‘I DROPPED 52KG TO BECOME A FIRE FIGHTER!'

KAYLENE WAS DETERMINED TO FOLLOW IN HER FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS AND JOIN THE FIRE SERVICE

- Sarah Marinos

Trudging through the bush on a walk with her family, Kaylene Stocks could not take another step.

Weighing 140kg, the mother of four was exhausted. Every muscle in her body ached and so the family turned around and slowly made their way back to the car.

“I hated myself. My kids wanted to do things and I’d have to sit in the car and watch them, or make an excuse not to go with them,” she tells New Idea. “When we went camping and my family wanted to explore, I’d stay back to cook lunch or dinner.”

Kaylene, now 46, began putting on weight after the birth of her first child, Katelyn, in 1996. Sadly, Katelyn was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of cancer, and passed away when she was only 4 months old. Kaylene then had four other children – Kaylee, now 24, Johen, 22, Kacy, 19, and Kaydan, 12.

With each pregnancy, Kaylene, from the town of Winchelsea in Victoria, gained more weight that she never found the time to lose. Skipping breakfast and then grazing throughout the day, over time the kilos added up.

“I tried different diets and weight-loss medication because I knew my weight was holding me back from doing things I wanted to do. But nothing worked,” says Kaylene.