Deirdre Sheerin worked as a young Garda stationed in Longford, Moate, and Mullingar. Tragedy struck in 2009 when she was involved in a car accident, sustaining serious injuries which severely damaged her back. After the incident her mobility was greatly reduced and she has lived with severe pain every day since. She also had to use a wheelchair to get about, meaning she led a more sedentary lifestyle; she can walk, but very slowly. Much to Deirdre’s dismay, her weight began to pile on and eventually she went up to a size 26.
Diet after diet was experimented with, until a good friend told her about the Slimming World group in the Athlone Springs Hotel. Deirdre was sceptical, but took her friend on good faith and in January 2016, joined the Athlone Springs Slimming World group.
Deirdre says: “I was met at the door by the consultant Pauline, who runs the Slimming World group. She put me at ease straight away with her warm welcome and down-to-earth manner. I was so excited to discover that, with a few small changes, I could still make my favourite meals, like chicken tikka masala, spaghetti bolognese, and even taco fries.”
In her first week in Slimming World, Deirdre’s scepticism soon disappeared. There was no humiliation or judgement, only encouragement and kindness. She ate more than she had ever eaten before and was thrilled to lose 8lbs in her first week. She continued to lose weight every week eating foods like potatoes, rice, pasta, meat, fish, poultry, and pulses with no weighing and measuring.
Last week in group, there was much excitement when Deirdre was presented with her 10 and a half stone award!
Her weight reduction has also meant improved mobility, so much so that she is now less dependent on her wheelchair, using it only for longer journeys.
Her cholestrol level, which was very high a year ago, is now perfect, and she has stopped using an inhaler that she frequently needed to use a year ago.
Whilst still in daily pain from the accident, she feels so much better in herself than when she started her weight loss journey. She loves to shop for clothes now and has gone from a size 26 to a fabulous size 14 in just one year.
Deirdre says: “I love going to my Slimming World group; it is so friendly, we have great fun, swapping ideas and getting great hints and recipes for the week ahead. What I love is that you can take any recipe out there and tweak it the ‘Slimming World’ way - no food is forbidden. If anyone is miserable with their weight and would love to change, I would urge them to join Slimming World. I’m so glad my friend convinced me.”
If you would like more information on Pauline’s group in the Athlone Springs Hotel, call her on (087 ) 1878701, or you can call Sinead who runs the groups in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel and in the GAA centre in Garrycastle on (087 ) 6820759.
