One thing that helped Aussie woman lose 60kg

A Tasmanian mum has revealed how she lost close to 60kg by making one simple change.

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A mum has revealed how she lost close to 60kg after spending 14 years finding comfort in food.

Kelsie Lee, 32, said she never exercised, calling it torturous due to the fact she weighed in at 140kg. The Tasmanian woman said food was comfort for her.

“I have really bad mental health issues. I was diagnosed with bipolar II, which came with severe depression,” she revealed to news.com.au.

“So for me, food was just for comfort. It was something that made me feel good — a dopamine hit.”

Kelsie Lee weighed 104kg. Picture: Supplied

She said it was home cooking, comfort food and takeaway that were her go-to. She knew it wasn’t healthy, and had always been a “bigger girl”. But, at the age of 17, she became “morbidly obese” within six months.

In May 2023, she booked a GP appointment due to the chronic pain in her joints and muscles. Two days before the appointment, she suddenly realised the doctor would likely attribute it to her weight. So, she decided to tell them she was already on a health kick.

“The weighed me and I was 140kg, and that was my reality check,” she said.

“I was going to the doctor for a problem I was causing myself.”

She said it broke her heart, and she never realised how heavy she was. She thought she was still around the 120kg mark, as she had been for a long time.

Kelsie decided to use intermittent fasting and a calorie deficit — concepts she loved but didn’t know much else about. However she thought intermittent fasting would allow her digestive system to recover as she suffered from severe indigestion.

“Fasting for me really stopped my binge eating, which generally happened of a night,” she said.

She found comfort in food. Picture: Supplied

Ms Lee lost weight through a calorie deficit and intermittent fasting. Picture: Supplied

“You know sitting down, watching TV and settling in for the night. What do you do? You go to the cupboard. For me, by fasting, I’d stop eating by 6pm.”

She said she’d go to bed early and get sleep, to help repair her body. She said her fasting meant she was able to fit in a big breakfast and dinner, or a small breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Ms Lee was losing weight, but she was starving. She quickly learned she wasn’t eating enough, so she educated herself and added more protein to her diet.

“As soon as I started doing that, my body was feeling a lot better,” she said.

Ms Lee lost 18.5kg between May and July 2023, and then she went away on holiday with her husband. There were birthdays and anniversaries. Her son had surgery. It became overwhelming, and her health journey went out the window.

She committed to being on a health kick. Picture: Supplied

But, in late November of the same year she decided to commit to it once again, because she’d only put on three kilograms.

“If it had been any more, I wouldn’t have kept going. But, I was still down 15kg and I thought I could still do it,” she said.

Ms Lee started to see she was making progress when the Christmas pyjamas she’d been gifted the year before fit her. It gave her the motivation to keep going.

Now, she is hoping to hit her goal of losing 60 kilograms by Saturday, with she and her husband planning a celebratory meal to honour her achievement.

She is on the brink of hitting her goal. Picture: Supplied

She’s made it clear that she still eats takeaways and goes out for meals, or eats a chocolate. She said it was important to include for her success — but it always fit within her allotted calories. Ms Lee said she works every second weekend, so the weekend she has off is a treat weekend.

“I still lost the weight by doing that. And that’s how I want to live my life — on my weekend off I still like to have to treats,” she said.

Ms Lee has shared her weight loss journey on social media, saying she couldn’t find anyone who had lost as much weight as she had through a calorie deficit. At worst, it would be memories. Now she wants people to know it is possible without medical intervention — not that she has any issue with people who go down that route.

“I’m nobody special. I’m just little old Kelsie from Tasmania. But, I did it so everyone else can do it too,” she said.

She said she loves that she has encouraged people to give it a try themselves as she has openly shared her journey — the good and bad sides of it all.

Originally published as One thing that helped Aussie woman lose 60kg