You might think having “eat to excess” as an athletic requirement would be a dream. But Colton Underwood, who shined as an Illinois State linebacker and bounced around the NFL before reality TV came calling, knows differently.

“I miss the camaraderie, my teammates, that brotherhood,” he says of his gridiron life. “I don’t miss force-feeding myself to stay a certain weight. I can’t tell you how uncomfortable that can be, eating to the verge of almost throwing up every day.”

Since retiring from football in 2016, Underwood hasn’t just gained fame for dating Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, appearing on The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, and headlining the most recent season of The Bachelor. He has also overhauled his fitness regimen—and transformed from a bulky 270 pounds to a ripped 225.