Peloton Instructor Leanne Hainsby Celebrates One Year of Sobriety: ‘Best Decision I Made for Myself’

Leanne Hainsby is celebrating a meaningful milestone.

The Peloton instructor, 35, marked one year of sobriety with a lengthy Instagram post Wednesday, reflecting on the many ways her life — and her health — have improved since quitting drinking.

“1 YEAR ALCOHOL FREE 🎉” she cheered in her post, which included several text slides detailing her transformation over the past 12 months.

“Today marks the day before the day I was told I most likely have breast cancer. It marks the day before I went for my second opinion and was then sent on to have various scans ahead of my diagnosis a few days later,” she began, referring to her August 2022 diagnosis of early triple-positive breast cancer.

“Today also marks the day I stopped drinking alcohol,” she added.

Hainsby then explained that she initially made the decision to ditch drinking to ensure that she stayed as healthy as possible while undergoing her grueling cancer treatment. However, “it quickly turned into the best decision I made for myself because everything positive everyone says about stopping drinking, for me, continues to be true,” she wrote.

Leanne Hainsby Says She Has ‘Quiet Strength’ After Cancer Battle in Beaming Post

She went on to share some of the positive changes she’s seen since becoming sober, among them mental clarity, better sleep, greater productivity and boosted confidence. “Funnily enough, I’m way more confident without a drink — who knew?” she wrote.

The fitness instructor wrote how living sober helped her be more present and strengthened her connections with people. “Deeper, more purposeful conversations with friends and the people I love,” she explained.

Leanne Hainsby was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2022.

Leanne Hainsby/ Instagram

Hainsby reflected back on the moment a year ago when she first made the decision to stop drinking after realizing she was using alcohol as a coping mechanism. The cycling pro’s best friend, Danielle Hampson, tragically died in a car accident on her wedding day in June 2022, leaving Hainsby reeling.

“Deep in the very early stages of traumatic grief and shock, drinking way too much to try and numb an ounce of pain in any way possible, and then diagnosed with cancer a few weeks later, it could’ve been a recipe for disaster,” the trainer wrote.

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Now, she said, she’s taking the time to truly process her pain, attending weekly therapy sessions and nurturing her health and well-being. “To me, this feels like a great achievement and a new stage in life that I’m really proud of,” she noted.

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She concluded her candid post by encouraging followers on a similar path to not get discouraged. “It hasn’t always been easy … but as someone who LOVED a party, I really don’t feel like I’m missing out,” she said. “I still thoroughly enjoy a good time, it just looks a bit different now — good different.”

She signed off with, “So let me raise a glass of kombucha (in a lovely glass, because that feels good) to this moment.”

Leanne Hainsby underwent chemotherapy, a lumpectomy and radiation to treat her cancer.

John Phillips/Getty Images for EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Universal Pictures

In early April, after 12 weeks of chemotherapy, a lumpectomy and radiation treatment, Hainsby — who lives in London with her fiancé and fellow Peloton instructor Ben Alldis — was given the all-clear at a three-month scan.

“It was a really big milestone that I was feeling really anxious about, and it was really great news,” she told PEOPLE at the time.

“For me to be able to get better just felt like such a privilege,” she added. “I remember a cancer nurse saying to me: Those things that you think about now will become so irrelevant even six weeks down the line. I wish I could pass on that knowledge: All the things that we think are important — hair, boobs, looks — when it really comes down to it, they’re just… not.”

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Source: HIS Education