Sounds fine, but in the end, you have to be your own motivation. You're the one who has to spend hour upon hour on that stairmaster/treadmill. Getting motivated to lift has never been a struggle for me but good god, the cardio...
You just need to fit it into your routine and do it everyday like you'd do anything else. After a few weeks, it will be like second nature again bro. The tail you pull will just be an added bonus.
Why would he have to do so much cardio? He could simply lower his calorie intake and train hard with weights to create a huge deficit and end up in the same place.
It takes like 11 hours of moderate intensity cardio to burn one pound of body fat for energy.
However you can reduce calories, lift hard (none of that light weight 'I'm on a diet crap), and come in in shape.
Maybe do cardio only if calories can not be restricted further without losing nutrition.
Going from coasting to working out hard, eating less, and doing hours of aerobics is a surefire recipe for muscle loss.