Former 325-pound NFL tackle Vince Wilfork shares his recipe for losing 80 pounds in retirement: broccoli, water, and discipline

• Vince Wilfork told Insider he's lost around 80 pounds since his retirement from the NFL in 2017.
• Wilfork says that the biggest change to his diet hasn't come in the foods he's eating, but rather in portion size.
• Broccoli, hydration, and discipline were all key parts of Wilfork's weight loss journey.

During his 13 seasons in the NFL, Vince Wilfork was a dominant defensive presence.

Weighing in at 325 pounds, Wilfork forced his way into opposing backfields like a wreaking ball and served as an anchor of the Patriots defense.

But since retirement, Wilfork's body has transformed. No longer needing to carry the weight necessary to force back 300-pound offensive lineman, Wilfork now looks positively svelte.

"The only change to my diet really is the amount that I eat," Wilfork told Insider, while promoting his new show on Food Network. "After football, I get full a lot quicker. My appetite isn't what it used to be."

Wilfork estimates that he's lost more than 80 pounds since his playing days. According to him, hydration and long hours in the Houston sun have both been key to his transformation.

"My son's little league baseball teams had practice three, four times a week," Wilfork said. "So I would always be in the Houston heat, and I would drink gallons and gallons and gallons of water. That's how I dropped it off. It just kept dropping.

"I love it because, I would be getting home at eight o'clock at night and I'd eat a salad or something smaller and I'm going to bed."

Wilfork's transformation has not gone unnoticed. According to Wilfork, a run-in with his former head coach Bill Belichick briefly turned into a recruiting mission to get the newly fit Wilfork back into shoulder pads.

"Bill was being Bill. He was on his treadmill working out, and I was like, 'I want to go see Coach,'" Wilfork told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. "He's on the treadmill working out, and I come in and he's like, 'What the f---?' What??'

"And I'm trying to talk to him, and the only thing he [could] say was, 'Oh my gosh, you look good! You look like you can still play,'" Wilfork said. "And I was like, 'Okay Coach, listen, I just came to see you.' He couldn't stop saying how good I looked and everything."

During his time in the NFL, Wilfork was treated to a custom meal plan to keep his health in check. With a history of diabetes running in his family, he was always careful to watch what he ate.

"In New England, they would cook food just for me," Wilfork told Insider. "I would have separate food. One of my foods I had to have every day was broccoli, and I would eat broccoli every day. My greens. They used to make me steaks, they used to make me — I don't eat spinach— but I will drink it. They would make me a shake with spinach, so I would always get my nutrients in, and that's credit to the Patriots and the nutritionist staff."

Now retired, Wilfork doesn't have the Patriots' nutritional staff to prepare his meals for him, but he still keeps on a similar diet.

"It's all about discipline," Wilfork explained. "My whole career, my whole life, I've been disciplined, so that wasn't a problem for me, because I like broccoli. I love broccoli. I love collard greens, I love cabbage. So my vegetables, I still eat."

That said, Wilfork has made some changes to his intake of greens.

"Now, spinach, I'm not doing too much anymore," Wilfork said. "I'm not making the shakes. But all the other stuff I'm fine with eating.

"I'll eat the same exact way, but just less."