‘We both got gastric sleeves and lost 96kg!’

There’s nothing like having a partner in crime – particularly when it comes to weight loss. Which is why Kayla Pomroy and her mum Michelle were blessed to have their main supporter living under the same roof.

At their heaviest, Kayla and Michelle each tipped ed the scales at 112kg. But they’ve dropped a combined ed 96kg after having gastric-sleeve surgery.

Although surgery may seem like the easy way out, the women from south-west Sydney are quick to set the record straight. “The surgery isn’t going to fix all your problems, but I think people should do whatever they need to, to be happy,” says Kayla, 26, who was once so ashamed of her size she stopped socialising.

Her mum Michelle, 55, was equally debilitated by her weight and developed numerous health problems. “I needed a walking stick and couldn’t walk longer than five minutes at a time. Then one day I woke up and thought, ‘Screw it, I’m going to have surgery’.”

Kayla saw Michelle go through it in 2012, and in 2015 decided she’d have the life-changing procedure, too. “It takes a lot of commitment,” Michelle says, explaining that all up, they needed to be on a liquid diet for five weeks, followed by two weeks each on puree and soft food. “Mentally it can get hard.”

These days, Kayla focuses on eating protein at every meal and does Crossfit and lifts weights, while Michelle has tempered her portion sizes and loves how mobile she’s become. They often go for walks together.

“It’s been great to have Mum to talk to, because she understood what I was going through,” says Kayla.

‘One day I woke up and thought, No, screw it, I’m going to have surgery.’

“I’d seen my parents’ health problems and I knew I’d have those 25 years earlier than they did,” says Kayla. “My portions were far too big before,” admits mum Michelle. “I’d been to Weight Watchers and lost 20-30kg – but it always went back on.”