There’s no room for cars in the Shillinglaws’ garage these days… it’s full of gym equipment!
“Who would have thought?” giggles Rebekah, an employment consultant, shooting a playful glance at her truck driver husband, Malcolm.
Just 11 months ago, the chirpy pair from Eaton, two hours south of Perth, spent $65,000 to surgically fix their burgeoning waistlines, and both are still coming to terms with their newfound slenderness.
Rebekah and Malcolm before their surgery
“I can put on socks now and wash my whole body,” Malcolm, 43, says excitedly, admitting his arms “became not long enough” to reach all points of his body in the shower. “But now I can put them all around Rebekah.”
“And I’ve got the energy to play with the kids,” adds Rebekah, 35, who loves getting outdoors with their sons, Lachlan, 10, Taj, eight, and five-year-old Quinn.
While both admit to being “weighty” when they first met 15 years ago, Rebekah says overeating and bad genetics saw her tip the scales at 139kg, while Malcolm says alcohol led to him weighing in at 130kg.
“We lost all self-control after getting married,” confides Rebekah, who would regularly eat “a meal fit for two men”.
Rebekah and Malcolm now.
“I’d put away two litres of fizzy drink daily, a large packet of Maltesers, a whole pizza, or two McDonald’s burgers with chips and a sundae. Between us, we were as heavy as 40 bowling balls.”
With child-bearing out of the way and health problems creeping in, Rebekah decided she’d had enough of the embarrassment she felt at
being overweight, in a world “not built for obese people”.
Malcolm transforms
So the couple – who weighed a whopping 269kg together – saw a doctor who recommended gastric sleeving for Rebekah, and SIPS (stomach intestinal pylorus-sparing) surgery for Malcolm.
They have since ditched takeaway and soft drinks, introduced daily workouts and lost a staggering 133kg between them – both weighing 68kg.
Rebekah transforms
“It has been the most amazing, life-changing experience,” says an ecstatic Rebekah.
“My dress size has dropped from a 26, to 10, and Malcolm’s wedding ring is down 12 sizes – it’s too big for his thumb!”
