Leaders’ Questions
The five leaders this year each have a story to tell. But why are they ready to bare their bodies to the nation and how are they feeling about the challenges they face?
We put some leading questions to the ve Operation Transformation leaders, namely why are they doing this and what do they fear most in the weeks ahead? You can expect Lycra to gure prominently.
Shane Farrell
Weight: 20st 6lbs
Height: 6ft 2ins
Shane (29) lives with his wife, Clodagh, and their children, Tadhg, Teagan, Moya and Sadie in Loughrea, Co Galway. Shane and Clodagh are both teachers. Shane teaches music and religion and is also a musical director working with a number of amateur drama groups. Music take him all over the country and most nights he doesn’t get home until midnight, which results in him eating a lot of junk food on the road. At the age of 15, he was diagnosed with a neurological condition which affected his bladder control and he needs to lose weight in order to have surgery. He turns 30 next year and wants to be fit for his kids and himself.
Why are you doing Operation Transformation?
I’ve been sick since my mid teens and piled on the weight. The medical people have done all they can do for me but there is one more operation in Belgium that can be done. However I need to be close to 14 stone before that procedure can go ahead. So that is my greatest incentive. In the past I’ve done various diets and lost the weight but put it all back on again. I got very sick last September, watched the show in January and thought that could be me.
What is your goal?
Firstly I’d love to be able to run the 5K in the Phoenix Park. I’d also love to be stronger mentally, have more confidence in myself. So I’d love to be on that catwalk on that final show, wearing something fashionable. My clothes sense is all wrong. I will be 30 next year and was so unhappy on my last birthday that I wanted to change and feel good about myself for once. And I’d love to have that surgery in the summer of 2021.
What do you reckon will be the toughest part for you?
The vegetables and the food plan. I don’t eat vegetables: even the thought of eating them makes me want to gag. My wife is a great cook but I don’t cook. And the other big fear is wearing the Lycra outfit. I had a huge panic attack on the day of the photo-shoot thinking that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’m afraid I’ll baulk on the very first weigh-in. But I believe that this is my time now. It has to be.
Andrea Rea
Weight: 20st 10½lbs*
Height: 6ft
Andrea (31) has watched OT over the years. This year, she sent in her application form. When she told her husband, Barry, he too applied (they are a competitive couple). Andrea would like to start a family but is worried about her health and the increased risk of heart disease. Of the two, Andrea is the main motivator and Barry is the cheerleader. Andrea feels they both use food to pick themselves up and worries about what will happen if they both have a bad day together. She knows the task ahead is going to be hard, but knows that they need to turn the corner to have a better life together.
Why are you doing Operation Transformation? What kicked it off for Barry and myself is that after we got married last June, neither of us felt happy with how we looked on our wedding day. My mum told me that they were looking for participants in Operation Transformation and we really wanted to avail of this opportunity of working with a team of health care professionals. The other big motivation was that there would be a lot of people watching and supporting us so we jumped at it.
What is your goal?
The main thing is to break the bad habits. I wasn’t always overweight. It was mainly down to the bad habits I picked up. They say it takes four weeks to make a habit and four weeks to break a habit. My hope is to get back into healthier eating and not just reaching for food for comfort or to relieve stress. In the past
I would train to get rid of stress. Now I’m hoping to get those healthy habits back into my life. I hope to lose a decent amount of weight in the eight weeks of Operation Transformation but that’s really the platform to keep this up for life.
What do you reckon will be the toughest part for you?
There are two things. Firstly making the food plan work for me with my schedule of family, work and an online course I’m doing. So hopefully I can manage to fit it all in. And Barry and I will have to make it work together. Also I’m anxious about all that stuff you talk about in The Circle of Truth is going to be out there on TV. But once I get over the first episode I reckon I’ll be fine.
Barry Rea
Weight: 29st 4lbs
Height: 6ft 7ins
Barry turns 40 in July and at just over 29 stone, this is the heaviest he has ever been. He strongly feels this is the motivation that he needs to start moving in the right direction. He knows that on OT there is no ‘get out of jail free card’. Barry wants to turn his life around. He and Andrea are in the process of buying their first home together – this is a major event for them both as a new couple. They are hoping to move in by the summer. Barry loves that they have been selected as a couple: they would be their own team as well as leaders for the nation.
Why are you doing Operation Transformation? Without mincing my words, I’m doing it because I’m fat. So I had to make changes because of that. I applied separately from my wife, Andrea. I grew up with that Irish tradition of not leaving the dinner table until your plate was empty. As I got older the portion sizes got bigger and kept growing. I was very involved with sport, playing rugby, but a bad neck injury put me out of action and I piled on the weight. So I just need to lose that weight.
What is your goal?
At the weight I am, in ten years time I know I’m facing a major illness like a heart attack or stroke or something equally life-changing. I have to change for myself and my family. So short-term my goal is to reduce my portion size which will probably take longer than the eight weeks of the TV show. The long-term goal is just my general health. I have two young boys and I want to be able to play with them. If I don’t do it no one else will do it for me.
What do you reckon will be the toughest part for you?
I do not have a massive sweet tooth but portion sizes are my downfall. I probably eat for one and a half people every day. I love my food. I’m a good cook and that can be good and bad. I’m hopeful of sticking to the food plan but really need to watch those portion sizes and I have to be really disciplined not to add anything extra to the dishes. But if I have to change my palate I will and that will become my new normal. Operation Transformation has given me this opportunity to change my life and I’d be really foolish not to make the most of it.
Tanya Carroll
Weight: 14st 9 lbs
Height: 5ft 2in
Tanya (34) lives with her partner, Mark, and her four children, Abbie (15), Rían (10), Mark (5) and Oran (1). She is a proud Cork woman, who wants to improve her health and well-being. Tanya has been obsessed with Cola since she was pregnant with Abbie. She estimates she drinks six to eight cans a day. She has one first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. One of her biggest fears embarking on OT is that she will find it too challenging and give up. Tanya wants to inspire people as big as her to feel confident to go out and socialise. Applying for the show has taken her out of her comfort zone, but she has come to the stage where getting this help is worth it.
Why are you doing Operation Transformation? Last January I gave up smoking so the next thing was my weight. Back then I was 13 stone. Up to now I never put myself out there so it was a major surprise to my family when I applied to Operation Transformation. My dad is diabetic and was a smoker years ago and has got very ill as a result so that was also an incentive for me. I want to be healthy for me and my young family.
What is your goal?
I’m sick to death of being fat. I want my kids to look at me as a role model instead of someone who is overweight and with no energy. I want to be able to run the 5K in the Phoenix Park. I never ran or walked anywhere as a kid. I was the baby in the family and was spoiled a bit.
What do you reckon will be the toughest part for you?
The Cola, as I drink about eight cans a day. I used to smoke 30 cigarettes a day so I’m hopeful of kicking the fizzy drinks as well. But I’m dreading doing it on television. If I can do that I believe I can do it. I’m also the plainest eater ever, everything is chicken. So everything will be tough really. In the past I went on diets and never succeeded but I really feel different about it this time round. I want to be here in 12 months time and show people that I can do it without the cameras.
Lorraine O’Neill
Weight: 12st 8lb
Height: 5ft 2ins
Lorraine (46) lives with her partner, Terry, and their two children, Mia (11) and Jodie (2) in Co Cavan. Lorraine left school at 14 and worked as a hairdresser. At the age of 23, she opened her own barbers and still has this business today. Mia was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was a baby, which prompted Lorraine to run a number of charity fund-raising events in the local community. After Jodie was born, Lorraine, fit from her fundraising events, began to ease off on the activities. She loves to cook, but she is addicted to chocolate. She believes she is a born motivator but unfortunately, she can’t motivate herself. She believes if given the chance, she wouldn’t let us or herself down. Why are you doing Operation Transformation?
I have put on a lot of weight over the last few years, especially after I had my second child, Jodie. It’s really the result of being burned out. I suppose that happens when you have a baby at 43. I look at myself and hate what I see. Now I’m hoping that the OT team will motivate me and I will motivate others. When I was doing the fundraising I was fit, healthy and about two and a half stone lighter. So I know what that feeling is like and I want to know it again.
What is your goal?
I want to have more energy for the two kids. I have a good three stone to lose and if I left that for another year it would be four stone. I’m rolling downhill at the moment and if I didn’t do Operation Transformation now I’d keep on rolling. I won’t lose that weight in two months but this is a lifestyle change for me. I want my children to grow up being proud of me and how I am and what I’ve done and how I look. I want them to learn from me that if you have a problem, get off your backside and do something about it.
What do you reckon will be the toughest part for you? Right now the thing I dread the most is walking out in the Lycra. I haven’t been that naked on the beach in some time let alone on national television. So that will be hard as well as giving up chocolate and biscuits. I don’t smoke and rarely drink but those are my downfall so I know that giving up them will be tough.