Gorey father and daughter duo shedding the pounds!
CHRISTMAS came early for father and daughter duo Declan and Gemma Murray who are stepping into the festive season nine stone lighter between them.
After one year of healthy eating and exercise, Declan and Gemma both lost four and a half stone due to their determination and support from their local Slimming World Group. The pair, who hail from Gorey, were a big support to each other, pushing one another to keep going.
Declan hit rock bottom with his weight when he went to donate blood but was turned away.
‘I was told the benches wouldn’t support my weight and I couldn’t give blood, I was absolutely mortified,’ he added.
While Gemma, who was just 18-years old, was really unhappy with her weight and frustrated buying plus size clothes. She had also decided to start personal training session at her local gym, but soon realised that there was very little point in investing time and money in it if she was just eating the wrong foods.
‘One of my friends had been doing brilliantly in a Slimming World group so I talked to Dad and we decided to both give it a go,’ said Gemma.
There were good and bad days for both Gemma and Declan who found it difficult at times to get used to the new way of eating and keeping the bad habits at bay.
The key thing for them was that they supported each other along the way.
‘This definitely made our journey easier and it was the difference between my success now and the previous weight loss attempts that we failed,’ said Gemma.
Declan has a very physical job and has noticed that the pain in his knees and hips is nearly no more as he loses weight. Gemma’s main triumph is clothes shopping. She said she no longer has to go for the bigger sizes and can now buy in any of the main shops.
‘I can now jump from the door onto the bench and I am proud to be back donating blood and helping others,’ added Declan.
Their Slimming World consultant Clare is delighted with their weight loss and said they are a huge support to others too.