WHEN Berni O’Hare got through the tough apptitude test to join the Garda Siochána and fulfill her lifelong ambition to join the force, she was over the moon. But minutes later, she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her as she was told she was too fat to wear the blue uniform.
“I was absolutely humiliated. I’d passed the aptitude test, I passed the medical but then I stood on the scales and she [the doctor] just came straight out with it. She said ‘You’re obese – you won’t be accepted until you lose five stone’.” With her dreams in shreds, Berni left the testing centre. A lesser woman would have slunk away and tucked into an oversized bar or chocolate but instead, Berni vowed to fight back.
“I was stunned, to have got so far and then to be stopped because of my weight. I told my friend what had happened and she said the best thing she could have said: ‘Berni – if it’s what you really want then you’ll work until you get it’.” So when she saw The Clare People Operation Transformation competition, Berni knew she had a way to solve her problem, get fit, lose weight and have another crack at fulfilling her dream to be a guard. The Ballynacally woman is five feet six inches tall and weighs 18 stone, taking a size 22 in clothes.
Working on her transformation with her will be the Ultimate Heath Clinic in the Quin Road Business Park, Ozone Health and Fitness and Anne Leavy Health and Beauty, along with The Monument Hair Salon, JR’s Hair Salon and Norma Jean Boutique. Berni, who has a 10-year-old son, Lee, had previously managed to lose a massive three stone by changing her diet, getting up at 6am and walking four miles before going to work and walking another hour each evening.
“It was fantastic, I had so much energy and I was able to buy clothes in a smaller size. But that was in the summer and once the winter set in, it got too cold to go walking and I got lazy. So the pounds started to pile on again.” Berni – like lots of people who battle the bulge – has tried numerous fad diets and ‘quick fix’ methods, but none worked. And, as a trained chef, her current profession – working in the kitchens in St Joseph’s in Ennis – doesn’t help her to keep the weight down.From the sack-loads of entries which came in from people eager to take part, Berni’s letter stood out. “We could see she wanted this so badly and everyone felt so bad for her when we read her letter telling what happened to her at the test to join the Garda. Her determination shone out. We just had to select her,” said The Clare People Life editor, Aoife O’Driscoll.
In her letter to The Clare People, Berni said, “I’d love to be able to look into a mirror and not see the Michelin man looking back at me because that’s exactly how I feel when I look in the mirror. I also hate being referred to as the fat one. Whether I’m successful or not in your competition, I’m determined to lose the five stone that I have to lose and go back and apply for the job that I was told I was too fat for. My self-esteem and self-confidence is at an all-time low because on the inside I’m thin and fat on the outside. “My eating habits are the pits. I’m a devil for chocolate and fast food and skipping breakfast. Friends and family would describe me as being bubbly but secretly I’m fighting my battle with my weight which makes me hate myself.
As a parent, I personally feel I should be setting an example for my son that healthy eating and exercise is the way to go.” Joining her in the six-week challenge, which is being supported by the expertise of the Ozone team, is her pal Jessica Chaplin, who is already a member of the force but who wants to shed some weight having gone from being sylph-like to weighing in at 11 stone at five foot four inches tall. “She wants to get rid of the weight that has gone on because she was doing shift work and eating away to her heart’s content. It’s just put on weight for her that she doesn’t want and she’s being fabulous in coming on board with me.” The team will be adopting an holistic approach, addressing every issue from diet to fitness and body image.
The ladies will have twice weekly personal training sessions with the Ozone trainers while the Ulitimate Health Clinic will be organising a detox programme with their special colonic irrigation treatments, abdominal massage and nutrition programmes, all in the relaxed and comfortable setting of their health suites. At the end of their six weeks, the ladies will be treated to a spectacular makeover to highlight their achievements. “I know I can do this. I’ve never refused a challenge and I’m not going to back away from this one. I want to be a role model for other people and I will achieve my dream,” Berni told The Clare People.