Episode 9 - Robert Whitehouse
Robert Whitehouse is a 29-year-old security guard from Cardiff. He is 6ft 4 and weighs 27 stone.
Robert works shifts, often through the night, which means his sleep patterns are irregular. Throughout the day he continually grazes on his cheese, meat and packaged convenience food, and as a result he has already consumed enough food to sustain a man twice his age.
Gillian is called in to help, and her first port of call is the fridge. Inside, she is horrified by how much cheese she finds. Robert says that he has never come across a cheese that he didn’t like, and confesses to getting through about eight slabs a week. She then uncovers vast amounts of assorted meat in his freezer.
Gillian confronts Robert with all the food he has eaten in one week, which includes 16 packets of crisps, 6 litres of squash and 4 bags of sweets. Robert cannot believe his eyes and comments that it looks like a supermarket cheese counter. He tells Gillian that his father had a heart attack about 10 years ago and he does not want to follow in his footsteps.
Gillian is particularly concerned about the amount of saturated fat in Robert’s diet, so to really hit home, she presents him with a bucket of beef fat weighing 6kg, the equivalent of the amount of fat he consumes in a month. She asks him to push it through a mincer to demonstrate the way the fat may look in his arteries and offers the result to him on a cracker.
Next, Gillian takes a look at Roberts tongue. She believes the line down the centre suggests his body may be finding it difficult to break down certain foods. His stool sample shows undigested food, which suggests he rushes his food and does not chew properly.
Robert Whitehouse is a 29-year-old security guard from Cardiff. He is 6ft 4 and weighs 27 stone.
Robert works shifts, often through the night, which means his sleep patterns are irregular. Throughout the day he continually grazes on his cheese, meat and packaged convenience food, and as a result he has already consumed enough food to sustain a man twice his age.
Gillian is called in to help, and her first port of call is the fridge. Inside, she is horrified by how much cheese she finds. Robert says that he has never come across a cheese that he didn’t like, and confesses to getting through about eight slabs a week. She then uncovers vast amounts of assorted meat in his freezer.
Gillian confronts Robert with all the food he has eaten in one week, which includes 16 packets of crisps, 6 litres of squash and 4 bags of sweets. Robert cannot believe his eyes and comments that it looks like a supermarket cheese counter. He tells Gillian that his father had a heart attack about 10 years ago and he does not want to follow in his footsteps.
Gillian is particularly concerned about the amount of saturated fat in Robert’s diet, so to really hit home, she presents him with a bucket of beef fat weighing 6kg, the equivalent of the amount of fat he consumes in a month. She asks him to push it through a mincer to demonstrate the way the fat may look in his arteries and offers the result to him on a cracker.
Next, Gillian takes a look at Roberts tongue. She believes the line down the centre suggests his body may be finding it difficult to break down certain foods. His stool sample shows undigested food, which suggests he rushes his food and does not chew properly.
After Robert has consulted his GP, Gillian introduces him to his new regime. She prescribes three meals a day and no snacking. Breakfast is to be buckwheat porridge and instead of raiding the vending machine, Robert must prepare his meals before work. Oily fish are high on the agenda, whilst cheese and meat are strictly off the menu for the next 8 weeks. After that, he can reintroduce them to his diet in moderation, but in the meantime he’ll need all the will power he can muster – something Gillian fears he lacks.
Day one, and cucumber and celery juice do not go down well, and day two, Robert raids the vending machine. Gillian is furious and after a ticking off, Rob is resolved to try harder. Although he loves cooking, the salads and vegetables he’s preparing are lacking a certain something – meat. As a substitute Gillian suggests he tries a tuna fish steak, which Rob enjoys.
Gillian becomes even more concerned about Robert’s heart when the results of his blood tests with Dr Sanj reveal he is low in essential fatty acids, mainly omega 3, which are believed to reduce the risk of heart attacks.
After a few weeks on Gillian’s regime Robert is noticing a benefit to his sleep patterns, but he finds the other changes difficult. Come week 6, there has been no word from him for a while.
When he finally gets in touch a week later, Robert admits to returning to his old lifestyle of cheese and chocolate, and says he had doubted the benefits of the regime against those of his previous life when he could do as he pleased. His father and friends, however, had offered support and got him back on track for the last 7 days.
By the end of the eight weeks, Gillian’s diet of vegetables and oily fish has left Robert looking and feeling fantastic. He has lost 3 stone and is sleeping well. He says he feels superb and he certainly looks it. Gillian is really pleased with Robert’s success. He has more energy and has disciplined himself to eat three set meals every day and reduced the snacking.
Day one, and cucumber and celery juice do not go down well, and day two, Robert raids the vending machine. Gillian is furious and after a ticking off, Rob is resolved to try harder. Although he loves cooking, the salads and vegetables he’s preparing are lacking a certain something – meat. As a substitute Gillian suggests he tries a tuna fish steak, which Rob enjoys.
Gillian becomes even more concerned about Robert’s heart when the results of his blood tests with Dr Sanj reveal he is low in essential fatty acids, mainly omega 3, which are believed to reduce the risk of heart attacks.
After a few weeks on Gillian’s regime Robert is noticing a benefit to his sleep patterns, but he finds the other changes difficult. Come week 6, there has been no word from him for a while.
When he finally gets in touch a week later, Robert admits to returning to his old lifestyle of cheese and chocolate, and says he had doubted the benefits of the regime against those of his previous life when he could do as he pleased. His father and friends, however, had offered support and got him back on track for the last 7 days.
By the end of the eight weeks, Gillian’s diet of vegetables and oily fish has left Robert looking and feeling fantastic. He has lost 3 stone and is sleeping well. He says he feels superb and he certainly looks it. Gillian is really pleased with Robert’s success. He has more energy and has disciplined himself to eat three set meals every day and reduced the snacking.
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