This is my journey and I'm driving the car... #weigh-in-9

As this goes to post I'm on the way down from a sugar high and contemplating the scales on Saturday morning... when you hear the sound of wailing from Dubins south side tomorrow morning, you'll know its me shouting at the Belgians! The Christmas Markets were AMAZING but that's for another post... but I'll fess up after my weigh-in... I promise... 

This weeks guest post is by the new kid on the blogging block... you know when you giggle along and smile at a post, you know you're just as guilty as they are... when you nod along thinking 'yup, me too!'... or you start to well up because you've felt the very same way... you're onto a winner... one of the first times I 'talked' to Paddy on social media he told me the story of the boys giggling in Tesco... and I have felt that pain... I've felt that embarrassment... and his honesty is palpable... he tells it like it is, with a funny twist... and that's why people love him...  I've been a huge fan since he started blogging... Ups or downs, his story is one we all understand... definitely worth a follow... you can find him ..  

Twitter  HERE 

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Blog HERE 

This is my journey and I'm driving the car...

by Paddy Hourigan

Smaller Plate  

Back when I worked in O2 I used to dress up as Santa for the kids Christmas party. I loved it; it was great seeing their little faces light up and playing a part in the magic of Christmas. The irony was lost on me at the time and it's only now that I can see it for what it was. I was 20 years old, dressed up as Santa Claus because I fit the bill. Our body shapes were the same... (Round is a shape, yeah?). I could actually shake my belly like a bowl full of jelly and get away with it. It's actually mortifying when you think about it, isn't it?

Santa has an excuse I suppose. One night a year, he eats about 6 million biscuits, has 3 million glasses of milk, beer, Guinness and whatever else and then he sits on his arse for another 364 days. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it? Life doesn't work like that though. This time last year, I was in Tesco's and some kids had been laughing in one of the aisles. I was convinced they were laughing at me, the fat man in the sweet aisle so I went home and cried my little eyes out. That night, I ended up going online to see what I could do and I stumbled across John Quinlivan's blog and the Skinny Doll's journey. I stayed up until about 2am reading everything, laughing and crying with every post.

On December 2nd, 2013 I took the bull by the horns and went to face the scales. I'd been to Weight Watchers before. I'd always lose a stone or so and celebrate by putting it back on again along with a few extra pounds for good luck. (Lads, don't judge, if a famine hits Ireland again, the fatty's will outlive everyone else... who'll be laughing then!?) About two weeks in, my lovely boss in work, Ms Sarah Duff, was chatting to me about Weight Watchers and she said something that has stuck with me ever since... she said "Make 2014 the year you become the person you want to be". And I did.

In the last 11 months, I have quit my job, gone back to college to train as a teacher, cleared my debt and lost 4 stone to date. I took up running, inspired by John and the constant pressure from my friend Grainne and went from looking like a beached whale when I walked up a stairs to being able to run for an hour solid without stopping. I discovered a different love of food thanks to my WW leader Verette and started to make all of my dishes from scratch. I started to write for fun, I blogged. I turned my life around and learned loads in the process.

Thinking I was king of the world, I decided to stop going to Weight Watchers in September after money was non-existent when I went back to college. I've maintained my weight loss but the latest lesson I've learned is that you don't get rid of something that works perfectly. This week, I gave myself an early Christmas present and re-joined with a view to reaching my goal weight in 2015. Why? Because it works. Bad habits can creep back in so easily if we let them, but I'm stopping them right now. Why? Because I refuse to allow myself to become the person that is asked to play Santa next year. I refuse to be the guy in the sweet aisle, sweating buckets picking up a Golden Crisp, in case anyone spotted me. I'm taking control again. This is my journey and I'm driving the car, I'll go as fast or slow as I want, but I will not reverse, not a chance, penalty points or not.

I was incredibly humbled when Skinny Doll asked me to write for this year's challenge. It meant that I was part of something bigger and that my blog was doing the same for others as hers did for me. I'm not perfect; I've a long way to go before I get to goal, but I'm getting there, it's a journey. I keep saying it, but if I could haul my 22 stone arse off of a couch last January and start running, then anyone can. Go on, make 2015 the year that you become the person you want to be... what's the worst that could happen?

Paddy x

and it seems my blogger pals have the same awesome taste in Christmas Tunes as me! 

Hair brushes at the ready!!! 

Chart below... I'll be updating it over the weekend too once I face the music,

so do let me know if I've missed you out.. 

with my gallivanting this week I may have missed you ... 

Nearly there... don't give up now!