The weight is over: How I lost 75kg

Jane Gibson, 35, a semifinalist in the Healthy Life Awards, lost more than half her original body weight.

Jane Gibson is half the woman she used to be, and she couldn't be happier.

The Waitati, Otago support worker is now skinny odds to win Australasia's biggest loser title, after shedding 75kg.

"I don't know how I got that big. I just never saw it," she said. "That person is not me any more."

Now 65.7kg, Ms Gibson this month became a semifinalist in the 2013 Weight Watchers Healthy Life Awards.

"I was very surprised. I lost more weight than anybody else in New Zealand or Australia, but a lot of people had really inspiring stories, whereas I joined Weight Watchers to support a client who wanted to lose weight," she said.

Ms Gibson, 35, began her weight-loss regime in November 2011, weighing 140.7kg.

"I averaged 1kg to 1.9kg losses every week and hit my goal weight of 75kg a year to the day after I joined Weight Watchers. It's about setting yourself little goals and not just focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel."

Last September, she completed a half-marathon.

"I am proud of what I've achieved. It shows people that it's not a pie-in-the-sky dream, that it is obtainable."

However, there was a downside.

"I've had people snub me because they don't recognise me any more.

"It also took a long time getting my head around going into shops and trying on smaller sizes. I've gone from a size 26 to a size 8 and I've had to change my wardrobe several times over. I hate to think what it has cost," she said.

"I've got a boot fetish now, too. I wear boots just about every day. I didn't used to be able to wear boots, because I couldn't do the laces up."

A South Island and North Island finalist will be selected at the end of the month to join five Australian finalists in Sydney for the slimmer of the year final in September.