We put Dad on a diet to beat his depression
ANTHONY and Ian Whitington didn’t realise their father, Geoff, had fallen into a diabetesrelated depression until it was almost too late. The former security guard had been diagnosed with Type 2 when he was 50.
‘He just took it on as yet another illness,’ says Anthony. ‘And so did we.’
Geoff began a half-hearted low-fat diet, but he didn’t see much change and soon started eating in secret. Fast food may have been slowly killing him, but it was his way of cheering himself up.
He’d go to McDonald’s and hide the wrappers before he got home, then sit down to an evening meal as though he had not eaten since lunchtime. His wife, Marion — who was trying to cook him healthier meals — had no idea he was eating for two.
Eleven years after diagnosis, he had an ulcer on his right foot and a collapsed arch on the left one. Both can lead to amputation. He was becoming reclusive. ‘The father we knew had disappeared in a fog of depression, embarrassment, lack of confidence and pain,’ says Anthony.
So, Anthony, who works in finance, and Ian, a documentary maker, staged an intervention. They had researched evidence of rapid weight loss reversing diabetes and believed they could turn around their father’s blood sugar problems — and his depression.
To disguise their plan, they told Geoff they were making a documentary about Type 2 diabetes. ‘He played along, thinking it was just another of our mad projects,’ says Anthony.
The result is an incredibly moving — and funny — film called Fixing Dad. It shows how they put Geoff on a low-calorie diet, weaned him off his traditional meals and introduced him to new ingredients.
‘There was a lot of tension and arguments; we are all stubborn,’ says Anthony. But Geoff lost 18 lb in the first two weeks.
Gradually, exercise became part of his new life. Cycling made him feel good. In the film, his sons challenge him to try new things — sky-diving and white-water rafting.
As well as losing 6 st, Geoff is free of diabetes, with blood sugar levels in the normal range. It’s not just his body that’s changed, though. His mood has also been transformed.
‘He is totally different now,’ says Anthony. ‘He has self-belief.’
So much so that he has become a diabetes champion. The man who spent the past decade sitting at home now visits companies and tells their staff how to fix themselves.