that -- >> i don't blame her for wanting to turn off lights. sometimes i wanted to but, yeah, i wasn't fun to look at at that

point. >> come here. >> reporter: but manning wasn't just feeling inadequate as a husband, he felt inept as a father to his 2-year-old daughter. >> daddy's coming. >> i wanted to run with her. i lapped her for three minutes and daddy had to sit down and she was crying. come run with me and it was rock bottom for me. >> reporter: taking a toll on her. >> it broke my heart seeing her cry. >> reporter: now he had to battle back from fat to fit trying to eat healthy after a steady diet of junk food proved much tougher than he expected. >> this week was tough. a lot of people have been asking about my cravings. i'm not going to lie and say i didn't have any because they were there and some days sucked. i went from cinnamon crunch toast to fiber cereal and it tasted like dog food and i spit it out. >> reporter: what used to be his passion, hitting the gym filled him with dread. >> workouts are killing me.

they're super hard. my legs are still sore from wednesday. >> reporter: he says that first week felt like an addict going through withdrawal. >> that first week was hell. letting go of the mountain dew. letting go of my cinnamon toast crunch and having to eat health again. >> reporter: describe it. >> headache, moody, feeling starved in a way. >> reporter: isn't it hard for people to go cold turkey on all this possessed food. >> yes, even though it's hard and it's hell, a lot of people can do it. if you need to start off slowly that's okay because this is a lifestyle. it's not a diet to see how much weight you can lose as fast as possible. >> reporter: week after excruciating week, the pounds melted off but it was far from easy. >> i lost so far which feels kind of cool. i never had to do this. i would see these in commercials. >> reporter: when he hit the inevitable plateau manning says he truly understood why countless people give up in

exasperation. >> a lot want to give up. i put in all this time and hard work and i didn't lose any weight this week. that place tricks with you. you're doing the right things but not seeing the results. today i weigh 190.1. >> reporter: one calendar year from going from fit to fat back to fit one final weigh-in. you look great obviously you look hot but -- yeah. well, you do. you look good. >> reporter: critics would say this is just a stunt. you will never understand the true mind-set of somebody who has spent a lifetime obese. >> i don't pretend to know exactly what it's like for everybody but for me i have a better understanding now than i did before and that was the whole purpose of this. >> reporter: you are a kinder gentler trainer now. >> you could say that. >> reporter: which may be the biggest transformation of all. for "nightline" i'm juju chang in new york. >> a remarkable journey. drew's good "fit 2 fat 2 fit" is

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to throw a star-studded party and now she brings us a backstage pass.

katie? >> reporter: i guess you can say the queen and her family got their royal groove on. sadly the queen's husband, the duke of edinboro couldn't attend as he was admitted to the hospital for a bladder infection today. while i'm sure she wishes he could have been here, by all accounts, the queen and the entire royal family had a jolly good time. >> come on. ♪ >> reporter: you could say it was a royal success. ♪ diamonds are forever >> reporter: a star-studded concert to honor queen elizabeth ii's diamond jubilee, a remarkable 60 years on the throne. ♪ our house >> reporter: the royal family watched from the royal box including prince harry and the duke and duchess of cambridge, aka william and kate. i was the only american journalist backstage and had a chance to speak with some of the headliners.

why do you think she is so popular? >> she's not trendy in the least. >> reporter: she wouldn't wear those sunglasses. >> no, she wouldn't. she's always been a constant. always marched to the beat of her own drums and she's so reliable. dependable and i think it's -- it's -- people love her for that. ♪ >> reporter: buckingham palace had talent from across the country with will.i.am "i got a feeling" with jesse jay. ♪ tonight's going to be a good night tonight's going to be a good night ♪ >> reporter: annie lennox serenaded the queen with a fitting tribute. ♪ there must be a name >> reporter: welch crooner sir tom jones performed the timeless

"delil "delilah". ♪ my my my delilah >> reporter: followed by andrew lloyd webber who teamed up with an african choir to perform "sing." ♪ >> reporter: written especially for this occasion. weber spoke to us earlier about what the queen has meant to him. >> the country's very behind the queen on this one. i mean i don't think i've ever known the country being so united on one thing and i do think that it is a recognition of the fact she has done the most ex-troerlgd job ♪ i remember when rock was young joet. >> reporter: and then the living legends, sir elton john. ♪ and i guess i never will ♪ the magical mystery tour." >> reporter: and sir paul mccartney. i was 10 when this young woman became our queen, you know, so

it was a very unifying moment. coronation, we got tv for it. >> reporter: wow. >> i've been asking our parents for a tv for years. >> reporter: and finally. >> coronation, everyone in the street got a tv. [ applause ] >> reporter: finally the queen's son and heir to the throne prince charles honored his mother. >> as a nation, this is our opportunity to thank you and my father for always being there for us. for inspiring us with your selfless duty and service and for making us proud to be british. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: and last but not least the queen joined in the celebration by lighting the national beacon from the concert stage. [ cheers and applae ] ♪ >> reporter: followed by fireworks, an appropriate end for a night fit for a queen.

for "nightline," i'm katie couric in london. and so 60 years tonight that god has saved the queen thanks to katie for that. "gma" will be live from london tomorrow with the latest jubilee celebrations. just ahead from sarah jessica parker to george clooney, president obama's famous friends are coming out to support him but is it enough to stop mitt romney's momentum. you see it in. ♪ oh oh oh oh ooh oh ...and then there's the pillow. ♪ i dare you to dare me so they dared me to try this pantene. [ female announcer ] pantene anti-breakage the keratin protection system makes hair stronger reducing breakage up to 97%. ♪ think only salon brands can do that? i dare to compare... will you? [ female announcer ] anti-breakage from pantene. hair so healthy it shines. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details

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you know, nothing throws a monkey wrench into a re-election campaign like ugly economic news and right on the heels of a jobs report that spells more trouble for struggling americans, president obama finds himself in a dead heat with competitor mitt romney in the polls. so he's turned to the star power of some very famous friends for tonight's "your voice, your vote."

here's what you need to know about the campaign right now. >> president obama and michelle are coming to my house for dinner on june 14th. >> reporter: i admit sarah jessica parker, from "sex and the city" are far from the most important thing going on but they are telling. >> the body blow to confidence in the american economy. >> reporter: unemployment is unfactory orders down, the stock market is sliding and americans are genuineny anxious and the romney team knows it. >> president obama is spending your tax dollars to create jobs. how is he doing? >> reporter: mitt romney and his campaign have demonstrated a ruthless focus so far. every single day is about one thing to them, what they call, the obama economy. >> almost every dimension he's made it harder for our economy to come back and to put people to work. >> reporter: meanwhile team obama has ping-ponged from attack to attack from bashing romney as an out of touch person

to labeling him as a job destroyer when he worked in the private sector to taking aim at his record in massachusetts. >> when mitt romney was governor, massachusetts lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs. >> reporter: so far it's not working. polls show the race a statistical dead heat and romney rising in voters' estimation. his favorability rating up 14 points in the last 3 1/2 months. >> big difference from 2008 is this idea of hope and change and optimism and turning the page, that's all gone. i mean this is going to be a very negative campaign. they're both selling the idea that the other one is really, really bad. i mean that -- this is an election that is less about a candidate saying -- vote for me because i'm the best candidate out there than vote against this other guy, because it's going to be a lot worse if you put him in office.

>> that brings us back, of course, to sarah jessica parker and anna wintour. >> it'll be a fantastic evening and you can join us. >> reporter: who you might ask is anna wintour and what is she doing in a barack obama ad? she's the editor of "vogue" magazine and a model for meryl streep's character in "the devil wears prada." >> i don't understand why it's so difficult. >> reporter: and while all candidates suck up the celebrities to raise campaign cash as romney has with this guy there just seems to be something tone deaf about the obama campaign's decision at the very moment unemployment is again on the rise to enlist madam wintour as one of the hostesses of his fund raiser. >> so please join us. just don't be late. >> reporter: the president will no doubt raise a ton of money at that soiree but what will he do wit, convince voters he can fix the economy. thank you for watching abc news, check in