An overweight couple were warned they could die if they didn’t ditch their lifestyle of fags, fast food and fatty snacks.
Mum-of-four Aoife Curran and her ex-Army husband Danny are shocked into changing their bad habits on tonight’s Doctor In The House.
Asthmatic smoker Aoife, 34, was told she is on “borrowed” time, while her 35-year-old partner, who smoked 20 cigarettes a day, heard he is on a path of “irreversible lung damage”.
The Kildare couple’s unhealthy lifestyle was also affecting their children, including 14-year-old son Jack who was at risk of being anaemic with “significant iron deficiency”.
Viewers of tonight’s hit Virgin Media One show will see the family bought takeaways every weekend and rarely ate fresh fruit and veg.
Top nutritionist Daniel Davey blames snacking for Ireland's obesity crisis
The couple, who have been smoking since they were 17, also admitted gorging on junk food such as crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks in front of the TV every night.
Danny, who works for a humanitarian charity in Dublin, spends four hours a day in his car commuting, smoking eight cigarettes while taking a sugary breakfast on the go.
Dr Nina Byrnes said: “In his coffee he puts three sugars and if we figure he’s drinking 10 to 13 coffees a day that is an awful lot of sugar, really mindless calories with no nutritional value whatsoever he does not need.”
Aoife told the professionals she is worried about her future and was terrified of getting cancer because of her bad habits.
Doctor in the House medics give bulimic Dublin teen worrying wake-up call
She added: “Before it was always, ‘I’m uncomfortable at the way I look and with my clothes’ but the bigger issue which keeps me awake at night is I’m going to get cancer.
“I’m not going to get away with this, something is going to happen. I’m more scared of my future.”
After medical tests Danny, who used to be able to run 10km in the Army, is told there are signs lung damage has already started.
He said: “It’s a wake-up call. I know out of this whole thing the toughest part will be to quit smoking but I want to see my kids grow up.
“I don’t want to be attached to an oxygen cylinder when I’m older so I will be quitting.”
The couple struggle giving up the cigs but succeed over the two-month trial while also ditching the sugary and salty snacks.
They sit down to cooked meals every day, including lots of different vegetables and start exercising – even buying a treadmill.
Aoife starts walking the kids from school while Danny triples his steps every day with lunchtime
and evening walks.
And the Currans boost their family time by having days out, walking in the woods or visiting the zoo.
At the end of the challenge Aoife is thrilled to discover she has lost two stone and reduced the “shocking” fat levels in her liver to normal.
From being a couch potato she reduced her BMI from an obese 37 to 30, an achievement Prof Niall Moyna described as “a phenomenal improvement”.
At the same time her fitness level which was in the bottom 20% for her age group jumped to the top 40%.
Danny’s BMI dropped from 32 to 26 and he also lost two stone while his fitness level jumped from fair to the top 20%, which the experts said was a “fantastic achievement”.
Their son Jack also saw iron levels return to normal with a healthy diet.
Thrilled Aoife said going on the show was “one of the best things we have ever done”.
Doctor In The House is on Virgin Media One tonight at 9pm.
