A YOUNG man who has lost six stone is becoming the confident, fit and healthy person he always wanted to be.
Dara McDaid struggled with his weight since childhood and was unhappy in school as he felt he wasn’t like his friends. But he’s now growing in confidence.
Dara said: “When I was at school barely a day would go by when people wouldn’t mention my weight. School life was very upsetting for me. I lost count of the amount of times I would go home early pretending to be ill because of the things people used to say. They just made me feel worthless. PE lessons were the worst – I’d try to convince my mum to write me a note so I didn’t have to go. My confidence at that time was rock bottom.”
Even away from school, Dara found that his weight struggles were dominating his life. “My dad and brother were always keen to go and play football, but that just filled me with dread. And when my mum and sister wanted to go swimming I just wanted to hide.
“I spent my childhood feeling miserable about my weight and now I was heading into adulthood feeling the same way. I missed out on so much because I felt insecure about my size. I knew something had to change.
“I did try to lose weight on my own as I was to embarrassed to ask for help or attend a group but soon realised I couldn’t do it alone.” After a bit of persuading from his mum, Dara decided to act.
My whole attitude is just so different now – week by week my confidence just grew and grew. Now I’ve got lots of energy and I feel like I can do anything!
“When I joined my local Slimming World group, it took a lot to walk through the doors because I expected it to be restrictive and prescriptive – I thought I’d be weighed in front of the whole group, told what to eat and given a weight I should be. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was weighed privately, my weight was confidential and I chose my own target weight.”
After learning about Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan Dara realised that he could still eat many of his favourite foods.
“As a family we enjoyed spaghetti Bolognese, full English breakfasts and spicy curries which tasted so good, I couldn’t believe that they were helping me to lose weight. In that first week I lost 6lb and that was when I realised I could really do this.
“My whole attitude is just so different now – week by week my confidence just grew and grew. Now I’ve got lots of energy and I feel like I can do anything!
“I’ve created a healthier and happier future for myself, I might have let my early teenage years pass me by, but now I’m determined to grab life with both hands. If I could offer any advice at all it would be don’t do it alone, find a group that suits you as the support and encouragement that comes with group is next to none.”
Dara attends his local group in the church hall on the Antrim Road every Tuesday evening at either 4.30pm or 6pm. If you need any further information contact Tracey on 07773327898.
