JOE’s Weight Watchers Challenge Week 4

We're now into Week 4 of JOE's Weight Watchers Challenge and the lads are still working hard on shifting the extra weight. Here's how Joe, Darren and Aaron got on since last week.

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Joe Mulligan
Class: Ted Lavelle's, Achill Island
Starting weight: 21st 10lbs
Current weight: 20st 6lbs

I had a good week this week. I managed to lose four and a half pounds which gives me a total weight loss of 18 pounds. That’s nearly 6 per cent of my body weight lost over the few weeks. Now that the five per cent is gone, my eyes are firmly set on the 10 per cent mark and I have a bit of a head start on the getting closer to that this week.

I absolutely walked the legs off myself this week. After the last meeting I decided that during the week I was going to put some serious effort into walking and I kept that promise to myself.

This week now, I have more energy and I’m in better form. Believe it or not I feel more of an incentive to work, I feel more rejuvenated getting up in the morning and I’m sleeping much better, all because of the weight loss. All in all, there isn’t a single negative thing that I can report back with over the past few weeks.

I have to take my hat off to our class leader Bronagh. She definitely deserves a mention. The meetings are always positive, and she always has good advice and gives great support. She makes herself free and available anytime - she’s a huge help. I can’t thank her enough. And the support from the others in the class is also brilliant.

I’m sticking within my ProPoints™ limits this week and I hope to continue it on for the rest of the week.

I don’t know whether it’s the extra energy that I’m getting from this Weight Watchers Challenge or what, but I’m doing more cooking and it’s great. For Valentine’s, I managed to make my gorgeous wife crêpes to remind her of our honeymoon in Paris (major brownie points right there). When she turned around and said “Well, you got the consistency right”, it was a real thumbs up for me - I felt 10-foot tall.

Hopefully now we’ll lose a few pounds this week, but as I said I have my eye firmly on that 10 per cent mark now.

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Darren Savage
Class: Carmelite Community Centre, Whitefriar
Starting weight: 17st 13lbs
Current weight: 17st 1lbs

I only lost two pounds this week, but ­I managed to balance my diet a lot better and I had no serious sessions on the beer, so hopefully I’ll be able to knock off another few pounds by the end of this week.

I didn’t get much exercise in. I managed two weight sessions and a short jog but I haven’t got much else done. It's hard trying stay on top of things when you're working long hours away from home.

I’m feeling better if I’m honest and I’m not suffering from any type of fatigue in work, which, as a recruiter, is bad news if you hit a drowsy patch during the day. I’m sleeping better and for longer and overall my general wellbeing has improved.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The classes are good as they're informative and everyone is in the same boat so you don’t feel worried about asking questions or anything.

I’m definitely going to continue going to the meetings, even after the JOE.ie Weight Watchers Challenge - just for the benefit of myself like. I’ll keep it up until I get down to my ideal weight.

My ProPoints were grand. Tracking them was a lot easier this week. I do bring in the Weight Watchers ready made meals for my lunch in work. They’re quite tasty. Now, I will say, they’re a bit small in portion but sure, isn’t that the point? I just bulk them up with a bit of a side salad or maybe with some stir fried veg, so it’s still healthy but you feel fuller.

Hopefully now I’ll keep on track to lose another few pounds this week.

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Aaron Chalke
Class: St Mary's Parish Hall, Haddington Road
Starting weight: 15st
Current Weight: 14st 12lbs

Not too good this week. I slipped into old habits, which was a bit of a kick in the.... Sadly, I put on two pounds this week but at least it’ll give me more encouragement to get the finger out and properly give it a go.

If I could go back and change anything over the past week, I wouldn’t have as many take-a-ways and I’d get off the couch more. Simple as. I got a bit too comfortable, had a few too many take-outs and I didn’t get to go out for a jog, which I was hoping to do.

I’ll have to ignore last week a bit. But before the past week, I was feeling much better and it was easier to sleep. I’m feeling a lot groggier this week and I can really see the effects so I’ll try and not slip back into old habits.

The classes are good. They’re great for advice. When you go in, firstly you're weighed in, then you get a new pamphlet for each week which has tips on tracking ProPoints and other advice. The leader will go thorough the groups’ achievements, like if anyone wins the seven-pound-star or reaches their ideal weight. Then we go through different tips and easy ways to track your points. So it’s worth going when you're getting all that.

This week, I’d like to lose what I put on and a bit more too. Hopefully, I’ll lose about four or five pounds this week, so I’d be happy with that.