SOME OF YOU will know me from last year’s Operation Transformation.
My name is Alan Mullen and I’ll be writing about my experience on this year’s plan. For those people wondering why there is a lad at this weight writing about health, here it is.
I come from Rosemount, Moate, County Westmeath. I was the young guy that most people know as the fattest guy that was ever on RTE’s Operation Transformation season 8.
Weighing in at 27 stone
Weighing in at a colossal 27 stone at 21 years of age, I was the youngest male leader the show ever had.
As I sit here writing this, a lot of emotions come back to me. This time last January was when my life changed and took a complete turnaround.
I applied for the show because I felt that it really was my last option. For those that have seen the show, they’ll know I told it how I was.
Eating myself into an early grave
I believed that I was eating myself into an early grave. I use to eat two takeaways a day and drink eight cans of Coke, that’s not including the 40 cigarettes that I smoked. I was really digging my own hole.
My mental health was not in the best of shapes after being bullied for so long as a teenager because of my weight and the paranoia of people looking at me.
I felt that I let my parents down and my family. When I filled out the form for Operation Transformation, I never expected to be picked.
I presumed they couldn’t deal with someone of my size, but low and behold, I was wrong and sometimes I think maybe they are miracle workers.
Last January, I took to the TV screens on RTÉ and the reaction I got was completely unexpected for me, it was huge. Cards started arriving through the door, letters were written to me and people began calling to my door.
I never thought for one minute that weight didn’t just affect me, it affects everyone. My whole life has changed.
For one whole year of bursting myself and making unbelievable changes in my diet and exercise routine, I am down a massive 7 stone. The show gave me the motivation to keep going and I didn’t stop no matter how bad it got.
Everything in my life has changed. I’m in the gym four to five days a week, out walking and my diet is fantastic. That sugar rush that I use to get from a can of Coke hasn’t anything on the energy I have now. My clothes size has dropped and I’ve lost inches.
In the last year, I have done a lot of special things, like taking the challenge from walking to Clara, County Offaly from Cork City to raise funds for Canteen Ireland which is a young cancer support group. We raised €23,000.
I then went on to move into my own house with my girlfriend, Emily, and now I’ve opened my own business which is called Murphs Fuels. I probably never would have thought I could make a u-turn quiet as big as this.
My whole frame of mind and way of thinking has changed. I don’t believe that I can’t do anything, I just have to keep trying. For people with weight issues, they go for two or three weeks on a diet and then stop, because they think they can’t do, it is madness. Look at me, look where I have come from. This time last year I couldn’t put on a pair of socks without being out of breath or walk around my yard. Now I am running 5k and 10k.
I go to Rahan Fitness and my trainer Stephen Spollen is one of a kind. He knows what it’s like, as he’s gone from 21 stone to 15 stone and now he’s a personal trainer.
Lose the weight for you, no one else
It’s so easy to put on weight, but when it comes to losing it, it’s not. I think people need to push on and do it for themselves as no one else will do it for you.
Think of where I have been, see how far I have come, then look at yourself in the mirror – that person that’s standing opposite you – and say to yourself, that person will not be there for much longer.
Drill it into your mind that you are better than that person in the mirror. Your confidence will grow and your attitude will change, trust me.
So, until next week, I hope your weight loss journey has begun and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me on Facebook through Alan Murph Mullen Operation Transformation Leader 2015 and I will respond back to people as quickly as possible.
My one motivation for you guys this week is to be stronger than your excuses and stop wishing it and start doing it. Let that sink in as you finish this read and wonder if maybe you can do this.
Alan Murph Mullen will be keeping us up to date on his progress as he follows this year’s Operation Transformation. He’ll be writing about his fitness, his meals and his motivations. Keep up on Operation Transformation on their website here and catch up with the videos on YouTube here. You can also stay up to date on Facebook. Tune in to the programme every Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8.30pm on RTÉ ONE. Catch up on episodes on the RTÉ Player.
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