Our candidate Edelle O’Brien from Caherdavin is three weeks into her six week transformation, on the inside and out, with the Ultimate Health Clinic and personal trainer Dave Sheahan…
Hello everybody! Well I am three weeks into this and still alive, still off the cigarettes and still not hungry. This week I managed not to eat my own body weight in seeds, which as I learned from last week is a good thing. Also I have created one of the healthiest puppies in Limerick. Lucie is up early in the morning and also has her porridge with me and eats pineapples, kiwi skins, apple skins and my smoothies. If Dave Sheehan would let her into the gym I reckon she would run on a treadmill too.
I had a work trip to Birmingham’s NEC to visit a trade show this week. The boss and I left on Sunday afternoon. I had my porridge before I left thank God! We were very busy that afternoon and didn’t even get a chance to eat. That evening after checking into our hotel we decided to go and get something to eat. The menu looked and sounded gorgeous – for someone NOT restricted to chicken, fish and vegetables. So I decided to have a quarter roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables. The potatoes on offer were dauphinoise (garlic and cream) potatoes or chips. Guess what I had? The chips of course, and you know, it wasn’t worth it. The chicken had been micro-nuked and the chips were burned so that was a bit crap. I know I sound like I’m whinging but I had to sit across from my mother who was eating a beautiful steak and chips and more. Torture! The next day wasn’t too bad, breakfast was fruit and a cereal and for lunch we found a kosher restaurant with lovely soup and rye bread. That night I found a restaurant that was like a steakhouse. I managed to find chicken and baby potatoes with salad. I did give into the temptation and tasted some spare ribs of my mothers and a piece of lamb skewer and felt like death the next day so I suffered for my need for red meat! There is a reason why I’m not supposed to eat any yet and I had to find out the hard way. I was down a few pounds when I went back to Caroline at the Ultimate Health Clinic but when you leave the comforts of your own kitchen things can get hard. My eating won’t be as strict and as severe forever but while I’m getting the results it won’t kill me. I had a lovely abdominal massage again and another colonic with a bit more pressure this week as it was a much deeper treatment but still honestly there’s nothing to it and I mean that. It is uncomfortable like I said for about two seconds and then it’s all over. This week I have a tip though, it is one that I heard before from one of those skinny malinkies: CHEW YOUR FOOD you really do fill up faster. I have spent all these years inhaling my food and we can all see where that got me. Caroline says your food should be liquid leaving your mouth – it sounds gross but makes sense. By the end of the week I felt great again after it all.
Now I’m not technically afraid of exercise – I mean I used to be an outdoor pursuits instructor, but the training for that was in winter with ice and snow in wetsuits, though at least it had regular enough hours… Let me explain, Dave Sheahan continued this week with my interval training on the treadmill and the weights. I did notice however that the machines and weights are faster, heavier and more of it. My senses tell me that the first week he may have been easy on me, lulling me into a false sense of security, and NOW it’s time for lots of red face and sweating… When I got home off the plane I went straight into Dave. I did tell him I wasn’t feeling well and he had a little sympathy for me, as in he slowed down the treadmill twice! I really do appreciate his work on me though because guess what – in the airport my jeans fell down! A sure sign he’s doing something good! The second day I was with him was an eye opener, it was a different planet from my previous visit. Firstly it was a cold Friday morning at 6am. I mean really 6AM! I wasn’t the only one there though, there was a few of us. I was feeling a bit better, well when I went in I was, and because I had had the colonic the evening before I had a bit more energy. The amount of people that were there when I was leaving was amazing. Quite a lot of people were taking a spinning class at that time – it makes sense if you are going to make a commitment to go to the gym, why not get it out of the way early in the morning? I have found that after I go, I am full of energy and vitality. Later that evening I went to rugby training and we had to do suicide sprints, which I didn’t have to stand out of or vomit over which in my rugby career is a massive change! It is getting slightly easier. I can’t wait to play a match and see does it make a huge difference. With the exercise I definitely feel more toned and clothes are fitting me better. I do think having someone there encouraging me all the time helps especially as I am not a gym person or “gym bunny” I think it’s called, you never know maybe I will be after this…