For most women, losing 115kg would be the achievement of a lifetime. But for 29-year-old Elle Goodall, it’s not something she’s particularly proud of.
‘It’s no big deal,’ she says shrugging. ‘For me, it’s what came afterwards.’
What Elle really holds dear is her transformation from a 184kg McDonald’s addict to a triathlete – with her first full-length ironman competition firmly in her sights.
‘Competing in an ironman is something most normal people would never do, let alone people who had been overweight. I’ve had to really work for this. It still surprises me I can do it and that’s what I’m proud of,’ she says.
Elle’s weight loss was triggered three years ago when a routine doctors appointment ended in horror.
‘He wanted to weigh me, but the scales showed up an error message. I was too heavy for them,’ she remembers.
Taking her to industrial scales, Elle came in at 184kg – 60kg more than she expected.
‘I’d had my head in the sand and I was ignoring the weight I was gaining,’ she says. ‘And crazily, my response to the doctor’s warning that I might not make age 35 was to go to McDonald’s drive through. I bought three meals and extra chips – and ate the lot in the car park.’
Elle’s husband Aaron, 28, and her family urged her to diet, and over the next four months she tried various plans.
‘I was so big I couldn’t climb the stairs without getting out of breath, and even the simplest tasks were an effort,’ she says.
Also diagnosed with diabetes and sleep apnoea, both due to her weight, she knew she needed results fast.
‘I wasn’t keen on surgery. It’s a huge step, but I needed help,’ she explains.
And in November 2015, she went in for gastric sleeve surgery, which aids weigh loss by reducing the stomach.
‘Afterwards I was still craving crappy fast food, but it wasn’t an option. I’d been given a second chance and I had to take it,’ she says. ‘I started learning about food, adding herbs and spices to things and gradually my cravings disappeared.’
Something clicked for Elle and the determination her mum remembers her having as a kid surged back.
‘I just wanted to be good at something again,’ she says.
With surgery and training, Elle was soon losing weight at break-neck speed. Sometimes up to 4kg would drop off each week. Six months after her operation, she’d lost an amazing 64kg.
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea – out now.
