A former tubby teenager has opened his own gym to help others get in shape after shedding six and a half stone in three months to achieve his dream of joining the Royal Marines.
James Tilley, now 24, from Wiltshire weighed 17 stone when he was 16 thanks to eating up to 5,000 calories a day, including takeaway pizzas for lunch.
But after ditching his unhealthy diet, and shedding ten inches from his waist in the space of 12 weeks, he was fit enough to join the Royal Marines.
James also credits his improved physique with helping him to find love with Emma, who is now his fiancée, after never having a girlfriend at school and always being too shy to approach anyone.
‘I got chatting to Emma on social media and there was a real spark between us,’ he said. ‘I don’t care what people say, attraction matters at the start of a relationship. I know that without my physique we wouldn’t have got together.
James Tilley, 24, from Wiltshire has opened his own gym and served in the Royal Marines, after transforming his body
The youngster weighed 17 stone when he was a teenager, pictured. But he now follows a strict training regime and high protein diet using products from Musclefood.com
The entrepreneur met his fiancée Emma via Instagram after his muscular selfies caught her eye
As a teenager, James was seen as the class clown, but behind the facade he was struggling.
James said: ‘I was always the funny fat kid in the class, but in reality, I was miserable. I never wanted to leave the house, and wouldn’t go swimming with my friends because I felt too embarrassed.
‘My step-dad suggested that I join the marines and it was as if someone had flicked a switch in my head because from that moment I knew this was my motivation to get fit.’
To pass the tough fitness tests required, James began exercising every day and dropped from 17 stone with a 40 inch waist to 10.5 stone and a 30 inch waist in just three months.
After getting into shape, James served in the Royal Marines for four years
The chubby teenager managed to shed more than six stone in three months to get in shape to join the Marines
‘Once I’d made the decision to train every day I soon started to see results and was amazed to lose so much weight in such a short time,’ he said.
After passing the gruelling selection tests , he served in the Marines between 2011 and 2015.
‘While I was serving I began to focus on my next goal of opening my own gym but I couldn’t have done it without Emma,’ he recalled.
‘I didn’t have any girlfriends through school, and the thought of ever asking a girl out sent shivers down my spine.’
At school, James was known as the class clown but behind the facade binge eating was making him miserable
The fitness fanatic now runs his own gym but says he couldn’t have done it without the help of his fiancee Emma
The fitness fanatic got chatting to Emma after she spotted his muscular selfies on Instagram
But he’s now engaged to Emma who he credits with helping him make his business a success.
‘She helped me to get the gym off the ground and showed me how to handle everything behind-the-scenes,’ he said.
‘It feels great to share in other people’s weight loss transformations, and been through my own makes it easier to relate to what people are going through. I couldn’t be happier.’
James maintains his amazing physique with daily workouts and a high protein diet with products from online healthy retailer Musclefood.com.
He starts and ends every day with a bowl of oats and eats three servings of chicken and rice and a portion of eggs throughout the day – as well as the occasional Musclefood protein pizza or stir fry meal bag.