A man lost five stone in four months of lockdown by quitting booze and changing his lifestyle.
Declan Byrne was stuck in a rut, suffering with bouts of serious depression and never leaving his bedroom - but now he’s climbing mountains.
He told the Irish Mirror: “I had been working on the Intel building site, before that I was in the bar trade for years so that added to the weight gain too.
“I’ve always struggled with my weight; when I was seven, I was seven stone, when I was eight I was eight stone.”
Clawing his way out of depression, he knew he had to turn his life around.
Declan added: “When I started the journey I was 19st 9lbs, now I’m down to 14st 9lbs. I cut out alcohol and I changed my diet, before I was eating a lot and housebound with depression.
“I would have only come out of my room to go to the loo and go back upstairs to watch TV.”
And meeting a group of fitness fanatics online was instrumental in his success.
Declan said: “I just had enough. I hit breaking point and I linked in with some lads online from the fitness factory.
“They started in a place in Crumlin called Explosive Fitness and I knew them from over the years.
“I texted them out of desperation and they helped me straight away: there’s Jo, Matthew and Robert and between the three of them they emailed me and WhatsApped me during the lockdown.
“But now they have their new gym in Bluebell, so they have me in there physically training.
“They gave me diet plans and tips. In the morning, I’d have eggs and turkey rashers, high protein, my snack would be a rice cake or some fruit.
“For lunch I’d have chicken and pasta with greens, then another snack.
“Then after training I come back and have a turkey burger and brown rice and plenty of greens.
“I weigh all my food so it’s all about portion control, plus I drink five or six litres of water a day. I feel like a completely different person now, I do a sunrise swim at least once a week.
“I love swimming now, I love my hiking every Saturday or Sunday.
“I’ve a whole different group of friends that I’m after attracting. My dad is 65 next week and now he’s getting up at 6am some Saturdays to come out with my mam to swim.”
Declan’s ambition has taken off too since shedding the pounds.
He said: “I was working on the building site, but I applied for a course in Liberties College, I’ve always dreamed of being a Special Needs Assistant in a mainstream school and now I’m following my dream.
“Losing the weight has given me the confidence to come out of my comfort zone. My whole life has turned around.”
