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An overweight bloke who was working his way through 35 Double Decker chocolate bars every single week has dropped an impressive 11 stone in a bid to become a professional boxer. You can see his weight loss journey here:
Tobie Vermeire said he became so overweight he couldn’t even put on his own socks, while his waist measured 46 inches.
Tobie, from Malvern Hills, Worcester, had always struggled with his weight, but saw it creep up after tucking into a four pack of Double Deckers with lunch and sometimes more in the morning or evening.
The 29-year-old was consuming around 10,000 calories every day - kicking off with a breakfast of sausages, eggs and bacon, a tube of Pringles, two Domino's pizzas for lunch and a Chinese takeaway for his dinner - along with more snacks.
Tobie said: "I've always had a real issue with food. It was a comfort thing for me growing up and it continued through my adult life.
"When I was 18, I was playing rugby at a reasonable level but whenever I got an injury and couldn't play, I was still eating as if I was training. I just got bigger and bigger.
"Around 25 I decided to focus on my career but this meant I let my health get even worse. I ballooned from 18 stone up to 26 stone. I couldn't put my own socks on."
After seeing his weight hit 26 stone, Tobie decided enough was enough and decided to make a change in September 2020.
Fast forward to today and he’s lost 11 stone - currently weighing around 15 stone - and has set his sights on becoming a professional boxer by the end of the year.
Having considered weight loss surgery initially, Tobie decided on putting in the hard work to lose the weight naturally and went cold turkey on his favourite foods.
Tobie said: "I had to treat it like a drug addiction and go teetotal on most of the foods I'd eaten before, so no chocolate, takeaways or crisps.
"I felt awful at first, really ill. I was having withdrawal symptoms for the first few weeks, which was me coming off the copious amounts of processed foods and chocolate I'd been used to.
"I was addicted to calories, grease, fast food, the whole lot. My diet was abysmal so I had to change.
"If I hadn't, I think I'd have eaten myself to death. I'd like to think I've added 10 to 15 years on to my life by reversing the years of destructive eating."
After losing some weight, Tobie felt confident enough to join a boxing gym and has fallen in love with the sport - after having a couple of amateur fights he’s now keen to go pro.
Tobie said: "I've never been happier. This is how I should have felt at 18 or 19 which has given me a whole new lease of life.
"The only thing that I feel which is slightly negative is that I didn't do it earlier. I feel bad that I let it get to the worst and didn't change my life sooner.
"It's been a huge year of change. It's helped my mental health massively too. I left my job as an insurance broker to start selling motorbikes as I've always loved them.
"I need to get some more fights under my belt before I can go pro as well as sorting some sponsorship for travel.
"I was meant to be fighting at the end of January but that has been delayed as I have had covid. We're looking to get as many fights in as possible this season."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and MediaTopics: Daily Ladness
Claire Reid