Diet prescription: 62-year-old GP loses five stone in a year

Refired not retired, Paula Gilvarry shed five stone in her 60s after finishing work as a GP and she’s written a book about her experience, reports Margaret Jennings

PAULA Gilvarry says she was always incredibly determined: “Even when I wasn’t well I would keep going. I walked my way through two episodes of postnatal depression and other depressive bouts. I literally plodded on — put one foot in front of the other and kept going. I have a lot of drive.”

To the onlooker, the Sligo-based 63-year-old has also led an awe-inspiringly busy life, including being a community medical doctor and a top-class chef in business with her husband Damien Brennan — and all of that in tandem with rearing her two children, Sarah and Paul, now in their early 30s.

But Paula, whose weight spiralled from eight stone at age 25 to 17 stone three decades later, was also using her passion for food as a crutch; to console and reward her through life’s ups and downs.

“If you’re down in the dumps carbohydrates are a great comfort and of course chocolate was my secret reward – that was my go to, after everything was done and the kids were put to bed, the laundry was folded and the dishes were done; I always had a chocolate bar in my apron and I would munch away on that,” she tells

Feelgood.

Paula gained the weight on the chocolate and cake, but then her appetite grew accordingly, as did the portions she ate of her own delicious home-cooked food: “I could eat twice as much of a dinner as my husband,” she now admits.

Then last June, three years into her retirement from medicine, she embarked on a diet and that characteristic determination kicked in: She lost five stone in a year.

“At this stage, I had health issues: Arthritis in my knees, a dodgy back, high blood pressure and cholesterol and then I developed a heart arrhythmia — a dangerously irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, that could lead to heart attack or stroke,” she says.

Did self-preservation kick in?

“Yes, it did. I thought: ‘This is it, you’re not getting any younger. All those odds are stacked against you and you are obese. If you’re going to try and get into your old age, this is it.’

“Also, I have two gorgeous children with lovely partners and I thought if they ever have children I want to be fit and well enough to at least enjoy them. And with the heart arrhythmia my cardiologist said that for every 10% of body weight that I would lose, I would reduce the risk of it coming back by 14%. This really galvanised me and I thought ‘I’m not going to be a chronic cardiac patient’.”

She kickstarted her “adventure” as she calls it by doing the Motivation Weight Loss Plan — a programme which helped her look at the psychological, as well as the physiological aspects, of what she ate.

“I had no idea how to eat normally throughout my life. I was either on a diet or I was eating. In my own head, I knew what I should be doing, but I didn’t know how to do it,” she says.

In the midst of this challenge, she was also regularly feeding groups at her home, Broc House, overlooking Lough Gill, where Damien and herself run The Yeats Experience — a business which attracts tour groups to hear his expert knowledge on WB Yeats and to eat her delicious home-cooked meals. They also host local groups who book dinners with them for special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays and bridal showers.

Paula didn’t rest long on her laurels regarding the weight loss either. She has written a book, just hot out of the oven, so to speak, called, Doctor On A Diet.

“There is a lifetime experience of cooking in that book. I read recipes and food magazines every day and always have. I have adapted my favourite ones to suit my weight-loss regimen.

I use a lot of fresh herbs, spices — not too hot — as seasoning.

“There is a huge variety of recipes, which are very doable with a lot of practical tips about planning ahead and ways of making it easier for yourself.”

It’s not an easy path to stay on track, she admits, now that she has reached her target weight of 12 stone: “When you’re on a weight-loss plan you are very focussed. Then when you get where you want to be, it’s very difficult to keep that focus.”

She hopes her book will help those struggling, but also be of interested to everyone wishing to eat diet-delicious healthy meals.

In the meantime, life remains busy: she and Damien have their house for sale and planning permission to build a downsized version nearby, where — based on the book — she will run cookery demonstrations and host small tour groups.

No retiring, in the conventional sense then? “I’m not sure who I heard the phase from recently, but we are not retired, we are refired,” she laughs.

Doctor On A Diet, by Dr Paula Gilvarry, costs €19.99 and is published by Gill Books.