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How I lost 90kg!



With her hands on her hips, Belinda Keen turns slowly in front of the bedroom mirror.
‘Is this really me?’ she says, wiping away tears. ‘I’m so happy. I feel and look like a beach babe!’

Three years ago, it was a very different story – she tipped the scales at 156kg and was eating her way to an early death. Her diet included chips, burgers, pizza and biscuits washed down with kilojoule-laden champagne, cocktails and wine.

But through sheer hard work and determination the primary school teacher has shed 90kg, dropping from a size 28 to a size 10. Belinda’s weight loss has been so dramatic she’s had surgery three times to remove about 8kg of excess skin from her arms, legs and thighs.

Just as amazing is her secret to weight-loss: eating herself slim.
‘I’m eating more often than I have in my life and the weight is falling off,’ the 35-year-old laughs.
‘I eat up to six times a day, with snacks like a bowl of strawberries, a handful of nuts, an apple – anything to keep the metabolism and energy levels going.’

Belinda reveals a relationship breakdown a few years ago was the trigger for her weight gain. Without even realising it, she started getting ‘bigger and bigger by the day’.
‘It became an excuse not to have anyone close to me,’ she recalls.

Belinda Keen in 2007.



Ironically, it was the promise of love that helped Belinda bury her demons and turn her life around.
‘I met a mystery man on an online chat site and I vowed to myself to only ever meet him when I was half my size,’ she says from her home on the Gold Coast.
‘His name was David and we struck up a close friendship. I told him I needed to sort out a few things before we could meet.’

After restocking the fridge with low-fat and low-GI foods, Belinda gave up alcohol and bought a pair of sneakers and a treadmill.
‘Losing weight became my life’s focus. I learnt how to make soups and educated myself on the science of losing weight,’ Belinda says, adding that she watches her daily kilojoule intake carefully.

‘I gave up all foods high in carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice and potato. Instead I eat lots of protein meals like lean meat, chicken, fish, stir-fries and soups.’

Belinda, who now weighs 65kg, established a reward system to keep herself motivated. When she dropped below 100kg she bought herself a digital camera and when she hit 80kg she treated herself to a gold ring.

Meanwhile, her fitness levels increased and she progressed from walking to running to boxing, yoga and Pilates.
‘When I started I struggled to walk a couple of hundred metres. I was out of breath and my body was aching. But with time it got easier,’ she says.

Sadly, however, by the time Belinda lost the weight, David had met another woman.
‘It would have been nice to have met, but I’m glad he’s happy,’ she says. ‘My life is so much more positive now – and I’ve met someone too! I can now go out and not feel people staring at me or making snide remarks about my size. It’s so liberating.’

Belinda is determined to keep off the weight and hopes her story will encourage others, saying: ‘I just want to make a difference and prove anything is possible.

Dr Mark Doyle prepares Belinda for surgery.

Finishing touches
After losing 90kg Belinda faced a new problem – excess skin. ‘It was cruel,’ Belinda recalls. ‘I was doing all this hard work but still looking terrible.’ Gold Coast Plastic Surgery’s Dr Mark Doyle, who performed Belinda’s three surgeries to remove 8kg of skin from her arms, legs and thighs, describes her transformation as extraordinary, and says most people who lose a lot of weight will have to have some sort of skin removal and tightening.

Photos: Paul Broben