The Author
With over twenty years of professional experience – Andrew Leon LeClair is an accomplished international interior designer, who designs luxury hotels worldwide for one of the Top 10 International Interior Design Giants. Throughout his life and career, Andrew has battled weight gain and loss, along with an array of other personal struggles, which was his motivation to write his first book. Andrew’s goal is to share the valuable lessons he has learned along his personal and professional journey, and he hopes to inspire his readers to achieve a lifelong path to physical fitness and emotional health.
The second of five children, Andrew was born on June 5, 1961 in central Maine to David and Marilyn LeClair. Andrew’s parents came from a long line of laborers, who took pride in their hard work and strong family values, and tried to impart that same work ethic within their own family unit.
As a child, Andrew experienced many of the typical activities and events of most children growing up in the sixties and seventies. However, many stressful aspects of his childhood, including serious issues with his weight, expedited his transition into adulthood, and influenced the subsequent choices he made. This dictated the overall direction of his future.
Although Andrew had the opportunity to attend college in Maine – he did not want to settle for a safe and less appealing career. He had aspirations of pursuing life in a more glamorous and metropolitan geographical area. Andrew began his new life, by applying to the University of Miami. Upon notification of his acceptance, he immediately relocated to Florida, enrolled, and quickly acclimated to his new college environment. Andrew’s original course of study leaned toward theatre and drama. However, he faced many performance limitations, because of his weight and appearance.
Determined to improve his life, while he was still attending college, Andrew chose to try a new surgical procedure to address his severe weight issues. This procedure was gastric bypass surgery – a technique designed to change the digestive system to make the stomach smaller and limit food intake. It was a dangerous surgery, especially during the earlier years of its inception. However, Andrew felt that it was the only viable option, which would enable him to change his circumstance and remove his previous limitations.
After his recovery, Andrew finished college and realized that despite his anticipated weight loss, a life in the entertainment industry was not realistic. To Andrew’s surprise, an unexpected mentor presented an opportunity for a career in interior design. His new mentor believed that Andrew had the style and skills necessary to learn, and to cultivate a professional design career.
Although Andrew was inexperienced, he quickly learned every aspect of the business, and grew to love the results of his creativity. Designing nurtured Andrews’s artistic side, while providing him with a sense of adventure and fulfillment, as well as financial security. This was the beginning of a rewarding career, which Andrew has continued for more than two decades, while reinventing his lifestyle professionally and physically. Andrew now resides in New England, where he has earned a prestigious position as a senior designer for DiLeonardo International. Traveling internationally on a regular basis, Andrew is thriving in his career, as he continues to design with his unparalleled artistic vision and talent.
Despite Andrew’s demanding work schedule, he has maintained thirty years of weight loss after gastric bypass surgery. This type of record is unprecedented and a true testament to Andrew’s commitment to nutrition, physical fitness, and a healthy body image.
While his life experiences have been challenging, Andrew’s journey has been a learning experience that has resulted in his personal and professional success.