Queensland woman who spent $100k on her McDonald’s addiction loses 107kg

Kate used to survive on a diet of greasy takeaway. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

Even now, Elle can’t quite believe how big she became because she’d always led an extremely active life and loved sports.

“In school I was a big swimmer. I trained for several hours a day, morning and night. When I left at 18, I stopped swimming and that’s when I started to put weight on,” she says.

“I got a job working on a boat and though it was pretty physical, I was still eating as before and I went up to a size 18. It didn’t bother me though, I had an amazing job travelling around the Whitsundays. My body was the last thing on my mind.”

It was after meeting her husband Aaron in 2007 that Elle started to indulge in takeaways, causing an addiction that would spiral out of control.
“We moved in together and I gave up my work on the boat for an office job. Suddenly I wasn’t moving as much anymore and weight started to creep on.
“I’d be tired after work and couldn’t be bothered to cook, so I’d grab us a takeaway on the way home. It was usually always Macca’s. Soon, one takeout a week became three, then it was every day. Our kitchen was barely ever used.”

Elle has started competing in triathlons and has totally changed her diet. Picture: Caters NewsSource:Caters News Agency

By the time the couple got married two years later, Elle walked down the aisle in a size 24 wedding gown.

“I remember feeling like a princess on my wedding day. But when I got the photos back, I was horrified.

“I looked so round and I knew then I was a ‘bigger girl’ but instead of taking action, I turned to food. I got in my car and headed straight for the nearest McDonalds for a feel-good binge.

“After that, I stopped looking at my scales and just lived in denial. I told myself things couldn’t possibly be that bad.”

Over the next six years, Elle’s appetite for fried food grew bigger and at the height of her addiction, the 163cm admin officer would often eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the infamous burger chain.

She said: “I never really had a sweet tooth. It was always savoury foods.

“When I wasn’t eating I was always thinking about when and where I getting my next fix.

“When Aaron and I moved to Mount Isa I frequented our local Macca’s so often the staff knew my name and order by heart. It’s so embarrassing to think about it now.

“I was so big I was having to buy size 32 clothes online as no stores in the small town had anything I could wear.

“It sounds crazy but even when I was buying super-size outfits, I didn’t think I had that much of a problem. But the reality was I spent most of my days eating.

“If I wasn’t eating or I didn’t get enough food, I’d get into furious rages. Some nights Aaron would go out to get our dinner and I’d go mad if he missed my third meal out or got the order wrong. I’d become a Macca’s monster, always hungry for my next fix.”