JOE’s Weight Watchers Challenge Week 3

Week 3 of JOE's Weight Watchers challenge. The lads have been working hard all week - check out how they've been getting on.

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Joe Mulligan
Class: Ted Lavelle's, Achill Island
Starting weight: 21st 10lbs
Current weight: 20st 11lbs

I lost 6 pounds this week so I’m extremely happy with that. It was another good week. I’m making sure to get out for a walk either before or after work and I tell myself, “you’re either going to do it or not”. So that way I can't give myself any excuses.

Even if I can’t get out for a walk, I’m still managing to get some exercise. I pulled out the Wii and the Wii Fit Plus over the weekend when it was raining and I have to say it did help. After about 20 minutes of using the machine you can feel a real sweat coming on. It really helps with the exercise side of the challenge.

The Weight Watchers ProPoints™ were grand this week. I’ve been eating a lot of the Weight Watchers recipes and I’m really enjoying the soups.

If I keep going the way I am, I’ll have to spend a fortune and buy a new wardrobe. The jeans are falling off me, literally. But at least that’s a good complaint. I’m losing the weight and I’m felling better, healthier.

Hopefully now we’ll stay on course and lose another few pounds next week. Another few and I’ll have lost 5 per cent of my body weight, which is one of the goals they set for you in class, so I’ll be happy with that. Just once I don’t put on any weight I’ll be happy.

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Darren Savage
Class: Carmelite Community Centre, Whitefriar
Starting weight: 17st 13lbs
Current weight: 17st 3lbs

I got on grand this week. I’m now down another two-and-a-half pounds - despite the sporting weekend - so I’m happy with that.

There was a bit of over indulgence watching the matches last week, but apart from that it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Believe it or not, I was still keeping track of my ProPoints even though I was out – although it did get a bit hard to keep track of them in Coppers at four in the morning!

The ProPoints in general have been going well. I’ve managed to make vegetable soup for lunch and I’ve been bringing it into work with me, plus I’m also managing to get to the gym.

I’m not doing a whole load of cardio as I’m sticking mainly to weights at the moment but you would be pretty wrecked after them.

I’ve actually noticed a big change in my attention span, as Joe (above) was saying last week. I haven’t had that three o'clock slump or anything at work whereas that would have been a big enough factor before, and I would have had 5 or 6 cups of coffee a day but now I’ll maybe have just the one in the morning with breakfast.

This week now I’d like to lose more than two-and-a-half pounds. I had nothing too drastic planned for the weekend or anything so it’s not going to be as difficult as last week. If I dropped 3 to 4 pounds I’ll be very happy, because then I’ll have dropped a stone in three weeks, but once I don’t level out or go slightly up and once I maintain some sort of consistency, I’ll be happy.

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Aaron Chalke
Class: St Mary's Parish Hall, Haddington Road
Starting weight: 15st
Current Weight: 14st 10lbs

Everything was grand this week. I ended up losing four pounds over the seven days. I didn’t get much exercise in this week, but I kept a close eye on what I was eating. I found it a bit hard keeping track of the ProPoints at first, but I educated myself a bit more on how many points are in certain foods.

I didn’t over-indulge this week, because I knew I was heading out different nights of the week so I was keeping them stored up for then.

I’m starting to feel that I’m losing the weight and I’m feeling better because I’m eating healthy foods. I stick to what I usually eat but I’m cutting the likes of pizza and burgers out as much as possible. I’m eating as much veg and fruit as possible, and good lean protein like chicken and steaks. I’m staying away from the likes of carbs in pasta.

I want to get out and get a bit more exercise this week and by next week I’ll hopefully reach the half-stone mark so another 3 pound this week and I'll be happy.