AFL great Dale Thomas reveals the radical step he took to control his weight gain after retirement

Former AFL excitement machine Dale Thomas admits he was ‘eating his feelings’ during the Covid pandemic and had to seek out radical treatment to arrest rapid weight gain in his post-retirement life.

The 35-year-old retired in 2019 after 258 AFL games with Carlton and Collingwood – colliding with the peak of the Covid pandemic and associated lockdowns.

The sudden halt of professional training and the enforced lethargy of Covid lockdowns meant Thomas piled on 13kg – and his mates let him know all about it.

‘Yes, I was happy to be the butt of a few jokes but it does take a toll on you eventually,’ he told Channel Seven.

‘It didn’t matter how hard I was working, it just wasn’t seeming to fall off.’

The combination of retiring from the AFL and heading into Covid lockdowns meant the former Collingwood and Carlton star packed on the weight 

Thomas revealed he ‘genuinely hated’ footy in the years leading up to his retirement when he appeared on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2020.

The former Magpies and Blues star consulted medical specialists who recommended a ‘metabolic reset’ that includes a once-a-day injection as part of a tailored weight-loss program.

His medication consists of a hormone that’s already produced in the gut and acts to slow the rate at which his stomach empties, making him feel full for longer. 

The injection also affects the reward centre of the brain in order to combat food cravings, and lowers the weight your body naturally tries to maintain.

Since making the dramatic move, Thomas has shed 10kg and is coming back down to his original playing weight. 

‘Genetics play a large part in weight loss which is something I never understood. Playing professional sport for a long time, you just roll out expect that if you do put on some weight, you train harder and you lose it,’ he said.

Thomas was a fit and lean specimen during his AFL playing days for Carlton and Collingwood

‘No surprises if you put on the best part of 12-13 kilos that something needs to change and a lot of us through Covid it was a case of eating your feelings – I was certainly doing that.

‘The only time I’ve experienced weight gain was after playing professional sport. Training so often throughout the weeks and throughout the years it was never really an issue.

‘From what you considered to be out of shape or not at peak performance [when being a professional athlete] then to what it actually looks like now post career, is completely different.’

Thomas shows off his paunch before he took part in a fitness challenge and metabolic reset to shed the kilos

Thomas also took part in a gruelling 45-day fitness challenge that he labelled ISO 2.0 which helped him reach his goal.    

‘It’s given me a new lease on life. [I’ve] been able to drop some kilos and [get] back to really enjoying some things I wasn’t able to do whilst I was at my heaviest – running, being active and enjoying myself,’ he said. 

‘I assume I’d be a lot larger than I am now. I’ve still got probably four to five kilos to go to get back to my playing weight.’