She was so big she needed an industrial scale to weigh herself – then she decided enough was enough!
HER smile is almost as bright as her shock of pink hair. It’s clear she’s not afraid of being noticed.
Yet there was a time when she was too shy to show her face – or rather her 208-kg body – in public. Marianda Geel couldn’t bear the stares and unkind remarks people made when they saw her large frame.
But now it’s a different story – she’s lost more than half her body weight, a whopping 123 kg, in five years.
The 49-year-old looks confident when she welcomes us into her home in Kuils River, Cape Town.
In the framed family pictures on the wall Marianda’s husband, Sweeney (48), a sales consultant, and their son, Matthys (23), who works at a call centre, frequently appear with a much larger woman, her greying hair pulled tightly away from her face, which bears only the tiniest hint of a smile.
“It’s me!” says Marianda, a nurse, before showing us more pictures on her tablet. This woman is so different to the one in the pictures.
The new Marianda is vibrant, gesturing exuberantly when she speaks, and quick to laugh. Later she even poses in her exercise gear.
“I didn’t care about myself,” she says, looking at the pictures. “I could just as easily have died. When people said things to me I’d think, ‘Whatever – if you don’t want me as I am, stuff you’.”
In the years she was packing on the weight, Sweeney never said anything. The first time he referred to her weight was when he heard they’d won a cruise to Portuguese Island off the coast of Mozambique.
“When my husband put the phone down he said, ‘My love, you’re not going to fit into the seat. See, we have to fly to Durban to board the ship’.”
Denne historien er fra 20 July 2017-utgaven av YOU South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra 20 July 2017-utgaven av YOU South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
PUSHED TO THE LIMIT
The unusual relationship between an heiress and her husband has taken a sinister twist
HOW TO MAKE A SUPERBABY
Noor Siddiqui says her company can test embryos for hundreds of conditions from diabetes to Alzheimer's. Critics call it social engineering but she insists she's just giving prospective parents the means to avoid a lot of future heartache
THE GROWN-UP BRAIN
If you think your brain deteriorates as you age, think again!
THE eyes HAVE IT
They're the windows to our soul - and the first place to show the stresses of everyday life. Juliette Winter reveals expert tips to de-puff, brighten and smooth this delicate area
WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER
It hasn't been an easy road but now this bodybuilding couple are making waves in the industry
I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!
Annetjie's about to get effective treatment for the skin condition that has blighted her life and she's looking forward to hitting the shops and facing the world
'SHE NO THREAT TO ANYONE'
When SA boxer Chris van Heerden's Russian girlfriend went to visit her parents she was thrown in jail and accused of treasonnow he's in a fight to free her
SUNK IN 16 MINUTES!
A sun-drenched holiday turned into a living nightmare for those aboard this luxury vessel
READY TO SMILE AGAIN
A groundbreaking surgical procedure will restore this Limpopo teen's badly damaged jaw and teeth
HARRY AT A CROSSROADS
As the prince turns 40, royal experts paint a picture of a troubled soul- isolated, homesick and struggling to find a purpose in life