Greg Ritchie reveals staggering weight loss

Former Test cricket star Greg Ritchie has shed a whopping 36kg from his portly frame after being told his weight might lead to his death.

Greg Ritchie is no longer the Fat Cat.

Greg Ritchie is the Fat Cat no more.

The former Australian Test cricketer, whose nickname was derived from his portly frame, has shed 36kg in a body transformation he says saved his life.

Weighing 133kg, the 60-year-old was told last year if he kept on the same path with regards to his diet and fitness he was at risk of dying.

So the 30-Test star, who averaged 35.2 with three centuries and seven fifties during his international career in the 1980s, decided to make a change.

“I wanted to keep waking up in the morning and they said if I didn’t lose any weight I’d probably end up looking at the inside of a box and that wasn’t a great alternative,” Ritchie told Sky Sports Radio this morning.

“I was advised to go and see a medical clinic in Brisbane called the LifeShape clinic … the only medically supervised weight loss clinic in Brisbane, April 1 last year.

“Fourteen months later I got 36kg off.

“(I undertook a) Food replacement program for really 12 months and a re-education of how to eat, (addressing) the psychological problems that I might have had that were making me eat, an exercise program.

“And the most important thing is the discipline that goes with it. I had to report every week – when I say report in, I went and spoke to my clinician every week and we diarised all the progress so it’s been a fantastic journey.

“It’s saved my life.”

Greg Ritchie wasn’t always in the best shape during his playing days.

Accustomed to long, boozy lunches on the speakers’ circuit, Ritchie has cut down on his alcohol intake. He says he’s only had half-a-dozen beers in 14 months and has replaced the schooners with scotch and the occasional glass of red wine.

He’s also made a concerted effort to exercise more regularly.

“That’s the big thing. Every day do some exercise, watch what you eat, it’s amazing,” he said.

Ritchie also weighed in on the feud between Aussie cricket legends Shane Warne and Steve Waugh, which was back in the headlines during the week.

Warne has regularly said his former captain was the most selfish cricketer he ever played with and he made the claim again when the leg-spinner noticed a stat on Twitter that pointed out Waugh was involved in 104 run outs during his career, and on 73 occasions his batting partner was the one dismissed.

Waugh brushed off Warne’s comments, saying they were “a reflection of himself, nothing to do with me”.

Ritchie, who played with Waugh and was his first roommate on tour, said it was disappointing to see the pair’s frosty relationship being played out in the media.

“I don’t like to see cricketers have feuds,” Ritchie said. “It’s none of my business what Warnie thinks of Steve Waugh but is there a need to air all of that publicly? I don’t think so.

“I don’t think you win any favours by belting up Steve Waugh, who was one of our best ever.

“I can’t see the point of it. They were two great cricketers.

“We don’t need to be doing that. Two great Australian cricketers, we don’t need to be seeing that in the press.”

After doctors said he was likely to die from a heart attack, former Australian cricketer Greg Ritchie undertook a dramatic change to turn his life around. That and plenty more in What's The Buzz, via @BuzzRothfield https://t.co/E9MeQHznR8

— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) May 23, 2020