Brett lost 29kg and ditched the dad bod

Hi, I'm Brett Spargo, 37, from Seymour, Victoria.

From an early age I was always very active. From football and cricket to my main passion, long distance running. 

Throughout my primary school years I was regularly selected in the Victorian Track & Field and Cross Country teams to complete against the other states of Australia.

That passion of long distance running through high school burnt out and I started to play more football with my mates. Unfortunately my body was not built for this and after two knee reconstructions and numerous hamstring injuries I gave up physical sport at 28 years old.

Not long after our first child, River, was born (2014). As I had next to no physical activity, the Dad Bod came out very quickly.

Takeaway lunches regularly for work, regular soft drinks and no portion control of meals — while I could get away with some of it while playing sport the weight was starting to stack on quickly.

Another few years later our second child, Billie, was born (2017). My weight was creeping up year after year until the start of 2021 when I was staring down the barrel of 100kgs.

I had no motivation whatsoever. I was regularly letting my now seven-year-old son River down by saying “sorry mate, Dad’s too tired to kick the footy, go for a bike ride, kick the soccer ball”.

It was my son’s continual asking for his dad to play with him that made me say “I have to do something NOW”. I’m not letting my kids down anymore. Strangely enough around the same time my partner had purchased a bag of The Lady Shake and said "you should try this".

 

I was a very sceptical as I’d tried meal replacement shakes before and they had failed massively. I was always so hungry I’d give in within a few days and find the closest fast food takeaway shop.

I finished off the bag of The Lady Shake only having one shake a day before I decided I was going to give this a red hot crack for my kids but also for me to feel good about myself again.

I made the decision on the 14th of February, 2021 that I would purchase The Man Shake and made my first goals of reaching 80kgs and competing in my second-ever half marathon (21.1kms) in July this year.

Once my first order of The Man Shake arrived I went to two shakes a day and stuck at that for three straight months.

Meal portion sizes was the hardest for me to shake but with regular walking and drinking more water than I ever had, I was able to lose around 4kgs a month for those first three months. I also started having The Man Bar for snacks in between shakes and eating fruit, which I hadn’t done in years.

To date, I have lost 15kg using The Man Shake.

I was never a real breakfast person so having The Man Shake was a great way for me to start the day. And with being on the road a lot for work being able to make myself a Man Shake on the run for lunch was so easy.

Unfortunately my planned half marathon run in Melbourne was cancelled because of COVID but it didn’t stop me from completing the half marathon run on my own, which I ended up beating my best time by a whopping 8 minutes. 

I still haven’t hit my target weight of 80kgs (currently between 81-82kgs) but I’m now so heavily invested with being active and eating healthy, I’m sticking with The Man Shakes as they now suit my lifestyle so much so I have moved my target weight to 75kgs and to complete my first full marathon (42.2kms) in October this year.

I definitely recommend The Man Shake as a lifestyle change. I have already had a few of my work mates see and follow my journey that they too have now started on The Man Shake.

The Man Shake and The Man Shakers facebook pages have been so positive and important for people like me. If you're wanting a healthy life I recommend checking these pages out.

Read the stories of real people and see what amazing things YOU can achieve.

UPDATE

I’ve always been a very sporty person. Even from a young age I was lucky enough to win a couple of state cross country and 800m track titles in primary school. Then was lucky enough to experience a few football, cricket and lawn bowls premierships in my adult years.

But I think this is my greatest sporting achievement. Nearly weighing 96kgs at the start of this year running a marathon wasn’t even a thought in the back of head. Lucky I discovered The Man Shake, and the rest is history. I'm down to 74kg today and finished my first ever marathon.

Having my two young children and my parents cheering me over the finish line at the MCG this morning absolutely made this even more special.

The last 12 weeks I have trained hard for this event. two previous half marathons I’d entered this year where cancelled because of COVID. Even with all the training, my aim was to first finish and second to do it in time roughy between 3hrs 20mins and 3hrs 30mins.

Reaching the finish line I achieved the time of 3hrs 2mins. I seriously don’t know how I kept my pace up for so long sitting with the 3-hour pacemakers till the last 6-7kms when I started to hit the wall.

The first one is always extra special.