- Kirsty felt happy in her own skin and had accepted the fact that she was a bigger girl
- But her weight crept up to 165 kilos after her daughter, Elexis was diagnosed with epilepsy and Kirsty neglected her health while she was Elexis’ full-time carer
- A doctor’s stern warning that she would die if she didn’t lose weight was a wake-up call
- Since then, Kirsty has lost a whopping 78kg and completed a bucket list of goals she’d previously avoided because of her weight
- Kirsty Wardle, 49, from Ipswich, Qld, shares her story below
Smoothing down my size 20 wedding dress in the mirror, I smiled.
In was 2001 and I was about to marry my partner Alan, 32, who I’d met while working in a hotel in Brisbane.
I was a cleaner and he was a maintenance man.
“How are you feeling?” my mum, Carol, asked.
“Great,” I grinned.
Read more: Ditching my cola addiction sparked my 90kg weightloss!
I weighed 120 kilos and unlike most brides, I hadn’t bothered to try to lose weight.
I’d only given birth to our son, Daley, five months before, and I was happy, so I didn’t care.
I’d always been a bigger girl and I’d come to accept it.
The people who mattered loved me for who I was and that was enough for me.
Three years after Alan and I married, we had a daughter, Elexis.
She was healthy when born but at 18-months she was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Her seizures were crippling, and when she was six, she had a huge one, and the others that followed caused her an acquired brain injury.
From then, her health was the only thing that mattered to me.
We were at the hospital regularly, sometimes for weeks.
Never at home, I barely cooked, meaning we relied on quick meals, like service station sandwiches or McDonalds.
My already heavy weight crept up.
Then, when Elexis was 14, her health deteriorated rapidly,
She was seizing all time and needed round the clock care, so I gave up work to become her full time carer.
Over the next six years, I piled on the kilos.
I’d snack on crisps and chocolate throughout the day and when I wasn’t ordering takeaways at night, I’d cook big pots of pasta or potato casseroles for the family.
My weight reached 165 kilos and I wore a dress size 28.
“I’m worried about you,” Mum said eyeing me up one day. “You should probably try and lose some weight.”
“I’ve got more important things to think about,” I said.
I didn’t realise how unhealthy I was.
When I went out with friends, I made sure it was always somewhere with a parking space nearby so I didn’t have to walk far.
It was only when I went back to work in 2021, after we received more support for Elexis’ care, that I realised how unfit I was.
I got a job working as an attendant on a school bus, but to my horror I could barely fit on the bus seats and couldn’t fasten my seatbelt.
At home at night, my joints throbbed with pain from being on my feet for hours.
I also had rashes on my skin from chafing.
When I saw my doctor about the pain, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. It was a wake-up call.
“If you don’t lose weight, you’ll die,” my doctor told me sternly.
I gulped.
Shortly after, we went on holiday and I could barely leave the apartment.
I’d been concentrating so much on Elexis’ health, I’d neglected my own.
Once we were back, I was scrolling through Facebook one day, when I spotted a post from a friend giving some Lady Shakes away.
“I’m going to give it a go,” I told Alan.
I picked up the shakes and started the programme, which was explained in the booklet it came with it.
It required me to substitute two meals for shakes and have one healthy balanced meal, like steak or chicken with a hearty salad.
I was also allowed two high protein and low sugar snacks.
After two weeks I’d lost eight and a half kilos.
It gave me the motivation I needed to keep going.
Once I’d lost 20 kilos, I saw a dietician and a psychologist.
The dietician advised me to exercise, too, so, with a friend, I started walking 1km a day.
After three months, I was down to 140 kilos.
To do more, I took up aqua Zumba.
Putting on swimmers for the first time ever, I felt sick at the thought of stepping out in front of other people, but I forced myself to do it.
I was the biggest girl in the class, but the instructor and the other women were supportive and helped me feel at ease.
After a couple of weeks, I started to enjoy it.
It made me realise I wanted to push myself and do activities I’d always avoided because of my weight.
So, with five of my girlfriends we sat down and made a bucket list, which included a hike, paragliding, indoor skydiving, surfing and a bridge walk.
I’d always wanted to do the bridge walk in Brisbane, but their health and safety rules required you to be under 100 kilos.
For my birthday, Alan bought me a ticket, making me even more determined to be under that weight.
Soon, I was dropping a dress size every three weeks and had to buy new clothes from second hand stores to afford it.
When I got to a size 16, I gave my larger sized clothes away.
I knew I’d never let myself get that big again.
I kept one size 28 dress, which I put on sometimes to remind myself how far I’ve come.
“You could fit three of me in this now,” I chuckled to Alan.
But with the weight loss, another issue arose.
Although 78 kilos of my fat was gone, I was left with 15 kilos of stretched skin across my thighs and stomach, which hangs past my knees.
We can’t afford to remove it right now, but I wear compression pants and hopefully, I’ll manage it in future.
Until then, I’m just enjoying my new lease of life.
I plan to keep adding activities to my bucket list.
When I was finally able to climb Story Bridge in Brisbane it was incredible .
“I never thought this moment would happen,” I said to my friend Tina with tears in my eyes.
At nearly 50, I’m finally living a much healthier life, and, thanks to Lady Shakes, I’ve probably added years onto it, meaning I can watch my grandchildren grow up.
I can’t thank them enough.
Visit theladyshake.com.au for more
