It's been well-reported at this point Jeurys Familia has had a body transformation heading into spring training this year. The veteran reliever has dropped 30 pounds from the 270-pound mark he said he was at last season.

Familia has been noticeably slimmer at the Mets' facility in Port St. Lucie, and with pitchers and catchers officially reporting on Monday, he spoke about his weight loss again -- saying he didn't even realize how heavy he was.

"I was just really overweight," he told reporters through translator Alan Suriel after his workout on Monday. "Most seasons I would be around 240, 245 and I didn't realize I had gotten that far overweight. So I just wanted to come back and be at the same weight I was for the rest of my career."

What did that entail?

"Working hard, eating right and it was a lot of dedication," he said.

Familia added: "It was really a lot of Dominican food. It was the rice, the fried chicken, all that good stuff that you have to cut out."

Like any drastic change to your body, it was hard for Familia to fight through some temptations he had. But he ultimately stuck to it, and is happy to be back to his normal weight heading into the new year.

"In the first two weeks, it was hard," he said. "You have a lot of temptations -- it was mostly the food. But after that, I got into a routine and was able to get it done."

As for how that weight gain affected his performance on the rubber, Familia explained how balance was the biggest thing he noticed as being off.

"For me, I think the most important part is the balance because you don't have all that weight on top of you, so you're able to finish better," he said.

In 66 games last season, Familia owned a 5.70 ERA -- the highest mark of his career. And that came after he posted a 2.88 ERA with the Mets in 2018 before being dealt away to the Athletics.

Getting back to his normal weight now could be the catalyst in Familia having a bounce-back 2020 season.

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