My family was fantastic and I was brought up believing I could do anything. So I did judo, horse riding, swimming, long distance running and athletics.
At the age of 18 I met Brian, the love of my life and my best friend. We quickly started our family together and by 24 we had three beautiful girls under the age of 3.5: Sibéal, Saoirse and Hannah.
I felt something was not right with Hannah and my suspicions were confirmed when she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. I believe it was here that my struggle with weight gain started.
The pressure of three small children and trips up and down to Temple St Hospital in Dublin took its toll. When Caoimhe arrived five years later I had gone from my lovely size 10 to a heafty size 20.
I was uncomfortable in myself, in my clothes and in my skin.
I started experiencing numbness in my left leg. My hip would seize up every time I sat down. I was unhappy. There were three choices: a hip replacement, back surgery or an epidural. I had nothing to lose, we chose an epidural and this was a pivotal turning point.
I started going the gym the following morning, first just walking on treadmill and did this until I could run for a few seconds. My confidence was growing. I made new friends in the gym and joined spinning classes and Boxercise.
I made a decision that I would like to get to a healthy BMI and apply to be a paramedic.
It was tough. I worked out everyday, returned to college and was studying part time to be a social care worker as well as being a wife and mum. Luckily Brian and the girls supported me throughout.
Fast forward to September 2010: my first day as a paramedic student in The Ambulance College in Dublin. I looked like everyone else, a normal size! I was terribly home sick and missed working out as I lived out of a hotel room and had no control over what I ate. Low and behold three months on and my uniform arrived only to be too small. My heart sank as I knew my battle was far from over.
I heard an ad on the radio for a competition in a gym called CrossFit Waterford.
Brain and I joined it and won. For me, this was literally the start of a new life: the day I met Tom Dunphy and got introduced to Crossfit.
Covering my face with my hands, I’ll admit thinking the warm-up was the workout. We were so unfit!
I had never felt a feeling like this before as I did when I picked up a barbel. I felt so empowered and strong.
For three months Tom pushed us six days a week, between shifts in the ambulance and home life. It was hectic. I lost 3 stone (19 kg), entered the Paleo lifestyle and Crossfit was my new passion. For two years I ate only like a “cavewoman” and all my crew mates became intrigued with the goings on with this new way of life.
After my internship year I even wrote my theseis on how we could implement a healthier lifestyle for ambulance crews by offering reduced gym memberships and pay increments for staying at healthy BMI.
My passion was nutured by Tom Dunphy as he allowed me to run my own 30 Day Paleo Challenges in CrossFit Waterford for our community – that was a great success and brought me many invitations to other CrossFit boxes including CrossFit Kilkenny, CrossFit Mallow and even all the way down to Guerilla Fitness in Clonakilty. Following this I suffered an injury to my wrist and needed surgery so Paleo Crunch came into existence. People asked me to make paleo breads and treats for them and it just went from there.
Being a full time paramedic is difficult as there are no specific lunch breaks. Trying to eat non-processed food is very limiting when eating out of service stations. I still eat paleo but I am more focused on eating clean and healthy, and this works for me.
My daily meal plan looks like that:
Breakfast:
- 1 pint of warm water & lemon
- 1 whole egg & 3 whites scrambled with mushrooms & asparagus & 2 pieces of bacon or chicken
Break: dairy- free yogurt & berries
Lunch:
- large salad with onion, tomatoes, peppers and chicken or turkey with Franks hot sauce
1 pot sugar free jelly
Pre-wod:
- Paleo pancake: 1 whole egg & 2 whites & small banana and protein powder all whipped up together and fried in coconut oil. Topped with mixed seeds and strawberries, blueberries and drizzle coconut cream.
Dinner:
- Slowcooked stew of beef and lots of mixed vegetables with sweet potatoes fries or brown rice.
Snack:
Nobo ice-cream, jelly, rice cakes, home-made granola with 2 sq of 90% chocolate or scrambled eggs & protein powder.
Drink 3 liters of water daily.
I currently work with a nutritionist who works on my macros and I stay as close to this as possible.
I love how I look, I love how I feel and I hope my journey can inspire someone to take that first step.
If my family would put limitations on me, I would probably never taken up sports. And here I am nearly 40: Olympic weightlifting and Crossfitting, and being a great role model to my girls ( I hope!) – You can do anything!
The post Úna Houlihan: “Here I am Nearly 40, Crossfitting, Lifting and Being a Role Model to My Girls” appeared first on BOXROX.