The MasterChef contest is tough, but it’s nothing compared to the battle she’s won with her weight.

Although Rachel might count competing in the Network Ten cooking series as a major life achievement, other women could argue that battling her weight and winning is more meaningful for her long-term happiness – and that of her three kids. “I loved being pregnant,” says Rachel, whose children Emily, 19, Daniel, 17, and Cameron, 15, all excitedly watch their mum on TV each night. “It was a great excuse to eat whatever I wanted and say, ‘Oh, I’m not fat, I’m pregnant!’” However, as Rachel expanded her family, her health became an increasing problem.

“After Cameron was born, when I checked out of the hospital, my exit weight was the same I weighed at full term before having my first child!” she remembers. “I joined Jenny Craig and lost 15kg, but I was breastfeeding and that’s a benefit. Then I stayed trim for 10 years.” Sadly, Rachel then developed endometriosis and adenomyosis, where endometrial tissue from the uterine lining grows in the uterine muscle. It meant she required a hysterectomy – at 38 years of age.

“I always had terrible period pains and thought it was normal,” she says. “We have three stairs in our house going from one area to another. One day I fainted and fell down the stairs and my husband [Kevin] said, ‘That’s not normal. Women don’t go through this'.“So we went to the doctor and we found out it wasn’t normal, and it wasn’t at all good. I had a tumour in my uterus the size of a football."

Read more of Kate's story and find out her weight loss secrets, plus eliminated contestant Jay reveals what's on the MasterChef house shopping list, all in this week's Woman's Day on sale June 13, 2011.