Half Her Size! - Loryn's Sister Drops 70 Kg

Tyler’s back to her old self after years of struggling

- Fleur Guthrie

Standing onstage in a pair of white skinny jeans, Tyler Reynolds waited to take her place alongside younger sister Loryn for the opening number of Dancing with the Stars and had one of those “‘pinch me” moments.

Only several years earlier – weighing around 130kg and estranged from her family – the young costume designer was struggling to walk up stairs, let alone dreaming of dancing in public again.

Life had hit a snag when the then-21-year-old found her weight “ballooning” after quitting competitive dancing due to a raft of injuries.

“It was heartbreaking for me to see Tyler give up something she loved,” explains Loryn, 24. “We knew she was hurting inside, but there was nothing anybody could do to help. I just wanted my sister back.”

The moment Tyler decided to overhaul her life came after she ended a long-term relationship, which had soured.

“My partner kept saying to me, ‘You’re fat! You need to go to the gym. What’s wrong with you?’” she recalls.

“I could barely get out of bed, never mind get to the gym. Once we broke up, I realised I’d been in denial about my weight and hadn’t looked after my health. I also didn’t have much contact with my family for 18 months, so they didn’t see how bad it was getting.”

Reconnecting with her family, Tyler moved back home to begin making positive lifestyle changes. Cream doughnuts were the first to go. And despite being terrified, she signed up to a local gym and exercised during “weird hours” to avoid other people seeing her.