Time to stop with the excuses
MEET THE FINALISTS: BEST IN FASHION & LIFESTYLE
“My mother took a heart attack in front of me,” begins Dominic Donegan, recalling a traumatic experience aged just 19 years. “It scared the life out of me.”
His mother, Mary, had to get stents but she kept collapsing. A few years later medics finally diagnosed her as a type two diabetic.
By this stage serving in the Irish Army, Dominic undertook online courses in personal training (PT) and nutrition, and it was inevitable he would share the learnings with his mother.
Concerned, Dominic advised her to lose weight.
“She said ‘I don’t know how to’. I said, ‘Let me help you’. Mam was my first client.”
A keen boxer with a wealth of titles under his belt at Ulster, All Ireland and Army level, Dominic has always been fit and healthy. He turned professional at 24, and still has his glove in the door, but in 2020 he opened his personal training and wellbeing coaching service ‘Whats Your Excuse’ offering in person and online options.
The Celt notes the confrontational tone of the business name.
“We’re the best in the world for excuses, including myself,” he accepts. “The big excuse is, ‘I don’t have time.’ If you put your health and your fitness first, then your family, then your work, everything else falls into place then – you’re a happier version of yourself – you’re more motivated. That’s why it’s very important not to push it aside and say you don’t have the time.”
His personal experience drives Dominic’s passion for helping people to focus on their health and wellbeing. Whats Your Excuse also includes Dominic’s sister Rosemary Smyth as wellbeing coach, and Aoife Brady who looks after nutrition and marketing.
“Most of the time when pepole put on weight it is emotional eating - they are eating out of boredom, they are eating out of loneliness – they’re eating when they aren’t even hungry.
It’s great to have a wellbeing coach to go into depth with them: ‘Were you really hungry or were you emotional eating?’
He notes that consistent motivation and accountability are key in the success of the business.
“Even though I’m coaching over 100 clinets online, I have a coach to hold me accountable,” he says.
Dominic candidly shares how he is dyslexic, so he communicates with his online clients through voice notes and an app. He charts his own healthy lifestyle through his Instagram page (@ptdonegan1) so his clients can see he genuinely walks the walk.
When talking the talk, he obviously does it well as his mother will attest. Mary was 16.5 stone, and is now 9.5 stone, seeing her reverse her diabetes.
“I’m 31 now and I still have my mam, she’s healthier now than she ever was after she got that scare. But not everyone is lucky to get a scare.
“Your physical health and your wellbeing is number one in your priority. Don’t wait to go to the doctor to hear you have diabetes, you have high cholesterol, your blood pressure is high – these are all related to an unhealthy lifestyle.”
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