#4 How'd they do it?
Ben Alexander
The How’d they do it? interview series is designed to share the tips and tricks of how members of the Alfred community lost their weight.
This week, we chatted with Ben Alexander, a former Rugby player, Dad, and Alfred co-founder, to share how he lost weight by learning to be mindful.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m 38 and a Dad to 3 girls. I use to play Rugby for the Brumbies and Wallabies, but now I’m doing Performance Management at KPMG, co-owner of the pub “The Dock” and co-founder of Alfred.
From your heaviest, how much have weight you lost?
25kgs. My heaviest ever was when I was 20 years old and weighed 127kgs. 125kgs was my heaviest while I was playing, but now I’m around 102.
Why did you want to lose weight?
At first it was to get out of the Brumbies Fat club which was a punishment for players who were overweight. But since retiring, I wanted to lose more weight because I wanted to feel good about myself, and didn’t want to waste energy carrying around extra weight all day. Plus I was sick of beating myself up for what I ate when I was overweight, but now I enjoy my food more than ever.
Was there anything holding you back from losing weight in the past?
There were a few things, but the main one was I would just eat without thinking which lead me to get stuck in a weight loss cycle where I would either starve myself trying to lose weight quickly, or do the opposite and eat mindlessly which meant I’d put all the weight back on and some. But I’ve found tracking what I eat helps me stay mindful of how much I’m eating and I’ve never had an issue with my weight since.
I also use to think I had to be perfect and count every single calorie every day, but have learned that as long as I’m mindful most of the week, then I’m all good.
One of the things we’re trying to do at Alfred is to help people take control of their health. What’s been the biggest change to your health you’ve noticed from losing weight?
Having more energy from:
1. Not carrying around the extra weight,
2. No longer beating myself up for what I eat.
Never realised how much energy I was wasting doing those things until after I lost weight.
What’s your favourite meal?
Ice cream from Messina. I have 2 scoops- one from the specials board and the other from the regular list. Gutted they removed the Apple Pie flavour from the list though.
How often do you have it?
Usually once a week.
If you could go back, what would you tell yourself at the beginning of your weight loss journey?
Stop trying to copy what everyone else is trying to do to lose weight. Just focus on finding what works for you, and make one small change at a time. Small sustainable changes add up!
Got a message for the Alfred community?
Just be really clear with yourself “why” you want to lose weight. If it’s just for vanity reasons or you don’t know why… you’ll most likely give up when the going gets tough.