With week five of the challenge to turn their lives around complete, Fiona Tyrrell finds out how the three candidates are doing as they start into the final week
Now in the last stretch of the turn-your-life-around challenge, all three candidates are thrilled with the results of the programme and are vowing to keep up their new routines.
They all have reached their target weight and are planning wardrobe overhauls with their old clothes now on the baggy side.
Clearly enthused by the dramatic results of the programme, Martin Whelan is determined to continue most aspects of the programme.
"As far as I'm concerned the programme has changed my life. I have lost a good deal of weight, have toned up and I spend more time with my family and myself.
"I'm not going to stop it at the end of next week. No way am I going back. I see myself at 13 stone, which is a long-term goal, and if I keep up the fitness and other routines, there's no reason why I can't achieve that."
Likewise, Dermot O'Sullivan is delighted with the changes brought about by the programme so far and sees it as a great platform for further changes. His fitness levels have dramatically risen as there were no adverse effects from running the 5.5 miles to work, which he now plans to do twice a week.
"You can't change your life in six weeks but you can give it a hell of a good start," he says.
Meanwhile, Fiona Gilboy, who is now a total gym convert, is plotting to get her fiance to join the gym so she can spend more time with him.
She is now a size 10 and feels very calm about her upcoming wedding.
She has also vowed to read Jenny Ditzler's book, Your Best Year Yet, next year and start all over again.
Goals set by the experts for week five included watching salt intake. Irish adults are advised not to eat more than 6g salt a day. As a guide 2g salt per meal is a lot; 0.5g is a little, according to nutritionist Nuala Collins.
Life coach John Sharry advised the contestants to take time to consolidate their gains and to decide what they want to take forward beyond the six weeks.
All three are being advised by a panel of experts made up of fitness coach Philip Phelan, nutritionist Nuala Collins, stress management expert Karen Belshaw and life coach John Sharry.
They are taking part in the VHI Turn Your Life Around Challenge.
• You can keep up to date on their progress every Tuesday in the Health Supplement and by logging on to www.vhi.ie where the three post regular updates on their activities.
Fiona Gilboy (29) from Stepaside, Co Dublin, works in HR. She is getting married on March 4th. Goal: Fitter and healthier.
The realisation that she is much fitter and has muscles for the first time in her life were the real highlights of week five for Fiona Gilboy.
"Before this programme I was really unfit, even if I didn't look it. Because of my joint problem I have always been quite weak and never had muscles in my arms or legs."
Fiona is going to the gym almost every second day and last week she found she was burning more calories on each machine she uses in the gym compared to when she started, proof of her increased ability."Even until this week I was always exhausted in the gym after 10 minutes. But I have really felt an improvement. I feel so much stronger and I'm now a size 10."
It's now two weeks until her wedding, and despite a chaotic week confirming final details for the big day, the stress levels are good. She has been using her breathing, muscle relaxation exercises and positive commands and feels great results from them. "The more you use the stress exercises, the less you need them. I'm really calm and with so many other things to focus on I'm not worried about the wedding."
The healthy eating has become second nature to Fiona at this stage of the programme and her cravings for sweet foods have disappeared.
"I used to eat too much sugar in my diet before, but now I not only don't crave it any more I just don't want it anymore. Someone in work made me a cup of tea this week with a spoon of sugar in it and I nearly got sick."
Martin Whelan (33), a human resource director from Kilcullen, Co Kildare, is married with one child. Goal: Health and happiness.
People's reaction to the changes in Martin Whelan's appearance are quite dramatic and almost a little embarrassing. "Lots of people are noticing the change but some people who haven't seen me for a few weeks are very surprised. It's almost embarrassing. They can't stop looking at my tummy area when I'm trying to have a conversation with them." He has lots 20lbs to date and is wearing clothes that are six sizes smaller than when he began the programme.
Like Dermot he was advised to reduce his salt intake and cholesterol. He takes Danecol, a yoghurt drink which contains stanols and sterols that help lower cholesterol, and eats more fish. Eating more fresh food means he now enjoys chatting with his wife while preparing food and has found it has made food more interesting.
Snacking, Martin's Achilles' heel, was not a big problem last week and he indulged in only two packets of crisps, compared with the one a day he used to consume. "It's a case of mind over matter. I tell myself I don't need it and before I know it I have forgotten about it."
Martin has joined Triathlon Ireland and hopes to compete in a Triathlon in September. He has completed two triathlon sessions in the gym. He reckons he burns 1,500-2,000 calories in the gym at each session. He uses Karen Belshaw's stress exercises in the gym. "It's a bit boring being on a cross trainer so I visualise I'm climbing a big hill and get an extra push out of myself."
Dermot O'Sullivan (41), programme manager, from Cabinteely, Co Dublin, married with two children. Goal: Get fit and trim.
Dermot O'Sullivan lost around 1.2lb last week and is now under the 14-stone mark - his target for the whole programme.
Nutritionist Nuala Collins asked Dermot to watch the salt content of his food and he was quite surprised with what he found. "The level of salt in breakfast cereals came as a big surprise. My Bran Flakes had more salt content than Crunchy Nut Corn-flakes or my kids' Coco Pops." Soya sauce is high in salt but there is a third less salt in low salt soya sauce and a quarter less in Worcestershire sauce, which more or less does the same thing, according to Dermot.
He ran from Monkstown Dart Station to work on Baggot Street on Wednesday morning, a 5.5-mile run. The run went really well and he did it in 50 minutes, 10 minutes faster than he had anticipated. So well in fact that he did it again on Friday and hopes to do it twice a week. "It works out well as a form of exercise. I need to get to work and it doesn't impinge on my family time. It's clear my fitness levels have really come on because there were no adverse effects after the run."
Dermot's goals of keeping in touch with family and friends more is going well and he has made plans for a special one-on-one activity with his two children. He is reading a book by life coach John Sharry called Parenting Preschoolers and Young Children, which has good practical advice about managing behaviour and lots of real-life examples with which Dermot really identified.