The Million Calorie March was the name of Gary Michael Marino's high profile cross country weight loss walk in 2004 aimed at educating and inspiring the American public on the obesity issue. But it was more than a walk…The Million Calorie March was a metaphor for Marino's four year metamorphosis (2001 - 2005) from a 397-pound hopeless food addict - one who used self deprecating humor as a coping mechanism - to a 240-pound healthy activist for change.

Through it all, Marino never had gastric bypass surgery or gave into the Atkin's low-carb craze that was gripping the country. He lost the weight the hard way - convening a team of experts to help guide him through healthy eating, rigorous exercise, exhausting self analyzation and dissecting every aspect of his 25 year eating disorder.

As his personal weight battle wound down and a new Gary Marino emerged, the 38 year old used his 150 + pound weight loss and colorful Florida to Boston "March" to inspire the American public to "laugh at the insanity of the weight loss industry, look in the mirror, get serious, and dig deep to fix ourselves". People Magazine called him an "anti-fat crusader" and USA Today covered the story along with FOX News and ABC's "Live With Regis & Kelly". Scores of local newspapers, TV broadcasts and radio stations covered the walk daily as it made its way up the eastern seaboard. In Washington D.C., Marino and his road team met with 15 U.S. Senators and Congressmen to push for legislation regarding the obesity issue. By the end, the Million Calorie March reached an estimated 70 million people as an awareness campaign.

On a personal level, Marino also lost another 42 pounds on the walk and raised over a $150,000 through corporate donations and pledges to help fight childhood obesity - forming the non-profit foundation Generation Excel. Marino's 254 page memoir "Big & Tall Chronicles: MisAdventures Of A Lifelong Food Addict" was released nationally by Barnes & Nobles Bookstores in the spring of 2005.

These days, Gary Marino has only one person left to "shock & awe" - himself. In April 2005, in what may be his most rigorous challenge to date - he completed the Boston Marathon. In June of that same year, at the request of Blue Cross of Pennsylvania, Marino "recreated" his Million Calorie March in that state, launching the unprecedented "Million Pound Meltdown" weight loss campaign and obesity awareness effort. Serving as spokesman and "Toastmaster General Of The Meltdown Majority" Marino's yearlong campaign has resulted in over 47,000 pounds lost thus far.

2007 promises the premiere of "Million Calorie March: The Movie", currently in post-production in Boston by Studio G Motion Pictures. Marino is also a busy motivational speaker, lecturing for Blue Cross, The G.E. Heath Tour, and corporate wellness groups from Seattle to Boston. He is also developing a radio and TV program called "The Shrink and the Shrunk" with Dr. Howard Rankin, and writing his next book "After The March: Life in The Land Of Plenty After The Million Calorie March".