SARASOTA, Fla. — The losing didn't stop for Aaron Harang when the season did.

Stung by his career-high 17 losses last season, the Cincinnati Reds right-hander got a quicker start on his offseason conditioning program, one that he ratcheted up to make more grueling. He lifted weights, he ran sprints, he ate healthy foods.

The stocky starter lost 33 pounds in an effort to make sure that hideous season didn't happen again.

"That was a tough year on him last year," manager Dusty Baker said. "Different people handle those tough years in a different way. But I think he really dedicated himself over the winter. You don't lose that weight in a month. You dedicate yourself for three or four months. It's really tough to do that.

"It shows you how badly he wanted to return to excellence."

Once glance says it all.

The 6-foot-7 pitcher is noticeably thinner around the middle. During his career-worst season in 2008, he topped out at 284 pounds. He was hurt for nearly a month, with a strained right forearm disabling him from mid-July to early August. As the losses added up — he finished 6-17, tying Houston's Brandon Backe for most losses in the National League — the pounds did, too.

Something had to change.

Instead of taking most of November off to recuperate from the long season, Harang started his daily workouts early in the month. He also increased the intensity and rarely missed a day.

His waist started to shrink.

"It wasn't something that I planned on doing," he said of the weight loss. "It just kind of happened. I went home (to San Diego) and changed my workouts to keep my heart rate up. I was eating healthy and doing all my workouts. The weight just kind of fell off. I feel real good. I guess you could say I feel more agile out there. I think I'm going to notice it more over the long haul this season."

He noticed it the first time he stepped on the mound in Florida. Down to 251 pounds, he could put more into the final stage of his delivery. The subtle change had quite an effect on his pitches.

"The ball was flattening out," Harang said. "So we've had to make some adjustments. It's still kind of new, and I have to get a feel for it. Other than that, I feel good."

Harang, who turns 31 on May 9, figures that staying healthy will take care of most of his problems. He didn't pitch all that badly last season; the Reds gave him very little help offensively. He had a 3.50 earned run average after his first 11 starts, but only a 2-6 record because he wasn't getting many runs to work with.

The turning point came on May 25 at San Diego, when the Reds went 18 innings before losing to the Padres 12-9. Every pitcher except Johnny Cueto, who was scheduled to work the next game, ended up getting used. Harang threw four innings in relief that day and wasn't the same afterward. Seven weeks later, he was on the disabled list.

A month after the season ended, he was working out again.

"It just showed I wasn't going to look back on last year," Harang said. "I told myself, 'OK, I've got to get after it and start back into it,' and I was very diligent doing it."

The biggest change came at the table.

Harang started ordering smaller portions of food at restaurants and making healthier choices at home. He's working with a nutritionist to try to keep his weight down during the season, when workouts are scheduled around the starter's schedule and the constant travel and time changes make it difficult to keep healthy eating habits.

It's a test of willpower for the power pitcher.

"You've got to treat yourself once in a while," he said. "You make a splurge or treat day. You say, 'I'm going to have this today, and tomorrow I'm going to get back to it.' At night if I get hungry, instead of having sweets I'll have an apple and some peanut butter."

The slimmed-down starter is one of the keys to Cincinnati having a better season. After a decade of trying to assemble a rotation, the Reds finally have a dependable one. Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Edinson Volquez and Cueto ought to keep them in most of their games.

Instead of trying to outscore teams at homer-friendly Great American Ball Park, the Reds are looking to win more low-scoring games with a solid rotation and an offense that will rely more on speed.

"This is something they've always wanted," Harang said. "They were always set up for the power and didn't really dwell on the pitching. Now we have the pitching. We don't have the power, but the pitching's going to keep us in the games."

As Harang has learned, a little bit less of something can turn out to be a little bit better.