Ivan Maric’s FebFast challenge is almost over, but the Richmond ruckman is set to carry some healthy habits into the year ahead.

Maric has gone without alcohol and sugar for the month of February to raise money for Ladder – the AFL Players’ official charity. While his diet won’t be quite as stringent for the remainder of the year, he believes it’s important for ‘FebFasters’ to maintain a healthy lifestyle when February comes to an end. He’ll be keeping some of his pre-season habits in mind throughout the year.

“I think a good one for me is during Monday to Friday, not having any alcohol or junk food,” Maric said, when asked about his best pre-season health habits.

“If you have one or two beers during the week, it adds up… I try to live by that rule [during pre-season] and have tried to get a few of my mates on it too.”

For Maric, the rewards are obvious.

“One of the benefits of not drinking alcohol is I sleep better,” he said.

“That sleep for me is so important for my job in terms of my recovery. Noticing that has been great for my preparation.”

Abstaining from sugar, as well as alcohol, has allowed Maric to keep trim this pre-season. At 200cm, and with a thick mullet that must weigh at least a few hundred grams, Maric can’t afford to be carrying around any extra weight. It was a factor that played on his mind before his FebFast campaign began.

“My preparation for the pre-season involved watching myself over the Christmas break – making sure I didn’t eat too much and put on weight, because that would affect my training in January and February.”

Essendon’s Michael Hibberd, the Bulldogs’ Will Minson, Brisbane’s Brent Staker and Fremantle duo David Mundy and Matt De Boer have also taken part in FebFast this season.

To find out more about FebFast or to make a donation, head to febfast.org.au