#5 How’d they do it?
Leigh Hancock
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 Leigh Hancock, Dad, Business Manager, and former Rugby player, to share how his weight loss journey began when he retired from the sport he loved.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m 46 and have been married to my amazing wife for 17 years. We have 3 kids and I work as a Business Manager for Coca-Cola. I love Rugby and played for the Gungahlin Eagles here in Canberra. But now that 2 of my boys play, I spend my time running our junior club… but still fill in for 4th grade if needed!
From your heaviest, how much have weight you lost?
I’ve had the occasional off-season blowout, but I’ve pretty much been 117-120kgs for the last 20+ years, and I’m currently 113kgs and aim to get under 110kgs next year.
Why did you want to lose weight?
To be honest, only a small part of me really wanted to. I stopped playing rugby a few years ago, a part of me knew that while being heavy was ok while playing, it wasn’t now that I’ve stopped.
Now I’m more focused on general fitness attending F45 5-6 days a week, and I’d been following Benny A’s blogs and weight loss journey, and it made a couple of pennies drop. So I decided to download Alfred and see if it’s easy to use as he said. Turns out it is!
Was there anything holding you back from losing weight in the past?
While I knew I was carrying more than necessary, I felt comfortable and needed it to play in the front row. Plus I figured if I was training and playing rugby as much as I did, my body had to be in good shape to be able to survive all that. So I didn’t really think I needed to, which meant I was never really committed to losing any weight on the odd occasion when I tried.
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?
People commenting on the weight loss and how good I look! But really it’s just knowing within myself that my body is healthier and in better shape to get old, and that everyday life is easier and I can go harder at the gym.
What’s your favourite meal?
Bacon-wrapped chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos.
How often do you have it?
Every other week.
If you could go back, what would you tell yourself at the beginning of your weight loss journey?
Start tracking sooner for 2 reasons:
I never realised how much I was actually eating.
To understand just how much big portions impact your energy intake.
Got a message for the Alfred community?
It’s not about driving yourself crazy by writing down everything you eat (ok maybe at the start), but it’s just about having an understanding of what you are consuming and the effect it will have.
Also after using Alfred for a while, it taught me to understand what I needed to eat (or not eat) to reach my daily goal, and get to the point where I don’t feel like I need to track every day because I know roughly where I’m at.
Thanks Leigh!