Woman reveals humiliating moment that led to 40kg weight loss
Welcome to You Got This, news.com.au's weekly fitness series featuring stories and ideas from real women who've experienced it all.
A young woman has revealed how she struggled with her weight since she was a child — and the one thing that changed her life.
Liliana Lerch, from the Gold Coast, struggled with her body image and relationship with food for as long as she could remember.
'I remember I had a personal trainer at 10, and just always struggled with my weight,' she said.
'But when I was 15 it started to snowball and get quite bad. I felt like I was getting bigger, despite living an active lifestyle.'
Ms Lerch said she was always 'emotionally connected' to food — eating when she was sad, happy or anxious — and would 'come back to bingeing'.
When she got her licence — and had access to a car — she would go out, pick up food and hide the packaging in her car. She said it meant she could 'get away with it more'.
Ms Lerch always wanted a 'quick fix' to her weight, and would often give up after two weeks. She felt like she tried every diet, and was even contemplating medical intervention.
She had a lot of moments where she knew her life had to change — but it was surprise skydiving tickets that was the catalyst for a life change.
'I remember we were going, and I had to pay extra. I was weighed in front of everyone. It was the most humiliating thing — I was stressed about it the whole week before because I knew,' she said.
'It was a big ego hit. I was like, 'No, you're not even healthy anymore.' I was at risk of getting diabetes. I was puffy and inflamed and they thought I had PCOS. I found my health was starting to deteriorate.'
It was at that point, she realised that she needed more than a quick fix. She needed to overhaul her entire lifestyle, she said it started as an accident. She did 75 Hard. She didn't complete it — or lose any weight from it — but it set her up for some better habits with exercise and it helped her stop her bad association with food.
Essentially, she and her partner would go for a daily walk for coffee — but they wouldn't leave until at least mid-morning. It sparked a regimen of intermittent fasting for Ms Lerch.
'The diet was the hardest thing for me — I always loved walking, and living near the beach it's easy to, but I pretty much started intermittent fasting. I then noticed I lost 5kg,' she said.
'I started to focus on it more mindfully, and have some more structure with my meals and food. I found it helped me be more balanced.'
At the end of 2024, people started to notice Ms Lerch's then 30kg weight loss.
'At the start, I didn't really believe them. But then I compared photos side-by-side and I was like 'Oh my gosh, I look so different.'
She then did an eight week challenge, losing another 10kg, and her confidence started to rise. She felt the best she ever had, feeling strong and fit in her own body.
'I feel like we're so critical of ourselves as humans, it's hard to look back and recognise how far we've come,' she said.
Ms Lerch, who posts to TikTok under the name @lilslerch, said she has always loved sharing things. Her most viral video was sharing the things she's noticed since losing weight such as feeling temperature changes more and that people are nicer to her.
She felt like she'd never seen her body type represented online, so it was nice to be able to be that for other people.
'If I have a message, it's make it into a lifestyle and fall in love with the journey — find things that work for you, and what you enjoy,' she said.
'I hate going to the gym but I like going to pilates and walking, so that's my thing. Incorporate the foods you love into your diet — you need to have balance all around.'
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