Name: Paul Lomas Age: 64 Height: 178 cm Start size: XXL Current size: M Total weight loss: 38Kg
After a priest lost 38kg in weight, parishioners of a church in Stockport, England thought they had a new priest…
When Roman Catholic priest Father Paul Lomas decided to take part in a diet for the BBC’s The Big Crash Diet Experiment, he had many health concerns.
The 64-year-old priest said: “I was 125.6kg, with a BMI of 42.5, my health wasn’t great and I had nothing to lose by giving it a go.”
Father Paul didn’t find out until the start of filming that the diet he would be trying was Cambridge Weight Plan (CWP).
“I’d heard of the diet, but didn’t know much about it. I was told that it would be a liquid diet of 800 calories per day. It didn’t sound like it was going to be easy.”
Father Paul was shown that his daily food consumption was around 4,000 calories a day.
“A typical day would include orange juice and cereal with a few rounds of toast. Lunch would follow with a cup-a-soup, two sandwiches and fruit. Dinner would include meat, potatoes and veg, followed by ice cream, followed by some supper. After being shown a typical day’s food consumption, it was easy to see I had a problem of over eating.”
With daily weigh-ins and weekly appointments with his CWP Consultant, Darren Donohue, Father Paul lost 19kg in nine weeks. Food was then introduced after nine weeks, alongside the products.
Father Paul lost 38kg in total. This has been a life-changing experience for Paul, who is an Anglican convert and married with two children and five grandchildren.
“I broke both my ankles in 1990 and had a lot of operations following it. I couldn’t walk far before, now I can walk around 8km. I’m walking better, feeling healthier and have lots more energy. I’m planning to get back on a bicycle again, something I haven’t done for many years.”
Father Paul says mass at Christ Church Catholic church in Cheadle, Stockport, at 10am every morning and his parishioners are amazed at how different he looks. Some have even lost weight with Cambridge Weight Plan themselves, after seeing their priest’s transformation.
“Parishioners haven’t recognised me, they have seen me standing up at the altar and thought I was a new priest. I visited a guy in hospital and he thought I’d sent someone else to visit him.”
Father Paul liked the personal one-to-one element of the diet.
“It’s not like standing on scales in front of everyone. It’s personal to you, the dieter. My Consultant, Darren, spurred me on and kept me going throughout. It’s not a crash diet; it’s a choice you make and the diet is controlled.
“I still love food, but it doesn’t have the same place in my life anymore. I keep questioning myself why I didn’t do it sooner. I’ve gone from a 127cm waist to a 96.5 one. I can’t believe the skinny chinos I pick out of the washing machine are mine.”