NT big loser begins 1500km walk AFTER scoffing fatty foods for years to combat depression, 40-year-old Nicky Gallas was so large she needed crutches to walk. Now four years on and 115kg lighter, Ms Gallas has set out on an epic walk from her home town of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to Adelaide. She began the solo 1575km walk on Saturday and will finish on June 8. Before her 11th birthday Ms Gallas's father and a number of other family members had died. She became depressed and she soon turned to food for comfort. "I would go to this friend (food) when times were tough, when I was feeling lost or when I felt there was no way out," she wrote on her blog. As she approached her 40th birthday in 2009 Ms Gallas weighed 212kg and needed crutches to get around. She then suffered a series of minor heart attacks. Remembering the pain her father's death at aged 41 had caused her she vowed to go on a strict diet of no carbs or dairy to lose weight. "I had to think of the people who I absolutely didn't ever want to put through pain and then I did it for them," she said. The weekend before she began the diet Ms Gallas scoffed all of the foods she would miss most - Hungry Jacks, pizza, chips and Rocky Road. It took her three months to lose the first 30kg. "I saw then a look in my mum's eyes I have never seen before; it was kind of like pride and relief and a bit of disbelief," she said. Ms Gallas still lives with depression, but she says losing weight has improved her quality of life and given her confidence. Now she hopes to inspire others who live with depression and those who beat themselves up over their weight. "My mission is to touch at least one person's life," she said. To donate to Ms Gallas's cause visit www.alicetoadelaidewalk.com.au.