"We have abandoned our habit of taking three meals a week, have saved thousands of people and booked our first vacation for years," said the Irish family when they wake up in shock.

An Irish family who estimates they have spent over € 250 on three errands a week has saved thousands of dollars since it was abandoned.

Pat and Paula Twomey, along with their children Ava (20), Regan (17) and Ella (13) from Clane, Co Kildare, consumed about 20 bottles of soda a week, take-away meals, chocolate and had a diet rich in carbohydrates and no vegetables.

But last year, they spent their first family vacation for years with the money saved by abandoning their habit of eating unhealthy.

"It's a lifestyle issue," Pat told Independent.ie. "We work long hours, then when we get home, we end up working. Myself and Paula have children's shows, so during the week, as soon as we get home, we try to manage so many emails and texts that come to us. "

"It's very, very difficult to be motivated to prepare a big meal for five people. We have just been useful. And then Friday or Saturday, we would have a Chinese … it became a habit and it was always two or three times a week. It's not laziness, it's just tiredness. "

"On weekends, I am a professional artist, and I could do a concert Friday or Saturday and I would not have had dinner before the show, then he will stop somewhere at 1:30. "

Last year, Virgin Media's "Doctors at Home" team visited Twomey House and uncovered serious health issues in the family.

When Dr. Nina Byrnes pushed Pat, who had blood in the posterior pbadage, to have a colonoscopy, the doctors discovered a mbad.

"It would most likely have been cancerous in a year. It was a shock for the system.

"Without a doubt [the show] saved my life. [Before] I will have to be on the verge of death before seeing a doctor … but they found a mbad, the doctor did more invasive tests and found another very big mbad. "

"Only for the program, I would never have considered having a colonoscopy."

Pat's daughter, Ava, whom doctors described as obese after a series of tests, told doctors that she was not eating vegetables and that she was living on a diet of bread. , butter, noodles, diet coke and potatoes.

Ava, who applied on behalf of the family on behalf of the family for help, revealed that her mental health was suffering and she had self-mutilated.

"I started to make myself sick. I purged each meal for about two years. I became very depressed and self-mutilated.

She explained to Dr. Sinéad Beirne: "I did not want to talk to anyone. In fact, I thought it was so much easier to make myself bleed and sit on the toilet than to talk to someone. That's what I felt at the time.

"I had such good relations with my parents and my dad and I ruined everything completely. I have improved a lot over the past year, but I think it will always be something that, because I never got professional help, will always be able to say, "I'm 100% cured" . "

Pat told Independent.ie yesterday, one year after the shoot: "We did not know anything about the situation. [going on the show] until she receives a message saying that they would like her and us to appear in the series. To be honest, we thought it was a conclusion. "

The show broadcast tonight shows Regan, who has never eaten a vegetable, to start eating healthier with the rest of the family.

"Regan was the evidence that had never eaten vegetables, she just did not like them. She would not tolerate them at all. "

"Then, when we participated in the program, the way meals were prepared, seasoned, they had no problem eating them. None of them have ever eaten onions or mushrooms, and now they stick them all in an omelette or whatever they make. "

Ava, to whom Dr. Beirne ordered to reduce her excessive alcohol consumption at weekends when she drank ten or twelve drinks in one night, now follows a healthy meal plan and has drastically reduced her consumption of alcohol. ;alcohol.

Pat said, "She's fine, she cooks all her own vegetables, she just comes in and cooks herself, and she comes out very rarely and drinks now, she works often on the weekends." she goes out with her boyfriend and has three and four. "

Regan, who previously worked as a model but was disillusioned when she started gaining weight, now aims to become a helicopter paramedic.

"She is not the same child," said Pat. "She is really motivated. She is there every night to study and she was accepted into a college in England. "

The family has thrown away their fryer and has not eaten white bread since the doctors visited their home last year.

"We do not have minerals in the house, maybe we had 20 a week before. There are no chips. We do a weekly shop, we usually do it on Wednesdays. "

"All the vegetables we eat are fresh. We now have a steamboat and it only takes 15 minutes to cook them. "

He added, "We do things we never dreamed of doing. We have vegetable-based potato chips, we have baked parsnips, cut into French fries and dipped in a honey crust. "

The family now spends a lot more quality time together, with everyone sitting for a movie night. Ava has a new dog that she walks every day and her sisters accompany her often.

"We actually reduced Ella's laptop time because it was a big problem – she would be lost in her room for hours." One would have thought that she was studying, but in reality she was on her cell phone, hide that they are on it, but it's not going to be late. "

Doctor In The House is airing tonight on Virgin Media One at 9pm.

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