Local lady 42 year old Geraldine Carr from Gortatleva, Claregalway has shown what it takes to lose 8 stone 7 lbs by sheer determination and willpower. Geraldine was always conscious of her weight and worried about her children being embarrassed about her weight. She was especially conscious before her daughter Siobhan started school and decided she had to do something about it. As a child and teenager she was always inclined to be on the heavy side and as the years went by, the weight piled on. After the birth of her second child Andrew, she suffered post-natal depression for a year, and battled through as best she could. The day finally came when she plucked up the courage to attend WeightWatchers, nearly turning back half way up the stairs.
She thought she would be around 17 stone and was shocked to hear she was 19 stone. No judgement was made for which Geraldine was thankful for. She was so inspired by the class and listening to the success stories of the members and general good support. Geraldine started to re-educate herself with regard to food and after the first class the only thing she was hungry for was success! She lost her first stone after 4 weeks and after that it slowed down to approx. 2 lbs a week. Unfortunately, Geraldine got meningitis and was seriously ill in hospital for 2 weeks but thankfully recovered. She got back on track again and continued to lose steadily reaching her final weight of 10 stone 7 lbs. Geraldine has lots more energy and eats extremely well. She attends weight watchers regularly and enjoys it as a social outing. She is even considering training as a WeightWatchers Leader to help others like she was helped.
Geraldine won the Galway Member of the Year in the WeightWatchers Regional Final in Dublin. She was one of ten finalists—five men and five women. The presenters were TV soap stars, Sheila McWade and Gerry Byrne (Kay and Malachy of Fair City). The last time this title was won in Galway was by a Claregalway woman 16 years ago—name unknown. The main prize was a travel voucher worth €3,800 and sunflower perpetual trophy and a beautiful necklace presented by Cobwebs in Galway. A water cooler from Claddagh Minerals was also presented.
Geraldine also appeared on Open House with Marty Whelan and Mary Kennedy and enjoyed the experience immensely. She will also feature in an upcoming issue of the RTÉ Guide. For this she had her hair styled by Paul Hession (son of Frank) and make up applied by Zoe Clarke, who did make up for the newly acclaimed band Six.
Geraldine’s advice to anyone wanting to lose weight is “if you want it enough, you can do it”.
Top Weight: 19 stone
Present Weight: 10 stone 7lbs
