IJMC - The Man Who Ate Christmas

Ok. After a groaner like the last post, I'll make it up to you. Just not=20
yet. This post borders on the disgusting, but then, coming from someone=20
who needs to lose fifty pounds himself, it's the kettle calling the pot=20
black. So read on, and remember, Christmas comes but once a year!  -dave







A man who has eaten Christmas dinner every day for the past five years is
going on a diet after gaining almost four stone.  Forty-one-year-old Andy
Park is seeking "urgent" medical advice on ways to combat his addiction to
an all-day menu of festive treats, which includes mince pies, roast turkey
and sherry.  He now weighs 16 stone.=20

"I love living Christmas every day but I have got so big that I know I
need help. I just want to cut down; there's no way I can give it all up
altogether," Mr Park said yesterday.=20

The self-employed electrician, from Melksham, Wiltshire, first put up
Christmas decorations during the summer of 1993 to "cheer himself up". He
now spends over =A3300 a week on Christmas food and at 3pm every day,
watches a video of the Queen's speech.  He wraps three presents for
himself each night and leaves them under the tree in his lounge.=20

Each year, Mr Park consumes 104 turkeys, 200 tins of Quality Street and 260
Christmas puddings.  He buys cut-price Christmas goodies in January and
makes deals with his local butcher for cheap turkeys, which he cooks every
three days. "Brussel sprouts are my favourite. I could eat bowls of them",
he said.

His daily menu includes:
Breakfast: Two mince pies, one bowl of Christmas pudding and orange juice.
Mid-morning: Three mince pies and a glass of sherry.
Lunch: Turkey sandwich and chocolates.
Afternoon: More mince pies and a glass of champagne.
Dinner: Roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings and Christmas pudding.

A spokeswoman for Weight-watchers urged Mr Park to join his local slimming
group, saying he needed to eat a more "balanced diet". If Mr Park - who is
hoping for singing stardom with a song about his unusual hobby, called
"The Christmas Man" - starts dieting now, he could be back to his original
weight by the millennium, she added.=20

Reported by Lucie Morris
For The Independent, Friday 4 December 1998