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He’s been a super-fit athlete, survived a roller-coaster of serious health challenges – and now single dad Gareth Bloomfield is getting back in shape for the sake of his daughters.

A former marine, Gareth, now 42, from Winchester, explained it was easy to stay in shape as a young man.

“Basically as a marine you are being paid to be fit and everything around you is geared up to helping you stay in the best possible shape,” he said.

He was a keen rower who made it to the World Championships in 2002 and enjoyed being part of a team at the peak of physical perfection.

But everything changed for Gareth when he became seriously ill in 2005.

“I developed bladder cancer and while I was successfully treated for that, it did take its toll.

“But then he was diagnosed with a brain tumor that left me with serious epilepsy for two years.

“It’s under control now and I got my driving license back in 2008. Ironically when I couldn’t drive I was cycling so I was a lot fitter but I’ve put on the weight since,” he said.

In recent years Gareth admitted he had taken his eye off the ball when it came to maintaining fitness levels and he is unflinching in his personal assessment of his own physique.

“I am fat – there’s no denying it. I measured myself recently and discovered my circumference was nearly the same as my height.

“The challenges with my health over the years haven’t helped and the weight has just crept on but now I’ve decided I must do something about it,” he said.

Daughters Hannah,12, and Molly,9, are the positive motivation that Gareth needs to get back in shape and they like to get their dad exercising whenever they can.

“The reason I need to lose weight is so I can live longer, spend more time with my girls and see more of the world.

“Hannah and Molly are great at motivating me –  they set themselves the task of getting me in shape and like to get me skipping and jumping whenever they can,” he said.

If he is to reach his goal of a 34 inch waist, Gareth realised he needed help from the experts and that’s why he signed up for the Oobafit challenge.

The brainchild of former Royal Marine commando Simon Weatherall and internet whizz John Abbott, Oobafit has interactive fitness programmes and videos on how to do the exercises as well as delicious recipes devised by a top London chef who has cooked for Jamie Oliver, Raymond Blanc and actress Natalie Portman.

And by using technology released by Tesco, the ingredients are placed in your virtual shopping basket for home delivery.

Once members have joined the free site, they can compete against friends to see who has reduced their waistline the most, or put on the most muscle, if they wish.

An Oobafit Challenge has recently been launched with participants going head to head to see who can reach their fitness goal first – and they will be sharing their stories via on-line blogs.

Gareth said: “It’s great having all this at my fingertips. As a busy working dad, I don’t have to worry about calorie counting and supermarket shopping.

“The menus are all sorted for me and I can order the food online for delivery to my door taking away the temptation of buying things I shouldn’t.

“And all the fitness plans are there too – as well as specific Oobafit challenges that Simon has set.

“I’ve lost three inches so far and I’m feeling really motivated” he said.

Simon, who built a personal fitness business in the Winchester area before taking his ideas online, said Gareth was just the sort of person he wanted to reach through Oobafit.

“Gareth has overcome huge health setbacks and made a remarkable recovery. Now he wants to tackle his weight and fitness levels so he really can get the most out of life.

“By taking part in the Oobafit challenge Gareth is getting back on track and with the support of this online fitness community, he should reach his goal.”

Simon explained why he had taken his fitness business on-line.

“We set out with one objective which was to get everyone exercising more and eating healthier.

“I would like to see Oobafit change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people -  if you think of ebay as a place where you go to sell unwanted items, or Facebook as where you go to socialize with friends, we want Oobafit to be where you go for fitness.

“You’ve got social networking and social gaming – and now we’ve come up with social training,” he said.

To get your own free online fitness and nutrition plan just like Gareth’s visitwww.oobafit.com

You can also view the Online Fitness Website Oobafit Here.