Paul Murphy, 2019
“I’D have crashed if I hadn’t done Operation Transformation, Sligo businessman Paul, 45, said on shutting his hotel during the pandemic.
He said: “Luckily I went into the pandemic as a fit and healthy person, with a better mindset, where I was better equipped to deal with what was thrown at me.” The dad-of-two runs Murphy’s Hotel and the supermarket next door in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo.
He added: “My hotel closed. Exercise went out the window as life changed overnight.”
But Paul said the mental transformation he underwent on the show saved him.
He added: “I was out running four times a week. When you’re fit and healthy it changes your whole mindset.
“The mental health was where I benefited. I was so lucky to have gone through the experience.
“I had a young family, two businesses, working round the clock, eating badly, not exercising and going down a slippery slope. So I did something radical.
“I lost almost three stone in eight weeks. Before OT, I was a typical man, not talking about things. On the show, I was a blubbering fool talking about my biggest fear that I wouldn’t be around for my children.
“Now my friends laugh that I can’t stop talking. The businesses survived and are going well.
“My son is five, my daughter is 12 and we spend a lot more time as a family, going out and about like down to the beach at Enniscrone.
“Its been a bit stop-start, but now I’m back on the plan again. When I look back, going on the show when I did was the best thing I ever did.”
‘With a better mindset, I can deal with life’s hurdles now’