How I lost 51kg and now rock my best ever body at 46 years old

Lisa Jones always felt at odds when she looked in the mirror. The vivacious mum-of-two considered herself to be fit and healthy, but her reflection told a different story. Struggling with her weight for years, Lisa would try various diet and exercise regimes and never have any success. The weight never shifted, so she settled for being the big 'fit' girl. Then a shocking gym accident changed everything and she new she needed to make a significant change to her lifestyle.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the 46-year-old Gold Coast entrepreneur recalled the agonising moment she snapped her ACL while doing star jumps at her regular gym class. Stretched 'tight like a rubber band', the ligament exploded under the pressure of her 118kg frame as her feet landed on the ground mid way through the set. 'My leg crumpled and my body went crashing down, hitting the floor with a giant crash,' she said.

'I blacked out before impact but woke up to searing pain and a knee which could no longer support my weight.'. Lisa Jones considered herself to be fit and healthy, but her reflection told a different story. Now she rocks the body she's always hoped for at 46 years old. When she went to see the surgeon things only got worse. 'I felt like the doctor took one look at me and I felt like he put me in the old, unfit, overweight people pile,' Lisa explained.

'It was like because I was overweight I wouldn't need the knee anyway so I was told to "put it off until I was older".'. While she decided to go ahead with surgery, which was successful, that experience stuck with her. Lisa thought about it for weeks as she 'bum shuffled' around her home and wrenched her way up and down the stairs using her arms, trying to keep up with her two children while recovering.

It was then the reality of her heavy load crept up on her. 'I realised how much pressure I had been putting on my body,' she said. Lisa, who was 43 at the time of the accident, had tried to shift her excess body weight in the past - trying every 'fad' diet and exercise regime that had come on her radar since she was in her early 20s. 'I felt like the doctor took one look at me and I felt like he put me in the old, unfit, overweight people pile,' Lisa explained.

Lisa had tried to shift her excess body weight in the past - trying every 'fad' diet and exercise regime that had come on her radar since she was in her early 20s. 'I started putting weight on when I was in my teens and I would lose some then it would pile back on plus more,' she said. So, while recovering from knee surgery, Lisa looked up more permanent, medically assisted options to get the weight off once and for all.

After looking at every option she landed on gastric sleeve surgery. 'I had always thought it was for super large people - like people over 140kg. But the more I looked into it the more I realised people who weight as little as 80kg were doing it,' she said. Lisa had to up her health insurance and 'wait a whole, excruciating year' before she could have the surgery. But says it's the best thing she has ever done.

'When I look in the mirror I see a confident, super hot woman looking back at me,' she said, adding she lost 51kg and shrunk from a size 18 to a size eight. 'The hardest part was deciding to do it,' she said. 'Once I did the weight just fell off.'. Lisa had always felt fit and healthy and even went through phases of running 50km a week, doing aerobics workouts and weights classes. 'I would dedicate 90 minutes to exercise a day then I would get injured and slow down and the weight would come back on,' she said.

That never happened following gastric surgery. 'People said I wouldn't be able to drink anything with bubbles or eat carbs but I have found that's all rubbish,' she said. Lisa went through two rounds of plastic surgery to remove her excess skin. 'I eat everything I did before, the serving size is just four or five times smaller.'. She does have to 'watch her hydration' because she can't drink with a meal or soon after but now has that down pat three years post-op.

'If I had known how good I would feel and how easy it was I would have done it years ago,' she said. The mum has also recently gone through two 'hardcore' plastic surgery operations to get rid of the excess skin which was left as a result of her incredible weight loss. Not only has her confidence risen, her home life is better than ever too. 'My teenage daughter tells me I am beautiful every single day,' she said.

'I will never forget the day I took her to the park about two years after my operation. I was able to chase her around and she squealed in excitement.'. The mum, who left an unhappy marriage before her accident, is also getting 'more attention than ever' from potential suitors. 'I am so in love with my body, I have a flat tummy and just wear crop tops all the time. I have so much self-confidence and feel like I look younger,' she said.