- Consuming up to 10,000 calories every day in comfort food, Beka Hall, 27, finally hit breaking point.
- At 155 kilos, Beka could hardly fit into a size 28 and underwent a weight loss transformation.
- Turning her life around, Beka has since completed her first half marathon and tied the knot!
Here Beka tells her story in her own words.
Balancing on the kitchen stool, I reached up to the top shelf, rummaging for something sweet.
I was only six but knew where my parents hid the treats from me and my younger sister Charlie, then one.
In minutes I’d gobbled down an entire packet of TimTams.
Despite me eating three balanced meals a day, Mum and Dad could never understand why I was chubbier than my peers.
‘It’s just puppy fat,’ Mum said, hoping I’d grow out of it. But I didn’t, because I was secretly eating.
‘I feel so comfortable around you.’
At school I faced taunts, and kids would run away from me, too. ‘You can’t catch us fatty, fatty, boom, boom,’ they’d chant.
I turned to food for comfort – a sweet treat always made me feel better.
Stepping on the scales, aged 10, I was 99 kilos and wore a women’s size 14.
Beside themselves with worry, my parents took me to a doctor, who diagnosed me with obesity, depressive episodes and anxiety.
My parents, who by then had welcomed my second sister Jess, provided me with a nutritional, portion-controlled diet, but I bucked against the restrictions, and binged on junk food.
My pocket money went on creamy cakes and hot chips from the school tuck shop.
As a teen, I saw a school counsellor and was prescribed medication, but I was still miserable.
Aged 18 and 162cms tall, I wore a size 18 clothes and weighed 120 kilos.
Going to university in 2017, I had the freedom to eat whatever I wanted, and I didn’t hold back.
And yet, I was so unhappy.
I’d tried every diet in the book. But when I lost weight, I’d put it all back on, plus some.
The following year I dropped out of uni, and I tried a strict calorie-controlled diet, consuming no more than 1000 calories a day.
‘I can’t carry on like this.’
After dropping 25 kilos, in February 2019 I enrolled in a nursing course, and I met a wonderful guy named Jared.
‘I feel so comfortable around you,’ I said, as he pulled me for a hug.
A few months later, we moved in together.
But in 2020, when Covid hit, my mental health was at an all-time low and my weight ballooned.
Waking at 3am I’d devour six doughnuts.
READ MORE: ‘Aussie weight loss: ‘I was too big to drive so I lost 115 kilo’’
At 7am I’d have a family-size bar of chocolate and party-bag of chips, followed a normal breakfast with Jared of two slices of toast with butter.
A pre-lunch nibble would be a Macca’s meal of a cheeseburger, six nuggets, large fries and a large choc thick shake.
Then I’d join my friends for a chicken salad lunch at a cafe.
Afternoons would see me devour a KFC dinner-for-two – two burgers, two pieces of chicken, popcorn chicken, mashed potato and gravy, hot chips and a 1.5 litre bottle of fizzy drink.
Dinner with Jared would be a stacked plate of meat and veg. After he went to bed, I’d tuck into biscuits, chips and fizzy drinks.
All up, I was hitting 10,000 calories a day.
At the start of 2021, at 155 kilos, I could barely fit into a size 28. I was the largest I’d ever been.
‘The new me starts now.’
‘Can you come?’ I cried down the phone to Mum, one day at breaking point.
‘I can’t carry on like this,’ I wailed when she arrived.
‘I’ve been so worried about you,’ she said. ‘What can I do to help?’
Desperate, I felt there was one option left. ‘I’m going to have gastric bypass surgery,’ I said. ‘It’s my only hope.’
With the support of Jared and my family, I saw a GP and a psychiatrist before meeting a consultant at a private clinic.
READ MORE: ‘Weight loss transformation: I lost 97 kilos’
The procedure would reduce my stomach and alter the path of food through the digestive system, limiting what I could eat.
It didn’t come cheap, but I was so touched when people who knew about my struggle helped me with the cost.
With a strict pre-op diet, I shed 15 kilos before being wheeled into theatre on December 9, 2021.
After the four-hour surgery, I was groggy and sore.
‘The new me begins now,’ I said, when Jared took me home to recover.
For two weeks, I was on a liquid diet, then moved on to mushy solids.
In the first month, I lost 15 kilos.
But it wasn’t plain sailing. Going down to 500 calories a day was difficult, and I grieved not being able to use food for comfort.
I drew on pure willpower to succeed.
But I persisted and slowly reintroduced solid food – chicken salads, poached eggs and fruit. After three months, I’d lost 30 kilos.
Joining a gym and taking up running, I started to feel great.
READ MORE: ‘Weight loss journey: I quit booze and lost 42kgs!’
My mind felt clearer, and my mood lifted from the endorphins boost.
The weight continued to slide away and now I’m a healthy size 12 and weigh 78.9 kilos.
Having lost 75 kilos, I feel incredible.
After losing so much weight, I struggle with excess skin, but it’s a small price to pay for being able to finally start living.
I even completed my first half marathon in 2024, and my mental health is better than ever.
I’ve now run three half marathons!
I’ll be forever grateful to the kind people who donated to help fund my surgery.
I love my job as a registered nurse, and Jared, now 26, and I tied the knot in March this year.
I’ve documented my journey on Instagram and TikTok @bekygetsfit to show others that they can turn their life around, too.
I’m a different person, both inside and out.
