A serial comfort eater who weighed 237kg (37st 4lb) has revealed her transformation after a remarkable 165kg (26st) weight loss.
Carolyn Zurvas, 54, from Queensland, Australia, was warned by doctors two years ago that if she continued to gain weight that she’d die due to her obese 237kg (37st 4lb) frame.
After suffering a heart-breaking miscarriage in her twenties, Carolyn began comfort eating. Three decades later, she was so obese she could barely walk unaided and had to make her own clothes.
She opted for a gastric bypass and after losing five stone on her own before surgery, Carolyn now weighs 69kg (11st) and looks unrecognisable after dropping over 165kg (26st) in two years.
Carolyn Zurvas, 54, weighed almost 254 kg (40 stone) at her heaviest, and was warned by doctors if she gained more weight she would die
Carolyn who was once she large she had to make her own clothes and underwear, said: ‘It’s shocking to think I once weighed almost 254kg (40st) and could barely leave the house due to my huge frame.
‘People would ask me in the street, ‘why are you so fat?’ and I couldn’t give them an answer.
She explained: ‘I loved baking but I’d piled on the pounds for three decades after a miscarriage left both myself and my husband, Shane, 59, heartbroken.’
She quickly became addicted to eating huge amounts of sugary snacks such as cake and chocolate.
Carolyn admitted she was ‘thrilled’ with the results of her weight loss, which has seen her drop to a healthy 69 kg (11 st)
‘I couldn’t move past it and piled on 40 kilos (6st) in the first few months after our loss as I used any type of unhealthy food as a way to cope.’
But three decades later, after celebrating her 52nd birthday, Carolyn – who was so obese she could barely walk unaided – realised she finally needed to change her unhealthy habits.
‘By the time I was in my forties I could barely walk, drive a car or even sit on a chair without fearing I’d get stuck.’
‘But the turning point was when I went out for my 50th birthday to a local pub and I struggled to even walk from the car to the house – something that left my friend, Trever Eliott, 57, struggling to help me up the driveway.’
Carolyn revealed she began comfort eating after suffering a miscarriage in her twenties (pictured here with her husband Shane, 59)
Carolyn revealed that at her heaviest weight she struggled to walk, drive a car or sit in a chair (pictured before weight loss)
‘That’s when I began researching how to lose weight and I found out about gastric bypasses, it was now or never.
‘It was a high risk surgery as I was so obese but I knew it was worth the risk, I couldn’t live like that anymore.’
Since recovering from her gastric bypass surgery on September 13 2017, Carolyn has dropped 165 kg (26 st) thanks to following a strict diet and gym routine.
She added: ‘It hasn’t been easy but I feel like my life has just began.
Carolyn revealed the weight loss ‘hadn’t been easy’ but said she felt as though her life had ‘just begun’
Carolyn said she is now on a waiting list to remove excess skin, and said she was ‘thrilled’ with the results of her weight loss
‘I am now on the waiting list for excess skin removal there’s a stone and a half worth across my arms, boobs, and stomach to remove.
‘But for now I’m thrilled with my weightloss results, I’m now a dress size 14 after spending years having to make my own clothes as I was too big for any brands.
‘I’m no longer asked by strangers why I’m so fat or why I have let myself go, it’s amazing.
She added: ‘I have even been able to reverse my type two diabetes, I’m a completely different person.’