Brenda Langford will never forget the day school bullies made elephant noises at her.

‘I felt so ashamed of my body, I felt I didn’t fit in this world. I was bullied, teased and humiliated. I felt nobody liked me because of my size,’ she tells me. 

Relentlessly bullied throughout primary and high school, Brenda was an easy target with a lazy eye and thick glasses. She turned to junk food to numb her pain and an overweight child became an obese adult. 

‘I didn’t eat vegetables or fresh fruit. Food became my drug and sugar made me feel better. I lived on food that wasn’t food,’ she says. 

Brenda gorged on sugary cereals, Pop Tarts, and mac ‘n’ cheese.  

At 21, while her friends were at college living their best lives, Brenda fell pregnant with her first son, Brandon, and the weight piled on, reaching 140kg (309 lbs or 22 st) by the time he was born. Then, two years later, came her second child, Kyle, marriage to chef husband Matt, and years of eating ‘fatty food, takeaways and junk’.

By her 30s, Brenda was suffering excruciating migraines so severe she was prescribed painkillers just to function. ‘I couldn’t get doctors to take me seriously, and all they did was shove pills down my throat,’ she says.

Brenda only had one pair of shoes; a cheap, ugly orthopaedic pair from the pharmacist were the only ones that fitted her. ‘I had too much fluid build-up in my feet – nothing would fit,’ she says.

At her heaviest, Brenda weighed 222kg (490 lbs or almost 35 st) and had completely lost mobility. She has since shed two-thirds of her body weight

‘I stopped going out. I stopped living,’ Brenda said

Brenda’s weight continued to creep up. By the time she was just 40, she weighed 222kg (490 lbs or almost 35 st) and had lost her mobility.

Her back would seize up and she couldn’t walk without clutching the walls. ‘I couldn’t even walk down out hallway without shouting at the kids to bring me a chair. I couldn’t go grocery shopping. If I watched my kids play sport, I had to sit in a chair that could hold 250 kilograms, and my husband had to pull me out of it.’

Then came the public humiliation. ‘Once I got into a lift at the station, and the lift doors were jammed. ‘A woman yelled: “Get the fat one off!” I was dying inside and it was the longest elevator ride of my life.’

There was also the time outside a Woolworths supermarket when a young child shouted, ‘Holy f***, you’re fat!’ while two grown men laughed.

‘I stopped going out. I stopped living,’ Brenda admits. 

In 2012, Brenda’s world imploded. Her mother died of cancer and her father soon after from liver cirrhosis. Brenda discovered her own liver was severely infiltrated with fat and her doctor gave her a stark warning: ‘You won’t live another five years.’

That was 10 years ago.

In 2018, Brenda, then 42, underwent gastric sleeve surgery, a weight loss procedure where part of the stomach is removed and replaced by a small pouch. This restricts the amount of food a person can eat.

‘I had too much fluid build-up in my feet, nothing would fit,’ she says. Brenda only had one pair of shoes; a cheap, ugly orthopaedic pair from the pharmacist were the only ones that fit her

The operation was performed under weight loss surgeon Dr Garth McCleod. ‘It was the best decision of my life. The surgery took three hours instead of 45 minutes because they had to move my liver out of the way,’ she says. 

She lost 12kg (26.5 lbs or almost 2 st) in the first month, and 80kg (176 lbs or 12 st 8 lbs) in the first year following the operation.

‘The weight came off fast. My feet shrank, I felt fantastic and I was doing aqua aerobics with 80-year-old ladies and loved it. For the first time in my life I felt hopeful.’

But after the so-called honeymoon period, the real work began.

‘I started to get hungry again,’ she tells me. ‘I knew I had to put in a lot of hard work because I had a long way to go.’

Brenda enrolled in TAFE, a higher-education program in Australia, and got certified to become a community support worker and began helping others.

‘I met a lot of overweight people and recognised the sadness in their eyes. When someone is obese and says they’re happy, I don’t believe it. You can’t live a normal life in that body.’

Despite the weight falling off, Brenda was left with a reminder of her former body: her excess skin. ‘I felt like a melted candle,’ she admits. 

She underwent four major reconstructive surgeries, performed by plastic surgeon Dr Matthew Peters and costing her more than AU$70,000 (US$45,600 or £36,400), including a full lower body lift to get rid of her ‘apron skin,’ an upper body lift, arm surgery and thigh reconstruction.

‘I have needed three abdominoplasties, including two new belly buttons due to the severity of my damaged skin,’ she adds.

Her first surgery alone involved more than 800 sutures and lasted nine hours.

After her gastric sleeve surgery, Brenda needed to have her excess skin removed

‘I used to be a men’s 7XXL; now I am a size 12. I go to the gym six days a week, can grocery shop and have so much more energy’ 

‘It was brutal. My skin was so badly damaged when I was obese that it took me a long time to get taut again. Now I can wear activewear. I used to be a men’s 7XXL; now I am a size 12. I go to the gym six days a week, can grocery shop and have so much more energy.’

Brenda briefly tried Ozempic last year but stopped after four months due to the severe side effects. ‘It stopped the cravings, but I wasn’t getting enough nutrients. My hair started to fall out and I became constipated,’ she says.

Brenda, now 92kg (203 lbs or 14 st 7 lbs), is now on a strict meal plan and, at the age of 49, feels healthier than ever. ‘I eat meat and vegetables, fruit and lots of protein. I don’t eat fast food anymore.’

Gone are the days of ugly orthopaedic sandals as she is the proud owner of 25 pairs of shoes and counting. She is also an ambassador for activewear brand Exotic Athletica.

She is writing a book about her experience called ‘Massive Weight Loss Saved My Life’, which is out next year.

‘I want people to know you don’t have to be stuck. It’s not just about food; it’s about shame and self-worth.’

And to the bullies that tormented her?

‘I don’t forgive them,’ she says. ‘One of the worst bullies tried to friend me on Facebook recently. I deleted the request.

‘A moment that was plain funny to bullies can affect someone for the rest of their lives. Do better.’

Massive Weight Loss Saved My Life, by Ultimate World Publishing, is out next year.