Four Unislim members from Mayo celebrated achieving their amazing weight loss at this year's 44th Unislimmer of the Year Awards in Dublin on Wednesday last week. They competed against 10 other finalists (eight female and two male ) hailing from across Ireland for the coveted title of Unislimmer of the Year 2016.
Celebrating the awards' 44th year, Unislim along with celebrity judge Lisa Fitzpatrick had the difficult task of choosing the overall winner. Amanda Baylan from Belmullet, who lost 7st 10lbs and now weighs 10st 4lbs, says; “Being at the final is the sum of my journey. I feel as though I’ve been handed a new lease of life; I never really had a weight problem growing up, but after my second child was born in 1997, I didn’t lose all the baby weight and gradually, as time passed, the weight slowly crept up, I realised I really needed to do something it. My husband Andrew has also, it has definitely strengthened us as a couple. You spur the other one on throughout. And losing the weight gives you such a positive attitude towards everything else in your life. I love seeing Andrew out running, and he loves seeing me trying on new clothes and complimenting me. We just can’t believe how fantastic we feel – life is brilliant!”
Andrew Baylan from Belmullet, who lost 4st 10lbs, now weighs 13st 8.5lbs, says; “I started to put on the weight from the age of 30 onwards. I was married with kids, eating lots of takeaways, and had given up things like football so wasn’t really exercising anymore. Then at Christmas in 2014, I was getting dressed for a funeral and I put on a suit and it barely fit me, so I decided enough was enough. Amanda and I were talking about losing weight and we decided then to make a change so we joined Unislim last year. I probably would have tried to do something on my own, but definitely it makes a huge difference to do it with someone else. I think I would have struggled to go by myself, but I soon realised I wasn’t on my own with the support from my leaders. The meetings definitely keep you on track and I’d encourage anyone to go and give them a shot.”
Ray Flaherty from Castlebar, lost 9 stone 2lbs and now weighs 11st 3lbs, losing the most weight of all the finalists; “I would have classed myself as the typical yo-yo dieter, having struggled with my weight since my school days. I remember being bullied from a young age over my weight. It came to a stage that I hated getting out of bed. The day I joined Unislim, I had a good talk with myself on the drive home and decided that I was putting myself first and doing it for me. Very fast I began to notice how good I felt eating healthy and how much my energy levels were soaring. I now use my success to help others achieve their weight loss goals and have become a Unislim leader in Tuam, Castlerea, and Ballaghderreen.”
Karen Loftus from Ballinrobe, who lost 7 stone 6lbs and now weighs 10st 5lbs, says; “I’ve always been overweight and about 18 months ago, I had to move up to a size 26. My back was beginning to hurt quite badly, and I have small kids who I wasn’t as active with as I should have been, and I thought, that’s it no more. I immediately looked to see if there was a slimming club in my area that very night, I went along to Unislim in Ballinrobe, joined and I never looked back!”
