Tyson Fury has given a mind-blowing rundown of what he consumes on a 'cheat day' - and also delivered a message of support for those struggling with their mental health in 2020.
The undefeated boxer spent £557 on a takeaway for his family during England's first lockdown. "It was the heavyweight champion of takeaways!" Fury told LADbible when asked how he got through it. "I just kept eating until I couldn't eat any more. Pizza after pizza after pizza; it was a binge.
"I had a treat day yesterday, actually: a full box of Thorntons chocolates, I had a Sunday dinner, two bowls of trifle, a McDonald's triple cheeseburger, two Diet Cokes and a bar of chocolate."
Let's assume the Diet Cokes are making all the difference there. We suppose when you're a 6ft 9in heavyweight who's training every day, your cheat days can be of proportionate size.
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But the 32-year-old gets serious when asked for his message to anyone having a hard time during the current pandemic. Fury has become an advocate for speaking openly about mental health, having struggled with bipolar disorder, and he has three key pieces of advice.
"My message would be, actually, to try and clean your diet up, do a bit of exercise and set short-term goals. That's what I do," he tells us via Zoom.
"If I'm feeling down and depressed - which I always do - it really helps me. Exercise, a good diet, drink plenty of water; that's the key to everything, I'd say.
"Because if you're feeling good in your body physically, then mentally you'll feel good too. And if you're feeling good mentally and physically, then you're ready to take on the world."
There is logic to Fury's words: regular exercise is proven to help reduce stress and anxiety. So, in other words, the full box of chocolates on a day off should only come when you're in the right headspace.
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Fury, speaking to us around the release of his new book (The Furious Method: Transform your Mind, Body and Goals), has kept himself in great shape since spectacularly knocking out Deontay Wilder in February.
But during his years away from boxing in 2016 and 2017, his weight ballooned to 28 stone as he battled depression and suicidal thoughts. What was the moment he hit rock bottom and knew he had to turn a corner?
"I was so fat, overweight, unhealthy and so, so down," he reflects. "I knew I had to start training again. I had to try and start losing a bit of weight if I was ever gonna feel well again.
"So I started training really slowly, took baby steps, and started losing a bit of weight at a time. Then I jumped in the deep end and started losing a lot of weight at a time. And before I knew it, I was back active in a boxing ring within six months.
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"So it was kind of crazy that that happened, but I was still losing weight the whole time, even when I was fighting - through the training camps. I ended up getting the weight down and down, and got it back to where it should have been. Which is where I am now."
From a seemingly washed-up fighter, eating and drinking himself into oblivion, Fury has turned his life around. It's a comeback as incredible as him hauling himself off the canvas against Wilder in 2018.
The difference with this journey is it's longer and arguably even tougher. But at least you get to help yourself to a box of chocolates and a double helping of trifle along the way. Which we're pretty sure wasn't on offer in the corner that night against Wilder.
The Furious Method: Transform your Mind, Body and Goals by Tyson Fury is out now
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Featured image credit: PA Images/BACKGRID
Featured Image Credit:Topics: SPORT, Food, Tyson Fury, lockdown, Celebrity, Boxing
