Sheryl was so overweight she couldn’t fit into plus-size women’s clothing and had to wear mens 5XL T-shirts.

Sheryl Brown, 44, from Mansfield in Victoria, Australia, weighed a whopping 142kg after eating sugary snacks, eight Weetbix and two pieces of vegemite toast in one sitting.

She couldn’t fit into any clothing for plus-size ladies, and as a last resort she had to wear men’s 5XL tops.

Sheryl was carrying a lot of excess weight.Source:Caters News Agency

Frustrated her weight was holding her back, she started clean eating, living on an 80 per cent healthy / 20 per cent unhealthy diet plan and would hike up to 50km a week.

Three years ago she reached her target weight of being less than 63kg and dropped down to a size 10, however her dramatic transformation was tainted with inner embarrassment.

The mum-of-two was left with hideous excess skin that she says hung from her “like a bedsheet” and after an initial tummy tuck she looked like she had “two stomachs”.

Sheryl couldn’t fit into women’s clothing.Source:Caters News Agency

Despite doing 400 sit-ups a day for two and a half years, nothing helped her to get rid of her “jelly belly” caused by the 76kg weight loss and muscle damage from pregnancy.

But six months ago she forked out nearly $15,800 on a second tummy tuck to rid her of the excess skin and is now sporting a flat stomach.

Her stomach was covered in stretch marks.Source:Caters News Agency

Sheryl, an early childhood educator, said “it was really embarrassing knowing I had to wear men’s clothing and it left me feeling completely inferior to everyone else”.

“I’d gotten so large while studying in America where I’d eat doughnuts, Danishes anything sweet, then sloppy joes to corn dogs to pizza, I never really ate any fruit — everything was quick convenient food.

“Then back at home I’d easily eat eight Weetbix and then two pieces of toast smothered in vegemite for breakfast.

Despite losing 76kg, she still had a lot of excess skin around her stomach.Source:Caters News Agency

“I was really overweight and had all but given up on every diet I found until a friend told me about a diet that targets the toxic fat stored beneath the skin.

Sheryl felt as if she had ‘two stomachs’.Source:Caters News Agency

“After losing 76kg I was really inwardly embarrassed by my body and would get very upset.

“I had a lot of excess skin that used to hang down like a sheet and made me look like I had two stomachs — it was a full on jelly belly.

Sheryl, with some of her old pants.Source:Caters News Agency

“After a failed tummy tuck, I tried doing 400 sit ups a day for two and a half years to tone my tummy, but it still wasn’t shifting, it didn’t matter how hard I worked it was still there.

“For me, I felt there was no sense of achievement, even though achieving enormous weight loss, while I still had my excess skin because I was still larger than I should have been.

“Internally I felt like I was deformed that I knew that cosmetic surgery was my only way to get closure.

Surgery helped the appearance of her stomach.Source:Caters News Agency

“It was awful, the scales were saying how light I was but whenever I looked at myself in the mirror I was disgusted by my excess flab.”

After the second surgery.Source:Caters News Agency

Craig Rubinstein, her plastic surgeon, said: “Excess, overstretched skin cannot be exercised away — it can only be removed through surgery.

Sheryl now feels more confident about her appearance.Source:Caters News Agency

“If the surgeon doesn’t repair the underlying muscles as well as removing the excess skin, the stomach never ends up looking smooth — it looks lumpy instead, as it did for Sheryl,” Dr Rubinstein said.

“Sheryl’s confidence levels seemed to skyrocket after she had surgery, she was almost like an entirely new version of herself, but as she sees it — her real self was finally about to come to the surface.”

Sheryl is barely recognisable.Source:Caters News Agency

SHERYL’S DIET BEFOREWEIGHT LOSS

Breakfast — eight Weetbix and two slices of toast smothered in vegemite

Morning tea — cake and packet of chips

Lunch — chunky meat pie, sausage roll and diet coke

Afternoon tea — sweets or packet of chips

Dinner — meat covered in oil and vegetable

SHERYL’S DIET NOW

Breakfast — slices of apple and orange with natural yoghurt and nuts

Lunch — green spinach leaves with two eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and seasoning

Dinner — baked meat and steamed vegetables

Evening — multivitamin probiotic

You can find out more about Sheryl’s plan by visiting www.puttinghealthatthetop.com