I was a chocoholic who ate 35 bars a week – now I’ve lost 12st in one year to become a professional boxer
- Tobi, 31, went from 26 stone to an incredible 14.5 stone in just 12 months
- READ MORE: Secret to why stress makes you reach for the chocolate revealed
A man who once scoffed 35 chocolate bars a week and weighed 26 stone has knocked out half his body weight to become a professional boxer.
Tobie Vermeire, 31, from Herefordshire, ditched 12 stone in just one year following a ‘horrendous’ diet of two-pizza lunches and four-pack Double Decker chocolate bars for a ‘snack’.
The choc-crazed insurance broker transformed his lifestyle after taking up boxing in 2020, in a bid to end a food addiction that caused him to ‘eat himself to death’.
Memories of watching sparring matches with his dad before he passed away ultimately pushed Tobie into the boxing ring. Now he weighs an incredible 14.5 stone and has just been granted a pro boxing licence.
He said: ‘The reason I lost all this weight is because I was scared of dying. I had to come to terms with the fact I had an addiction to food.
Tobie Vermeire (pictured), 31, from Herefordshire, who once scoffed 35 chocolate bars a week and weighed 26 stone, has now knocked out half his body weight to become a professional boxer
Tobie ditched 12 stone in just one year following a ‘horrendous’ diet of two-pizza lunches and four-pack Double Decker chocolate bars for a ‘snack’
The choc-crazed insurance broker transformed his lifestyle after taking up boxing in 2020, in a bid to end a food addiction that caused him to ‘eat himself to death
‘I’ve always loved boxing. When I was overweight I’d be sat there eating my Ben and Jerry’s ice cream watching the boxing. These guys were my heroes. But my heroes are now on the same level as me, I’m one of them.
‘I also used to watch boxing with my dad who died when I was 15. It was a way for us to bond and he always said I would have been heavyweight champion of the world.
‘Well now I want to do that and make him proud’.
Tobie ballooned to 26 stone and a 46 inch waist after years consuming an unhealthy diet of 10,000 calories per day.
He wolfed down full English breakfasts, Chinese takeaways and multiple chocolate bars on a daily basis.
At his heaviest he struggled to put on his own socks or walk up a flight of stairs and even had to squeeze into XXXL clothes. The turning point came when he realised he couldn’t stop eating.
He added: ‘It got to the point where I couldn’t pull my socks up or walk up a flight of stairs.
‘For breakfast I’d have a big breakfast baguette, a full English in a baguette. At 11am I’d have a four pack of chocolate bars or a doughnut for a snack.
Tobie ballooned to 26 stone and a 46 inch waist after years consuming an unhealthy diet of 10,000 calories per day
At his heaviest he struggled to put on his own socks or walk up a flight of stairs and even had to squeeze into XXXL clothes. But now he engages in a disciplined lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating
‘At lunch I’d have two Dominos pizzas and snacks from the shops which would be sweets or Pringles.
‘Then I’d come home and have a Chinese takeaway or a pizza. I’d eat a lot of takeaways then a tub of Ben and Jerry’s every evening and a chocolate bar. It was the standard really. To me it was the norm.
‘I had to treat it like a drug addition. I had to retrain my mind’.
Perhaps his prior sporting experience as a young lad helped cushion his new sporty lifestyle.
‘I played rugby at a good level when I was younger’ said Tobie.
Tobie hopes to secure his maiden professional bout later this year, eying up a potential Midlands and national title at cruiserweight level
Memories of watching sparring matches with his dad before he passed away ultimately pushed Tobie into the boxing ring (Pictured: Tobie boxing, aged 5)
‘I was still playing rugby when I was big. But I really needed that big kick in the backside.
‘I’m an insurance broker by trade so the fitness plan was like my job. I did it in a way I could understand and which made it possible to achieve.
‘Little steps had to be taken to achieve a greater goal’.
The former chocoholic now trains three times a day, six days a week and currently has ten amateur bouts under his belt.
Despite chalking up several victories, he is now ready for a new challenge.
Tobie hopes to secure his maiden professional bout later this year, eying up a potential Midlands and national title at cruiserweight level.
He explained: ‘That’s what kept me driven every day, dreaming of stepping into the ring.
‘I started out in the amateurs, fighting in UK tournaments, as well as in Sweden. My aim, when I was 26 stone, was to become a pro boxer within three years.
TOBIE’S DIET BEFORE
Breakfast: Full English baguette
Snack: Four Double Deckers
Lunch: Two pizzas, crisps and doughnuts, more chocolate
Dinner: Large pizza or Chinese
Dessert: Tub Ben & Jerry’s, chocolate bars
TOBIE’S DIET NOW
Breakfast: Black coffee and small snack
Lunch: Mexican salad with chicken
Snack: Date bar or alternative low calorie option
Dinner: Prawn curry with plenty of vegetables
‘That was the catalyst and what helped me commit to it. I had to lose all the weight, while also learning one of the toughest sports in the world. I had to learn how to box.
‘The levels in amateur boxing are huge. I was boxing GB prospects after just a few fights.
‘I was fighting guys who had been doing it for years, with 50 bouts under their belts’.
He said a unique kind of discipline is needed to exceed in boxing, one which continues to encourage him every day.
‘You’ve got to be accountable in boxing for your training and if you don’t work hard you’ll get hurt because the weight I fight at, they’re big strong men’ said Tobie.
‘I’m blessed, I’ve got long arms. I can jab with the big lads. I’m orthodox, a pressure fighter. I’ve got a really good engine on me.
‘But if I lose on a Saturday, I’m back in the gym on Monday. I want to enjoy my journey but also get something to put on my mantelpiece’.
Still, Tobie understands that each new day brings with it a different a challenge, and he isn’t ‘expecting miracles’.
He added: ‘I’m not going to become the best boxer in the world, but I want to go as far as my talent will take me.
‘It would be rude not to give it my best shot after the weight loss’.
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